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Baofeng UV-82 or UV-B5?
- Thread starter Eufrat
- Start date
- Status
Supposedly there have been real upgrades and improvements to the UV-82 compared to the older radio. And if you look at the returns at the "Amazon warehouse" you should be able to get an undamaged UV-82 return for under $30. At that price...Why not go for the newer model?
There is not simple answer to this. The answer is very subjective and depends on the individual. Many people think their UV-B5/UV-B6 is a great radio. And to them it truly is. I have a UV-5R, UV-B5, UV-82, UV-82C and a couple BF-F8HP radios. If I had to get rid of one, it would be the UV-B5.
Jim KC9HI
I have them both, and both are fine radios. I prefer the look and feel of the UV-82, but I like many features of the B5 such as the ability to have the upper display in channel mode while the lower display is in frequency mode or vice versa or both displays in the same mode. The display on the B5 is truly as bad as everyone says. I'm not sure why they would put such a poor display in such a fine radio. I thought I really wanted the encoder knob, but honestly I don't really use it all that much. I've grown used to using the arrows.
The keypad on the UV-82 is larger. The biggest flaw in the UV-82 is that you have to turn the radio on while pressing the "menu" key to change from channel mode to frequency mode or from frequency mode to channel mode. That becomes old really fast.
I guess I'm a little partial to the UV-82 simply because it was my first radio after getting my ham license. I couldn't say which is best. It all depends on what is important to you.
The keypad on the UV-82 is larger. The biggest flaw in the UV-82 is that you have to turn the radio on while pressing the "menu" key to change from channel mode to frequency mode or from frequency mode to channel mode. That becomes old really fast.
I guess I'm a little partial to the UV-82 simply because it was my first radio after getting my ham license. I couldn't say which is best. It all depends on what is important to you.
WB4CS
Member
Neither.
WB4CS
Member
LOL You're welcome
If I had to choose between only those two, I'd still choose neither.
Honestly it depends on what you want to do with the radio. For Amateur Radio use, while they certainly do work, you'll find that you'll have a much better experience with a "name brand" radio. Better warranty, better support, better parts, better transmitter and receiver. For Public Safety use, they are not designed to handle the rough demand that a Public Service radio must endure. For Commercial use they may be just fine, but the kind of abuse (dropping, getting sat on, etc.) that commercial radios are put through, it's doubtful the cheap-China radios would survive long. For just a basic receiver (analog scanning) it would be perfectly acceptable.
Again, it depends on what you need the radio for. But in most cases there are better radios out there for the job. That's just my $0.02 worth of opinion. Your mileage may vary.
The unintuitive "hold the menu while you turn it on" routine probably is one of the ways they got the radio Part 90 certified. Having a LEGAL Part 90 radio should mean a lot of sales for them, and Part 90 apparently requires a radio to be locked down (in channel mode) with no simply obvious means of bypassing that. So, odd button combination, no indication that it exists on the radio, and that opens up a whole new market for them.
I still fully expect the FCC to take heavy action against most of the BaoFeng (among other brands) resellers in the US, because there are so many folks advertising this for ham, frs, or gmrs service, and that advertising itself is illegal. A vendor can't advertise a radio as suitable for ham use unless it is FCC certified. A ham can use anything--but the vendor can't advertise it as a ham radio. Similarly it can't be used with FRS because it is too powerful and has a removable antenna, and it isn't certified for sale for gmrs either.
Unca Charlie has been very generous to turn a blind eye to these.
I still fully expect the FCC to take heavy action against most of the BaoFeng (among other brands) resellers in the US, because there are so many folks advertising this for ham, frs, or gmrs service, and that advertising itself is illegal. A vendor can't advertise a radio as suitable for ham use unless it is FCC certified. A ham can use anything--but the vendor can't advertise it as a ham radio. Similarly it can't be used with FRS because it is too powerful and has a removable antenna, and it isn't certified for sale for gmrs either.
Unca Charlie has been very generous to turn a blind eye to these.
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