Why are people buying Baofeng radios?

[nd5y]

There is no FCC certification for amateur use, except for external HF amplifiers.

Some Baofengs and other CCRs have part 90 certification.
Most real radios are certified for parts 22 (paging), 74 (broadcast auxiliary) and 90 (industrial/business & public safety). Some are also certified for part 80 (marine) and part 95A (GMRS)

 

[KK4JUG]

The CCRs have their place in the amateur world. Well also GMRS, FRS, MURS too; although not on the legal side.

Who care whether there are rules or not? I think they're there to provide some type of organization and standards.

"....although not on the legal side" says a lot.

 

[prcguy]

Around here Range Rovers seem to break a lot and they are very expensive to service. They get little respect on the road compared to an actual Land Rover badged vehicle.

There are probably lots of radios that fit the same category, expensive new but less reliable than the cheap Chinese radios and more costly to service than buying a new Chinese radio.
prcguy

I have nearly 100 radios in stock here that I hire out. Mostly Kenwood with some Icom and Motorolas. I always buy the cheap Chinese radios when they come out to experiment with. I don't rent them out. I could say that it's because they aren't up to it physically or electronically, but that's not true. I could say it's because they are too prone to users fiddling compared to the hire stock (that one's true), but the real reason is because if one user googled them, they want to know how I justify the hire charge on the others - at least when they google them and see they are two to three hundred or more each, the hire charge looks modest. The weeks hire would buy me new Chinese radio. My test is simple. I pick them up. If they feel like a tool, they're worth hiring. If they feel like a toy, they're not.

Sure the Icoms and kenwoods are better radios, especially in event use where there are lots of other radio users and interference is bad news - but those Baofeng 888s actually would work for many jobs, and after job 2 I could throw them away.

Why is it just radios that get this treatment. If you buy a cheap imported car nobody ever considers it against a Range Rover - which gets you to the shops in exactly the same way?

 

[K7MFC]

Aren't they "certified" for amateur use only? If not, I apologize.

miklor.com has some good reference regarding this question. Searching the FCC database for the Baofeng Grantee Code, "ZP5" we can see all Baofengs that are Part 90 compliant:

https://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid

I am not a lawyer, so I'll let everyone draw their own conclusions.

 

[emcomm]

Many uniformed federal LE on-duty in NYC use these to monitor the local precincts.

 

[12dbsinad]

Many uniformed federal LE on-duty in NYC use these to monitor the local precincts.

Give it a few years and that won't be happening anymore.

 

[poltergeisty]

I'd never own one when you could buy a tried and tested used ham radio on eBay for around the same price. That and those cheap Chineese radios certaly aren't UL listed and what not. I'd never leave the house while it's charging. That's for sure.