Baofeng: Value

From a post by Soxy on the Transmission1 forum:

"if any rep from baofeng monitors this site is'nt it about time you got these radio's right.after the uv-3r mk-1 then the mk-2 and the mk-3 and now the uv-5r there are still major issues.come on get it right and stop ripping your customers off and coming out with useless excuses."

I'm not sure why this bothers me so much. The outrage? The grammar? The lack of specifics (relating to the "useless excuses"? The incorrect model names? The sense of entitlement? The sense of powerlessness?

No one is making this person buy these radios. Most reasonable people understand that, in the real world, there are trade-offs. Pay less, get less. He can't be bothered to use capitalization or do any proof-reading for a few sentences, but someone else better darn well make a perfect product and make it super cheap.

I did not reply on the board as I generally prefer to avoid feeding the trolls. Since logic does not appear to be his strong suit, trying to persuade him with more logic is likely to fail.

Baofeng UV-5R: Picture with the Case Removed

Here is the first picture I have seen of the a UV-5R that has been taken apart. The picture is from Jester316 at the AR15 forum. I'm sure more will follow as others crack open the unit. I wonder if a Waccom version has the BFUV-5R stamp on it.

Baofeng UV-5R: Waccom UV-5R 5W Video

409Shop has put out a video of the Waccom UV-5R. I did not see any difference between the Baofeng and Waccom, but the Waccom is still advertised as 5W. A quick search of the 409Shop site does not show any other Waccom radios - just some accessories that are shared by the Baofeng version.



Hat tip to Nate who let me know about the video.

Baofeng UV-5R: Video - Adding a Repeater to Memory

As a follow-up to the written instructions for adding a repeater into memory, here is a video from gwcfeb03 that demonstrates the procedure.Note,  I changed to the transmitting frequency before going back into menu #27 the second time. It sounds like it took his change, but I would rather see the frequency in the display instead of hoping I keyed it correctly.

Baofeng UV-5R: US Sellers

Chris, NH7QH, has added the UV-5R to his website at HawaiiRadioSales.com, but won't take orders until they have FCC approval - which should be coming soon.

Ed, of ImportCommunications.com, sent out an update saying that he had ordered several hundred UV-5Rs, but there has been a problem with a transfer of the funds. Apparently his money is lost in China, so he's having to work that out.

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Soon? Price?

Matt is hearing rumors that the KG-UV920R is soon to make an appearance. I would think his sources were pretty good. He is also speculating about the price. I think $250 is a good guess. When we first heard about the KG-UV920R, my guess was $200, but it seems that prices are rising as the Wouxun brand becomes stronger. At $200, it is a no brainer for me. At $250, I'm gonna do a little research as I might forgo a few features and get a Yaesu or Icom rig for similar money.

Baofeng Lake

I really like this picture.  Baofeng Lake, near to Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, China. 

Baofeng UV-5R: Waccom UV-5R 5W

Steve points out that the 409Shop has a Waccom UV-5R for sale. The description says the unit is 5W. We've seen the other versions of the UV-3R (Magiksun, Comtex, Zastone), but the specs were normally the same. I still want to know if the UV-5R is a Baofeng product or if they are just re-branding some's hardware like they did with VeroTelecom and the UV-3R. Clearly, it is similar to the TYT TH-F8.

Baofeng UV-5R: Adding a Repeater to Memory

These instructions* are courtesy of Ed (wouxun.us, importcommunications.com, and now uv-5r.com) via the UV-5R Yahoo Group. Some people have had problems doing this - including me. I found that it would not allow me to add the memories from VFO B. I just happened to be on VFO B when I started testing, but I tried several times and couldn't figure out what was wrong - it would never give the confirmation that the REC FREQ was stored. I flipped to the VFO A and it worked the first time.

*Very slight modifications by me - changed "prompts" to "confirms" in a couple of places.


To program repeater 146.985, minus offset, 100 Hz tone, low power level, into Channel#010

Turn on radio.

If in Memory Mode switch to VFO Mode (VFO/MR)

Select 5 KHz Step - (MENU + 1 + MENU) (Use the ↑ ↓ key for 5K) (MENU + EXIT)

Enter 146.985 (The receive frequency)

Press [MENU] + 2 + [MENU]
Use the ↑↓ key to select Low Power

Press [MENU] + [EXIT]
To accept and exit

Press [MENU] + 5 + [MENU]
Use the ↑ ↓ key to select Wide Bandwidth
Press [MENU] + [EXIT]
To accept and exit

Press [MENU] + 1 + 3 + [MENU]
Use the ↑ ↓ key to select 100 Hz Tone
Press [MENU] + [EXIT]
To accept and exit

Press [MENU] + 2 + 7 + [MENU]
Enter 010 or Use the ↑ ↓ key to select 010
Press [MENU] + [EXIT]
This stores the Receive Frequency - Radio confirms that REC FREQ has been stored

Enter 146.385 (The transmit frequency)
Press [MENU] + 2 + 7 +
[MENU] + [MENU] + [EXIT]
Radio confirms that TX FREQ has been stored
       
Return to Memory Mode (VFO/MR)

Baofeng UV-5R: Introduction to Controls

The video is from an Android phone and a little shaky, but the content is good.