Baofeng receiving problems while driving

[jonwienke]

Why buy one of these radios when perfectly good Motorola radios can be had for $100? I know, you can save $65.

And the privilege of spending maybe twice that for the programming software.

 

[jonwienke]

This problem doesn't happen everywhere. That's why I posted earlier I think it seems to be location dependent and may have something to do with strong out of band signals like UHF TV that aren't the same everywhere.

Which brings us back to RFI as the likely culprit. It may not be coming from a vehicle, but if the noise/interference is location-dependent then RFI has got to be a factor, whether in-band or out-of-band.

 

[12dbsinad]

This problem doesn't happen everywhere. That's why I posted earlier I think it seems to be location dependent and may have something to do with strong out of band signals like UHF TV that aren't the same everywhere.

As I said in post 29, I have been in very remote areas with the 82 series as well as RF nightmare. The crackle/popping is consistent and doesn't change. I have never had the radio(s) not do it, let me put it that way. I never really looked into it any further at a technical standpoint because I had no interest.

I suppose I could. Most of them just get used as a FM radio now.

Also, I can only comment on the 82 series as that's all I have owned personally.

 

[DrLoomis1978]

WLN KD-C1

I use the KD-C1 software. I have CHIRP of course, but I've not tried using in on the WLN's.

I use the KD-C1 software too. Trying to use Chirp will not work if you're using DCS codes that are NR or RN. As soon as you click refresh or save, it automatically reverts back to NN making transmitting impossible. My job uses a RN configuration, so I'm stuck using the KD-C1 software because it understands the reverse/normal code. I'm hoping Chirp will fix this soon.

 

[klozer]

So an update on my situation...

My BTech UV-50x2 arrived and I immediately hooked it up in my car. It's the same car with the same antenna that I've used with the uv82hp. I really had high hopes, assuming that since it's a newer radio from Baofeng, the weird quirks of the uv82 and the geiger counter noise would have been ironed out. I ran the power straight from the battery terminals and went for a test drive.

Much to my surprise, the geiger counter noise persists. The uv-50x2 also has some annoying issues with the VFO knob and the screen that makes it almost unusable, but I think that's another thread. I'm pretty upset at this point, so I take down the Nagoya ut-72 antenna and make a visit to HRO and pick up a Comet SBB-5 and a Diamond trunk lip mount and hook it up. The geiger counter noise is STILL there.

I figure that at this point, the only way to determine whether this noise is from the radio being Chinese or if it's from the car itself is to try a reputable name brand radio and see if the noise persists. I picked up a new Icom IC-2730a, hooked it up the same way as I did the Btech radio, and went for a drive.

First of all, people are not joking when they say that there is a difference in quality between the big 4 (3?) and the Chinese radios. The most important thing, however, is that the geiger counter noise is GONE. Rx has never sounded so clean and noise-free in my car. I can say with pretty strong confidence at this point, that the noise was definitely due to the radio itself. Or maybe it IS ignition noise, and the Icom is just filtering better? I don't know.

I really took the long way around with this whole thing, but I still like the uv82hp as a handheld radio and will continue to use it as such. The uv-50x2, on the other hand, is going back to the seller asap. That was not a good buy for me.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

If I recall, you mentioned the problem went away when using a mag mount external antenna, a stronger signal.

My opinion is that the radio has insufficient IF amplitude limiter and/or poor gain in the IF stages.

The noise is multipath distortion, sharp excursions in signal level 20 or more dB down into and out of the noise. The limiter removes the amplitude component from the signal swing, leaving only residual phase noise.

Yet another reason to buy a surplus commercial radio for $100 rather than wasting $35 to $65 on a cheesy Chinese knockoff.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[klozer]

The noise became a little bit quieter with the mag mount antenna, but it was still loud enough to be annoying. With the rubber duck antenna on the uv82, the noise can get really loud, sometimes drowning out the rx voice almost completely.

So far in my journey, the only real fix had been the act of stepping away from the Chinese brand and plugging in an Icom. I still like the uv82, but I agree with you that paying a bit more for the better stuff can be worth it's while, or at least it was in my application.

 

[DrLoomis1978]

Never, never, never again!!!

So an update on my situation...

My BTech UV-50x2 arrived and I immediately hooked it up in my car. It's the same car with the same antenna that I've used with the uv82hp. I really had high hopes, assuming that since it's a newer radio from Baofeng, the weird quirks of the uv82 and the geiger counter noise would have been ironed out. I ran the power straight from the battery terminals and went for a test drive.

Much to my surprise, the geiger counter noise persists. The uv-50x2 also has some annoying issues with the VFO knob and the screen that makes it almost unusable, but I think that's another thread. I'm pretty upset at this point, so I take down the Nagoya ut-72 antenna and make a visit to HRO and pick up a Comet SBB-5 and a Diamond trunk lip mount and hook it up. The geiger counter noise is STILL there.

