Baofeng BF-F8HP

[rtorella]

Considering a Baofeng BF-F8HP for the minimal 8 watts 3 settings. I know that it also uses the UV-5R parts and accessories. There is a DC cable avail for the UV-5r to plug into the car cigarette lighter, then the desktop charger. Do the UV-5R battery packs have a DC plug port for direct DC charge or power?

Also, does anyone know is it is the same with the new Baofeng BF-F8HP? And what the wallwart charger output voltage to the desktop charger is?

Purchased a UV-82HP, nice little rig for the price. Only downside is walwart output is 10volts not 12v. Only option to charge while in the car is to use my DC to AC 50w invertor, then the walwart and destop charger. That works, but a simple DC cig plug would be less to pack in the truck and carry on trips.

Have not had luck in finding out the wall charger output voltage for the new BF-F8HP.

I have both a Yaesu 530 and FT-50R. They charge with the DC cig plug directly thru the radio. Ashame Baofeng did not include this on their rigs. My Yaesu's are mint and not what I carry outside the house. If the Baofeng gets stolen or damaged, not a large investment on my part

73's

 

[chief21]

Two suggestions...

1) You could use a small voltage reducer to output 10vdc to the charger from the 13vdc vehicle voltage;

2) Although it has been a while since I owned my Baofengs, I recall that there was a compatible drop-in charger (from another manufacturer) that worked just fine on vehicle power. Sorry but I don't recall the name / model. You might be able to find it with an on-line search or check out the miklor.com site.

John AC4JK

 

[rtorella]

John,

Thanks for your thoughts. I did find a DC car power cord that reduces to 8.4 volts. Made for another brand but works with the Baofeng UV-5r and F8HP 3800mah battery pack. Will see what the volts output are after receiving. For the dropin chargers, I have a compact 50w DC to AC invertor that works perfectly. Just have to tote the invertor, wallwart and dropin, but no big deal.

Ebay has some that claim to work with Baofengs. At least advertised that way. Straight DC cigarette cords. Unfortunately, no noise filter and 13.8v out the tip. Passed right thru desktop charger with 13.8v at the battery charging contacts in the desk charger. Good way to burn up a battery. Returning them.

I am not electronically inclined or I would go option one of your suggestions.

73

Ray
KF6OJE

 

[chief21]

Hi Ray -

One other thought that may be helpful depending on when/where you are charging the radio. I seem to recall reading that the standard desk charger will work OK on 12v but not substantially more. Essentially, this means that it might work OK while the vehicle is not running and the line voltage is typically about 12v. Once the vehicle is running, however, the alternator kicks the voltage up to 13-14v (which is beyond the acceptable range for the desk charger) and the desk charger shuts down.

If you can limit your charging to only when the vehcile is off, this may be a work-around for you.

John AC4JK

 

[rtorella]

John,

Thanks again for your input. I will try it in the car and check the voltage at the charging tabs. I have an Astron AC to DC power supply that I use with my other yaesu batteries as they charge at 12v input. Tried the same with the Baofeng charger from the DC power cord. Read 13.8v at the desktop charger metal contacts. Had an extra Baofeng charger, plugged it in, green light came on. Put a mostly charged battery in it. Went into charge mode, then read the battery at 8.4v and stopped charging and green light then came back on. I think that it might work. I am going to run the battery pack down to 7v, then try it again. If the charge light stays on, I will monitor the voltage over time as I know the charger should turn off at 8.6v. Will let you know if that worked or not. Again, this will be with 13.8v at the desktop charging points. Apparently it works with the UV-5R, which is also the 10v walwart with 8.4v at the charging points.

I have an extra charger and battery to run this test on.


Will update here in a couple days

73

Ray
KF6OJE

 

[chief21]

Ray -

Another option for you might be a so-called "Buck/Boost" device. Essentially, these devices allow you to set certain input and output voltage parameters for powering a DC device - for example, 12vdc in, 10v dc out. I found a bunch of them on Amazon... use the search terms "DC" and "boost" or "buck" and pick one that matches your voltage and amperage requirements.

John

 

[cmdrwill]

As I mentioned before, anything over 10 volts WILL burn up the charging circuit, a little IC, in the charger base. Maybe even destroy the battery. By the way I was not able to get any specsheet info on the IC, not a generic number.