Baofeng BF-F8HP Pilots radio

[PitchLink]

Howdy all,

First time post, wanted to get you radio gurus opinion

Looking to replace a old aviation yassu radio I had in my bag, I used it for soloing the occasional student, but mostly for picking up clearances without powering the plane up when the FBOs didn’t have a radio I could use, my old the radio took a hit and died, I’m looking to replace it.

Would be great to have radio I could use for more than just aviation use, and am interested in getting some HAM certs, I read the BF-F8HP can be unlocked and has a transceiver chip that can operate 100-1000mhz.

Can the F8HP receive and transmit on the aviation band if reprogrammed, 108-137mhz in 8.33 or 25mhz spacing?

Also will it work with any flexible strip antennas anyone can recommend? The demise of my last radio was from a impact on the antenna that cracked the board of the radio.


Thanks!

Jack

 

[rescuecomm]

No AM transmit capabilities. There are aviation type radios available usually for ultralight planes that are reasonably priced.

 

[PitchLink]

What about a UV-K5?

GitHub - Tunas1337/UV-K5-Modded-Firmwares: A collection of modified firmwares for the Quansheng UV-K5 radio.

A collection of modified firmwares for the Quansheng UV-K5 radio. - GitHub - Tunas1337/UV-K5-Modded-Firmwares: A collection of modified firmwares for the Quansheng UV-K5 radio.

github.com

I’m not a ultralight kinda guy

 

[N9JIG]

Stay away from those cheap throw-away radios if you are going to use it for aviation purposes. Radios from Icom or Yaesu are purpose-made for aircraft use and start at about $200. They will outlast a dozen cheap radios, are legal in the Aviation band and will perform a whole lot better.

Cheap radios like the Boefeng and other similar brands are fine for receiving but for your purposes you are a whole lot better off spending a little extra money now, it will pay off in spades later when things really matter.

Be sure to buy at a reputable dealer as there are a lot of fake/cloned junk radios out there.

Start here and look around for the best deal: Aviation Radios

 

[PitchLink]

Stay away from those cheap throw-away radios if you are going to use it for aviation purposes. Radios from Icom or Yaesu are purpose-made for aircraft use and start at about $200. They will outlast a dozen cheap radios, are legal in the Aviation band and will perform a whole lot better.

Cheap radios like the Boefeng and other similar brands are fine for receiving but for your purposes you are a whole lot better off spending a little extra money now, it will pay off in spades later when things really matter.

Be sure to buy at a reputable dealer as there are a lot of fake/cloned junk radios out there.

Start here and look around for the best deal: Aviation Radios

Thanks

I know where to get aviation radios, sporties or spruce, however for the very limited amount of use it’ll get, it’s not really the money as much as I just accumulating more stuff that won’t get used much

Any recommends on a radio that can do airband rx/tx but also can work some other frequencies so I can use it for backcountry, maybe even marine use, talking to truckers, the proverbial SHTF type deal etc?

 

[N9JIG]

Thanks

I know where to get aviation radios, sporties or spruce, however for the very limited amount of use it’ll get, it’s not really the money as much as I just accumulating more stuff that won’t get used much

Any recommends on a radio that can do airband rx/tx but also can work some other frequencies so I can use it for backcountry, maybe even marine use, talking to truckers, the proverbial SHTF type deal etc?

Likely not; Aviation radios are Type Accepted for that use, meaning that they are engineered and tested to provide proper operations. Other radios might be able to be made to transmit on aviation frequencies but they would not be legal and would stand a much larger chance of improper performance in air-band frequencies.

 

[PitchLink]

Likely not; Aviation radios are Type Accepted for that use, meaning that they are engineered and tested to provide proper operations. Other radios might be able to be made to transmit on aviation frequencies but they would not be legal and would stand a much larger chance of improper performance in air-band frequencies.

