Showing posts sorted by relevance for query uv-b5. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query uv-b5. Sort by date Show all posts

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Baofeng UV-B5: Best Kept Secret


[ Don't have a UV-B5 yet? Get one here. ]

Ben (PA2OLD) called me out for being so slow to post about the Baofeng UV-B5. Hans posted some general information about it when he discovered the UV-B5 and UV-B6. (Yes, back in November - just wait, it gets worse.)




On the surface, it is your typical dual band 5W Chinese HT: 136 - 174 MHz and 400 - 470 MHz along with 65 - 108 MHz FM receive. Here are the links to the radios on the Baofeng site: UV-B5 and UV-B6. Of note is the lack of the customary flashlight (for the UV-B5) and, perhaps more importantly, 2.5Khz steps. You can get one at the 409Shop for $53 (USD) along with many of the usual accessories (USB programming cable, serial programming cable, extra batteries or chargers) - no colors or AA/AAA battery packs yet. Give them time and I am sure they will show up. As you will find, the UV-B5 does not share the same form as the UV-5R, so you won't be able to share batteries or chargers. However, the programming cable from your UV-5R should work.

No surprise.. a Yahoo Group has been started for the UV-B5.

Hans, in his full review, says:
"For now this is the HT to compare others with – the receiver is at least as good as the Wouxun KG-UVD1P and outperforms the Quansheng TG-UV2. Overloading is not impossible, but far from easy – almost unreal for an HT this price."
"The Baofeng UV-B5 is close to perfect. The only two niggles are the 5-character limit for alphanumeric descriptions and the belt clip screws which are too short. For the rest: best value for money to date. Needless to say, I’m keeping this one."
Hans also points out that you can save a few dollars if you don't want the pretty box by ordering from AliExpress. I'm guessing price was not the biggest factor when Hans did his "Best/Worst of 2012" and ranked the Wouxun KG-UVD1P ahead of the Baofeng UV-B5. If price had been weighted heavily it looks like the UV-B5 might have been the winner.

Lastly, after living with the radio for a while he found some problems with the FM tuning and memories. He also reports the battery life, while not horrible, isn't great.

And Ben got his hands on one. He's got a summary page here with lots of pictures. He comments:
"The radio works excellent and the modulation is also good, not like some UV-5R types.I also think that the battery is more than enough capacity.
This Baofeng UV B5 cost at the 409shop only 53 Dollar, which is in Euros (with the exchange rate of January 2013) € 41.75 including shipping."
Bob (K0NR) really likes it as well:
"My overall assessment is that Baofeng has cleaned up the issues with the UV-5R (and don’t forget, I really like that radio!). The UV-B5 is a sweet little radio that will make a splash when it hits the US market."
Given my tardiness, the price, and the glowing reviews from the big name ham radio bloggers above, I'm surprised these things aren't the talk of the internet. The Yahoo group is of a modest size and Google searches don't reveal much beyond the links above. (I found one other review, but there wasn't much meat to it.) Here is the best video I found. (Best meaning the better of two.)



So for now, I'm calling the UV-B5 the best kept secret in the world of Chinese radios!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Baofeng UV-B5: Flashlight Mod

You know I like opening radios up for no apparent reason. This UV-B5 was especially attractive to me - look two rotary encoders with that easily breakable blue plastic!

But that's not the point...

See, this enterprising soul has discovered that you can add a flashlight to the UV-B5:
"Just underneath where the rotary knob is the two holes for the flashlight L.E.D. on the UV-B6 model. 
Even though the circuit board is printed UV-B5; I assume that both radio's have the same circuit boards? 
It also look like the switching transistor for the L.E.D. next to it. I wonder if you put an led in here whether it would light up? If so maybe a backlight mod can be done as the button under the monitor IS wired in circuit (On the B5). I take it that the flashlight on the UV-B6 is either ON or OFF and doesn't flash? if so then this has given me food for thought!"
Then:
"Just temporarily put an L.E.D. in the holes and it works! So a mod can be done to have a UV-B5 with a flashlight!! All the components ARE already in circuit on the PCB."


Now some may ask "Why?" when you could get a UV-B6. To them I say, why not? Also, you could have both a flash light and knob for changing channels.

Via the UV-B5 Yahoo Group

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

More Baofeng Version Notes from Nate

From Nate... he's compiled some information from the various links below. Corrections/additions are welcome.

Complete list of links:

General Radio Descriptions:
http://baofengtech.com/radios
Comparison Chart:
http://baofengtech.com/compare
FAQ (Myths and Facts)
http://baofengtech.com/faq
Firmware Guide:
http://baofengtech.com/firmwareguide

Also reference to:
http://www.brickolore.com/2014/06/baofengtech-charts.html

Radio's currently listed on BaofengTech (Plus some additions):


Generation Zero:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UV-3R, 3R+ (UV-100, UV-100 MKII, UV-200, UV-200 MKII, UV-3R MKII, Vero Electronics UV-X4.
The improved Vero Electronics UV-X5 = TYT TH-UV3R probably belongs here too*).


First Generation:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UV-5R, UV5R+, UV-5RA/X, UV-5RC/X, UV-5RE (and most re-branded clones such as the Ronson UV-8R, the Waccom WUV-5R . 409Shop models - UV5R[A-Q] ** belong here too. also if they have + or UU after the model number, it just means that the frequency range was extended by software on the UHF band from 400-470/480 to 400-520, not an improved firmware ).

