BoaFeng UV-5R Plus

[SCPD]

Just wanted to let everyone know that the above unit was shipped with a defective drop charger(only charged once) so I was S.O.L. last week for Hurricane Sandy. I am now part of Westhester County Emergency Services w/The American Red Cross Disaster Division just waiting for uniforms and training. This transceiver was very sensitive but IMPOSIBLE to program and a instruction manual written by losers. I even Emailed the factory in China and no response. Just out of principal,it was sent back to Amazon.com with a prepaid UPS and Return Authorization so the member that said it isn't part #90 compliant is probably right. I told Amazon.Com to NOT sell this transceiver as it is ilegal in The United State Of America for any transceiver to be sold that can transmit on police/fire frequencies. My friend is a general class ham operator and told me that BoaFeng doesn't care about the laws and will get busted...just a matter of time. I hope this posting is not considered inappropriate or offensive in any way shape or form.
Hope everyone on the East Coast prepairs for a Noreaster on Wednesday. Brunt Wednesday afternoon to Thursday Mid-Afternoon.The exact track will determine rain/snow or all snow North of I-287. Look at AccuWeather.com for further information.

73's

 

[rapidcharger]

The regular uv5r are part 90 certified. Don't know about the plus. You can do an FCC ID search and try to find it.
Note the correct spelling is BAOfeng not Boa feng.

Sorry you had a bad experence but thats why its good to buy from a reputable US seller like amazon who will take care of you if you aren't happy.
I learned to hard way not to buy from the overseas sellers.

That's also why it's not a real good idea to rely on a $50 radio for emergency services. They don't call 'em baofengs for nothin.

 

[rfradioconsult]

My UV5R plus from Amazon came with the FCC certification printed on the end of the box and yes it is Part 90 Certified.

 

[rapidcharger]

Strange.
I just loooked up the FCC ID for the UV5R and it appears to only be certified for emission designator 9K10F3E which... I've never heard of that emission designator... that's not 12.5 khz and it's not 25khz bandwidth and it also looks like it's certified for 1.3-1.78 watts of power. (1.3 on vhf and 1.78 on uhf)

I guess if you're wanting to operate with 4 watts of power and 12.5 khz bandwidth, it's not certified for that.

 

[mikepdx]

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[rescuecomm]

It is just terrible that you can't get $500.00 worth of performance for $50.00. I would complain too.

Bob

 

[MTS2000des]

It is just terrible that you can't get $500.00 worth of performance for $50.00. I would complain too.

Bob

Ya know, I was thinking the same thing. I have a UV-5R (not the plus) and while it's great for ham use, I would NEVER even remotely considering using it as a duty radio for SAR or anything. I wouldn't even hand it to a high school principal. It's a toy, not a tool.

If budgets are a concern, I'd look around for a used Motorola HT1000 "DN". They can be had for less than a C-note in good shape fully checked out with a decent battery and charger. They do narrowband including splinter channels and are miles above any cheap plastic crap from China.

you get what you pay for, or not.

 

[Skypilot007]

It is just terrible that you can't get $500.00 worth of performance for $50.00. I would complain too.

Bob

Yep...you get what you pay for. The Chineese radios have a useful purpose but its not in public saftey or even semi-public saftey usage. I wouldn't have designated one as my primary radio during such a natural disaster such as this one, even for ham useage. Some radios are shipped defective or have defective assessories as you found out. The Chineese don't seem to care, they'll send you another and another until you get one that works. They can't spell or interpret the english language very well either as you found out reading the manual. They can't seem to write programming software either. So now you know why they cost $50.00.

I do understand a lot of folks are on limited budgets and can't afford a Kenwood, Icom or Motorola radio and these are a decent alternative when they work. You just have to be ready for things like I just described above and hope for the best but expect the worst. Good luck in your search for a new radio.

 

[SCPD]

The regular uv5r are part 90 certified. Don't know about the plus. You can do an FCC ID search and try to find it.
Note the correct spelling is BAOfeng not Boa feng.

Sorry you had a bad experence but thats why its good to buy from a reputable US seller like amazon who will take care of you if you aren't happy.
I learned to hard way not to buy from the overseas sellers.

That's also why it's not a real good idea to rely on a $50 radio for emergency services. They don't call 'em baofengs for nothin.

I did buy it from Amazon.Com and got a RA and they can have that piece of junk back and it was received already. I would NEVER buy it from a unknown source from China or eBay. Thanks about the spelling but you get my point, right????? I did post that it WAS purchased from Amazon.com sir.

Bob

 

[rapidcharger]

Thanks about the spelling but you get my point, right????? I did post that it WAS purchased from Amazon.com sir.

Well *I* got your point but if you were to do an FCC ID search for Boa Fangs, you probably wouldn't get any results. That is the only reason I mentioned the spelling.