This isn’t going to be a primary radio or for IMC ops, and based on some of the old junk handhelds I’ve seen used around the airports…

Tons of folks with junk old radios that sound horrible, doubt anyone without notice a little extra noise

So none of these will transmit on airband as well? Or is it it’ll bleed through to other frequencies?

 

[alcahuete]

So none of these will transmit on airband as well? Or is it it’ll bleed through to other frequencies?

They do not transmit on AM, and even if they did, would not be legal to use in the airband. Sorry to be frank, but people who don't care about the regs. have no business flying airplanes.

Any recommends on a radio that can do airband rx/tx but also can work some other frequencies so I can use it for backcountry, maybe even marine use, talking to truckers, the proverbial SHTF type deal etc?

Not going to find one. The closest thing that used to exist was the Yaesu VXA-700. Airband and 2m amateur in one radio. I'm not really sure what link there is between amateur radio and aviation, which is probably why Yaesu discontinued the radio. The radio didn't make any sense.

 

[mmckenna]

I used it for soloing the occasional student,

This isn’t going to be a primary radio or for IMC ops, and based on some of the old junk handhelds I’ve seen used around the airports…

Tons of folks with junk old radios that sound horrible, doubt anyone without notice a little extra noise

Please take this comment as constructive:

The two quotes above are very concerning.

First quote sounds like you are saying you train students to fly aircraft. Knowing a few people that have achieved getting their pilots license, I know there's a lot of work and knowledge involved. Having a knowledgeable instructor training them on all the details of flying an aircraft, including making the right decisions in an emergency and following all the FAA rules and requirements is probably a pretty important part of what you do. Knowing all the FAA rules is important when sharing airspace with others.

Second quote suggests that you don't have the knowledge or skill to be operating a radio. Sharing spectrum with other users, using a radio for communicating in emergencies, avoiding collisions, sharing an airfield, etc. should be pretty high on your list, also.

I don't get it.

Understanding the FCC rules and why they exist is pretty analogous to understanding the FAA rules and why they exist. To train students in one but willingly ignoring the others would worry me.

I get it. Its "Just a radio".

But it isn't. It's a transmitter that is supposed to share spectrum with others. FCC wants it to meet specific requirements so it doesn't cause issues to other users. They want it to work correctly when you need it.

And if you really do want to get your amateur radio license, this becomes even more important.


These cheap Chinese radios will not do what you want. There may be those out there that will help you find a way to trick it into 'sort of' working, but that doesn't make it OK. The FCC rules exist for a reason. There's also very good reasons why the FCC requires radios to have type acceptance for the radio service they are used in. These cheap Chinese radios will not have the type acceptance for what you are doing.


So, go ahead, get the $15 radio. It hopefully won't splatter on me.

But I'd hope you'd put some thought into this, and listen to what people have said above. It's good advice.

If you really cannot afford an appropriate radio, you sure have picked a pair of very expensive hobbies to dabble in.

 

[N9JIG]

It is like putting water in the engine coolant system instead of the real stuff. Sure, it will fill the system and even provide a bit of cooling but it will likely not work as well and probably fail at likely at the worst possible time. Cheap radios are cheap for a reason. None were designed or will properly operate in the aviation band even if they are made to be able to transmit there. Likely they will not transmit in the AM mode regardless so are basically useless for your purposes.

Read the mail here. Invest in a decent radio. Then rest assured that you did the right thing. For about the cost of a tank of AvGas you will have a radio that work work great, last a decade and you will sleep well at night.

 

[MTS2000des]

Seems to be a common theme round these parts:

Firefighters wanting cheap radios expecting a Chinese toy built from consumer grade SOCs intended for low cost consumer products to be used in first response/IDLH

Pilot wants "cheap radio" to use while flying airplanes.

This is truly a scary world we are in where corner cutting is hitting parts of the world where anything but the real deal is the standard. I sure hope the O/P finds a qualified radio. If not, I have a Yaesu FTA-550 I would offer for a good price. It's gonna cost more than a low rent Bowelturd...

