Baofeng New Baofeng 5RM model

[JustinWHT]

While early model Baofeng UV-5R radios were problematic (politely phrased), the quality and spectral purity has significantly improved in past ten years: dispelling early genuine Baofeng model trash talk. The fake clones were garbage. The UV-5R is discontinued and replaced with the third generation BF-F8HP.

Which brings me to the newest 5RM.
The highlights are:
* Tri-band 2 M, 1.25 M, and 70 CM
* Aviation AM monitor.
* 1.77 inch color TFF display (barely readable in sunlight)
* One-touch NOAA weather channels.
* 999 channels
* USB Type C charging cable plugs into back of battery
* Desktop charger (not compatible for UV-5R radios).
* 2500 mAh battery (not compatible for UV-5R radios).
* Like the UV-5R radios it can illegally transmit (not type certified) on GMRS, FRS and LMR channels, and (gasp) even the NOAA weather channels!

Pic of my BF-F8HP and 5RM side by side.
Redacted because I erroneously labeled radio on left as UV-5R.

 

[k6cpo]

The Baofengs may have improved, but they still have a long way to go to catch up to Yaesu, iCom and Kenwood.

 

[JustinWHT]

No argument there.

 

[Jim_Shaffer]

* Tri-band 2 M, 1.25 M, and 70 CM

I see nothing in the official specs about 1.25m transmit.

 

[JustinWHT]

I'm not near anyway to check that, and not have manual handy.

 

[JustinWHT]

The manual gives conflicting information.

 

[Jim_Shaffer]

It appears that there is a "locked" (ham-only TX) and "unlocked" (ham plus GMRS, VHF LMR, etc. TX) version of this radio. How helpful of them to call both of them by the same name.

I'm also seeing reviews saying that the spectral purity of this radio is atrocious. I don't know which version they're reviewing, however.

 

[MTS2000des]

Yes, but do they actually produce clean transmit audio that isn't muffled and does not sound like a bag of smashed buttholes?

 

[JustinWHT]

It appears that there is a "locked" (ham-only TX) and "unlocked" (ham plus GMRS, VHF LMR, etc. TX) version of this radio.

What do you mean by "it appears" there is a locked and unlocked version. You have any info that points to two versions?

My UV5RM is obviously "unlocked' as I can transmit (into dummy load) on MURS, GMRS/FRS, LMR, and NOAA frequencies.

 

[JustinWHT]

Maybe it is true tri-band. But still crappy spurious emissions.

 

[richallcorn]

The Baofengs may have improved, but they still have a long way to go to catch up to Yaesu, iCom and Kenwood.

Yes, but you pay an arm and a leg for a Yaesu (my favorite radios) and yet they reach end-of-life faster than any other radio. I "love" Yaesu, but my first Ham radio was a Yaesu VX8DR ... I paid dearly for it and it was an awesome radio. But it had an issue with the battery connection that required me to send it it, not once, but THREE TIMES!!! NOW, they say they don't service them anymore!!!!

I can purchase a Baofeng for a fraction of the cost and have a very nice radio.
Some new to ham radio, it's all they can afford. So while Yaesu is still a better, radio, they've got a lot of improvement they can make as well.

 

[MTS2000des]

Yes, but you pay an arm and a leg for a Yaesu (my favorite radios) and yet they reach end-of-life faster than any other radio. I "love" Yaesu, but my first Ham radio was a Yaesu VX8DR ... I paid dearly for it and it was an awesome radio. But it had an issue with the battery connection that required me to send it it, not once, but THREE TIMES!!! NOW, they say they don't service them anymore!!!!

I can purchase a Baofeng for a fraction of the cost and have a very nice radio.
Some new to ham radio, it's all they can afford. So while Yaesu is still a better, radio, they've got a lot of improvement they can make as well.

They also sound like hot garbage. Case in point, a ham new to the area popped up on my (and other) repeaters. Anemic audio and you could barely hear him. Kept telling him to speak up and even when he did, his audio was muffled and turdy. You get what you pay for. Yaesu at least has a US service center and support. Can you get that from Bowelturd? Nope. Oh I know, just buy two or three, you know, one to crap one and one to cover it up with. Or buy a QUALITY radio that actually has good transmit fidelity both AF and RF, good receiver selectivity and good firmware so things like band scan actually work.

 

[richallcorn]

They also sound like hot garbage. Case in point, a ham new to the area popped up on my (and other) repeaters. Anemic audio and you could barely hear him. Kept telling him to speak up and even when he did, his audio was muffled and turdy. You get what you pay for. Yaesu at least has a US service center and support. Can you get that from Bowelturd? Nope. Oh I know, just buy two or three, you know, one to crap one and one to cover it up with. Or buy a QUALITY radio that actually has good transmit fidelity both AF and RF, good receiver selectivity and good firmware so things like band scan actually work.

Uh, I get the impression, with all of these expletives, that you're very angrily against Baofeng ... I'm sorry to hear that.
These newer versions, or at least the ones some of my Ham radio buddies have, work great!

"Bowelturd"? "Turdy"? "Crap one"?
I now know what they mean, when they same that someone is "anal retentive". LOL

I'm guessing you're not a ham radio guy ... we're trained to be kind with our replies.
I'm sorry you don't like the Baefeng radios. I am currently using an AnyTone AT-878 UVII plus digital radio. The audio is really nice, and the features are phenominal. And yes, "support" is a big deal when it comes to radios. I'm going to have to go to the dump though to see if I can find out what "hot garbage" sounds like. LOL

Thanks for the reply.

 

[JustinWHT]

On a side note - using a plug-in speaker/mic is a big improvement over the Baofeng internal mic and speaker.
There is a YouTube showing how to replace a generic speaker/mic microphone element with a larger microphone element that improved the audio.

