Baofengs illegal to use now?

[BiscuitsandGravy]

I don't see the problem with the Baofeng radios. I have a both a Yaesu and a Motorola mobile radio that receives and transmits on public emergency frequencies with no problems. I also have a couple of old Alinco handheld radios that transmit and receive on public emergency radio frequencies. The local 911 call center handles traffic from these radios (and Baofent HT's) with no problems or concerns. So what is the problem with the Baofengs being able to do the same thing that Yeasu and Motorola can do?

I know the old Alinco HT's will also TX/RX on FRS frequencies and they have removable antennae.

I suspect the problem with the Baofengs may be a bunch of HAM radio snobs complaining to the FCC about cheap Chinese radios that they think are beneath the dignity of the quality radio gear that should be used by a proper amateur radio enthusiast. But maybe there is more to it than that.

Double BINGO!! Follow the money. Maybe they are saving us from ourselves. (And our wallet)

Interested in group buy.

Interested in a group buy.

 

[Ericpwp]

FYI these are VERY nice upgrades to the stock antenna.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008Y2SPH6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The long whip version came this morning. I'm not having much luck with it. I'm not getting the noaa stations that I get with the standard antenna. It makes me not want to transmit thinking the swr would be too high.

 

[dnurk]

Tagged for future reading and updates. Been procrastinating on getting a few of these and this may get me in gear. Really appreciate all the info and advice given by those with more experienced in here.

 

[lonehoosier]

You're not far off from it. Once you have the program installed and the radio connected then just find the 'radio' section at the top to download from the radio. Then save that file someplace, doesn't really matter what's in it since it will be overwritten. That file is what to attach to the email. When it's completed and emailed back to you then open Chirp again, find the 'open' section under the 'file' tab and select the new file. Load it and then go to the 'radio' section and upload it to the radio. Make sure you are on a channel or frequency that isn't getting any activity, and make sure your volume is at least half way up. That should be all there is to it.



Something I do with all my radios is make a master file. A file that has EVERYTHING for that particular radio. From there I can change things around and save it as something else. Such as a "loaner" radio for non-hams that can listen to repeaters but not transmit, radios that don't have police frequencies in them for non-hams, satellite programing, etc. Each radio I have has several files to choose from in addition to the master list.

Sneakernet. Copy the file to a thumb drive and move that drive to your PC with mail.

Thanks for the tips. I did get the file to my email.

My head is still spinning about getting the channels I need. If anyone can help me with that pm me your email and I’ll send the file. Thanks

 

[Sigblitz]

I ordered mine Thursday night and got it this morning, Saturday. It came with a programming cable. I ordered a memory card I needed to bring the total to $25 and to get free shipping.

 

[jedi]

the channels YOU need depend on where you are and where you will be. since you got the radio just look at the excel file i gave you. for now manually dial in those channels and see if where you are at you can listen to those stations in nwi.

some you will some you may not due to your location. the repeaters you should be able to hit as they are closer to you then me. doubt u can listen to the south shore trains or south shore police as those seem to only work near the train line.

in any case once you figure out which ones u can hear then u can program those.

 

[Cygnus]

Does anyone know if there's a new code? The one on the first post is saying it's expired.
Also if anyone knows how I could get a list to manually dial in, in my area that would be great. (I'm sure there 's a site somewhere)

 

[jedi]

you can find your freq here
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=7771


here is the state link for indiana
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?stid=18

 

[lonehoosier]

You're not far off from it. Once you have the program installed and the radio connected then just find the 'radio' section at the top to download from the radio. Then save that file someplace, doesn't really matter what's in it since it will be overwritten. That file is what to attach to the email. When it's completed and emailed back to you then open Chirp again, find the 'open' section under the 'file' tab and select the new file. Load it and then go to the 'radio' section and upload it to the radio. Make sure you are on a channel or frequency that isn't getting any activity, and make sure your volume is at least half way up. That should be all there is to it.



Something I do with all my radios is make a master file. A file that has EVERYTHING for that particular radio. From there I can change things around and save it as something else. Such as a "loaner" radio for non-hams that can listen to repeaters but not transmit, radios that don't have police frequencies in them for non-hams, satellite programing, etc. Each radio I have has several files to choose from in addition to the master list.

Sneakernet. Copy the file to a thumb drive and move that drive to your PC with mail.

the channels YOU need depend on where you are and where you will be. since you got the radio just look at the excel file i gave you. for now manually dial in those channels and see if where you are at you can listen to those stations in nwi.

some you will some you may not due to your location. the repeaters you should be able to hit as they are closer to you then me. doubt u can listen to the south shore trains or south shore police as those seem to only work near the train line.

in any case once you figure out which ones u can hear then u can program those.

Ok, it took me some time but I got it uploaded to the R5. There's quite a bit of memory gaps in between some of the channels but looks like everything is working.

 

[lonehoosier]

You're not far off from it. Once you have the program installed and the radio connected then just find the 'radio' section at the top to download from the radio. Then save that file someplace, doesn't really matter what's in it since it will be overwritten. That file is what to attach to the email. When it's completed and emailed back to you then open Chirp again, find the 'open' section under the 'file' tab and select the new file. Load it and then go to the 'radio' section and upload it to the radio. Make sure you are on a channel or frequency that isn't getting any activity, and make sure your volume is at least half way up. That should be all there is to it.



Something I do with all my radios is make a master file. A file that has EVERYTHING for that particular radio. From there I can change things around and save it as something else. Such as a "loaner" radio for non-hams that can listen to repeaters but not transmit, radios that don't have police frequencies in them for non-hams, satellite programing, etc. Each radio I have has several files to choose from in addition to the master list.

