UV-5R VHF/UHF Dual Band Radio 144-148MHz 420-450MHz Transceiver

I'm going to be re-testing for my Technician Class because I let my license lapse years ago, and want to get back into amateur radio. This radio is on par and exceeds the ICOM's I used back in the 90's/early 2000's. Better audio by far, and better frequency coverage as well. I had to have my ICOM's modified to work out of band transmit as I was an Animal Control Officer, EMT and Firefighter. This is out of the box, even though I won't be using it for that now, but good to know... My primary use right now is as a scanner. Even though it is a bit slow on the scan, it is not much slower than my ICOM's used to be, so no big deal. Here's the big deal though.... it costs about a tenth of what I paid for the ICOM's, and with CHIRP, programming is easier than anything I have ever programmed. Do yourself a major favor though and get the programming cable, otherwise you may find yourself throwing this radio against the wall. Great resources online fill in the massive gaps in the manual too. Definitely worth the money. *********** UPDATE 9/10/13 I'm still surprised by this little gem of a radio. The front end could have better rejection, but in most cases this isn't a problem. Great audio, decent battery life, though I recommend the extended battery, or car adapter. I mostly use this as a mobile radio with an external antenna, customized Motorola mobile microphone, and external speaker. Even with it set to only 1 watt, I can hit the local repeaters solidly with little to no noise. The Antenna connector is a pain, but will be converting to BNC in the near future. Use CHIRP to program, and it's a total breeze. Also, if you have a channel setup you like, you can save an image and clone it to other UV-5R's to save time. I have several images saved depending on where I'm travelling. Some might think the "flashlight" is useless, but I've used it several times, and it has been a life saver during power outages. The FM radio feature, to me, is a waste, but to each their own. I do wish the channel skip was available on the radio itself, and not just available in the programming software, and I would like true dual receive, but for the money, you cannot go wrong. Also, if you program channels you don't want to talk on, ie police... you can set the transmit frequency to an off the scale channel 000.0000 and it will prevent accidental transmission on those channels. Still 5 stars, especially considering the price. I'd give it more if it was an option. 73 W8RJR

I have held an amateur radio license for 30 years. I think this is one of the best values I have purchased. This little radio does not compare to the name brands that have been around for years of course but for the price you can take it with you anywhere and not worry about it being stolen, getting wet, falling form a high place or any other hazard. not because it is rugged (which it is not bad) but the cost of replacement. The radio functions well with clear audio and a decent range. The antenna leaves a little to be desired as well. I think I have 8 of these now. in my car, my office, my truck and my go bag and .....My handheld before this was a Kenwood and no this does not compare for clarity and range but, battery life is actually better.. If you are not a licensed amateur it is illegal to transmit using this radio (possible large fine). So if you just want to listen you are welcome, But if you want to talk on these frequencies please study and pay the the few dollars to get your license all the test questions are on the internet. And this is an inexpensive first rig to get your feet wet with.

Excellent radio! The shirt-pocket size is awesome. My previous HT was 3x the size and weight. Reviews stated that they were hard to program using the display. This is only true because the user's manual is almost worthless-hard to follow. It is not logical in its progression through the programming sequence! Fortunately there is help on the internet. Also, on the reviews, the programming cable makes it easy to program the radio. This is not necessarily true! If you have a computer that still has Windows XP, that may be true. There needs to be a Windows 7 & 8 driver made available!

This radio is my entry into the HAM radio world. I passed my technician class license, and ordered this radio the next day based on a couple of recommendations from the examiners. I had reservations about purchasing such a low cost radio (based on the cost of similarly equipped radios), but I was happily proven wrong. In the $40-$50 range, this dual band radio can not be beaten. This has all the needed features and then some (flashlight, alarm), and functions well on RX and TX. The only qualm I have is programming frequencies in channel mode. You can program them on the radio's built in keypad, but the process is extremely long and difficult to do. I plan on getting the USB programming cable in the future to ease the process using the computer and compatible software to program the channels (and assign names, which you can only do through computer programming) The best part is that I'm not going to cry if this radio gets beaten up or even destroyed (by rain, drops, electrical damage), unlike how I would be with the $100-$300 competitors. The very low price means it is easily replaceable if harm does come to it, even on a budget. If you are just getting into HAM radio, this is a great affordable option. My recommendation is to use the BaoFeng UV-5R group on Yahoo to help you along (as the manual is not too helpful).

