Baofeng BF-F9: On Woot

At the end of May, Woot was selling the Baofeng BF-F9 for about $40. It generated quite a thread on the UV-5R Yahoo Group. There was some worry about unlicensed folks getting their hands on the radios, since they were promoted on Woot. I guess the thinking was that Woot has a diverse audience that might be interested in the cool toy/walkie talkie, but have no interest or knowledge of the licensing requirements to transmit. (Also, speculating here that this is different from Amazon or other web sites where people are more likely to be intentionally searching for radios instead of having one pop up on the page.)

k4rgn shared this note:

As someone who ordered a Baofeng from Woot yesterday before they sold out, I just received an email from Woot saying: 

"Dear Potential Hammie, So you bought the BaoFeng Ham Two-way Radio Transceiver from us very recently! Thank you! Listen to your hearts content! But we somehow forgot to offer a little reminder that HAM radio transmission requires a license! And if you send without it, you're gonna get in trouble with the FCC. Read here for more: http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed . If you already knew all that, excellent! But if you didn't know that, we want to give you a chance to get a refund. Just email support@woot.com by June 3rd, 10 AM CST and say I CAN'T HAM-DLE IT! and we'll cancel the order and get you your money back, just like that. Or, of course, you could get that license and learn the wonderful and majestic world of HAM. Wouldn't that be fun? Huh? Wouldn't it? It's up to you, Woot.com" 

Congrats to whoever provoked Woot to send this.

I think it is nice that they sent the note, but I believe the obligation is with the buyer. I'm trying to think of analogies with cars or guns. I'm pretty sure I showed a license to purchase my last car, but that was more a piece of the financial transaction. It wasn't to prove I was permitted to drive. I'm pretty big on personal responsibility and since there is a real (however unlikely) case that the radio could be used as a receiver only, I have no problem with them being sold on Woot.

Hopefully, we'll add even more folks to the hobby.

Baofeng BF-F9: Black Inverse LCD Display

A comment on my original  BF-F9 post points to this "exclusive" offering of a version with a "black inverse LCD display" by TokoRadio.com.  If my conversion is correct, it is about $75 USD. I looked for the BF-F9, but did not find it on the Baofeng web site, but they do have the BF-F8+ that has the same screen as the one in the image below. (It looks like they are the same image with the exception of the label at the bottom with the model number.) We've been teased by some pretty screens that have and haven't show up (I'm looking at you TYT), but maybe this one will - the Indonesian site says it is available, but if I click BUY, it says a "color selection is required" and I can't see any way to pick a color.

Baofeng BF-F9

Nate noticed that the 409Shop has a Baofeng BF-F9 for sale. Nothing in the specs jumped out at me, but it was a quick look. I don't see it listed on the Baofeng site.

BAOFENG BF-F9 136-174/400-480Mhz RADIO

BAOFENG BF-F9 The transceiver is a micro-miniature multiband
FM transceiver with extensive receive frequency coverage,
providing local-area two-way amateur communications along with unmatched monitoring capability

VHF/ UHF DUAL-BAND TWO WAY RADIO

• Frequency Range: 136-174 / 400-480MHz
• Dual-Band Display, Dual Freq. Display, Dual-Standby
• Output Power: 4 /1Watts
• 128 Channels
  50 CTCSS and 104 CDCSS
• Built-in VOX Function
• 1750Hz Brust Tone
• FM Radio (65.0MHz-108.0MHz)
• LED Flashlight
• Large LCD Display
• High/Low RF Power Switchable
• 25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable
• Emergency Alert
• Low Battery Alert
• Battery Saver
• Time-out Timer
• Keypad Lock
• Monitor Channel
• Channel Step: 2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25KHz
• ROGER SET

BAOFENG BF-F9 Compare Products

■ Dual band, dual display, dual standby ■ A/B band independent operation ■ 128 groups channels storage ■ Shortcut menu operation mode ■ VFO & Memory channels scan ■ Emergency Alarm ■ Tri-color background light selectable ■ 0~9 grades VOX selectable ■ PTT & ANI ID ■ FM radio ■ Voice companding ■ 50 CTCSS/104 DCS ■ ■ PC programmable ■ Wide/Narrow Band(25kHz/12.5kHz) ■ Transmitter time-out timer(TOT) ■ High/Low TX power selectable ■ Busy channel lock-out(BCLO) ■ ■ ■ ■ 　 Specifications: Item number BF-F9 General Frequency Range 65-108MHz(FM Receive only) 136-174MHZ and 400-480HZ (TX/RX) Channel No. 128 Frequency Stability ±2.5ppm Antenna High gain DualBand antenna Antenna Impedance 50Ω Operating Voltage DC 7.4V Mode of operation Simple or semi-duplex Dimension（W x H x D） 100 x 52 x 32 mm Weight 250g（including battery, antenna） Transmitter Output power 4W / 1W (Max 5W) Modulation Mode 16kΦF3E / 11kΦF3E Maximum deviation ＜5kHz(Wide) / ＜2.5kHz(Narrow) Spurious Radiation ＜7μW Adjacent Ch. power ≤-65dB(Wide) / ≤-60dB(Narrow) Pre-emphasis characteristics 6dB Current ≤1.6A(5W) CTCSS/DCS deviation 0.5±0.1kHz(Wide) / 0.3±0.1kHz(Narrow) Intermediation sensitivity 8-12mv Intermediation distortion ＜10% 　 Earpiece / mic type : Kenwood Plug type Antenna : SMA -Female