Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band Reviews

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List Price: $108.00
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If you compare the Baofeng UV-5R to the latest offerings from Icom, Yaesu, and Kenwood, you wouldn't think it's a 5-star radio. But when you look at the price they're asking for the UV-5R, 5 stars hardly seems enough. This is a fantastic value. For under forty-five bucks you get a pocket-sized dual band radio, complete with earphone/mike and a desktop drop-in charger. Heck, Icom gets almost as much as this radio sells for just for the charger! NOt enough? It'll also cover FMRS and GMRS frequencies, receive the FM broadcast band, and there's even a built in flashlight!

So you've got to figure there's a catch, right? And there is: Programming this radio from the front panel is a royal pain in the caboose. After studying helpful web pagesnot the manufacturer's manualI'm now comfortable programming single frequencies and repeater offsets in, but I still don't seem to be able to put the in memory properly. The manufacturer supplies a program that's supposed to make programming easier, but the word is that it's as confusing as the front panel controls.

Luckily there's a fix. A group of dedicated hams have created a program called CHIRP that's available for Windows, OSX, and Linux that's as easy to use as a spreadsheet. Just type in the frequencies, offsets, CTSS, comments, etc., and hit upload. Unfortunately Amazon doesn't allow web links in reviews but you can find it by googling CHIPS and UV-5R. You'll also need the USB Programming Cable for BAOFENG UV-5R UV-3R+ Two way Radio With Driver CD to connect the radio to your computer, too. If you're interested in learning more about this radio before your order one, a good place to start is the user reference at miklor dot com slash uv-5r.

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In short: as of around mid December 2012, buy this one.

Best antenna for this: The Diamond SRJ77CA. Alternately, the Nagoya NA-771 SF if you are on a budget.

I was trying to figure out which version to get on here, frustrated by the reviews, so I decided to buy them all and report. I had read that the various versions are all the same radio, just the style and color vary: UV-5R, 5RA, 5RC, 5RE, 5R+, 5R Mk II, UV-E5, UV-5R Plus. This is true, so it comes down to which one is going to ship with the most recent firmware.

The firmware varies, but there does not seem to be much of a difference in performance. Holding "3" while you turn the radio on gets you the firmware version. I bought this mid-December, 2012 and got firmware version BFB295. I thought BFB293 was the latest but this is even more recent. The "UV-5R Plus" that I bought from Amazon for more money was BFB293, but I don't notice any difference at all in the functionality of the two.

For programming channels, don't bother trying to program directly to the radio get the programming cable. You can buy the cheap connector, search for CHIRP software, and navigate that with some frustration. If you would rather spend a bit more and skip the frustration, look into the RT Systems connector and software which works perfectly without any frustration.

This can transmit on Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) with no license required. It also transmits on General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) which technically requires a license. However, "bubble-pack pirates" persons who use GMRS without a license are common. It also transmits on the HAM bands and even some commercial and emergency frequencies, so be careful what frequencies you transmit on according to your licensing.

Construction? Much better than you're expecting. I have a $450 Yaesu VX-8DR, and this does 99% of what I used the Yaesu for day to day. It's not submersible, so don't take it into the bath tub with you, but at $44 it's practically disposable. The accessories are dirt cheap too. The volume can get much louder on a 5R than any other HT that I've used.

Update 12/28/12: I bought a second one, received on Dec-21-2012, this time it was the BFB293 firmware rather than the BFB295 that I received two weeks prior.

Update 1/4/13: I bought a different, earlier UV-5R variant that came with BFB297 firmware. These radios are all the same, it seems to be a crap shoot what firmware you'll get.

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Purchased this HT hoping it would deliver as advertised and it did. 5RA with new 293 firmware. All items advertised,(including headset) were included in package. Could program this via USB cable(not included) by CHIRP and BAOFENG VIP software from my laptop with no problems. USB programming cable was ordered also on Amazon from other vendor for around $7 with $2 shipping China Post. Ordered radio and cable on same day and they both arrived on same day (china post shipped cable only took 6 days to East Coast USA). I am very pleased with this item and vendor. ... One note, the metallic front speaker piece in pictures looks silverish but when looking at it in person it is anodized, shiny black like the rest of the HT's frame. Very stylish!

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: You need a license to use this HT on any of the frequencies it is approved by the FCC to transmit on. Ham frequencies part 97 and FCC reg. part 90 only. Even though it will transmit on FRS/GMRS and many other frequencies it is illegal to do so and interference to licensed users may result in confiscation, fines or imprisonment by the FCC and other authorities depending on what you do & how bad you tick them off. For more details see my comments section.

**EDITED UPDATE:as per comments for my review I will add that the picture shown has changed from a 5RA to 5R but the description has stayed the same. Hopefully it is just a mistaken picture. I also know a lot of people say it is hard to program by hand but after a week of daily use it is quite easy to remember what is what but I still use CHIRP and/or VIP software for major changes and frequency updates. I have no problem with my USB programming. I thought I did at one point but it turned out to be software related and not the HT's fault. After about 2 weeks now of use this HT is working just fine but I haven't looked at its harmonics yet. From what I gather, bad harmonics on TX is hit and miss to the individual radio. After two weeks of use, I can comfortably upgrade my 4 star to 5 star rating but will add an aftermarket antenna. With stock antenna I was able to pick up an Amateur satellite within an hour of first programming out of the box. PLEASE READ ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BY CLICKING COMMENTS TAB, THERE'S A LOT MORE INFO ON THIS RADIO AND PROGRAMMING CABLE SOURCE.