It took a couple of weeks for this radio to arrive. Charged up fine when I first got it. Used the radio for 3 days. Charged it up a 2nd time and worked for 3 days, no problem. Charged it up for the third time, charger died. Charger base works but the 10 volt power supply stopped working. Baofeng warranty requires returning the item to authorized seller or repair center. So you have to send the whole radio back with packaging and original invoice, and maybe you get YOUR radio back or you get a refurbished one, or you get a new radio. Since I only have $25 into this, shipping it would cost half of what I paid for it. Useless warranty actually. That said, the radio works great when coupled with an original Nagoya NA-771 antenna. Stubby that comes with it has terrible losses, so you might as well order an NA-771 antenna. The stubbie does work great when placed atop a mini UHF adapter and mated up with RG59 with an air wound 1:1 choke/balun about 14" wound around a 6" in form and then raise it 10 to 15 feet in the air and you have a nice antenna. On the radio itself the stubbie stinks. The NA-771 appears to have been made for this radio so its a good fit. Now on for the rest. Programming is great when using CHIRP but you need a cable for it. Order OEM Baofeng and you won't be disappointed. Order from someone in mainland China who says its OEM Baofeng and you may or may not get OEM. I got a knock off which required so much work that I ended up buying OEM and having it shipped priority. The knock off is a 10 year old version of the chipset and the UV5R uses a modern chipset that downloads the drivers automatically without further install of driver software. The radio performs well, expect that you will put 4 watts out ONLY if you have an adequate groundplane. Your arm is not an adequate groundplane so figure keep it on high power and using it handheld will get you about 1 to 1.5 watts out. Maybe 2. Hits repeaters well on VHF, iffy on UHF depending on distance, line of sight, and what's between you and the repeater. Simplex works, but you will maybe get 25 miles with nothing between you and the other unit. Maybe. Not a shoe in. Works good with mobile antennas, and Nagoya makes one for this unit that matches it well. All in all, don't count on the charger. There are numerous complains about it bouncing around the net. Mostly the biggest complaint is it needs 10 volts into the cradle to charge it. You can purchase step up USB cables and step-down cigarette lighter plug adapters on eBay just be prepared to wait. Also, go for the BL-5L 3800 mah battery. It will give you double the life. All in all for $25 the radio is worth it but the charger is junk.

