Baofeng ???

Discussion in 'Survival Communications' started by SB21, Apr 11, 2019.


  1. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    Seems I heard a little about these on here .
    I looked at there site and was wondering what ya'll thought of these . I looked at the BF-F8HP,,,or the UV-82HP . For a starter to ease into the Ham radio world . Are these actually the types were the license is required for use ? What kind of range could you expect on these ? I did see a youtube video that said it would not be useful in the 8 watt range without a high gain antenna , and otherwise would just make for an expensive hand warmer . I'd like to have a handheld radio to start with , and possibly move up to mobile or base station . Back in my truckin' days , I had a Cobra CB , can't remember which model , had a guy tweak it up some , and one night , on a clear night , sitting on top of a hill , I was able to talk to a guy probably 60-70 miles away , as the crow flies . He was running a base station,, not sure if that helped him receive my transmission from that distance or not . Thanks for what ever you could offer . Keep it simple , I'm a low tech guy .:D
     
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  2. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    8 Watts gets you around the local area, with no issues, and to High Site Repeaters out to say 30 miles, with the OEM Antenna... Basically the same as 5 or 4 Watts does... These Chinese HTs are a good use of limited funds, or for beginners... They have so limitations, which are inherent in their design, such as very high intermodulation Distortion, and limited co-channel interference Isolation... but if you are not using them in a HIGH RF Environment, and do not understand these terms, likely you will never know the differences... The major Ham Brand-Named HTs, do not suffer from these issues, mostly... but they cost three or four time as much, even for a good used one... There are some good deals, around, these days, with many Hams upgrading to Digital/Analog HTs, Mobiles, and Base Radios, and dumping their older Analog Radios at good discounts, over New Prices... Check out the For Sale Forum @ QRZ.com, and eBay.com...

    As a side Note 60 or 70 miles is still inside the GroundWave RF Horizon for 27Mhz and 5 Watts will certainly carry that far... Top of a hill also helps extend that RF Horizon, out to “Curvature of the Earth” limits...
     
  3. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    Thank you BT . Would you recommend another brand over these models ? I don't mind paying a little more for a little more quality and performance .
     
  4. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Links to other threads are enabled by tagging relevant subjects.
    Please see below for those threads. ;)

    I have several Bao's....and as BT alluded to, they are great for local comm's....and for the cost, they are worth that feature.
    For longer range, better equipment would be recommended for sure.
     
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  5. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    @SB21. There is a Dualband Kenwood Th-D72A handheld, on QRZ.com with assessories, for $280US... This is the radio, AlaskaChick & I use every day... 5 watt, and can be programmed for just about ANY Vhf/Uhf Frequecy..
     
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  6. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    I saw that.. it did peak my interest ,,,
     
  7. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    Would these handhelds pick up regular CB channels , for road travel ?
     
  8. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    No... CB is at 27Mhz. Vhf is 137-174Mhz and Uhf is 420-520Mhz. Totally different Frequencies....
     
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  9. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    pickup a scanner to get multiple freq's
     
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  10. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Typically, no. Now, having said they can't do CB, I'd bet there is someone out there willing to do an illegal mod. Don't do that, that looks like 10grand. CB handhelds are cheap, too, and you can get mag mounts that will work with H/Ts for listening on the road more easily.

    Have you started study for your ticket yet?

    Yes to the scanner as well. Listens to anything, and you can't get in trouble with a PTT switch.
     
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  11. SB21

    SB21 Monkey+++

    Ok , was just wondering about that . I'll need to start learning the bands , frequencies , uses , etc . Thanks

    No sir , I haven't started studying yet . I saw on the QRZ site that they had practice test , so I was going to enroll on that site and start snooping around to find testing info .
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 11, 2019
  12. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

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  13. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Your local cop shop and EOC office will hook you up with the local freqs in use by emergency services. You can go to "repeater book" and find all the local repeaters for more listening pending passing the test.

