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Class action lawsuit against Baofeng

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KK4JUG

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Over the years, I purchased several Baofeng radios but I subsequently trashed them, chargers included. Literally. I kept one but only because I didn't have a portable FM radio.

I did keep the wall warts, however.
 

TailGator911

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To be honest, I bought one out of curiosity. I charged it up and made sure it worked, then I plugged it in the desk charger and put it on top of my CB base station. I have not touched it in months. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I will take it with me on a fishing trip soon so I can fiddle with it and figure it out. I basically bought it for my go-to bag in the event of any kind of evacuation. Better than no radio if I were to get separated from my scanners and ham HTs somehow. It's my just-in-case radio, so I would have an emergency backup for local 2m ops and monitoring whatever I could.

JD
kf4anc
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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I am surprised CHIRP did not get mentioned in this lawsuit.

I actually contacted AMCREST via their on line chat to enquire about a new UHF radio they were marketing. Playing dumb I asked questions about what frequencies were in the radio, how do I get a frequency, do I need a license. The replies were anything but candid. They clearly don't care if you have a license and would rather not tell you how to use the radios legally.

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danesgs

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As to the crap angle and such. How many hams actually have the spectrum analyzer, deviation meter and other gear to "spec" their own gear to see if it falls within FCC or manufacturers specifications? Not many I suppose. I have seen some cheap 30 dollar radios for SWL listening that are great receivers for "30 dollar radios". That being said Alinco and Yaesu both have HT's the later being in the 60 dollar range that no doubt beats the pants off of chinese radios while the Alinco is still around 100 bucks ,as is the only 2 meter Kenwood left on the market. So when spending money on a HT what do you do if you never plan to use it except in an emergency or camping situation? Spend 100-200 for a whiz bang radio that will sit in a tackle box for a few years or a cheap radio that pics up 2 meters and FM broadcasts in the forest and maybe might save your bacon if you get hurt or lost in a national park?

I would be more concerned with a HAM leaving these 25 dollar radios around and his kids take them thinking they are "walkie-talkies" and playing "space-patrol" on public service frequencies, but hey they could do the same on your 200 dollar handheld or you dual band base rig.

Like Wrath put it, I hope the .79 cent refund over the class action is worth all the time and money spent in court over a 25 dollar radio.
 

KK4JUG

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I don't think you're supposed to "make money" in a class action suit of this type. It's supposed to right a wrong and, hopefully, compensate people for the money they're out. It doesn't always work that way, however.
 

eorange

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Compensate for what? It's not like the radios don't work as advertised, or they're exploding, or the backlight isn't bright enough :). This is total lawyering up.
 

wrath

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I don't think you're supposed to "make money" in a class action suit of this type. It's supposed to right a wrong and, hopefully, compensate people for the money they're out. It doesn't always work that way, however.
When you spend less than $100 on a radio ,they new what they bought.every single one of us Elmers advised against it,most of these hamsters ran off and went el cheapo ,and now they regret the purchase because some lawyer has filed a case ,I don't buy it ,why did they not have buyers remorse when they got what they paid for ,and why do people persist in buying CCR'S today. They will spend weeks waiting for the $1K+ i whatever that they already paid in advance for ,but want to go dirt cheap for a radio,despite everything from the elmers, the League to the Media that warned them off . I think there was plenty of exposure along time ago,letting them know what they bought.as a point of fact I have been licensed over 30 years ,sure the technology has changed ( my first radio didn't have a tone board) however the price of a decent radio has increased very little,from 30 years ago.

And if these people are truly sorry they bought this junk ,there should be an unprovoked sales explosion of people maturing into decent radios,that has not happened . So I seriously doubt the merits of the case,nobody out of the blue buy a baofeng, most were scanner public service monitor users/owners ,and heard all the crap being battered around on air,so even those without elmers ,heard it ,and shame on any experieced ham who bought them knowing what they were .my last hamfest had 200 guys with baofeng and 1 with a pair of Kenwoods me! I dont believe any of them got sold junk ,they intentionaly sought and bought junk.nobody was deceived by anyone but themselves.

The same thing is happening in other products ,China is dumping there cheap junk here for unreal prices ,anyone who has anything above a 4th grade education knows it's inferior quality ,there buying ,however if these companies weren't finding suckers to allow them to turn huge profits,they wouldn't be doing it.
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RFI-EMI-GUY

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The only people who make money off of class action suits are the lawyers.
I got $99 last week for a class action suit regarding scam robo calls. The perps probably called me and the others dozens of times and got off with a very minor settlement. I was one of four protesting the settlement value. The PLAINTIFFS lawyer quickly responded to the court DEFENDING the meager payout. It is clearly obvious that most class action suits are designed to reward the lawyers and to provide the DEFENDENT a cheap way to escape future liability and prosecution.

I never bought a BF anything. They are mostly low parts count radios with little in RF design integrity. That they are misused is no surprise.

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bharvey2

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Compensate for what? It's not like the radios don't work as advertised, or they're exploding, or the backlight isn't bright enough :). This is total lawyering up.


No kidding. I bought one mainly out of curiosity. Though I haven't used it much, I haven't had any problems either. I wasn't expecting anything for the price so I can't really say I was cheated. What a waste of time this is going to turn out to be.
 

K7MFC

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CHIRP can be used to program many makes and models of radios including those made by Alinco, ICOM, Kenwood, Yaseu, and many others. CHRIP is is open source software: Repository - CHIRP - it's not "joined at the hip" to anything, nor is it the sole method of programming radios made by Baofeng.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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CHIRP can be used to program many makes and models of radios including those made by Alinco, ICOM, Kenwood, Yaseu, and many others. CHRIP is is open source software: Repository - CHIRP - it's not "joined at the hip" to anything, nor is it the sole method of programming radios made by Baofeng.

Well whatever. Baofeng seems to be pushing the envelope as to what is permissible. For example their GMRS V1 which for all purposes appears to be a fully compliant GMRS radio. It took them two tries to get it certified. I believe the 5W power level and SAR was an issue. The radio was granted at a reduced 2 watts, yet you will see it advertised as 5 W. I don't know if CHIRP is being used to open up the power, but it seems that it is the tool of choice. I will give them credit for now having a portable and mobile that are wideband GMRS, that is better than Midlands attempt at GMRS. But Baofeng has a long history of dodgy FCC compliance.
 
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