2014 Baofeng UV-82L

[scanmanmi]

This radio is not certified for FRS, GMRS or MURS operation in the US.

You are interested in what is called MURS or GMRS. The UV-5R is a 'ham' radio which requires a license to operate. With MURS and GMRS you can use an outdoor antenna.

 

[Whiskey5]

Here you go ric2483 and welcome to Radioreference, if it has not already been said!!
BAOFENG UV 82L 136 174 4



Thank you for posting what is a great detailed review! Barf-Fung ey? Too funny! I am expecting mine today by 4PM. I will put the radio through its paces and report back! I sold a few items on fleabay so it did not come out of my pocket. I ordered it more out of curiousity than anything else. For $60 I'm not going to go nuts. It's not my first Baofeng so I have a realistic set or expectations. After you experience Motorola commercial radio quality and performance, you're kind of spolied anyway! LOL...


Manny

I too just bought a 82L... came directly from China, no dealers in US according to what I could find (actually lots of dealers but no one "actually stocked them" that I could find. Group called RADIODDITY.
Anyway, one of them didn't work. I called around, finally found Radioddity, call their tech dept.. middle of the day, asked to speak to a tech; Lady said they only worked by email, no phone calls. That was enouch to scare me... finally got hold of a tech dept at BaoFeng Tech, they are (supossedly) the only warranty group in USA that services in-house... They said the 82L is a "knock-off", the larger battery is actually a 1200 but they put a sticker over it and call it a 1800. Don't know if any of this is actually true or just a sales gimmick; but, when one calls the original place and the tech is only thru email it givves me the jitters. From day of first order, to reception of 82L radios was 11 days. I turned around around and ordered from Amazon (from BaoFeng Tech) and had the UV82 in hand in 2 days. Now if any of you find this all to be a scam OR legitimate, please let me know... I have no other way of finding out. Just wanted to warn all you good folks. By the way, size-wise,the radio, battery etc... the 82 is identical physically to the 82L, except the number on the battery.

 

[Rred]

Scanman-
As I understand it, the Baofeng radios, including the 82 series, actually aren't ham radios either. They are not Part97 type certified for whatever reason. Maybe they can't pass, maybe they don't care. But AIUI, unless a radio is Part97 certified it cannot be marketed, advertised, or sold in commerce as a "ham" radio.

The flip side of the coin is that hams can transmit on anything--but without the type certification, the ham becomes solely responsible to make sure the radio meets all technical standards for emission, etc.

And of course, pretty much all the Baofeng vendors do advertise this as a ham radio. Which is just begging for Uncle Charlie to shut them down and fine them. Drop the ads, and there's no problem. Sell it as a ham radio...and they can help reduce the federal deficit.(G)

Either way it boggles the mind how they can produce anything and sell it at that price.

From what Baofeng says, there is a UV-82 and a UV-82C. The latter available only from the US distributor, and certified Part90 compliant for land mobile radio services. The two are identical except for an initial programming lockout in the 82C, which can be reset in CHIRP. (I have no idea if removing the programming restrictions invalidates the Part90 certification.)

The UV-82L is supposedly just one vendor's way to make it sound special. Baofeng says it is just an 82 with a special accessory package. They also say there were a number of typos on early battery labels, and that ALL the batteries for the 82 series are the same 1800mAh battery.

FWIW.

Considering you can buy a new one under $40 and a returned/repacked one for $30 on Amazon...I did say it boggles the mind, right? (G)

 

[Duster]

...The squelch tail can be set in the Baofeng software, although I like Chirp a little better than the Baofeng program.

Hello, I was given a UV-82 by a friend who ordered several for himself and a couple buddies (I didn't buy it, as I have been pretty vocal about the "cheap Chinese crap" LOL, but I am keeping an open mind and trying it out as a toy...it definitely won't replace my pro-grade working radios).

My question related to the quote above: Is there a setting in the Baofeng software to see it in English? I loaded the software from the little mini CD, and it is in Chinese (or my computer's interpretation of something it can't understand). I'm using CHIRP, but the techie in me would really like to explore the Baofeng software as well.

Thanks

 

[teufler]

in the upper left corner, under the 2nd to the last question marks left to right, click and you see English. now why do you have to do this each time you use the software, bugs me.

 

[MTS2000des]

They are not Part97 type certified for whatever reason. Maybe they can't pass, maybe they don't care. But AIUI, unless a radio is Part97 certified it cannot be marketed, advertised, or sold in commerce as a "ham" radio.

There is no such thing as a "part 97" certification. Amateur radios' receivers must be certified as a part 15 device if sold commercially. Take for example, the latest Yaesu all in one HF-UHF rig, the FT-991. FCC ID is: K6620575X50. If you look at the documents, you will see the unit is only certified as a part 15 device, and only for certain VHF/UHF bands. Nowhere is the transmitter, or HF portion, even mentioned because it isn't required.

The flip side of the coin is that hams can transmit on anything--but without the type certification, the ham becomes solely responsible to make sure the radio meets all technical standards for emission, etc.

This is the case regardless. As a licensee, we are always responsible for to ensure the proper technical operation of our transmitting stations. There is no such requirement or encouragement on part of the FCC to use "certified" gear because "part 97 certified" does not exist.

To sell ham gear commercially, the FCC only requires the RECEIVER to certified as a part 15 device, and restrictions placed on it's ability to receive those "forbidden" cellular telephone bands (as if there is anything to listen to there anyway).

And of course, pretty much all the Baofeng vendors do advertise this as a ham radio. Which is just begging for Uncle Charlie to shut them down and fine them. Drop the ads, and there's no problem. Sell it as a ham radio...and they can help reduce the federal deficit.

The FCC could care less. The OET rubber stamps anything that comes through, so long as all the forms and documentation meet their requirements, and the remittance check clears.

The FCC has ZERO interest in enforcement of it's own rules, only when they feel like it, or some pees in their pool.

If the OET cared, 99 percent of these Chinese so-called part 90 radios would not be on the market. Field programming/VFO is not supposed to be allowed to be enabled on part 90 radios. But as you can see, nothing to see here...moving right along.

 

[jonwienke]

I loaded the software from the little mini CD, and it is in Chinese (or my computer's interpretation of something it can't understand). I'm using CHIRP, but the techie in me would really like to explore the Baofeng software as well.

Use CHIRP. The Chinese software isn't worth the effort to learn. Anything it can do, CHIRP will do better, and with a better user interface.

 

[Rred]

In that cloud of magic that surrounds everything Baofeng, BaofengTech, who claim to be the only distributor authorized to honor warranties in the US, also say to use CHIRP and not the BF software.

You can of course use Google Translate or the BabelFish to translate anything you can cut-n-paste into it, they both work with Mandarin. Sometimes, it even makes sense.

The software that came with mine is in English (I don't recall if that was an installation choice?) but it sadly isn't fully WindowsNT compatible, it only allows COM ports up to 16 and a lot of NT systems (that's Windows2000 and everything after it) run higher port numbers, making the BaoFeng software pretty, but useless.