Article - BaoFeng UV-5R: Affordable & Portable Ham Radio for Survival

majorhavoc · February 02, 2024, 06:34:13 PM

Warrior Maven

Nice discussion/overview of this low-cost, well-regarded hand-held ham radio. A huge user community exists with lots of knowledge just a Google search away.

NT2C · February 02, 2024, 06:50:54 PM

I'm going to hold my tongue on that "well-regarded" appellation. Depends on who you ask.

majorhavoc · February 02, 2024, 06:59:58 PM

Quote from: NT2C on February 02, 2024, 06:50:54 PMI'm going to hold my tongue on that "well-regarded" appellation. Depends on who you ask.

Fair enough. You'd know better than me. Can we agree on "popular"?

NT2C · February 02, 2024, 07:12:37 PM

Quote from: majorhavoc on February 02, 2024, 06:59:58 PM
Quote from: NT2C on February 02, 2024, 06:50:54 PMI'm going to hold my tongue on that "well-regarded" appellation. Depends on who you ask.
Fair enough. You'd know better than me. Can we agree on "popular"?

Yes, it is most definitely popular. Hard not to be at that price point. And to be fair, I know the model has been improved a lot over the years, so I'm not going to put my foot in my mouth about technical issues that may have been corrected now.

I will address two issues with it that haven't changed though... its low price and Amazon selling it to just anyone, with no concern given to licensing.

That leads to people buying them just as they would an FRS HT, and using them as such. You get all sorts of folks popping up in the ham bands who are unlicensed and unwilling to even listen to your explaining to them that they need a license to transmit on the frequency they're on, and that they're disrupting other communications.

"Well, if you need a license for it they wouldn't have sold it to me. You're just trying to trick me to take over my channel here. I know my rights! Go get your own channel and leave me alone!"