4 ms·

Your post reeks of elitism, which is very common in the radio community. Saying baofeng radios “barely work” when you use them with the antennas they come with

by bzb6 6y ago

Your post reeks of elitism, which is very common in the radio community. Saying baofeng radios “barely work” when you use them with the antennas they come with is a blatant lie. I’m sorry that there’s some sort of “eternal September” in the radio community because of baofeng users, but lying won’t bring back the days when only people who could afford very expensive equipment could enjoy radios.

UI_at_80x24 6y ago
>Saying baofeng radios “barely work” when you use them with the antennas they come with is a blatant lie. Not a lie. Personal observation. When I first got the radio I tested it at our groups ham shack. I was 150' away from our repeater (open field, no obstructions) and could not get the repeater to acknowledge my signal. I could hear everybody fine, but could not TX. One of my buddies handed me a spare antenna, and presto I was able to use the repeater. I was also able to hear repeaters that were 20+km away that I couldn't tune-in on the rubber duck. Transmit and receive improved with a different antenna. I thought I had a bad radio, bad transmit button, or bad microphone before I swapped out antennas. My statement is 100% accurate based on my observations. Grumbles from the other members in my group agreed with the sentiment. They ship with bad antennas.
- wtfiswiththis 6y ago
  Bought four handsets for my work. They worked through concrete over a distance. Your comment is 100% inaccurate based on my observations.
- jrockway 6y ago
  I have worked a satellite with a Baofeng (and Yagi antenna), so at least one works. I stopped using mine because I don't have a spectrum analyzer and was told by Reddit that they send a lot of power out of band, which isn't something I care to do. (I have a VHF module in my KX3 that meets my VHF needs. Mostly. Would like even better frequency stability for meteor scatter, WSPR, etc.)
- cstejerean 6y ago
  Your observation of one radio you tested doesn’t seem to support the kind of sweeping generalizations you made about all Baofeng radios. I have two UV-82HP, two GMRS-V1s, two UV-82C, one BF-F8HP, a UV-50X2 and a UV-50X3. Never had any problems working repeaters or for simplex communication in terrain, both when off-roading or providing volunteer communications for events. Baofeng radios work just fine, and many amateurs I know have several as well. I have never tried the $20 UV-5R radios so I can’t comment on how well those work. But I absolutely don’t buy the argument that all Baofeng are terrible radios and people must be idiots for buying them, even more so when the evidence turns out to be that you had a radio with a bad antenna once.

by bzb6 6y ago

UI_at_80x24 6y ago

>Saying baofeng radios “barely work” when you use them with the antennas they come with is a blatant lie. Not a lie. Personal observation. When I first got the radio I tested it at our groups ham shack. I was 150' away from our repeater (open field, no obstructions) and could not get the repeater to acknowledge my signal. I could hear everybody fine, but could not TX. One of my buddies handed me a spare antenna, and presto I was able to use the repeater. I was also able to hear repeaters that were 20+km away that I couldn't tune-in on the rubber duck. Transmit and receive improved with a different antenna. I thought I had a bad radio, bad transmit button, or bad microphone before I swapped out antennas. My statement is 100% accurate based on my observations. Grumbles from the other members in my group agreed with the sentiment. They ship with bad antennas.

wtfiswiththis 6y ago
Bought four handsets for my work. They worked through concrete over a distance. Your comment is 100% inaccurate based on my observations.
jrockway 6y ago
I have worked a satellite with a Baofeng (and Yagi antenna), so at least one works. I stopped using mine because I don't have a spectrum analyzer and was told by Reddit that they send a lot of power out of band, which isn't something I care to do. (I have a VHF module in my KX3 that meets my VHF needs. Mostly. Would like even better frequency stability for meteor scatter, WSPR, etc.)
cstejerean 6y ago
Your observation of one radio you tested doesn’t seem to support the kind of sweeping generalizations you made about all Baofeng radios. I have two UV-82HP, two GMRS-V1s, two UV-82C, one BF-F8HP, a UV-50X2 and a UV-50X3. Never had any problems working repeaters or for simplex communication in terrain, both when off-roading or providing volunteer communications for events. Baofeng radios work just fine, and many amateurs I know have several as well. I have never tried the $20 UV-5R radios so I can’t comment on how well those work. But I absolutely don’t buy the argument that all Baofeng are terrible radios and people must be idiots for buying them, even more so when the evidence turns out to be that you had a radio with a bad antenna once.