FCC after your BaoFeng!

[ExFlyinguy]

hmm... i want.
what is this thing and please provide more information.

is it just a handheld tx/rx, is it a scanner? i've got a few radioshack handheld radios, only ever seem to use them for weather channels.
what frequencies does this thing handle? i've got some chinese radios that do several am/fm/shortwave bands and my rtl-sdr handles just about everything else, got an upconverter for it too so it goes way down there.

i'd like to eventually get something up into the 5ghz range or more, with more bandwidth.

Since I have one and had no idea how to use it I've been watching some YouTubes.

Here is a short 6 minutes summary. I'm intrigued at this point. I found them on Amazon ~$20-25 pretty cheap

[Bug44]

Since I have one and had no idea how to use it I've been watching some YouTubes.

Here is a short 6 minutes summary. I'm intrigued at this point. I found them on Amazon ~$20-25 pretty cheap

Like I said, chirp is your friend. Trying to program it manually is a nightmare. Chirp is so easy and idiot proof.

[Gripsafety]

hmm... i want.
what is this thing and please provide more information.

is it just a handheld tx/rx, is it a scanner? i've got a few radioshack handheld radios, only ever seem to use them for weather channels.
what frequencies does this thing handle? i've got some chinese radios that do several am/fm/shortwave bands and my rtl-sdr handles just about everything else, got an upconverter for it too so it goes way down there.

i'd like to eventually get something up into the 5ghz range or more, with more bandwidth.

It can transmit and receive FM on 136-174 mhz (2 meter ham band, marine band) and 400-520 mhz (70 cm ham band, FRS/GMRS, NASCAR). A lot of newer police and commercial radios in these ranges are now digital, so the Baofeng won't receive them. Power is switchable between 1W and 4W. It can be set up to scan. It is a cheap shit radio that works, but don't expect Yaesu or Kenwood quality.

These will probably disappear from the mainstream marketplace sometime in the future. If you want one, get it now. If importation is stopped, prices will go up. You NEED the programming cable (as posted before, get the one with the FTDI chip) and Chirp (which is free).

[fallenleader]

It can transmit and receive FM on 136-174 mhz (2 meter ham band, marine band) and 400-520 mhz (70 cm ham band, FRS/GMRS, NASCAR). A lot of newer police and commercial radios in these ranges are now digital, so the Baofeng won't receive them. Power is switchable between 1W and 4W. It can be set up to scan. It is a cheap shit radio that works, but don't expect Yaesu or Kenwood quality.

These will probably disappear from the mainstream marketplace sometime in the future. If you want one, get it now. If importation is stopped, prices will go up. You NEED the programming cable (as posted before, get the one with the FTDI chip) and Chirp (which is free).

for the price, i might just pick one up.
is the 5w better than the 8w model? because it appears to only be about $12 more.

[markshere2]

I got one of those as a Christmas gift. I can confirm that I AM too stupid to use it. I have no fucking idea how it works.

Maybe what I got just looks like the one in the pic ....whatever I still can't use it

Ditto

[Gripsafety]

for the price, i might just pick one up.
is the 5w better than the 8w model? because it appears to only be about $12 more.

The 8W one is fairly new, and I've not played with one, but it looks like the UV5R with some improvements. 8W vs 5W is not a huge deal, but for $12 extra I would buy the 8W one if I were buying a new one today. They also claim that the new one is easier to program, but that is not really an issue with Chirp. I would definitely still buy the FTDI cable.

[Remington788]

Most of the FCC rules are rather silly and completely unenforceable. I'll be concerned about the power output on the FRS bands when the FCC actually gets off their asses and does something about every single power supply that comes in from china interfering with the FM and AM band.

A few years ago, someone, probably with a Baofeng, was fucking around with the Lancaster City PD. They would continually broadcast music over the actual police channels. It went on for weeks before they stopped, don't know if they got caught or what, but if the FCC can't even be bothered to deal with a major safety issue such as that in a reasonable amount of time, they certainly don't have the time to go after anyone that might be using these radios with a little too much power on the FRS band.

I realize it's meant to be on the "honor" system, but in reality, it's a bullshit regulation.

I think the FCC really doesn't enforce licensing and abuse. That falls to HAM operators running directional antennas
i think some of them enjoy the technical challenge of finding unlicensed operators

Yeah, how the fuck do the kids figure that out? Same thing happened to one of mine.

They hit the RESET option in the menu. Resets it to the factory settings in Chinese.

Recall when Channel 6 TV audio was at 87.7FM. You could listen to the news while commuting (if your car radio went down that far). FCC claimed it needed the channel and associated bandwidth for other purposes, I believe having to do with homeland security or some such.

I thought it went quiet when all TV stations switched from analog to digital signals in 2009.

So which model is recommended?


Rick

I dont know, they come out with new models faster than Apple phones.

hmm... i want.
what is this thing and please provide more information.

is it just a handheld tx/rx, is it a scanner? i've got a few radioshack handheld radios, only ever seem to use them for weather channels.
what frequencies does this thing handle? i've got some chinese radios that do several am/fm/shortwave bands and my rtl-sdr handles just about everything else, got an upconverter for it too so it goes way down there.

i'd like to eventually get something up into the 5ghz range or more, with more bandwidth.

i bought mine to use as a scanner at a Nascar race. Researched the driver frequencies and loaded them using CHIRP and the USB cable. Then at the race, I was messing with it and hit the Reset button
Right now I use it to listen to local emergency frequencies. During stormy weather I have received signals from about 100 miles away I am studying for my amateur radio license so I can transmit

[Gunowner99]

So, I have a cable with the prolific chip. Should I trash it? Are there any with FTDI that are less than $20? How hard is this to program even with Chirp?

I have UV 5RA

[fallenleader]

I dont know, they come out with new models faster than Apple phones.

except they're priced appropriately.

whats this ftdi thing? i realize it's a cable but it has a chip in it?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-PC28-FT...mAaR:rk:1:pf:0
i found this on fleabay.
and a lot of these listings use specs for new model with model number for both the new as well as the old. probably should avoid those.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sop...rt=nc&_fosrp=1

$36 to $20 isn't quite a $12 difference but it's close...

[Remington788]

get the cable from Baotech on Amazon. not worth messing with clones