    There is one superior resource with the getting your hands on, and your local library might be able to hook you up. The Technician book might there. True, the questions change now and then, but the material is the same. Methinks you well advised to hang on to your frns until you get some background, then hammer it.

    There are other practice test sources, HamTestOnline is another that many have used.

    @Yard Dart, will that uniden handle trunked systems? I don't know enough about that.
     
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  14. Lancer

    Lancer TANSTAFL! Site Supporter+++

    I've a bunch of the Baofengs - specifically the BF-F8HP with the large battery option. I consider them highly useful, semi-disposable units with some interesting capabilities. Using the "Chirp" application I program the for use as scanners to follow the local EMS/Vol Fire traffic since I participate in both here. I can set the xmit power on those frequencies to <0> to avoid violating my HAM license terms. I also have the same units programmed for all the local 2 meter and 70 cm repeaters.
    I would very highly recommend purchasing the upgraded, 1/4 wave antenna upgrades, and a dual band mag mount for use in your vehicle(s). The stock antenna is best described as "lossy"...
    I DO have a couple of Kenwoods for "real" work, but a Baofeng lives in every vehicle just in case.

    Edit: I also programmed them on FRS and GMRS freq.s to allow use with the majority of the Wally_World/Amazon unlicensed hand-helds. Comes in very handy when working a CERT callout since everyone has them.
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2019
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  15. Merkun

    Merkun furious dreamer

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  16. Salted Weapon

    Salted Weapon Monkey+++

    Reminds me back in the day had a President Washington and used to talk along ways on skip late at night. I was in the SF bay area ( outskirts mountain top ) and could talk to Portland on SSB ( tweaked) . I have a couple of the Baofengs, some that came out going in to non-public bands so be careful. There was a shipment that made it to the states a few years ago that had open frequencies is all I will say. Mostly find those on Craigs now or FB, etc. I haven't seen the odd ones out there on Ebay. For a bug out or SHTF these little guys are often pretty cheap for sale great truck emergency radio.
     
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  17. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    Ditto what @Lancer said. I have 3 of them and use them constantly. There is no reason in the world for you to spend more money than this CURRENTLY on a handheld. Buy one and play with it, see if you really like it, then spend some more money and keep this as a spare. I have two UA-5R which put out 5 watts and one F8HP which puts out 8 watts, normally, I use the F8. I have it tied to a J-Pole and I am easily reaching 50-60 miles around me, don't have the antenna very high either. I have big plans to improve my set up but current higher priorities take precedent so it probably will happen early June.

    I would suggest purchasing a decent antenna for the handheld, like a Nagoya NA-771R or something similar but in the beginning just play around with the one that comes with the radio.

    CHIRP is the way to go to program these radios as programming by hand these Chinese radios will make you curse a blue streak.
     
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  18. BenP

    BenP Monkey++

    We use the Baofeng UV-5Rs and they are amazing. I can talk to most of my neighbors withing a few miles and with a special antenna I can talk to my brother-in-law 13 miles away. They are also only $25 so if you ruin it, which happens often at our farm, it is not the end of the world.

    I unknowingly dropped one in a field full of cows and had my son talk on that channel for a minute so I could find it. The cows found it first, surrounded it, and started playing with it before I could get across the fence and stop them. They buried it in mud, it still works but I have not taken the time to clean it up, I just set it aside and grabbed another one. I might take it apart someday and use it for a front gate intercom or something.
     
  19. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Monkey+++ Founding Member

    Last count I think I have 7 of the UV5r model spread between home my truck and pack. Cheap enough not to break your heart if you kill one reliable enough to count on. A friend is pres of a big ham club and guides me through such things. He handed me some new antennas and said use these soo do :)
     
  20. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    I picked up a couple of the UV-5R models for use during hurricanes...no big loss if they get damaged. Put them both through the wringer by using them as net control station. Four nets later (weekly net) the battery was still going strong.

    Three years later the batteries still hold a respectable charge and the radios have not shown any sign of degradation...but I still consider them expendable.

    Basic, cheap and yes, download CHIRP for programming them...the cord is worth the little extra expense.
     
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