I thought you might be interested in seeing that Baofeng has some part 90 certification grants but they aren't for narrow or wide band voice and they aren't certified for more than 1.xx watts. So you were partially correct about that (if not totally correct due to the model name not reflecting the "plus") and you were correct in buying from a reputable source. I am showering you with praise, not with criticism.

 

[spqrzilla]

I'm afraid I'm not getting the point. For a toy radio with some nice versatility for an inexpensive price, I'm enjoying my UV5R.

 

[rapidcharger]

I'm afraid I'm not getting the point. For a toy radio with some nice versatility for an inexpensive price, I'm enjoying my UV5R.

THE POINT is that it's not marketed as a toy. It's marketed as a tool and the dealers that sell make a point to advertise them as being part 90 certified. They don't have the feature set of a pair of G.I. Joe Walkie Talkies. They have many of the same features of commercial radios (and then some). The reviews about these radios are overwhelmingly positive, most of which will say something to the effect of "I can't believe how good it is for $50" but none of them point out the differences between a UV-5R and an XTS5000.

So people buy them thinking its a suitable replacement for something that's 100 times the price and then wonder why it isn't once they get it. This happens often with Chinese products. Drywall, pet food, baby formula, honey, seafood, toothpaste, tire treads, lead covered toys, the list just goes on and on. Not to belabor the point, but when lives are on the line, one mustn't forget about this stuff when selecting communications equipment. And that goes for cell phones too. When some infrastructure dealer comes along and tries to sell your public safety agencies subscriptions to a mobile phone network so they can use ipads instead of radios, remember if it looks like baofeng and smells like baofeng... it's a stinky pile of baofeng.

 

[SCPD]

Thanks Rapidcharger! I really don't want to bad-mouth that company. Just a point I was trying to make and Amazon.com is awesome to deal with on everything! If you don't like it...you get a R.A.(Return Authorization) Plain and Simple!(Would Never By It On eBay) It had a defective drop charger(worked once) but then again.....for $59.99 the other poster is 100% right that it shouldn't be used for police/fire and I should of known better!
Have a nice Thanksgiving everyone!

73's

 

[AD8NT]

Wow gotta love all the bashers around here...

It's a $50 radio for one thing, however the whole "get what you pay for" doesn't apply here (outside of feature set) The radio works great.. if you buy from a **** seller you'll get a **** product.

I've purchased two of these one for myself and one for another operator... Both have run flawlessly on a daily basis and out-perform some yasu radios of other club members.

This coupled with a Nagoya NA-771 is hard to beat for the price, I can easily run 15miles+ with just the nagoya on the ground to our local repeater.....

It does have Part 90 cert btw, it'll work just fine for police/ems

Stop with the 'its a toy' crap.... It's not, a toy doesn't have 5 watt output, a 'toy' doesn't require an FCC license to operate... need I go on?

It's cheap..... we get it, its a good first-timer radio... plain/simple.

 

[AD8NT]

The reviews about these radios are overwhelmingly positive, most of which will say something to the effect of "I can't believe how good it is for $50" but none of them point out the differences between a UV-5R and an XTS5000.

So people buy them thinking its a suitable replacement for something that's 100 times the price and then wonder why it isn't once they get it.

-_-

Thats like trying to compare a station wagon to a mustang...... They both generally do the same thing but they are in a class of their own.....

If someone is stupid enough to get a 'station wagon' and expect it to run like a 'mustang' then its their own damn fault... Not the manufacture.

I know the UV-5R has a low feature-set, doesn't mean the radio is crap....
A 'station wagon' isn't as fast or nice looking as a 'mustang' but either one will get me from point A to point B....

sorry for the double post.... had to point this out

 

[SCPD]

I'll take my XTS5000 into a structure fire ANY day over my Baofeng. I love the little Baofeng radio but, for ham radio use only. I bought it specifically to reside in a "go" bag that I keep under the seat of my truck and it resides next to my Wouxun UV3D, also Part 90 certified.

I'm a firearms enthusiast also... I get approached from time to time about which firearm would be good for XXXX (you fill in the X's). They always want the cheapest gun they can get because, "It's only going to be sitting on the night stand 'til I need it". My response is, "How much is your life, or your families life, worth?"
I have the same opinion of a carry knife.... any knife I carry usually is a major brand with a known reputation.

Same concept goes with the Baofeng.... how much is your life, or a citizens life, worth if you have to call for a Mayday inside a building? My XTS5000 has suffered drops, significant temperature extremes, has dings, chips, and the screen is smoked up from NUMEROUS structure fires. It's never had a hiccup when asked to perform..... can you say that about a Baofeng with Part 90 cert? I'm not bashing the radio(s) but, they do fill a niche and I would never give serious consideration for public safety use.

