Friday, May 6, 2011

Baofeng UV-3R Review: Eden Valley Radio Society Forum

M5TXJ has a review of the Baofeng UV-3R on the Eden Valley Radio Society Forum.

Overall, another positive review. I won't repeat everything he says, but he sums up:
"Pros
Size, price, performance, dial locks by pressing down, charging battery in situ, clear display, simple menu system, long battery life, reasonable power output, did I say price!

Cons
instructions don't match updated firmware, no dual band aerial, slightly poor fit of battery cover."
Some of the sellers are now offering a dual band antenna instead of including both a UHF and a VHF antenna. Since I don't use 440, if I get slightly better performance out of the VHF specific antenna on 2M, then that's a win for me.

I'll say it again - the barrier to entry, from a cost perspective, to ham radio is very low. I suggested that someone could spend $15 to get their license and then use Echolink from a phone or PC to "get on the air." If you want to play radio with a real rig, a $55 UV-3R would go a long way. (Of course, some people spend a lifetime and small fortune on ham gear.)

4 comments:

  1. Just off to read M5TXJ's review. Readers might also be interested in my opinions about the UV-3R.

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  2. What a small world. I just read your profile and see you are living in Cockermouth. My in-laws lived there in the early/mid-90's. I visited them and stayed in Cumbria for about a month.

    In fact, just beside the TV in our den is a painting of Market Place and Castle Gate by Rolf Parker. I get to see a little bit of Cockermouth every day.

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  3. How does US charge tax on import of UV-3r?

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  4. I have never seen tax charged on them when coming from China.

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