I figure that at this point, the only way to determine whether this noise is from the radio being Chinese or if it's from the car itself is to try a reputable name brand radio and see if the noise persists. I picked up a new Icom IC-2730a, hooked it up the same way as I did the Btech radio, and went for a drive.

First of all, people are not joking when they say that there is a difference in quality between the big 4 (3?) and the Chinese radios. The most important thing, however, is that the geiger counter noise is GONE. Rx has never sounded so clean and noise-free in my car. I can say with pretty strong confidence at this point, that the noise was definitely due to the radio itself. Or maybe it IS ignition noise, and the Icom is just filtering better? I don't know.

I really took the long way around with this whole thing, but I still like the uv82hp as a handheld radio and will continue to use it as such. The uv-50x2, on the other hand, is going back to the seller asap. That was not a good buy for me.

I'm so disgusted that I have given up on everything made in China. They produce junk. Garbage in, garbage out. Also, BaofengTech, their American dealer, should be ashamed of themselves. They swear by these cheap pieces of crap and when you try to contact them, they only provide an email address, no phone number. In fact I've asked them for a phone number on several occasions and they completely avoid the question. Why? Because imagine the amount of calls they'd get from people complaining about their inferior products that they can't solve in the first place. When you email them about a problem, you get the most ridiculous answers. Things a child could think of. They even go as far as copying and pasting answers from Miklor.com, as if we don't realize what they're doing. How they stay in business is beyond me. I'll never buy from them again. My advice, spend the extra $$ for something that works 100%. For anyone who has purchased equipment from Baofeng and hasn't had problems, your either lucky or you bought at a time when they might have put a little extra craftsmanship into their products. They certainly don't now.

 

[klozer]

I hear you there, I was really REALLY hoping for a cheap fix and that it was just a case of a bad batch of radios or something. My latest experience with the Btech, and probably the remarkable contrast that I see now with the Icom has thrown me over the edge. I'm not someone who really cares too much about beautiful build quality, especially in regards to what is essentially a box with buttons and knobs, but where the product is functionally flawed to the point of being barely useable is where I draw the line for budget-anything.

 

[Rred]

In the dark ages when cars had no computers and no electronic ignitions, Delco (then one GM company) was building computers with the crazy idea of putting them in to control engines in cars. And they were testing this radical concept in the high-end Oldsmobile Toronado. Funny thing, one of the test cars would stall out and die every time it crossed one of the bridges over the Chicago River, in Chicago. Drove the engineers at Delco crazy, until someone figured out that the "box" steelwork of the bridge somehow was resonant with a high power radio station's signal and it managed to amplify and focus the RF and kill the computer every time.

Which is why car ECU's got encased in metal and installed in the passenger compartment to add more metal around them.

Sherlock Holmes is never around when you need him.

 

[nd5y]

My opinion is that the radio has insufficient IF amplitude limiter and/or poor gain in the IF stages.

These radios use the AT1846S (or RDA1846S) transceiver chip.
There is no LO, no IF, no IF filters, no limiter.
It's not a superhet receiver.
From what I can tell its all I/Q done by software.

 

[nd5y]

Also, BaofengTech, their American dealer, should be ashamed of themselves. They swear by these cheap pieces of crap and when you try to contact them, they only provide an email address, no phone number. In fact I've asked them for a phone number on several occasions and they completely avoid the question.

Go back and read the threads about AnyTone Tech, which is the same company, from 2 or 3 years ago.

 

[beeperboy]

These radios use the AT1846S (or RDA1846S) transceiver chip.
There is no LO, no IF, no IF filters, no limiter.
It's not a superhet receiver.
From what I can tell its all I/Q done by software.

Exactly. The radios perform exactly as designed. Anyone that buys one and expects it to perform exactly like a superhet radio is showing their complete lack of technical knowledge. I have a UV5R, and it performs marvelously for what it is, and what I paid for it. The front end is poor, but I accept that as I understand how radios work. To be honest, it's almost as good as my Yaesu FT-50, and I paid $500 for that 15 years ago.

 

[DrLoomis1978]

Lack of technical knowledge? I don't think so.

Exactly. The radios perform exactly as designed. Anyone that buys one and expects it to perform exactly like a superhet radio is showing their complete lack of technical knowledge. I have a UV5R, and it performs marvelously for what it is, and what I paid for it. The front end is poor, but I accept that as I understand how radios work. To be honest, it's almost as good as my Yaesu FT-50, and I paid $500 for that 15 years ago.

Hmmm, you're right these radios do perform exactly as designed, like crap. I did not buy one to perform like a high end radio. All I wanted was an inexpensive two way radio that transmits and receives without a ton of crackling noise that drowns out the incoming message. That's not a lack of technical knowledge, it's just plain common sense that it should work as any other radio I have owned and used while in motion. Maybe you enjoy your UV5R and it's cheap design, but as you can read above, others do not. It's sad when bubble pack radios perform perfectly inside a car or out, and these radios don't. So you keep buying from Baofeng or any other cheap Chinese company that makes you happy. After all, you understand how radios work. The rest of us will move on. Don't bother responding to this post as I'm finished here. I will not come back to check this page again. As far as I'm concerned this thread is closed. For those of you who have tried to help with this situation, thank you very much. I greatly appreciate your time.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Exactly. The radios perform exactly as designed. Anyone that buys one and expects it to perform exactly like a superhet radio is showing their complete lack of technical knowledge. I have a UV5R, and it performs marvelously for what it is, and what I paid for it. The front end is poor, but I accept that as I understand how radios work. To be honest, it's almost as good as my Yaesu FT-50, and I paid $500 for that 15 years ago.