 

[rapidcharger]

It does have Part 90 cert btw,)))

Haven't you read any of the prior replies in this thread? It isn't certified for NFM or WFM voice. And whatever it is certified for, it's not certified for more than 1.78 watts of power.

((( it'll work just fine for police/ems)))

It would be extremely foolish to use a (now) $40 radio for public safety. It's not rugged and it's not the right tool for the job.

(((Thats like trying to compare a station wagon to a mustang...... They both generally do the same thing but they are in a class of their own....)))

I don't see the connection.
On the one hand, you say they are in a class of their own and on the other hand you say they're just as good for public safety.

(((If someone is stupid enough to get a 'station wagon' and expect it to run like a 'mustang' then its their own damn fault... Not the manufacture.)))

Is it your fault then? Because you're the one saying it's fine for police and EMS and it's part 90 certified when it isn't. One can rightfully blame the manufacturer when the manufacturer makes claims of it being part 90 certified and will gladly stand by their product so long as you send your broken radio back to China. It's a lot more expensive to ship radios back to China than it does for them to ship them here by the way in case you've never had to do that. Ask me how I know.

(((I know the UV-5R has a low feature-set, doesn't mean the radio is crap....)))

Actually the Baofengs have a lot of features the average run of the mill business radio doesn't have. Thats what makes them so lucrative to some people.

(((A 'station wagon' isn't as fast or nice looking as a 'mustang' but either one will get me from point A to point B....)))

The station wagon vs mustang analogy just isn't working.

I'll take my XTS5000 into a structure fire ANY day over my Baofeng. I love the little Baofeng radio but, for ham radio use only. I bought it specifically to reside in a "go" bag that I keep under the seat of my truck and it resides next to my Wouxun UV3D, also Part 90 certified. )))

The Wouxun is part 90 certified for wide and narrow FM voice unlike the baofeng.

 

[AD8NT]

From reading the spec of the radio the "narrow" feature on the radio is supposed to be for part 90 and the "wide" is supposed to be part 97. at least thats what the docs say.

As far as the whole police/ems thing... I didn't say you should use it, just that it would work.
As per the feature set.... It has many fewer features than say.. a $400 radio, but the radio isn't crap... What the point I was trying to make.

You can't compare a $50 radio to a $400 radio, because its just stupid to think they are equal to each other, but that also doesn't mean the $50 radio is trash.

I speak highly of the UV-5R because I own one and use it on a daily basis, I get compliments on 2m frequently about its audio quality.

I see the station wagon/mustang analogy perfectly logical... but, why argue.
I could make 40 posts and you'll just shoot it down each time.
You make your points/I make mine.....

End point? In my opinion, the radio is just fine.
If you guys don't like it thats fine, but I'll still recommend it to new techs over a $400+ HT any day.
Money like that I think is better invested in Mobiles and Base setups.

 

[rapidcharger]

From reading the spec of the radio the "narrow" feature on the radio is supposed to be for part 90 and the "wide" is supposed to be part 97. at least thats what the docs say.

You're talking in circles so I'm just going to comment on this ^^^ only.
If you look up the FCC ID number for the radio (it should be on the radio someWHERE), and you can do this by doing a web search for "fcc id search oet", you will see that it doesn't list a 12.5khz FM emission designator. It lists a bogus emission designator. It may be a typographical error or maybe something got lost in translation. Innocent enough. But either way, it's not certified for how people expect to use it. You will also see the bands and power limits it is certified for. Therefore the documents are wrong. Why blame the manufacturer? How about because their documentation are incorrect.

Nothing to be ashamed of for not knowing that. As you can see from earlier in this very thread that just 17 days ago, I took everyone else's word for it that the things were part 90 certified. Sometimes information has to be independently verified no matter how reliable the source.

 

[quarterwave]

I ordered a UV5R+ through Amazon for $42 last week. I am anxious to see what $42 buys me. Keep in mind, I am a traditional, business-public safety, Motorola blooded radio guy - So I don't expect much.

I would not order one of these and intend to use it on a business system, or in public safety as a true high reliability radio. I want to play with the one I bought, use it's dual band, wide receive, and maybe use it for GMRS / MURS. If nothing else, it makes a cheap HT I can leave in my work truck and I'm out $42 if it comes up missing....not $500 to $800 if it's one of my Moto's.

I'm not aware of it being illegal to sell radios capable of certain frequency ranges, as described. If so, eBay and tons of other websites would be shut down. Sellers have a responsibility to not sell some smuck a radio and program it for him for TX on his local PD. That's why software should not be free and easy. As for as this type, well, there has to be some honor out there. If it's not your system and you don't have a license, then don't transmit. Same issue as FRS/GMRS combo units...I don't see any manufacturers going to jail over that. I have sold use equipment before, I won't program it for them, they have to go to the shop...then if they are not authorized, the shop won't program it.

It's like Fireworks...you can buy them, you are just not allowed to light them (where I live).