Sneakernet. Copy the file to a thumb drive and move that drive to your PC with mail.

Ok, it took me some time but I got it uploaded to the R5. There's quite a bit of memory gaps in between some of the channels but looks like everything is working.

Once again thanks for everyone’s help.

 

[Sigblitz]

I ordered mine Thursday night and got it this morning, Saturday. It came with a programming cable. I ordered a memory card I needed to bring the total to $25 and to get free shipping.

Correction, programming cable wasn't included but in the instructions. Mistook earphone/mic cable for pg.

 

[lonehoosier]

Correction, programming cable wasn't included but in the instructions. Mistook earphone/mic cable for pg.

I ordered this one because it was recommended on this thread. It worked great.

BTECH PC03 FTDI Genuine USB Programming Cable for BTECH, BaoFeng, Kenwood, and AnyTone Radio https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HUB0ONK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_7Sr1BbGT904Z5

 

[AngryRooster]

Just got back home, been a long day. In addition to the radio reference links above, you can find frequencies in these 2 places as well.

https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/index.php?state_id=18

By City ? Indiana Repeater Council

(For some reason the first link is having problems loading, not sure what's up with it. Was working fine last night.) If anyone needs help getting the frequencies in the file feel free to send me a message and we'll exchange emails and try to get it going for you. For now, I'm going to get some sleep.

 

[Cameramonkey]

The long whip version came this morning. I'm not having much luck with it. I'm not getting the noaa stations that I get with the standard antenna. It makes me not want to transmit thinking the swr would be too high.

Weird. I have the standard whip (what I linked to) and it works better than the stock antenna. I know it works well, and on a related note, I know of absolutely ZERO stubbies that work beyond line of sight. (relying on 3rd party testers, exactly zero have found they worked even marginally)

Hopefully you have prime and can return it.

 

[Cygnus]

you can find your freq here
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?aid=7771


here is the state link for indiana
https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?stid=18

Just got back home, been a long day. In addition to the radio reference links above, you can find frequencies in these 2 places as well.

https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/index.php?state_id=18

By City ? Indiana Repeater Council

(For some reason the first link is having problems loading, not sure what's up with it. Was working fine last night.) If anyone needs help getting the frequencies in the file feel free to send me a message and we'll exchange emails and try to get it going for you. For now, I'm going to get some sleep.

Thanks folks! Rooster thanks for the feedback on the 8 watter as well. OK, Your avatar has me wanting to go practice some Alice In Chains

 

[fullmetaljesus]

While you guys are at it, for 2m you may want to add simplex channel 146.520. Which is kinda like channel 19 on cb. It's the general calling freq.

 

[AngryRooster]

Okay, here's my list. This is comparing a Baofeng UV-82L (5 watt) to a Baofeng UV-82HP (8 watt). I'm located about 2 miles away from Ohio and 20 miles north of Richmond-I70.

There is no difference at all when using the either the stock antenna, a Diamond RH519 (about 8"), or a Diamond RH77 (about 17"). Every frequency comes in (or not) equally with any of the antennas.

When using both radios in a vehicle with a Comet SSB 5 1/2 wave 2m/440 antenna there is only one difference. With the UV-82HP I can trip on additional repeater in Lima, OH that I can't with the standard UV-82L. My voice is very distorted and unreadable so conversation is impossible, but I can activate the repeater.

The next test was in the house. The antenna is an Ed Fong DBJ-1 2m/440, 250 watt version with an N connector and 100' of LMR 400 cable. It's 30' up and has been there since 2014 with no problems at all. https://edsantennas.weebly.com/ I made a yes/no list. The first yes/no is the standard UV-82L and the second one is for the HP. Since there were so many to check I just marked if I could trip the repeater, not trying to get signal reports from someone. The ones with a * there was a difference.

Yes/Yes - Richmond 1,2,3
Yes/Yes - Muncie AARC
No/No - Muncie 1
Yes/Yes - Muncie 2
No/No - New Castle 1,2
Yes/Yes - Portland
No/No - Fort Wayne
No/No - Anderson 1,2,3
No/No - Noblesville
No/No - W9ICE 1,2
No/No - Indy Wide
No/No - Hartford 1
Yes/Yes - Hartford 2
No/No - Kokomo 1,2,3,4
No/No - Frankfort
No/No - Connersville 1
*No/Yes - Connersville 2
Yes/Yes - Rockvile
Yes/Yes - Eaton OH 1,2
No/No - Piqua OH 1,2
Yes/Yes - Piqua OH 3
Yes/Yes - Fort Recovery
No/No - Celina
Yes/Yes - Dayton 1,3
*No/Yes - Dayton 2
No/No - Dayton 4,5
*No/Yes - Troy 1
No/No - Troy, OH
No/No - Lima - 1,2,4,5
*No/Yes - Lima, OH 3
Yes/Yes - St Mary
No/No - Urbana 1,2
No/No - Grove City


There were only a few that the extra power made a difference, and this was using a 1/2 wave antenna 30' in the air. IMO it's not worth the extra money to get the higher power HT radios. To each their own, but I run a 50 watt mobile at home and use the portables in the car or when I'm out doing something. Soon I'll have a better radio in the car, but until then I'm happy with the 25-30 miles I get using a cheap radio I won't miss if someone does a smash & grab.

Hope this helps.

 

[jedi]

im embarrsed to say it but reading angryrooster's tech post is "hot".
thanks for the well laid out testing and reporting.

 

[Dead Duck]

im embarrsed to say it but reading angryrooster's tech post is "hot".
thanks for the well laid out testing and reporting.

Did you just admit the MadCock is Hot?

 

[d.kaufman]

Did you just admit the MadCock is Hot?

Well it is Jedi!