One of the best buys one can find for the money as in extremely cheap. The Baofeng UV-5R costs so little for so much transceiver that
it almost makes one believe that cheaper is better. The UV-5R with all its voice prompts and colored lights is
hard not to like. Tons of features, small, rugged, fits nice in the hand, loud, kinda cheesy looking, powerful and best of all in my opinion the receive sensitivity makes this little handheld a favorite amongst the titans.
sensitivity reading On VHF, 145MHz, -129dBm. On UHF, 435MHz, -126dBm.
Firmware version on my radio is BFB293 which I believe is the latest and that few people have to date.
120918N B5R0001
U P D A T E APRIL 1 2013 latest firmware version is BRB297...You can now buy 220mhz factory version..
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My radio arrived with some channels already programmed (and battery charged) and I believe this is common for quality control tests at the factory
and not that the radio was a return from another user.
Multiple colors available. Black,red,Yellow,Camo...NOT WATER RESISTANT.
Using the same antenna on an adapter ( and not a true way to test/compare radios) I found that the Baofeng UV-5R pulled out a few signals that my icom, kenwood and yaesu dual
band Ht's could not hear although at a cost of being a little extra greedy in reacting to undesired interference from
other sources close by like computers and other electronic devices. As Antenna's go the one that comes with this radio is
neither a long range or a stubby short range model, Incorporates SMA MALE thread which is unusual, and is a stiff non-bendable model that performs in the mid range . Although using a higher efficiency antenna offers better performance my needs are that I prefer to use a stubby antenna for short range communications and thus makes the size profile of my unit
even smaller for concealment which is what I like/need. I bought a FEMALE TO MALE adapter at radio shack for $4.00 to use my many aquired female SMA antennas ..so no sweat With optional antennas you may need to add a washer to the base
of the antenna as many antenna's do not screw down flush to the top of the radio.
The MODULATION is clear, crisp, and loud so much so often it sounds like you are on a base unit. You do have to speak up close into the mike and as such background/wind noise is filtered out to my liking. The speaker output is LOUD and clear.
This could be because this transciever incorporates a DSP/SDR design (digital)
I seem to be in the minority on the difficult programming issue many have in having played with so many small HT's on the market, finding most with programming quirks, and found this unit to be fairly easy to program
with the somewhat lacking instruction manual. Some features in the programming cannot be accessed without using a program
cable/software and I find this to be a small issue although others may find it a pain. The most noticeable exclusion in
programming options not available through direct keyboard programming is the assignment of ALPHA TAGS which can only be performed with cable and external software connection. And I guess I should mention that you cannot directly program 2.5 KHZ without rounding up and then hitting the up or down frequency key to land on a 2.5KHZ freq you wanted in the first place. In others words you have to use the step sequence rather than a direct keyboard input. I like to have the FM radio/priority function turned off in many cases and the programming cable is nec to do this.. I like the split repeater capabilty.
My UV-5R came with the optional ear bud mic and I found the modulation to be slightly louder with this external mic. The belt clip supplied is built sturdy enough for most uses but the spring may not have enough torque in heavy use... Although I did not buy the unit because of the built in flash light and would have preferred a White light LED over the blue one that is incorporated, I actually found it useful.
The lighted keyboard is nice!
The LCD has issues in both high and cold temps it seems and every lcd display is different in that regard... so don't expect to see the readout in 30 degree or extremely hot temps as it will fade out.
The 1800ma battery supplied was fully charged on arrival and lasts a long time compared to batteries in my other HT's.
The charger is quite sturdy and provides lots of information as to the status of the charger to include a red power light on the transformer to confirm the unit is plugged in to an active outlet. This 1800ma battery took a little over 4 hours to fully recharge from the 400ma charger once exhausted. From what I understand the battery has to be exhausted and recharged 3 times before attaining it's highest performance.
Can't charge without drop-in charger .. CIG lighter battery eliminator pack avail but has very short coiled cable.
Extended size battery packs are available. AA and AAA battery packs available..
The three bar battery power indicator on the radio is not linear as once you get down to the last bar the battery is almost ready to exhaust and by the time the low battery warning kicks in you have nothing left.The audible voice warning will quickly wear both the radio and you out as it quickly repeats over and over. The voice mode can make you want to hit the radio with a hammer in a few circumstances but it also has it's advantages I must admit ...dammed if u do and dammed if u don't.
The signal indicator on receive mode only indicates that the squelch has been broken and IS NOT A RELATIVE STRENGTH INDICATOR, it is either full bars or no bars.. On transmit mode it shows full 5 bars when keying out no matter what ,
including with no antenna attached!!! So in summary no RF signal/power meter.
The TRANSMIT button is not only large but is extremely touchy and accidental transmissions WILL HAPPEN so be
careful especially if tuned to frequencies you are not authorized to xmit on.