One of the best buys one can find for the money as in extremely cheap. The Baofeng UV-5R costs so little for so much transceiver that it almost makes one believe that cheaper is better. The UV-5R with all its voice prompts and colored lights is hard not to like. Tons of features, small, rugged, fits nice in the hand, loud, kinda cheesy looking, powerful and best of all in my opinion the receive sensitivity makes this little handheld a favorite amongst the titans. sensitivity reading On VHF, 145MHz, -129dBm. On UHF, 435MHz, -126dBm. Firmware version on my radio is BFB293 which I believe is the latest and that few people have to date. 120918N B5R0001 U P D A T E APRIL 1 2013 latest firmware version is BRB297...You can now buy 220mhz factory version.. ********** My radio arrived with some channels already programmed (and battery charged) and I believe this is common for quality control tests at the factory and not that the radio was a return from another user. Multiple colors available. Black,red,Yellow,Camo...NOT WATER RESISTANT. Using the same antenna on an adapter ( and not a true way to test/compare radios) I found that the Baofeng UV-5R pulled out a few signals that my icom, kenwood and yaesu dual band Ht's could not hear although at a cost of being a little extra greedy in reacting to undesired interference from other sources close by like computers and other electronic devices. As Antenna's go the one that comes with this radio is neither a long range or a stubby short range model, Incorporates SMA MALE thread which is unusual, and is a stiff non-bendable model that performs in the mid range . Although using a higher efficiency antenna offers better performance my needs are that I prefer to use a stubby antenna for short range communications and thus makes the size profile of my unit even smaller for concealment which is what I like/need. I bought a FEMALE TO MALE adapter at radio shack for $4.00 to use my many aquired female SMA antennas ..so no sweat With optional antennas you may need to add a washer to the base of the antenna as many antenna's do not screw down flush to the top of the radio. The MODULATION is clear, crisp, and loud so much so often it sounds like you are on a base unit. You do have to speak up close into the mike and as such background/wind noise is filtered out to my liking. The speaker output is LOUD and clear. This could be because this transciever incorporates a DSP/SDR design (digital) I seem to be in the minority on the difficult programming issue many have in having played with so many small HT's on the market, finding most with programming quirks, and found this unit to be fairly easy to program with the somewhat lacking instruction manual. Some features in the programming cannot be accessed without using a program cable/software and I find this to be a small issue although others may find it a pain. The most noticeable exclusion in programming options not available through direct keyboard programming is the assignment of ALPHA TAGS which can only be performed with cable and external software connection. And I guess I should mention that you cannot directly program 2.5 KHZ without rounding up and then hitting the up or down frequency key to land on a 2.5KHZ freq you wanted in the first place. In others words you have to use the step sequence rather than a direct keyboard input. I like to have the FM radio/priority function turned off in many cases and the programming cable is nec to do this.. I like the split repeater capabilty. My UV-5R came with the optional ear bud mic and I found the modulation to be slightly louder with this external mic. The belt clip supplied is built sturdy enough for most uses but the spring may not have enough torque in heavy use... Although I did not buy the unit because of the built in flash light and would have preferred a White light LED over the blue one that is incorporated, I actually found it useful. The lighted keyboard is nice! The LCD has issues in both high and cold temps it seems and every lcd display is different in that regard... so don't expect to see the readout in 30 degree or extremely hot temps as it will fade out. The 1800ma battery supplied was fully charged on arrival and lasts a long time compared to batteries in my other HT's. The charger is quite sturdy and provides lots of information as to the status of the charger to include a red power light on the transformer to confirm the unit is plugged in to an active outlet. This 1800ma battery took a little over 4 hours to fully recharge from the 400ma charger once exhausted. From what I understand the battery has to be exhausted and recharged 3 times before attaining it's highest performance. Can't charge without drop-in charger .. CIG lighter battery eliminator pack avail but has very short coiled cable. Extended size battery packs are available. AA and AAA battery packs available.. The three bar battery power indicator on the radio is not linear as once you get down to the last bar the battery is almost ready to exhaust and by the time the low battery warning kicks in you have nothing left.The audible voice warning will quickly wear both the radio and you out as it quickly repeats over and over. The voice mode can make you want to hit the radio with a hammer in a few circumstances but it also has it's advantages I must admit ...dammed if u do and dammed if u don't. The signal indicator on receive mode only indicates that the squelch has been broken and IS NOT A RELATIVE STRENGTH INDICATOR, it is either full bars or no bars.. On transmit mode it shows full 5 bars when keying out no matter what , including with no antenna attached!!! So in summary no RF signal/power meter. The TRANSMIT button is not only large but is extremely touchy and accidental transmissions WILL HAPPEN so be careful especially if tuned to frequencies you are not authorized to xmit on. Can't see both Frequency and Name at the same time The VOX control level adjustment is not linear and seems like only 1 or 2 adjustment levels. Can still turn the volume down when locked. Most buttons will stop a scan when locked. The Call button will still switch to FM radio mode when locked. THE CHANNEL SCANNING MODE IS VERY SLOW so don't expect it to be good at catching multiple activity without a long lag time. Can't program channel skip (channel lockout) in the radio without cable/software/computer The display is very nice, dot matrix, and you can choose 3 different colors (purple,orange,blue) in a conbination of ways. (IE.different color for TX,RX,and stand by). The panic/alarm feature is easily accidently activated when trying to engage the FM radio feature. One of the many features that I like is the radio ID mode which allows you to set an ID number (only from computer software) for the transceiver so anyone listening with the same capability can know who/what radio is transmitting. Although the scan mode speed is incredibly SLOW I like that the programming allows for a long customized delay time so that you don't jump out of delayed keyups in a conversation. On a fresh battery and a digital RF power meter I measured readings of 4.9 - 5.4 watts across the vhf band from 136mhz to 174mhz. My UV-5R came with UHF coverage from 400mhz to 520MHZ with no breaks in xmt and I understand that with external software programming addition frequencies can be obtained. . The UV-5R also includes the capability to cover the FM commercial radio band (MONO) and I was amazed how well the unit picks up stations even with the mid-range antenna supplied, utilizing a longer antenna results in a remarkable ability to pull in the weak stations. My unit stores up to 25 FM commercial radio channels (VIA computer software) although I have read reviews where some do not, maybe it is the specific firmware version that controls this capability? I had zero problems with using a programming cable and software on my windows 7 computer, apparently others have. The radio is built quite ruggedly AS I HAVE DROPPED MINE SEVERAL TIMES ON THE CEMENT AND HARD FLOOR AND NO PROBLEMS. Like with most products of this kind built in China, (and at such a extremely cheap price) quality control may be lacking and thus YOUR tranciever may have issues...while many/most do not.. It seems like the lemons get the most feedback..I have had no problems with the several UV-5R's that I have recieved. In summary it is evident that at this time this radio packs more punch for the dollar than any currently on the market and that alone is something worth writing about..