 

[PitchLink]

You guys are funny, you think a plane is going to fall out of the sky because of a hand held radio? Any of y’all professional pilots?


I simply wanted to know if there was any radio that works for my rare and very simple ground use for work, that I could also use for getting into HAM and in the backcountry, or some disaster type use

 

[PitchLink]

Please take this comment as constructive:

The two quotes above are very concerning.

First quote sounds like you are saying you train students to fly aircraft. Knowing a few people that have achieved getting their pilots license, I know there's a lot of work and knowledge involved. Having a knowledgeable instructor training them on all the details of flying an aircraft, including making the right decisions in an emergency and following all the FAA rules and requirements is probably a pretty important part of what you do. Knowing all the FAA rules is important when sharing airspace with others.

Second quote suggests that you don't have the knowledge or skill to be operating a radio. Sharing spectrum with other users, using a radio for communicating in emergencies, avoiding collisions, sharing an airfield, etc. should be pretty high on your list, also.

I don't get it.

Understanding the FCC rules and why they exist is pretty analogous to understanding the FAA rules and why they exist. To train students in one but willingly ignoring the others would worry me.

I get it. Its "Just a radio".

But it isn't. It's a transmitter that is supposed to share spectrum with others. FCC wants it to meet specific requirements so it doesn't cause issues to other users. They want it to work correctly when you need it.

And if you really do want to get your amateur radio license, this becomes even more important.


These cheap Chinese radios will not do what you want. There may be those out there that will help you find a way to trick it into 'sort of' working, but that doesn't make it OK. The FCC rules exist for a reason. There's also very good reasons why the FCC requires radios to have type acceptance for the radio service they are used in. These cheap Chinese radios will not have the type acceptance for what you are doing.


So, go ahead, get the $15 radio. It hopefully won't splatter on me.

But I'd hope you'd put some thought into this, and listen to what people have said above. It's good advice.

If you really cannot afford an appropriate radio, you sure have picked a pair of very expensive hobbies to dabble in.

Reading comprehension, please re read what I wrote and try again, the price isn’t is issue, it’s having a aviation only radio taking up space and needing to be charged that I will only use a handful of times a year

Also as someone who uses a radio professionally in a much more serious context then most anyone in the HAM world, HAM people are kinda funny on how serious they take themselves and radio procedures, in the aviation world those who act like they were potty trained at gun point over radio ops tend to be those with the least serious real world experience

 

[rescuecomm]

I am impressed with seeing public safety radioheads complaining about using a cheap radio. It's even more so seeing the EMS and FFs going in a restaurant carrying their frontline handhelds. Even putting them on the table while they eat.

Have any of you tried to decontaminate a full keyboard handheld after using it to talk to dispatch? Real blood, guts, and sputum getting on the radio from your barrier gloves. Yeah, I used an Icom that NEVER went on scene or in the belt carrier for family stuff. I guess they don't have that option now unless the new public safety cellphone system allows answering dispatch.

As far as relying on an non-aviation type radio, who cares if it's only used to monitor on the ground. I gave a friend a Uniden BC-890 to monitor aircraft operations so he could get used to the lingo. While taking his pilot training, his instructor said he missed the tower communications directed to them several times.

There is no comparing the brevity used in controlled airspace comms is different from any other service. Learning that is as essential as learning to take off.

 

[KevinC]

This ain't going nowhere. Closing. Have a great weekend!

 

[blantonl]

You guys are funny, you think a plane is going to fall out of the sky because of a hand held radio? Any of y’all professional pilots?


I simply wanted to know if there was any radio that works for my rare and very simple ground use for work, that I could also use for getting into HAM and in the backcountry, or some disaster type use

I am a pilot.

Buy a radio designed for aviation communications. That Baofang won't work for what you are wanting, and if I saw you on the ramp with one of those I'd silently judge you and give you the bombastic side-eye.

JFC. Go get an Icom or Spory's radio. LOL.