Anyone own one? Can give me some insight as to the quality and performance?
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Baofeng BF-F9 V2+ Review
- Thread starter johnls7424
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teufler
Member
got a fellow ham who has one. almost identical to my f8hp .HJe is happy with it. Speaker is fairly loud, all the usually Baofeng bells and whistles, lights and fm radio.
Thank you very much!!!
Anyone else who wishes to chime in please do. Doesn't have to be model specific but simply the brand will do too!!!
elitedata
Member
i got my first one a few days ago.
i only had to read the abbreviations in the manual to understand what they mean in the radio to set it up.
for me, its quick and easy to program it from the radio itself since i have had experience with and own the Alinco DJ580T & DJ180T for many years.
im pretty impressed with this little radio.
its lightweight, small and operates quite well, receive and transmit are excellent.
one thing that was a major improvement was replacing the stock antenna with a Nagoya NA-771 VHF/UHF 16 inch antenna however, the caveat is that the antenna can get in the way especially if you choose to wear this on your belt.
im not quite sure this radio actually transmits 8 watts on high power but i do know there is enough RF being emitted from this unit on high power to wipe out the front end of my other scanner radios completely (they're using roof antennas), operating at 1 watt does not do this.
i cant comment on battery longevity since i have been using this mostly for receive.
im quite satisfied with the features this little radio provides but there are a few things i would consider "silly".
the white LED "flashlight", while its a nice idea to have it, i dont really see a purpose and reason for it.
the "alarm" function, i could see hecklers using this to annoy others but again, i dont see a reason or purpose for this feature.
the backlight for the display, there is no way to just have this light up only for key presses and not for transmit and receive, you can turn it off for the RX & TX but it still illuminates regardless, the only way is to turn it off completely, its kind of annoying but its a quirk i can deal with.
the belt clip, its "grab" is weak and i fear it will fall off whatever its clipped on with relative ease.
no STE for receive (only for two of the same radios in simplex mode), not a deal breaker but again, its annoying to hear the tail end of white noise after receiving transmission ends from another source such as a repeater, even maxing the squelch to 9 makes no difference.
although the DCS/CTCSS works for receive, there is a delay of at least 1 second after the receiving transmission from another source ends, before CTCSS "kicks" in and mutes the audio.
other than that, its a great radio and im very happy with it.
yes, i know about the discussions about this radio being a "fake" and a "copy", either way, its cosmetically appealing and works very well.
i only had to read the abbreviations in the manual to understand what they mean in the radio to set it up.
for me, its quick and easy to program it from the radio itself since i have had experience with and own the Alinco DJ580T & DJ180T for many years.
im pretty impressed with this little radio.
its lightweight, small and operates quite well, receive and transmit are excellent.
one thing that was a major improvement was replacing the stock antenna with a Nagoya NA-771 VHF/UHF 16 inch antenna however, the caveat is that the antenna can get in the way especially if you choose to wear this on your belt.
im not quite sure this radio actually transmits 8 watts on high power but i do know there is enough RF being emitted from this unit on high power to wipe out the front end of my other scanner radios completely (they're using roof antennas), operating at 1 watt does not do this.
i cant comment on battery longevity since i have been using this mostly for receive.
im quite satisfied with the features this little radio provides but there are a few things i would consider "silly".
the white LED "flashlight", while its a nice idea to have it, i dont really see a purpose and reason for it.
the "alarm" function, i could see hecklers using this to annoy others but again, i dont see a reason or purpose for this feature.
the backlight for the display, there is no way to just have this light up only for key presses and not for transmit and receive, you can turn it off for the RX & TX but it still illuminates regardless, the only way is to turn it off completely, its kind of annoying but its a quirk i can deal with.
the belt clip, its "grab" is weak and i fear it will fall off whatever its clipped on with relative ease.
no STE for receive (only for two of the same radios in simplex mode), not a deal breaker but again, its annoying to hear the tail end of white noise after receiving transmission ends from another source such as a repeater, even maxing the squelch to 9 makes no difference.
although the DCS/CTCSS works for receive, there is a delay of at least 1 second after the receiving transmission from another source ends, before CTCSS "kicks" in and mutes the audio.
other than that, its a great radio and im very happy with it.
yes, i know about the discussions about this radio being a "fake" and a "copy", either way, its cosmetically appealing and works very well.
