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Please don’t get a Baofeng. Those things put out incredibly dirty signals. They are RF polution you can carry in your pocket.
by dbcurtis 6y ago
Please don’t get a Baofeng. Those things put out incredibly dirty signals. They are RF polution you can carry in your pocket.
- brian-armstrong 6y agoIs there anything near their price that can get people up and making QSOs that is much better? Possibly the Yaesu FT-4X but that's $85, so considerably more than the UV-5R.
- LeoPanthera 6y agoQuite apart from their quality, a VHF handheld is possibly the most boring possible introduction to amateur radio. There is so much more you can do that is so much more interesting than hearing 80 year old retirees talk about their prostates on the local repeaters.
- brian-armstrong 6y agoDoes this imply there's a radio frequency that's not dominated by retirees? ;) HF feels considerably harder to get into. If you're a city dweller your only antenna choice is probably a magloop. VHF has options for things like satellite and ISS contacts, and the fact that it's local makes it seem a bit more relevant and community-driven.
- jdc 6y ago2.4 GHz ;)
- amatecha 6y agoHmm not sure I agree, I was able to pick up SSTV transmissions from local amateurs and from the freakin' International Space Station, by decoding the audio signal with my iPhone.... That was pretty amazing and fun, with just a cheapo HT. That said, for even less $$ you can get an RTL-SDR and pick up soooooo much cool stuff :)
- m0xte 6y agoEven worse for me. Local 2m users are quite nasty people here. They’re either plainly racist Brexit fanboys or hate their wives and nothing else.
- irrational 6y agoWhat would you recommend instead?
- smkellat 6y agoBuy a Yaesu.
- bzb3 6y agoI've heard that kind of argument before and the usual recommendation is a setup that costs hundreds of dollars. Basically, it's gatekeeping.
- amatecha 6y agoNah, it's pretty fair to recommend against Baofeng if the person wants to actually make regular, long-term use of their radio, especially for transmission. This guy did some tests with a UV5R to show just how out of [FCC] spec it is https://imgur.com/a/up2ne https://imgur.com/a/up2ne -- the spurious emissions are clearly noticable. Or watch this video, it's almost scary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs8twTaO62Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs8twTaO62Y Anyways, you can get a totally capable HT for $100. In general I don't think anyone is intentionally gatekeeping. Maybe a couple people, but overall most amateur radio operators just want quality signals coming in :)
- amatecha 6y agoI have one, but I only listen with it. Cheapest radio ever. It's better than having no radio at all! For example in an emergency, or when you're on forest service roads that logging trucks drive down (where they are required to broadcast their position over radio) :)
- blhack 6y agoDo not listen to this person. The baofengs are perfectly fine radios which have gotten thousands of people re interested in ham radio. I have probably a dozen various models of them and use them for all sorts of things and love every part of it.
- asguy 6y agoThe GP is right though. Their specs suck; the only upside is that they’re cheap to buy new. For the value, you’re better buying a used Kenwood or Yaesu.
- blhack 6y agoOh cool, which model? Where should I buy one? Can I buy 10 of them to pass out at burning man as 911 radios?
- asguy 6y agoWhat are your needs? eBay/hamswap/craigslist. You shouldn't; handing out a radio designed for licensed radio spectrum to random people would be irresponsible.
- amatecha 6y agoHmmmm, a fair point, though at the same time most countries allow you to use any radio without a license for emergency purposes -- I don't have an amateur radio license yet, but keep a cheapo Baofeng on me when we go offroading or hiking outside of cell-reception. Could honestly save a life. If it's all you have, hang on to it!
- blhack 6y agoEmergency use is explicitly allowed by the FCC. And thank god. We’ve had to call 911 over the baofengs for life threatening emergencies in the past and have very probably saved at least one persons life.
- dbcurtis 6y agoLook at the Baofeng data collected by ARRL: http://www.nf9k.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ARRL-Lab-HT-Testing.pdf http://www.nf9k.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ARRL-Lab-HT-T... And others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjEl6dciLS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjEl6dciLS0