Slightly better receiver and newer firmware:
UV-B5, UV-B6, UV-82 (=UV82L), UV-82X (=144/220 Mhz model), UV-82C, (And probably the F11, BFUV66 and BFUV89 belong here too).


Second Generation:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GT-3, A-52, B-580T, BF-F8+ (Also BF-530I, BFE500S and maybe BF-F9+  ***).

Notes:

* Vero Electronics UV-X5 = TYT TH-UV3R probably has some small changes in the filter section, similar to what RadioMart\Martyn was trying to do with the TYT TH-UVF9 that probably became the TYT TH-UVF9D.
Ref1: http://www.worldwidedx.com/handitalkies/153179-tyt-th-uv3r-2m-440-also-does-220-a.html
Ref2: http://www.uv3r.com/
Ref3: http://www.brickolore.com/2012/06/tyt-th-uvf9-more-tri-band-info.html
Ref4: http://www.brickolore.com/2012/06/tyt-th-uvf9-story-so-far.html
Ref5: http://www.tyt888.com/en/Products/Detail.asp?ID=2068
** 409Shop models names UV5R[A-Q] might have added letters to indicate the color R/BLUE/CC 
*** Note the lack of [BAND] button on second gen radios that have the UV-5R form - the BF-F8+, the 409Shop's Baofeng BF-F9+ and possibly other clones that we will see in the future.

I hope this will put an end to the Baofeng/Pofung model variation confusion.

Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 Brickolore Top 10 Links

Looking at my Google Analytics data, the top 10 visited links in 2015 were:

10. QYT KT8900: Software
Both this post and number four on the list suggest a real desire for a good quality, but inexpensive mobile. They made the list despite only getting posted in May of 2015.
9. Baofeng UV-5R: Schematics
The UV-5R remains popular and hams like to tinker/fix things.
8. Brick O'Lore: Ham Radio Page
I'm surprised that this got so many hits as I don't maintain it - looks like I should do some updates.
7. Baofeng UV-5R: Software v2
Again, software posts seem to be popular. And everyone that got a UV-5R wanted to check out the the new version of the software.
6. Brick O'Lore: The Radios Page
I'm glad this gets some hits as I try to keep it updated as a quick reference - I would like to expand it by keeping track of lowest prices and other miscellaneous data.
5. Baofeng UV-B5: Best Kept Secret
The UV-B5 still seems to be a sleeper.
4. QYT KT8900: Dual Band Mobile
I think the Baofeng Tech UV-5001 and Baofeng Tech UV-2501 mobile radios would have been more popular posts than the KT8900 - except they weren't released until November.
3. Brick O'Lore: Baofeng (UV-3R) Page
The little clone of the Yaesu VX-3R, the UV-3R, really got folks interested in the Chinese radios. I can't believe it still gets so many hits.
2. Baofeng UV-5R: Extreme Receive Modification
And hams would love to get something for nothing!
1. Brick O'Lore (main web page)
This tells me that lots of people visit my blog the old fashioned way - by going straight to the root domain.
Here's to an interesting 2016. May it be everyone's best year yet!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Baofeng UV-82 and UV-5R: Fight!

John (K3NXU) and Hans (PD0AC) both take a look at the UV-82 and the inevitable comparisons to the UV-5R are made.

Hans starts off with this:
"If you hate lengthy reviews: this is mainly a Baofeng UV-5R in disguise. If this is all you wanted to know you can leave now."
There is a lot more detail, so check it out.

"So what is your current favorite Baofeng if you were buying new without owning anything? What is your current favorite Chinese HT overall?"
"For ham radio use the UV-B5 / UV-B6. While boring in appearance and lacking fancy options, these radios deliver. When price is less important, Wouxun is still the way to go (or maybe the Quansheng TG-UV2 if you don’t need DTMF)."
So, I still feel that the UV-B5/UV-B6 continues to fly under the radar. That's despite the love it has been getting on the AR-15 site. BTW - that thread alone has created about 30 new licensed hams.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Baofeng UV-B5: Miklor Reference

John (K3NXU) started with the UV-5R information. He added the UV-82. And now, you can get information on the UV-B5.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Baofeng UV-B5: Test Mode Code

No one has found anything exciting about it, but to unlock the UV-B5 test mode in the software, try code KT511.

I'm putting this tidbit out here so, hopefully, someone will discover the undocumented phaser feature.

Hat tip to Walter and Hans (PD0AC) for mentioning it in the comments.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Baofeng UV-B5: The Best Kept Secret's Secret

Amazing... I had noticed a bunch of traffic on the Yahoo Group, but I had not made time to read through it. John sums up that the dual-band (2M/440) UV-B5 can do about 2 Watts out on 220. You can access the additional band frequencies by using Chirp to program the radio.


Friday, December 6, 2013

Monday, February 11, 2013

Baofeng UV-B5: First eHam Review

Actually, the review is of the UV-B6, but in any case, he really doesn't like the receiver - which doesn't match the other reviews we are seeing.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Lots of new Hams

Several people have been inspired by this post in the AR-15 General Discussion area... over 30 pages of posts about radios (most notably the Baofeng UV-B5), licensing, and other basics of being a ham... and have gotten their license. Ham radio has its own section, but the post above got it in front of a much larger audience.

One little post created a ton of interest. Amazing.