I just got one days ago, a nice little blue one, but since I'm a newbie, I can only say that it is a nice little inexpensive radio that scans all the official channels well (I can't transmit since I have no Ham license yet), picks up the transmissions from FRS/GMRS radios very nicely, the built-in flash light is not that useful and kind o' clumsy on the top but works both as a regular one and in flashing/blinking mode.
The programming USB cable is a MUST to make it easy (or at least easier) for programming. I have no equipment to measure its true power output, so I can't confirm the 8 Watt max, but based upon its predecessor which already had it, I'm pretty sure it's accurate. (hopefully)
The standard antenna can't be very good, since it had the exact same quality (bad) reception of local NOAA channel as my simple Motorola walkie-talkies, which was a bit disappointing, BUT, I've already ordered additional antennas with hopefully much better performance.
Again, I'm a newbie to the entire radio scene, but I think this Baofeng is a very good hand-held little starter radio unit.
No repeater or cross-band (whatever it is called) features, not weather-proof at all, the original Baofeng software never worked and couldn't even recognize its own brand radio so it's junk, and SOME of the features available in the CHIRP software do NOT work with it, BUT still, I kind o' like it.
Probably because it is my VERY FIRST UHF/VHF dual-band radio!
PS: I've seen a very smart fellow doing a demo how to create a repeater by hooking up two of these together, so it IS possible with a bit of trickery, if that's what you want/need. But then you have to have multiple units. Good luck!
The programming USB cable is a MUST to make it easy (or at least easier) for programming. I have no equipment to measure its true power output, so I can't confirm the 8 Watt max, but based upon its predecessor which already had it, I'm pretty sure it's accurate. (hopefully)
The standard antenna can't be very good, since it had the exact same quality (bad) reception of local NOAA channel as my simple Motorola walkie-talkies, which was a bit disappointing, BUT, I've already ordered additional antennas with hopefully much better performance.
Again, I'm a newbie to the entire radio scene, but I think this Baofeng is a very good hand-held little starter radio unit.
No repeater or cross-band (whatever it is called) features, not weather-proof at all, the original Baofeng software never worked and couldn't even recognize its own brand radio so it's junk, and SOME of the features available in the CHIRP software do NOT work with it, BUT still, I kind o' like it.
Probably because it is my VERY FIRST UHF/VHF dual-band radio!
PS: I've seen a very smart fellow doing a demo how to create a repeater by hooking up two of these together, so it IS possible with a bit of trickery, if that's what you want/need. But then you have to have multiple units. Good luck!
I've seen the repeater hookup modification on these hooked into modified power sources rather then standard cam battery shell. For ham entry yeah I'd say your good to go with cost. Any use in public safety fire or vol fire no. Don't use them. For a cheap low cost ham rig dual band I'd say they do pretty good for what they are. They use chirp which is free and there is plenty of user input on it along with help. Basic operations but it works. The fm tuner is handy though I wish it had a am tuner to receive the regular am radio band. I believe some of the newer Chinese radios are coming with rx only am aircraft band so to me that's a plus to monitor aircraft band with If one has it. Mine doesn't though it's older firmware and model type. Just be sure not to cross the firmware when cloning from a older Chinese special radio. Newer chirp should prevent this but always something to remember. No complaints for a ham entry rig. I've seen people sell modified boards you can attach with some minor soldering and with know how adding mdc or scrambler boards. The layout with the radio board isn't too complex like higher end gear. Being analog dual band and others offering analog trip band in these it isn't bad for price if your a ham. They are basic but get job done. If they break though they are pretty much throw away buy another. Audio is loud.
elitedata
Member
for an inexpensive transceiver, one wont cry if it gets damaged or stolen, simply buy another.
i remember the price i paid for the Alinco DJ-580T and DJ-180T.
although they were superior radios at the time, the stress from the risk of the radios being damaged or stolen was extremely great.
thats not the case with Baofeng though.
these radios are akin to the performance and features of the Alinco models i had years ago but for a fraction of the price.
i remember the price i paid for the Alinco DJ-580T and DJ-180T.
although they were superior radios at the time, the stress from the risk of the radios being damaged or stolen was extremely great.
thats not the case with Baofeng though.
these radios are akin to the performance and features of the Alinco models i had years ago but for a fraction of the price.
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