Got a couple of these baofeng UV5r’s for cheaper than dirt to mess around innawoods with my buddies where we don’t have service for our phones
I have heard about these things being good for the price and I figured since I didn’t know anything about radios I should probably try this out until I know more about them to get something more expensive
I’m curious what PrepHoles experience is with these and if anybody has any beginners tips
You get what you pay for.
And as you said, Baofengs are cheaper than dirt.
Don't listen to the hate.
Just get one it's cheap and an entry level device.
Last PrepHole I went on I listened to two ham operators chat and listened to some FM as well.
The air waves are just really more dead that people make it seem like.
Get one it's worth the money.
why don't you broadcast then
>inb4 i-i don't have a loicense for dat
I like to broadcast on the road. I tell the boomers that I don't have a license and listen to them seethe.
>not blasting them with flatulence
cuck
Nah just no one to talk to.
The hams were already chatting and its rude to butt in.
I have both a Ham license and an GMRS license. I mostly use GMRS these days and have dedicated radios for it, but I still use my UV-5Rs here and there for both.
for average radio stuff they are decent
for anything remotely /k/ommando they are trash
Baofengs get the job done for a great price but they felt like an expendable item when I held one. Biggest complaints from hamboomers is that they spray a lot of noise on transmit thus they can bleed over into other freqs, and that the receive is too sensitive so can perform poorly when other, undesired strong signals are nearby. This is an issue in all radios but supposedly worse on Baofengs. As a bonus, I believe they can be programmed to function on FRS/GMRS frequencies, which means you can talk to the regular walmart walkie talkies too.
Next level for ya'll innawoods might be setting up something like simplex(directly person to person, no repeater) DMR so you have a little more range and obfuscation(other DMR capable radios can understand you, but no one else can). More expensive radios, and it's a little complex to set up. But you learn a bit more and I think it's a good first step on the road to encrypted radio.
Best tip for VHF/UHF is that line of sight is king, and something like a N9TAX Slim Jim/Jpole can be put high up in a tree to get a lot more range, should you require it.
maybe price wise but these things are moronic in resilience.
>they spray a lot of noise on transmit
Debunked
I have one plus an extended battery. They’re even more based if you get the ones that still have active frequencies that newer models have banned.
I got a gt-5r because they were supposedly less spurious emissions and factory reset it which resets it to the old uv-5r settings. However I also purchased a Mars mod ft5dr because I have a ham license now. Ultimately the $500 radio is really only better than the baofeng because of it's extra features. If all you plan to do is use simplex and repeaters or gmrs there is no reason to get anything nicer than $100. My gt5r with antenna and extendo battery cost me $65 total and the audio is almost as good.
Serious question.
How bad are spurious emissions?
I always thought considering a uv 5r can't transmit that far any ways it's hickups would have to be negligible at most.
Not too bad but if you are near the edge of an important public safety/military channel or are in narrowband only frequencies I wouldn't use it
You can just factory reset the new ones and gain the function back.
starting from off, PTT, VFO, then twist it on or something like that.
Yeah it jumps to Chinese when you do this so you just want to have the guide already pulled up when ya do it.
Don't forget the extended wiener
how do you use baofengs as walkie talkies if I have two of them? Is it illegal/requires HAM license to do?
also, whats the range on the default antenna vs. an upgraded one?
You can set them up as walkies in a few ways. But it can be as simple as set both to a frequency and go.
It is illegal to use them but as long as you arn't being a massive pest no one gives a damn.
Antenna are a little more complicated.
The real cap is the 8w radio. The different antenna (this is getting beyond my understanding) have different internal constructions. This makes some better general listeners, some better directionaly and some of the big boys are just able to be higher up above the topography.
I see. So we can both tune into 140.501 for example and its fine to transmit and receive right?
How do you find a frequency that no one is on/listening to?
Also not sure, but my understanding is that 5W vs 8W has a larger impact on being able to transmit, while larger antennas allow it to receive signals over longer distances (assuming its the the long baofeng extension, not the directional/500W radio station ones)
Because the radio has ham hardware transmitting on it with out a license is always illegal.
Most frequencies are open, but people can always listen. I listen to guys on hams all the time.
If I get a license to transmit, does my buddy also need a license ?
Also, who is going to catch someone if I they use it while driving in a car? Is it the local authorities or is it HAM autists triangulating the signal ? also, if theyre listening to 140.10, how can they listen in if Im on 165.605
Look dude no one is going to bust you for personal use. No reason at all. Yes any person using the radio out side of an emergency needs a license, but it a whole big process you have to pass a test and shit.
Buy one and play with it. Most of the stuff you are asking becomes obvious when you are messing with one.
just use 462.5625 to 462.7250 MHz UHF if you're nervous about getting into trouble
it's the open anything goes frequency range that walkie talkies operate on
I kinda doubt someone bought a boafeng with the intended purpose of collecting QSL cards or whatever
if you just need to talk to your dipshit friends or if you want to give instructions to the kid on the tractor, just use the walkie talkie frequencies. there's 22 of them and they're literally designated for that purpose
Yeah that's the gmrs/FRS range. You can also technically use MURS channels but I know in my area some of those are very close to public safety channels.
Think about it like this. You can drive the speed limit, have a car that is inspected with tags, fallow all the rules and it's still illegal if you don't have a license.
Likely will never get caught, but still.
All I could detect on mine were FM, weather, and some archaic public service radios that haven’t gone digital.