I talked to a Chinese student here at my college and this translated out to Stormwind which is an interesting name for a company. Now to the review. This transceiver is very nicely made. I would thought that for the price it would be broken easily espeically when it came with a strap, ear/microphone and a charger. Now this transceiver is not for the beginner ham who doesn't have experience with programming this radio. It is highly suggested that if you buy this rig, that you get a programming cable so it is easier to program. Since the repeater offset is only good in Frequency mode, channel mode it does not save to memory. In order to save to memory you first put in the RECEIVE frequency then Transmit frequency. Now be sure to put in the T-CTS (menu 13) or if the repeater transmits a tone then you set the R-CTS (Menu 11) For example 147.280 uses CTCSS then you would set Menu 11 and Menu 13 to the same tone. which is set in each menu item and it always starts from 67.0 even if it is set to say 100.0 good The good thing is you can type the tone in eg. 1035 will input the tone of 103.5hz before saving to the memory. Then after saving that you then have to set the offset frequency which will be 147.880 and save it to the same memory channel. When you save the receive frequency into the memory it will confirm by saying "Receiving memory." and the offset frequency by saying "Transmitting memory" and to confirm the settings exit the menu and switch to Memory mode and go to the channel you saved. It will show a +- on the top of the display. Then if all is set right you should be able to access the repeater. You have to repeat this for every channel you program. It is fine if you have 5 repeaters in your area, but very tedious if you have 25. This is why the usb programming cable is a must. This package has the handstrap even though it does not state that like other sellers do. For a radio around $50.00 it is an excellent buy for the cash strapped ham. Also a huge suggestion if you need to hear the repeater tail you must turn the STE from 5(ms) to 0(MENU 35) and RP_STE to off (MENU 36) and RPT_RL (MENU 37) Pros: Bright display. Flashlight Feature (tap MONI to turn on and off this is NOT in the manual) FM Radio Feature (Tap CALL to turn on and off this too is NOT in the manual) 5W/1W Transmitter both bands. Dual-Watch (Suggesting that you set your TRANSMIT BAND TO A or B not OFF in MENU 34 otherwise you may transmit on the wrong band) Color led display for TX/RX/Idle (Orange/Blue/Purple) Menu settings 29-31 Green/Red square LED to indicate Rx/Tx respectively. Very loud receiving speaker. 1000mw. First time I owned a radio this loud. 1800mAh Battery for long standby time and a decent talk time. Earpiece Microphone. (watch the volume level it can blast your ear out) Drop-in Charger. Cons: Very limited manual. Difficult/tedious programming scheme. F-SMA (Reverse SMA) can be adapted from F-SMA to M-SMA for wider compatibility with an adapter there are also F-SMA to BNC as well as F-SMA to SO-239 ones that can expand types of antennas used. This has an unlocked transmitting range on both bands so be careful if you use as a scanner, you may accidently transmit in areas you are not authorized. Slow Scanning speed despite what the manual says.

Be advised that a particular seller (that claims to be the actual distributor for Baofeng based in KY) advertises the original UV-5R radio but then ships the UV-5RA instead. Normally this would be no big deal, as the UV-5R series of radios are exactly the same inside and have no additional features except one - the "newer" UV-5RA unit has a different front plastic face plate but that newer faceplate causes additional problems - the design of the newer faceplate on the UV-5RA does NOT allow you to use the normal Baofeng 3800mAH battery (nor the cheaper 3600mAH generic clone battery that the same "distributor" claims (and lists) as an actual Baofeng 3800mAH battery. They claim their generic battery will work unmodified on the UV-5R series of radios (their justification for the switch), but it doesn't. See my Baofeng Extended Battery review for more info). Yes, you can modify (on your own) the Extended Battery so it will fit the UV-5RA (or the other series of UV-5R radios with modified faceplates), but if the "distributor" lists the UV-5R (but then switches your order to whatever they have in stock - instead of what they have listed) and then ships (in the same order) a generic clone Extended Battery that isn't the actual Baofeng AND doesn't work/fit with the radio they shipped, why is it your job to modify their items to make them work? In addition, when you (as an Amazon customer) point out their multiple listing errors (shipping a non-Baofeng battery, shipping a less than advertised 3600mAH model (vs. the actual Baofeng 3800mAH model that was advertised on the listing), and shipping an Extended Battery that won't work on the UV-5RA radios that they switched your order to and shipped with them in the same box), they claim that: a) Baofeng doesn't even make an Extended Battery (funny since I own several already with Baofeng Electronics' label on the inside of the case and Baofeng's name imprinted into the back of the plastic battery case), and that b) if I'm not happy I should pay to ship my order back to them (this is how they treat a customer that ordered multiple radios, extended batteries, and programming cables all at once and paid over $117 in shipping fees)? None of these issues may bother some folks, especially those that either don't care which model of radio they get and/or never plan to get an Extended Battery as an accessory, but I wanted folks to know what customer service issues you may face in dealing with this Baofeng "distributor" in KY.