Motorola has manufactured radios with DSP (abacus) for 20 years and has designed the algorithms to replicate an analog limiter and FM discrimininator. It is done in the math. Most commercial radios today use DSP. Many are still superhet in that they still require down conversion, using an LO and first IF stage. Anyone who pays $35 or $65 for a radio should expect sub par performance. I doubt any of these radios would pass TIA TSB603D, the minimum standards for land mobile radios.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[AK9R]

So, you're saying that a DSP radio with proper filtering costs $2000 while a DSP radio with no filtering costs $20? Makes sense to me.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

So, you're saying that a DSP radio with proper filtering costs $2000 while a DSP radio with no filtering costs $20? Makes sense to me.

Yup; that is the case. I worked in a Motorola Development lab for a few years and the first thing I learned was that the difference between a cheap radio and an expensive radio was largely the cost of the receiver. The transmitters both need to meet FCC specs, but the receivers can be made cheap and dirty, or can be designed to work properly and meet or exceed TIA TSB603D.

There are a lot of options that are better than buying a BaoFeng. You just need to know how to shop or have some skills.

These are some DSP radios:

Motorola MTS2000 Model I UHF 450-512 MHz Radio Battery GMRS H01SDD9PW1BN | eBay

Motorola XTS5000 III UHF 403-470MHz FPP activated | eBay

Motorola Astro Saber P25 1 Meg UHF (450-512Mhz) H04SDF9PW7AN GMRS TESTED | eBay

You really don't need a DSP based radio unless you are doing P25 or DMR. So that opens up a slew of other brands that have made quality LMR equipment for decades.

Personally, I have a small fleet of Motorola Systems Sabers for my GMRS. I can cheaply buy UHF Saber radios to salvage the UHF range 2 modules and a good used ex govt range 1 Systems Saber for the platform. The outlay is less than $65. Of course, I need to add battery, antenna and knobs to the project since these are wear items. The result is a very high performance radio.

 

[K4SVN]

Having the same issue with a UV82HP. I've used 3 antennas; duck, NMO roof mounted diamond, and the latest, a Larsen NMO2/70SH.
Can you believe the problem has been worse with the nmo mounted antennas.
I have checked and re-checked everything, SWR is fantastic on the Larsen; sub 1.2:1 across the band (2M).
While sitting still the radio functions excellent. Any bit of speed however leads to the aforementioned problem though I have had a clean conversation on a repeater a few days ago. I'd say it's a problem about 85% of the time.
I'm going to do a little experimenting and try a different UV82 and will report back.
One strange thing I have noticed is that it is perfectly clear receiving the NOAA weather station.
Anyone else have no problems with receive of NOAA?

 

[K4SVN]

Update:

Well, tried another radio. This one is a UV82 (not HP). Same problem but slightly different sound while experiencing it. Instead of the geiger counter sound, it just goes quiet. So the conversation is b_ok_n _p (broken up). TX is fine.
The NOAA broadcast strangely enough doesn't have this issue. Maybe just too strong of a signal?
The local repeaters and simplex both have the issue though sometimes worse and sometimes not at all. I'm thinking this is multipath and is just something inherent to these radios.
I have also started to confirm that the more open space around my car there is, the better.
My conclusion:
For the money, they're good. They work well while on foot or standing still. I have one at home hooked up to an attic J-Pole and it works surprisingly well. I've talked simplex to a guy almost 30 miles to the west of me.
I'll look at getting a better mobile rig and relegate the Bafoengs to hiking, biking, and home use.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Update:

Well, tried another radio. This one is a UV82 (not HP). Same problem but slightly different sound while experiencing it. Instead of the geiger counter sound, it just goes quiet. So the conversation is b_ok_n _p (broken up). TX is fine.
The NOAA broadcast strangely enough doesn't have this issue. Maybe just too strong of a signal?
The local repeaters and simplex both have the issue though sometimes worse and sometimes not at all. I'm thinking this is multipath and is just something inherent to these radios.
I have also started to confirm that the more open space around my car there is, the better.
My conclusion:
For the money, they're good. They work well while on foot or standing still. I have one at home hooked up to an attic J-Pole and it works surprisingly well. I've talked simplex to a guy almost 30 miles to the west of me.
I'll look at getting a better mobile rig and relegate the Bafoengs to hiking, biking, and home use.

It could very well be that the NOAA signal is overloading the poorly designed receiver and you can receive little else.