I threw mine out a couple years ago, and programming them to work with standard walkie talkies was time consuming.
Did you use CHIRP? It makes programming radios very quick and easy, and you can save the image and program another radio with the exact same settings, expanded frequencies, etc
Nice hot mic setup, get a kydex holster
I have a few 9Rs (the splashproof version) I've used them on 2M & 70CM local repeaters and occasionally simplex (I'm a licensed amateur) and one one exceptional occasion on Marine VHF Ch.16. They work fine.
You can't use them as a walkie talkie because of missing certified parts which are required. However you won't ever get caught unless you are an absolute menace on the air. Baofengs themselves won't break the rules that people care about if you stay on the FRS (family radio service) channels and switch to low txpwr max output wattage on FRS is 2w and low power is 1w. However I highly recommend just getting a gmrs license ($35 I think they just lowered the price, no test) because you can use those FRS channels up to 5 watts which is normal power and then the gmrs specific channels up to 50w+ repeater usage and you get a callsign.
>I’m curious what PrepHoles experience is with these and if anybody has any beginners tips
non gatekeeping hamgay here
baofengs are fine for your purpose, which seems to be short range comms.
morons and poorgays think they can buy a $20 radio and communicate all around the world effortlessly during the boog which is just plain moronic. Treat baofengs like what they are- stronger wattage walkie talkies, and remember to always transmit on frs frequencies because getting licensed is gay as frick unless you all want to take radio more seriously
Be careful with water and moisture around them though, they're build worse than mcdonalds happy meal toys and will literally fry if kept in a cargo pants pocket if you're even slightly sweaty.
I am taking my technical HAM license test Saturday
If you have friends and want to communicate with them while in the woods, baofengs are fine. If you are going to just use it for emergency purposes, something like a Garmin Inreach would serve you better.
Handhelds are not going to propagate past the horizon, they are VHF and UHF only. If you want better performance, replace the stock antenna. Also, privacy tones are not private, everyone can hear you if they tune into your frequency.
SOTA/POTA looks fun (look it up) and I am considering doing something like that with an ICOM ID-705.
(pic rel, my ham radios)
I live in an urban area. Have been trying to talk some friends into buying hand helds for emergency coms.
Then I saw some videos of actual on the ground boafang testing in a residential area. They were getting less than a mile. So maybe not.
To elaborate on this guy's privacy tone comment.
Privacy tones cut out you hearing people not using the tone, they do not stop others hearing you. Further you can scan a frequency to find the tone in use and jump on to be a pest.
Yea, I am fortunate to enough to live in the suburbs and within range of several repeaters. Would a mobile HF rig (like the ID-705) work in your case? Like bounce the signals off the ionosphere?
The cool thing about the Icom ID-52 is that you scan easily program in all the repeaters in your region and it will connect to the closest geographic one.
the problem with urban environments and radio is that in order to be able to punch through concrete, metal, wood, glass, etc you drastically reduce your overall range
Imagine radio signals to be like a 12" long piece of string. Higher frequencies (more squiggles) are better for punching through materials, but use up all of your 12" string so the overall length (range) is shorter
Lower frequency/HF stretches out the string- it can reach a farther distance but is less capable of punching through things blocking your line of sight.
I can get out over 20 miles hitting repeaters with a Pofung radio.
If you can get above the roof tops to hit it sure.
Functionally you are below the horizon.
I got a pair of these recently. Should I use the small or large antenna
In the UK our communications regulator Ofcom does not bother monitoring or investigating Ham radio anymore, naturally this has lead to me and other unlicensed users making farting noises down their radios to piss off boomers... and they get SO mad.
thinking about getting a few of these for buds that fish big money offshore tournaments so we can swap info.. VHF is compromised by going to scan mode, and scrambling is a pain in the ass. Using Iridium text now, to expensive to talk. .. Old timers used to use SSB, another pain in the ass...
if it matters not going to be used in US waters.
thoughts?
>pic very related
Should work fine, depends how far apart are you guys from each other baofengs are basically Line of sight to horizon usage. You could benefit from one of those 42 inch foil antennas or a magnetic car antenna as high as you can get it on your boat. MURS could work just fine out there as it's a couple vhf channels set aside for free usage you would have to factory reset your baofeng and change it to English. Don't use ham channels without a license
>VHF is compromised by going to scan mode,
I am not sure what you mean by this.
If you use a radio, people can easily tell when you are transmitting, it doesn't matter which band you are on. If you 'scramble' the speech (some radios have this feature), other radios have built in descramblers and can still understand what you are saying.
The only way to have some semblance of privacy is to use AES encryption. Even though it is against the FCC rules, I think a few Anytone models have encryption because the Chinese don't give a flying frick. Motorola also has them as well, but they will cost a fortune.
Can anyone tell me how difficult it is to use the digital bands to send a text message . I have a baofang and I think I’ll park it with an old android to send messages In the woods and if I can do that I might try to program something with that . Am I naive for thinking so
Also curious about something like this if anyone knowskd8dd
Despite being a boafang fan I am about to return a pair I bought.
They are fricked up 3 ways from Sunday.
Soon as you turn them on they start make all the other ones start spazing out. One can't even factory reset.
The return process isn't easy so far they want me to email them a video of the issue...the frickers are broke.
The capability is good but after this I am buying a good radio for myself.
Have you tried adjusting the squelch on them?