Baofeng hand held.

[G7PSK]

After hearing Criss Gammell talking about these on the amp hour one time I though that as I was given an Amazon gift voucher I would try one.
They claim to be for amateur radio use but the most amateur thing about these is the instruction book which is only a leaflet, there is not even a circuit diagram.
When I purchased my Kenwood handheld it not only came with a comprehensive instruction book but also a circuit diagram with all test points labeled and instructions on how to take it apart and and wch diodes to remove to get access to other regions.
I have not yet taken this apart as I am not sure if I want to keep it.
There is no external power input, but you can connect it to a computer to program it which is probably required as the buttons are so awful, positively infirm is how I would describe them.
If I decide to charge the battery I will measure the output power to see if that is as described.
Of one thing I am sure it will not last as long as the Kenwood which I purchased on 21st July 1993 according to the invoice but therein lies the difference between these units I guess the Kenwood cost £505-00 including 2 batteries the Baofeng under £30-00.

[AG6QR]

I don't have one, but a number of people in my local ham club have them.  My favorite quote is from a very competent guy who does a lot of work on our club's repeater systems.  He says they've been thoroughly "Muntzed".  If you don't get the reference, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_Muntz .  Earl Muntz was a self-taught electrical tinkerer who famously took out pieces of TVs until they stopped working, put the last piece back, then figured the missing pieces must not have been needed.  He sold TVs based on the the stripped down circuitry.  They'd more-or-less work under good conditions, but in fringe areas, or around RF interference, they didn't work well.  Or if you put two of them near each other (for example, back-to-back in different apartments sharing a common wall), their unshielded local oscillators would radiate and heterodyne with each other, making both of them have lousy reception.

My friend's assesment comes partly from a teardown, and partly from experience taking one of them up to various mountaintop repeater sites.  With all the RF around from various transmitters at different frequencies, his Baofeng becomes deaf anywhere near the mountaintops, as the various strong signals swamp the front end and desense it.  His radios from more established Japanese makers work much better under the same circumstances.

Although he criticizes that aspect of it, I nearly always see him carrying his Baofeng.  And he does say it works well down in the valleys far from the repeater sites.

It would be interesting to see Dave do a teardown of a Baofeng versus a more-or-less similar Yaesu/Icom/Kenwood.

[G7PSK]

It is certainly small and light compared to the Kenwood, I have put it on charge so I most likely keep it, I will take it apart as far as I dare and take some photos and do the same for the kenwood.
I still have one of the original batteries that came with the kenwood and it still works the other one I replaced the NiCads with NiMih some years ago like 15.

[xrunner]

They claim to be for amateur radio use but the most amateur thing about these is the instruction book which is only a leaflet, there is not even a circuit diagram.

Forget the included manual, go here for all the help you need.

http://www.miklor.com/

If you want to program it from your PC get this -

http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home

I have two UV-5Rs now and they both work very well. I think the buttons are just fine. I haven't run into any problems using them. I got a couple of better antennas and a larger battery for one off Ebay.

I took one apart just the other day and it seemed reasonably well made. I mean you can't go wrong for $32 each. I can get 3 or 4 for the price of a Yeasu of Kenwood or Icom. If one goes bad I'll just buy another for $32 and use it for parts! 

[SeanB]

Agree there as well. Works well enough, and at least came with an adaptor to use a regular antenna. I made a quick and dirty coax dipole and am using around 30m of 75r sat coax as a cable. 5W of power is not going to be classed as high power, and it still opens the repeater 20km away reliably. does not like co channel interference, but works well enough as is. The FM radio built in along with the flashlight is useful as well. Bigger battery possibly, and a better antenna for mobile use definitely but as fas as a cheap simple unit it works well.

[codeboy2k]

Oh, you can take it apart, take pictures, use it for a few days or a month (depending on the return policy) then you can still return it.

My wife works in retail... you would be surprised what people return... and they accept it

[GreyWoolfe]

I have one and didn't like it much until I bought the programming cable and downloaded the Chirp software.  I like the transmit and receive, it's the programming that is kludge.  The radio works fine for what I use it for.  For the price, I don't really think anyone can beat it.  I have dropped it on concrete more than once without even a scratch.

Tom, NW0LF

[G7PSK]

I have just installed chirp and found that it is only good for the USA, unless there is some way that the tone burst can be altered.
There appears to be no UK frequency. The Baofeng software allows this to be set.

[olsenn]

I have a Baofeng UV-5R Pro and a Yaesu VX-8DR. The Baofeng cost me $50 including shipping from Amazon and comes with all needed accessories. I paid more than that just for the charging dock for my Yaesu!

I have no complaints with this unit; it seems very durable and extremely well built and functional for the money! Seriously, who gives a shit about the manual, buy one of these Baofeng radios -- you'll be happy with it.

[G7PSK]

Well there will be no tear down of this radio by me, I am sending it back. It wont open the local repeaters as it cant do a 1750 hz tone burst, it's purely a PMR unit and not really suitable for ham use in the UK

[DL8RI]

If I get mine back (i gave it to someone without licence so he can at least listen), i can rip it apart. But there are plenty pictures in the Web.
These "things" are just crap. They die if they are being used due to overheating. I know no one with a 5R, who does not have problems after a few weeks.

And, btw, the modulation is pretty bad, so bad that some repeaters won't work. But it can do 1750Hz.

Cheap made, cheap sold. You get what you pay for.

[G7PSK]

I could not make it do 1750 hz I also went into town today to within sight of the repeater, it would not open the repeater and also could not hear it either despite me opening it with another radio. As you say a piece of junk and I really dont know why I wasted my time with it, I cant measure its out put power as the adapter for my power meter that I ordered at the same time I ordered the radio has not yet arrived. It outputs something as I can hear it on my own radios but no idea of the wattage from that. I will get another Kenwood or a Yaesu Or re cell the kenwood that I have.

[DL8RI]

You have to press PTT and than the Band-switch, then it goes BEEEEEP out of the speaker. Quite annoying but it works

[xrunner]

These "things" are just crap. They die if they are being used due to overheating. I know no one with a 5R, who does not have problems after a few weeks.

Well meet me.

I've had two since summer and no problems whatsoever.

And, btw, the modulation is pretty bad, so bad that some repeaters won't work. But it can do 1750Hz.

I've had no complaints on the quality of the modulation either.

[DL8RI]

Well, then you are really lucky

My Unit started to make "squirky" sounds when sending, two units had a display failure, another starts rather randomly to open the squelch, one just died. That all was 5R only, the 3R-People had (except the Harmonic-Problem) no issues.

Here only one is still using a 5R, he is quite recognizable with his low modulation. Maybe the later series caused less trouble.