Can't see both Frequency and Name at the same time
The VOX control level adjustment is not linear and seems like only 1 or 2 adjustment levels.
Can still turn the volume down when locked.
Most buttons will stop a scan when locked.
The Call button will still switch to FM radio mode when locked.
THE CHANNEL SCANNING MODE IS VERY SLOW so don't expect it to be good at catching multiple activity without a long lag time.
Can't program channel skip (channel lockout) in the radio without cable/software/computer
The display is very nice, dot matrix, and you can choose 3 different colors (purple,orange,blue) in a conbination of ways. (IE.different color for TX,RX,and stand by).
The panic/alarm feature is easily accidently activated when trying to engage the FM radio feature.
One of the many features that I like is the radio ID mode which allows you to set an ID number (only from computer software) for the transceiver so anyone listening with the same capability can know who/what radio is transmitting.
Although the scan mode speed is incredibly SLOW I like that the programming allows for a long customized delay time so that you don't jump out of
delayed keyups in a conversation.
On a fresh battery and a digital RF power meter I measured readings of 4.9 - 5.4 watts across the vhf band from 136mhz to 174mhz. My UV-5R came with UHF coverage from 400mhz to 520MHZ with no breaks in xmt and I understand that with external software programming
addition frequencies can be obtained. .
The UV-5R also includes the capability to cover the FM commercial radio band (MONO) and I was amazed how well the unit picks up stations even with the mid-range antenna supplied, utilizing a longer antenna results in a remarkable ability to pull in the weak stations. My unit stores up to 25 FM commercial radio channels (VIA computer software) although I have read reviews where some do not, maybe it is the specific firmware version that controls this capability? I had zero problems with using a programming cable and software on my windows 7 computer, apparently others have.
The radio is built quite ruggedly AS I HAVE DROPPED MINE SEVERAL TIMES ON THE CEMENT AND HARD FLOOR AND NO PROBLEMS.
Like with most products of this kind built in China, (and at such a extremely cheap price) quality control may be lacking and thus YOUR tranciever may have issues...while many/most do not.. It seems like the lemons get the most feedback..I have had no problems with the several UV-5R's that I have recieved.
In summary it is evident that at this time this radio packs more punch for the dollar than any currently on the market and that alone is something worth writing about..
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This Item  BAOFENG UV-5R VHF/UHF Dual Band Radio 144-148MHz 420-450MHz Transceiver |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $20.50 | $23.99 | $38.99 | $19.60 | -11% $34.18 List: $38.19 | $39.89 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 | Get it as soon as Saturday, May 11 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Battery life | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Sound quality | ||||||
| Sold By | Amazon.com | Radioddity | LYU LAM Collections | 49 Store | LYU LAM Collections | VITAHUI |
| talk range maximum | 5 kilometer | 8 mile | 5 kilometer | 2 kilometer | 6 kilometer | 10 kilometer |
| number of channels | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 |
| frequency range | 144-148MHz, 420-450MHz | 144 - 148 MHz | VHF | 144 - 148 MHz | VHF/UHF | 144-148Mhz/420-450Mhz |
| battery quantity | 1 lithium ion, 1 product specific | 1 lithium ion | 2 lithium ion | 0 lithium ion | 2 lithium ion | 2 lithium polymer, 2 lithium ion |
| tuner technology | UHF | UHF/VHF | UHF, VHF | UHF | UHF, VHF | UHF,VHF |
| water resistance | water resistant | not water resistant | waterproof | waterproof | not water resistant | water resistant |
| voltage | 7.4 volts | — | 7.4 volts | 7.4 volts | 7.4 volts of direct current | 7.4 volts |
Product Description
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| UV-82HP (7W), High-Power +(3rd Gen) | UV-82C, Commercial, Employer Model | UV-5X3, Tribander Model | BF-F8HP (8W), High Power + (3rd Gen) | BF-F8+ Variants, (2nd Gen) | UV-5R & Variants (2nd Gen) | |
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| Customer Reviews |
4,614
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552
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2,123
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14,565
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| Price | $69.89 | $69.89 | $69.89 | $62.89 | — | — |
| Output | 7 Watt Max | 5 Watt Max | 5 Watt Max | 8 Watt Max | 4-5 Watt Max | 4-5 Watt Max |
| Speaker Output | 1 Watt | 1 Watt | 1 Watt | 700mw | 700mw | 700mw |
| Bands Supported | VHF, UHF | VHF, UHF | VHF, 1.25M, UHF | VHF, UHF | VHF, UHF | VHF, UHF |
| Case Durability | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial | Commuter | Commuter | Commuter |
| Display | Tri-Color | Tri-Color | Tri-Color | Tri-Color | Inverted | Tri-Color |
| High Gain 7" Antenna | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Updated In-Depth User's Guide | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
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