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weebray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1094
Registered: 7-19-2010
Location: La Paz
Member Is Offline
Mood: lleno
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Bao Feng radio
I thought I read a review of this scanner/radio here but a search on Bao Feng coughed up nada. The price seems too good to be true and that usually
means it is. Any knowledgebase out there??
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Here 'tis
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=71877
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rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
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one word. Baofeng.
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Neal Johns
Super Nomad
Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
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Mood: In love!
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Stay off (transmitting) of the Ham bands or they will getya unless you have a Ham license.
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
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dittydumdumditty, who will getcha? in baja?
[Edited on 2-25-2014 by willardguy]
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weebray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1094
Registered: 7-19-2010
Location: La Paz
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Mood: lleno
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Thanks for the link, guess my search was in two words, still you would figure the little guy in my computer would of offered some suggestions. Never
have been very successful with the search function here. Google it ain't.
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bajabuddha
Banned
Posts: 4024
Registered: 4-12-2013
Location: Baja New Mexico
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Mood: Always cranky unless medicated
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Two things come to mind about this deal;
If it looks too good to be true, chances are, it ain't;
Ya git whatcha pay for.
Now, if you can pick up Chinese music on it, you can dance the Feng Sway !~
errrrm, sowwy. 
I don't have a BUCKET LIST, but I do have a F***- IT LIST a mile long!
86 - 45*
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mcnut
Nomad
Posts: 177
Registered: 12-9-2013
Location: Dammeron Valley, UT
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I've got 3 of them, they work great. This is definitely a case of getting more then I had hoped for.
I'm not the FCC police but users should be familiar with the frequency spectrum they are broadcasting on and use some common sense.
Bruce
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Gulliver
Senior Nomad
Posts: 651
Registered: 11-18-2013
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I'm a ham operator and can't speak to the performance of any scanners but I and my friends have had a lot of problems with these radios not keeping
their memories. Something about the flash memory chip being a cheapo unit and not holding data after only a few months. It seems that every time the
unit is turned on, some data is written to and from this chip. A quality chip is good for many thousands of read/write cycles but the one in these
radios starts to fail after only a few hundred cycles. Of course this often happens right after the warranty runs out. The main and first U.S.
importer of them has dropped them.
They are so inexpensive that it's hard to not try one but it was a lesson to me about quality and price. No free lunch.
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mcnut
Nomad
Posts: 177
Registered: 12-9-2013
Location: Dammeron Valley, UT
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I have read reviews and followed forums dedicated to this radio(Baofeng UV-5R) and this if the first I have heard of this issue. I have a medium
amount of use on my 3 radios and they have been 100% solid.
I have to wonder how common this is and with what radios.
Bruce
[Edited on 2-25-2014 by mcnut]
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weebray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1094
Registered: 7-19-2010
Location: La Paz
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Mood: lleno
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mcnut
I have read reviews and followed forums dedicated to this radio(Baofeng UV-5R) and this if the first I have heard of this issue.
See my other post on the other thread about these radios. I also tried hard to find any microchip complaints on google and found nada. Ham people
normally fall into the hard core right wing camp and don't take kindly to upstart chinamen horning into an "all American" tradition. There is going to
be a bunch of push back. |
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Gulliver
Senior Nomad
Posts: 651
Registered: 11-18-2013
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Not right wing at all. Funny.
Three of my friends have them. The price is very good.
BUT: One of them had an outright failure, dead as a door nail. He got a new one from the importer. The second one went through three units. Each one
lasted about six months. The third friend's radio is still chugging along.
Now the first two guys were able to deal with the importer who sold through an individual web site and a ham magazine ad. That importer has stopped
importing.
You pays your bucks and takes your chance. But getting satisfaction from an Amazon vendor might be difficult. And exchanging emails with a seller in
China sounds like a sure route to frustration.
I buy cheapo stuff all the time but I don't depend on it for emergency communication in the middle of nowhere.
When I'm riding my DR-350 bike by myself in the sticks (I know. Bad idea.) I carry a low power H.F. SSB radio, with a small antenna tuner and a fly
reel full of wire. If I'm not too bunged up to get a wire over a cactus, I can raise hell with people half way around the world to come and find my
sorry carcass!
I got all screwed up an a rough grade going North from San Javier to Commondu a few days ago and I was very happy to know that I had my radio along.
There are rumors of a ham 2m repeater somewhere around Commondu but i haven't been able to confirm them yet.
There is a great repeater up at La Laguna South of LaPaz but it is solar powered so it is a very good idea to make peace with the LaPaz ham club
before yakking on it much. Not that big of a battery bank.
Mike
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Gulliver
Senior Nomad
Posts: 651
Registered: 11-18-2013
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Here is the story from the importer. It's complicated and sometimes pretty techie.
http://www.wouxun.us/Good-Bye-Wouxun/Good-Bye-Wouxun.html
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mcnut
Nomad
Posts: 177
Registered: 12-9-2013
Location: Dammeron Valley, UT
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That's a nice read but the title of this thread is "Bao Feng radio" (it's really Baofeng), Wouxun is a competitor and completely different
manufacturer.
Bruce
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taoswheat
Junior Nomad
Posts: 73
Registered: 11-29-2007
Location: Taos, NM USA
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I have a small fleet of various Baofengs and Wouxuns- about 50 total. Have had a few failures- 1 radio, 4 chargers, 1 battery. All in all, they are
good radios and perform about as well as my Motorola fleet of 200 radios.
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Gulliver
Senior Nomad
Posts: 651
Registered: 11-18-2013
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Yeow. I thought they were the same manufacturer. Ignore my previous posts on this subject.
Mike
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9009
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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| Quote: | Originally posted by taoswheat
I have a small fleet of various Baofengs and Wouxuns- about 50 total. Have had a few failures- 1 radio, 4 chargers, 1 battery. All in all, they are
good radios and perform about as well as my Motorola fleet of 200 radios. |
How many field hours on average, per unit, would you say you have on your fleet?
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taoswheat
Junior Nomad
Posts: 73
Registered: 11-29-2007
Location: Taos, NM USA
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Most of the radios are in daily use November through April at a Ski Area. The Wouxuns and Baofengs have been inservice for about 2 years and the
Motorolas 1 to 10 years.
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elskel
Nomad
Posts: 449
Registered: 10-9-2006
Location: Laguna Beach & Pescadero BCS
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To ham operators, this sounds like an economical radio for emergency situations (southern baja Pescadero - hurricane all else down) cells and power.
Question, no license needed for emergencies? Question 2, previous post by Gulliver, Are you able to run some wire and attach to antena for extended
range?
brian
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9009
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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As I recall from my exams, there IS an exemption for emergencies.
But there is no preclusion for using this on the marine VHF band. There is no longer any license required for those frequencies in the 156-162 Mhz
band. In an emergency in Mexico, those might be the best frequencies to try.
Based on reading the reviews on eham.net, it will accept external antennas. Some have reported that the OEM antenna gets very hot after a lot of
transmitting, as though there is an impedance mismatch. This disappears with a better quality rubber ducky.
Audio quality on receive sounds like it's pretty "tinny", based on reviews.
It does have less ouput at only four watts, compared to most HH marine radios at 5w. But for the price, I am thinking of replacing my FRS radios that
I share with people on ATV trips.
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