Radios

Mike_H

Mike_H

autos are better - WRWD508
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Feb 28, 2017
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Grand Rapids, MI, United States
Looking to ditch the CB...I haven't been able to get it tuned anywhere near correct since my tub swap and I'm tired of trying. My club uses GMRS anyway, so I was looking at these boafeng radios

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T9BCXVB/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Anyone use them? I'm not really "into" radios, I bought my GMRS license and they seem a fair bit more capable than the Midland GMRS walkie talkies.
 
Mike_H said:
Looking to ditch the CB...I haven't been able to get it tuned anywhere near correct since my tub swap and I'm tired of trying. My club uses GMRS anyway, so I was looking at these boafeng radios

[URL]https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T9BCXVB/?tag=wranglerorg-20[/URL]

Anyone use them? I'm not really "into" radios, I bought my GMRS license and they seem a fair bit more capable than the Midland GMRS walkie talkies.
Click to expand...
you are entering a HIGHLY controversial subject in the radio community:

are they technically legal: no
will they work: yes

They're not a particularly high quality radio, I much prefer the TYT UV-88 for an economical handheld. They're not very rugged, but if you drop one in the river, you can get another for $30 - theres something to be said for that. These radios are used heavily in the ham bands for various APRS and packet work where we don't touch the radio much or just need something to work in the background. I personally hate the things, but they do get the job done and I have 3 of them. I would feel much better recommending a Motorola or Midland radio from a quality and user experience standpoint, I have a set of midland radios that work "fine".
 
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I've got a similar model; I think it's the 'next one up'.

BF-F8HP (UV-5R 3rd Gen) 8-Watt Dual Band Two-Way Radio (136-174MHz VHF & 400-520MHz UHF)​

I bought it to communicate in the field with my buddies when hunting and secondary use is for the occasional wheeling run when not everyone has a CB or someone's CB isn't working (most of us have some sort of handheld GMRS we bring as Plan B).

For what I use it for, I've been really pleased. It's more than enough on Jeep rides, and with the longer antenna I have, can handle surprisingly long distances in the back country when compared to the lower powered models. It's also compact and has excellent battery life. It's a good option for those not wanting to go with a full-blown mounted unit.
 
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Mike_H said:
Looking to ditch the CB...I haven't been able to get it tuned anywhere near correct since my tub swap and I'm tired of trying. My club uses GMRS anyway, so I was looking at these boafeng radios

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T9BCXVB/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Anyone use them? I'm not really "into" radios, I bought my GMRS license and they seem a fair bit more capable than the Midland GMRS walkie talkies.
Click to expand...

Last few trips we been using the handhelds. Not bad in a Jeep group.
 
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I’ve been using them for several years. They work just fine for me and haven’t had any issues. They are inexpensive enough to buy a couple to have in the Jeep and loan out to anyone who shows up without a radio. I have three now.
 
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KingCarGuyZ said:
you are entering a HIGHLY controversial subject in the radio community:

are they technically legal: no
will they work: yes

They're not a particularly high quality radio, I much prefer the TYT UV-88 for an economical handheld. They're not very rugged, but if you drop one in the river, you can get another for $30 - theres something to be said for that. These radios are used heavily in the ham bands for various APRS and packet work where we don't touch the radio much or just need something to work in the background. I personally hate the things, but they do get the job done and I have 3 of them. I would feel much better recommending a Motorola or Midland radio from a quality and user experience standpoint, I have a set of midland radios that work "fine".
Click to expand...

The "X" version is an actual GMRS radio, compliant with the part 95 FCC rules. It can't transmit on other frequencies but it can listen. So, its different than the UV-5R version. Not sure if that is what you were referencing, but for the little bit of research I did, this radio eliminated the gray area that the 5R operates in.
 
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Mike_H said:
The "X" version is an actual GMRS radio, compliant with the part 95 FCC rules. It can't transmit on other frequencies but it can listen. So, its different than the UV-5R version. Not sure if that is what you were referencing, but for the little bit of research I did, this radio eliminated the gray area that the 5R operates in.
Click to expand...

If they actually managed to get a part 95cert, that’s worth something.

With everyone I have ever met you are a programming cable and 2 sec away from making it do whatever you want. I don’t really have a problem with it, but it seems worth mentioning.
 
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We have a few Baofeng UV-5R and 5RE's. They work really well, and for the price you cant beat them. We only ever use race frequencies.

And if you have a PCI frequency list you can communicate with people that have programmed race radios.
 
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Mike_H said:
The "X" version is an actual GMRS radio, compliant with the part 95 FCC rules. It can't transmit on other frequencies but it can listen. So, its different than the UV-5R version. Not sure if that is what you were referencing, but for the little bit of research I did, this radio eliminated the gray area that the 5R operates in.
Click to expand...

The “x” can be unlocked if you care to do so….
 
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