 

[richallcorn]

I agree and often do this as my radio is attached to my backpack.
Good suggestion!

 

[JustinWHT]

Two improvements are a MOLLE radio pouch (Amazon around $20) to attach to backpack instead of the radio's clip and a tactical "measuring tape" antenna (Amazon) or sleeve antenna.

VHF Sleeve Antenna Suggestions

Back in the '70s SWBell installed mobile phones on oil well drilling rigs with a sleeved vertical antenna. To the best of my memory, it had a 3 or 4 ft stainless steel 1" diameter mast that terminated in a collar at the top. The collar had an 18" long and quarter inch diameter rod attached to...

forums.radioreference.com

 

[MTS2000des]

Uh, I get the impression, with all of these expletives, that you're very angrily against Baofeng ... I'm sorry to hear that.
These newer versions, or at least the ones some of my Ham radio buddies have, work great!

"Bowelturd"? "Turdy"? "Crap one"?
I now know what they mean, when they same that someone is "anal retentive". LOL

I'm guessing you're not a ham radio guy ... we're trained to be kind with our replies.
I'm sorry you don't like the Baefeng radios. I am currently using an AnyTone AT-878 UVII plus digital radio. The audio is really nice, and the features are phenominal. And yes, "support" is a big deal when it comes to radios. I'm going to have to go to the dump though to see if I can find out what "hot garbage" sounds like. LOL

Thanks for the reply.

Not all Chinese radios are junk. The AnyTone 878 is a much different class of radio. Quality audio, quality RF produced. Fairly refined firmware. Plenty of USA support. They don't sound like mud puppy road apples. They aren't $30 either. Again, one gets what one pays for.

I've been a ham for 40 of my 49 years. We are also trained to do better. We train to put quality signals out that are not full of spurious emissions, with readability and intelligible audio. We strive to encourage good operating practices, like not using CB radio sounding roger beeps, kerchunkerbating repeaters, etc. But thanks for the pro-tip. Speaking of pro, some of us do radio (LMR) for a living and care about things like FCC rules, staying within our emission mask, not interfering with others or transmitting out of the ham bands with non-certified radios...but you know all that I'm sure.

 

[EAFrizzle]

Here's my review of the 5RM: I've had a couple of UV-5Rs that were definitely junk. Early this year, I decided to get another car and found 5RM on Amazon and ordered a pair. It feels better in the hand, and more solid than the 5r series. I can't comment on wattage output on the bands, but it does transmit on any FM VFO frequency available to it. Fairly clean on 2m, not too bad on 70cm, but more spurs than a rodeo on 1.25m. Recieve is surprisingly good on all but the FM BCB.

I wound up getting four more. The price was too good to pass up. July brought a reason to use them when Beryl hit Houston. Plugged MURS and FRS into them and passed them out to my neighbors (at 60, I'm the youngest by over 20 years). Power was out 13 days, but we kept in touch the whole time on MURS 1 using those admittedly cheap radios. Never heard anyone else on any of those frequencies the whole time.


I'd love to have nice equipment. My budget dictates otherwise. Sure, I could have gotten a decent rig for what I paid for the six 5RMs, but how would that have been useful for my elderly neighbors during the hurricane?

You don't like the performance of a certain rig? Don't buy it, tell folks straight up what you don't like about it, and then drop it. All the condescension and snark doesn't provide any information about the specific radio mentioned by the OP, nor does it encourage anyone trying to learn about something useful that they can afford.

"CCRs bad." Scratched vinyl, and all that...

 

[richallcorn]

Not all Chinese radios are junk. The AnyTone 878 is a much different class of radio. Quality audio, quality RF produced. Fairly refined firmware. Plenty of USA support. They don't sound like mud puppy road apples. They aren't $30 either. Again, one gets what one pays for.

I've been a ham for 40 of my 49 years. We are also trained to do better. We train to put quality signals out that are not full of spurious emissions, with readability and intelligible audio. We strive to encourage good operating practices, like not using CB radio sounding roger beeps, kerchunkerbating repeaters, etc. But thanks for the pro-tip. Speaking of pro, some of us do radio (LMR) for a living and care about things like FCC rules, staying within our emission mask, not interfering with others or transmitting out of the ham bands with non-certified radios...but you know all that I'm sure.

I agree on the AnyTone radio. I have the AnyTone AT-878uviiPlus ...
and I cannot imagine being without it now. I get in my Jeep and it "syncs up" with bluetooth to my stereo, and while I'm listening to music, will interrupt me with a call on my speakers, and use my Jeep mic for the response. The bluetooth key button on my shifter works great for responses! The GPS works flawlessly, and APRS constantly reports my location, analog or digital. Even the FM radio feature works great! But I love the fact that I have VHF and UHF contact repeaters set up in a scan list, along with my digital radio, and "all of them" are being scanned constantly, so I don't miss calls because I was on another channel.
There's no way a Baofeng UV5R could ever come close to this!! BUT ... it's a great radio for the dirty jobs, like acting as a camping repeater, or replacing the el-cheapo GMRS radios I used to have, etc. They serve the purpose they were designed to serve.
And the AnyTone serves it's purpose flawlessly! I even special ordered the labels to replace the "AnyTone" labels with my name and callsign, so the radio "shows as mine" at first glance. When using my backpack, I plug in the external mic, and a longer antenna (my fly rod), and it works awesome! I can even use my Plantronics headset to listen to it while shopping so it doesn't disturb others.

 

[JustinWHT]

Which AnyTone radio is that?
Nevermind. Just noticed first line of your post.
$364 from Amazon little steep for a portable unless its your primary radio.