Honest reviews on Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio 136-174/400-480 MHz Dual-Band

This is an amazing little radio and an amazing value. You get the radio, 1800 mah battery, drop-in charger, and ear-bud/mic headset for less than you might expect to pay for the battery alone! The radio is packed with features mostly useful, some amusing. Note that it is primarily a ham radio transceiver and you must be a licensed ham to legally transmit on ham frequencies.

The user manual that comes with the radio is useful but scanty. It only scratches the surface of how to set up and operate the radio. Out of the box, you can't do much of anything without some programming. An experienced ham can figure it out, but a new ham buying his first radio will likely be frustrated. This could be the radio for a new ham, but only with some help, preferably from an experienced user that already owns one. For example, frequency steps must be reduced to enable setting popular frequencies, and repeater offsets (not just +/-) must be specified. Fortunately, this radio has an enthusiastic and extremely helpful user group. Before buying the radio, I strongly recommend checking out miklor dot com slash uv5r. If you do buy the radio, you will really appreciate this resource!

A programming cable (purchased separately) is almost a necessity. The cable you buy will probably need an older driver to work. The previously mentioned resource will help you here also.

In sum, these are highly capable, highly quirky units that can provide lots of entertainment and useful operation once you figure out how to set them up. My ham radio group bought a bunch of them for go-kits.

UPDATE: About a dozen of these radios have been purchased by hams in my locality. Every one of them operated properly out of the box. One has been since damaged by dropping it on a hard surface. The radio itself was fine, but the supplied antenna suffered internal damage (resolved by replacing the antenna with an after market antenna). In terms of programming the radio, about half of the users had someone else program the radio using an optional programming cable. Note that one cable can program any number of radios, the caveat being that you need the proper driver on whatever computer is being used. Also note any programming cable for Baofeng, Wouxun, and Kenwood handy/talkies will work. One industrious ham made a programming file that includes all the area ham repeaters, GMRS, FRS, Marine VHF and NOAA weather frequencies. This file was shared by several, and had the added benefit of identical memory channel numbers. As suggested elsewhere, programming the radios manually is somewhat challenging and the "newbies" needed help. After many new radios and quite a bit of use, no one in our group has been disappointed by their purchase.

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There are already some awesome, *very* helpful reviews on this and other Baofeng UV-5xx radios. I'm not a HAM or an experienced "COMS" operator, so there is nothing I can really add of significant value that has not already been mentioned by many more qualified reviewers.

However... though the UV-5 series of radios may be priced like a toy, they definitely are *not* toys. I bought a few just to keep on hand, unopened, in the event of a SHTF situation where normal communications were not available, thinking "it's a walkie-talkie, how hard could it be?"

Yeah, I'm an idiot.

In all likelihood I represent the majority of purchasers, with the requisite thinking outlined above. Boy, was I wrong! If you're not familiar with amateur radio, and how it works (and, like me, are likely not licensed) you will find out the hard way that there is a real learning curve with these things -input / output frequencies, tone frequencies, PL, +/Offsets, repeaters, and the list goes on! I didn't know any of these things when I bought them, and without that understanding they're basically useless. Sure, you can use them as FRS walkie talkies, but even that takes some study to get them to work properly. You would be better-served to just get a cheap set of walkies that are purpose-built for the task if that's what you're really looking for.

No, these are RADIOS -real "dual band transceivers" that can actually get you into trouble with the law -Google "Code 10-30" ("Illegal Use of Radio") if you don't believe me. They allow you to transmit on frequencies that require a specific license and operate under strict regulations. In other words, a $35 radio can get you into significant trouble, and we're talking about FCC and other fines that can easily exceed $10,000 (Google: "unlicensed HAM fines").

Since doing more research, I find myself becoming more and more fascinated with amateur radio and how things work, and this over just the last few days. It's literally a flood of information, and I still do not have these radios operating properly.

I originally thought I'd just pick up a few of these and sit on them until I needed to pull them out of the boxes. I'm glad I didn't wait until then, because I'd be screwed. There is no way I would ever have been able to put them to any practical use if I hadn't gotten curious and decided to "play" with them. I feel like I've stumbled onto a giant repository of information that I never knew existed, and I'm only now beginning to scratch the surface. To demonstrate my ignorance, I actually thought that I might be able to hear, or talk to, people around the country, if not the world, with these hand-held radios! After all, if you have a HAM radio you have unlimited range! Right?

Did I mention I'm not too bright?

If you're in the same boat, and figured that at these prices you "might as well" buy some "just in case" it's important to know up front, you're only wasting money unless you invest some real time into learning how to operate them properly. Otherwise you'll be in for a world of disappointment should the day come where you will actually need to put them into service in the event of an emergency. They're completely useless without knowing how to operate them -in your local area!

Now, for the insatiably curious, I can't think of anything else that costs $35 and will keep you occupied for endless hours, days, weeks, and possibly years while giving you a valuable education in something that could possibly save your life, or the lives of others, should that day ever come.