Baofeng UV5R.

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Looking for a set of Baofeng ham radios. I've done a ton of research via tutorials and reviews. Both online and Amazon. And I have a couple questions before I buy.

And yes, I will get my ham license prior to broadcasting on these.

1) What is the current firmware version for the Baofeng UV5R? From my reading it seems like firmware version is most important in the basic UV5R.

2) After reading many tutorials and reviews, online and on Amazon. Of all the different UV5Rs out there it does not seem necessary to buy anything besides a basic UV5R. 8 watt models do not appear to transmit at anything over 4 or 5 watts.

And the standard UV5R appears to have two tx modes 1 watt and 4 watt. So spending extra on a tri power version (to save battery life) does not seem to be an advantage either. And they don't transmit at 8 watts anyway.

The BF-FH8P does seem to have advantages. But I am just getting into this. And don't want to spend $70 on each radio. I need 3 or 4. So a $20 radio and a better antenna seems like the logical route to go. Plus I intend to unlock and program them myself with a better btech cable and CHIRP.

Does anyone disagree with this?

3) Are there better retailers on Amazon? Radioddity, ABBREE and Baofeng Tech seem to be reliable. The "Baofeng Store" appears to include many different suppliers. With various ratings and history.

I'm basically trying to weed out problems "before" I make a purchase. Rather than after.

Thank you for any help you may give. @pagrey would love your input.
 
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The uv5r has the capability to transmit on many frequencies outside of the GMRS spectrum. If you plan to use only GMRS frequencies it may be easier to simply get GMRS specific radios. Sometimes I wish I would have done that. For example, tuning to a new GMRS channel can be easy with a programed uv5r but switching the privacy code can get cumbersome if you have not had to change it for a while. The GMRS specific radios make that much easier.
 
The uv5r has the capability to transmit on many frequencies outside of the GMRS spectrum. If you plan to use only GMRS frequencies it may be easier to simply get GMRS specific radios. Sometimes I wish I would have done that. For example, tuning to a new GMRS channel can be easy with a programed uv5r but switching the privacy code can get cumbersome if you have not had to change it for a while. The GMRS specific radios make that much easier.

I'm actually looking to use these as emergency/prepper radios. I'm a prepper in that I stay prepared for emergencies and disasters. Not the tinfoil hat type. Lol.

So ham, gmrs, frs and noaa are important to me. I am familiar with the legal limitations of these radios.

These coupled with a good scanner are going to be my go to's for now.

This guy did an excellent write up on entry level emergency comms kits. Its the best oage I've found for setting up a two radio vomms kit. And understanding everything you can do with it. And what to buy. In simple understandable terms.

http://www.tothewoods.net/Comms-vehicle-emergency-communications-EMCOMM-kit.php

He has a bunch of interesting pages. And his emergency vehicle is a 2002 TJ. So he has some good mount pages too.
 
There is a tri-band version, the UV-5RIII. If you're getting a Ham license, the addition of the 1.25 meter band won't hurt, although it isn't a very "populous" band from what I've seen - not much equipment will xmit on it apparently. Whatever version you get, toss the dummy load "antenna" that comes with it and replace it with a Nagoya NA-320A which is made specifically for the UV5-R and its somewhat oddball antenna connector.
 
There is a tri-band version, the UV-5RIII. If you're getting a Ham license, the addition of the 1.25 meter band won't hurt, although it isn't a very "populous" band from what I've seen - not much equipment will xmit on it apparently. Whatever version you get, toss the dummy load "antenna" that comes with it and replace it with a Nagoya NA-320A which is made specifically for the UV5-R and its somewhat oddball antenna connector.

I see your Nagoya and raise you a Signal Stuff they support the Ham study website, and make a killer product. I have probably 10 of there antennas for various radios and love the different colors and the ability to twist it back in on itself and carry it with me. In fact one lives folded up in my daily carry backpack next the the TYT-UV88 (in my opinion much nicer than the UV-5R).

I would also say that any and all of the major 3 are better than a UV-5R (Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood) my fav "pepper" radio is the Yaesu VX series, specifically the VX-7, I have 2 of these, they have been through hell and back and while they have there battle scars, the things work great.
 
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I see your Nagoya and raise you a Signal Stuff they support the Ham study website, and make a killer product. I have probably 10 of there antennas for various radios and love the different colors and the ability to twist it back in on itself and carry it with me. In fact one lives folded up in my daily carry backpack next the the TYT-UV88 (in my opinion much nicer than the UV-5R).

I would also say that any and all of the major 3 are better than a UV-5R (Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood) my fav "pepper" radio is the Yaesu VX series, specifically the VX-7, I have 2 of these, they have been through hell and back and while they have there battle scars, the things work great.

Not familiar with "Signal Stuff", but there are certainly others out there. Agree about the "big 3" - no question about it, they're far better radios. BUT - the Baofengs are disposable, if one falls under the rear wheel, nobody's gonna be upset...
 
Not familiar with "Signal Stuff", but there are certainly others out there. Agree about the "big 3" - no question about it, they're far better radios. BUT - the Baofengs are disposable, if one falls under the rear wheel, nobody's gonna be upset...

I absolutely see he value in a disposable radio, I joke that my TYT's are water proof, cause If I drop them in the water, I just sigh and go get another one. I highly recommend you look at the TYT-uv88 for disposable radio work. its menus and general UI are much better than a UV-5r, still no where close to a kenwood, but better than a 5R - and I don't care if I drop it.

Radioddity also makes some decent stuff, and if you like tinkering, you can get some old business band kenwood or Motorola HT's for stupid cheap used, and re-program them for ham or GRMS, if you are in the ham bands and get the right radios (such as the now discontinued Radioddity GD-77, or a Motorola Mototrbo series) you can even play with DMR, which has some potentially useful features when compared to FM
 
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Just a PSA - was digging around on eBay looking at UV-5R radios as its been awhile since I bought mine. There was at least one seller selling the UV-5RIII tri-bander bundled with a DUAL band Nagoya antenna - which would be fine for the "normal" dual band UV-5Rs, but sub-optimal for the tri-band version. Caveat Emptor!
 
I absolutely see he value in a disposable radio, I joke that my TYT's are water proof, cause If I drop them in the water, I just sigh and go get another one. I highly recommend you look at the TYT-uv88 for disposable radio work. its menus and general UI are much better than a UV-5r, still no where close to a kenwood, but better than a 5R - and I don't care if I drop it.

Radioddity also makes some decent stuff, and if you like tinkering, you can get some old business band kenwood or Motorola HT's for stupid cheap used, and re-program them for ham or GRMS, if you are in the ham bands and get the right radios (such as the now discontinued Radioddity GD-77, or a Motorola Mototrbo series) you can even play with DMR, which has some potentially useful features when compared to FM

Hadn't heard of that one before - although it's twice the price of the Baofeng, there's something to be said about a better UI and menu structure! You get what you pay for.
 
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