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You're certainly entitled to your opinion, and since this is a (mostly) GMRS group of users, I don't know that you'll find [m]any dissenting voices here.

I'll just point out that BTECH had working, final BF-F8HP Pro hardware in April 2024 at firmware version 9 when I came on board, and my continuous "here's a bug", "we need to make this better", "we need this new feature" meant that the radios shipped 6 months later at the beginning of October 2024 at V29, including a complete re-write of the menus by me to real US English.

V33 was released in the middle of November, 2024 to fix a few bugs we knew about (the radios had to be initially programmed during manufacturing) and we managed to get in fixes for a few user-reported bugs and quite a few user-requested features within the 6 weeks between V29 and V33. V44 shipped in mid-April, 2025 with the CPS 1.2.5m that supports all of the new V33 and V44 features being released at the beginning of June, 2025. V44 and its CPS add quite a few features requested by users and lays the foundation for additional improvements.
These radios are updatable by the user, with the same cable used for programming, and any upgrade problems will either be addressed by support email (when possible) or via warranty replacement( (if needed). I'll also mention that nobody has ever bricked a BF-F8HP Pro while updating it (and believe me, I've had many chances as I've done every firmware release from V8 through V44, across 9 radios (ranging from hand-built engineering samples to pre-production units to early production, and then finally a bunch of production units). Many of these firmware features are exclusive to BTECH, either in perpetuity or for various numbers of years. There's no 'generic' version of this radio and there won't ever be. The user-updatable firmware means that a radio you bought on release day, today, or in the future will all be able to run the latest firmware.

Even before V29 and the radio's release, I was showing it to select users (it had no labeling except for some marker dots in the battery compartment, and I changed the official boot screen to an actual picture of a boot to not give away where it would eventually be coming from). The universal response was "Wow! A Baofeng that doesn't <bleep>!". Before you dismiss it, take a look at the Release Notes below, which shows what has changed in the firmware between V29 and V44:
vers-old.pdf

My understanding is that if the radio itself is branded as BTECH, it is contract manufactured for them to their specs (by someone other than Baofeng). If the radio itself is branded as Baofeng (regardless of whether the box only says BTECH), it is a customized model from Baofeng which is usually (always?) exclusive to BTECH. For example, the UV-82HP is a BTECH exclusive, although there are generic tri-power UV-82s.

My work on the BF-F8HP Pro (a BTECH exclusive) shows that BTECH is listening to customer feedback (many requests from Facebook, here, and other places) and it has been incorporated into the two firmware updates released so far, with more to come). It is also quite ahead of other analog Baofeng handhelds in terms of features, bug fixes, and programming software (Disclaimer: I write the Windows CPS programming software for the BF-F8HP Pro and co-manage firmware development, as well as dabbling in documentation. However, nothing I post should be considered an official statement of BTECH.)

Speaking of the BF-F8HP Pro, if you use coupon code "CPS" at checkout you'll get 20% off (on that model only, and only on the BTECH website, not on Amazon). I should point out that the BF-F8HP Pro is not type approved for GMRS use, but since the equipment reviews rules were relaxed a while ago to allow discussions of non-GMRS equipment due to the overlap between the GMRS and ham communities, mentioning it here should be OK.

I wrote the CPS for the BF-F8HP Pro and co-manage firmware development, as well as dabbling in manuals and marketing😀. The BF-F8HP Pro has user-upgradable firmware and the upgrade tool is integrated into the CPS. There have been 3 public releases of firmware (V29, V33 and V44) and there will likely be ongoing future releases. The radio you bought on the first day it was available (October 1, 2024), today, and at some indefinite point in the future will all be able to run the latest firmware. Feedback from users here, on Facebook and elsewhere gets evaluated and often results in new features and/or bug fixes.

I don't know anything about the UV-28 Plus - I stopped collecting random Baofeng models once I got involved in the BF-F8HP Pro project.

BTW, you can get 20% off the BF-F8HP Pro (radio only, not accessories or other models) on the https://baofengtech.com web site (not Amazon) by using coupon code "CPS" at checkout.

* It should be obvious that I'm involved with the BF-F8HP Pro project, but here's a disclaimer anyway.

According to the FCCs, if you are using a GMRS radio, no matter what channel you are on, the answer is YES.. In the real world, and knowing that nobody listening cares, the FCCs dont care, and nobody will know what kind of radio you are using, the answer is NO.

I'm not getting anything either.
 
But I'm in Connecticut. 😁

Just get a Cat 5 or Cat 6 extension cable:
https://a.co/d/fJtoY4p

I live in West Asheville. Got internet back some hours ago.
 Things that worked great during the aftermath which featured zero cell phone service, no power, no water, no internet. Power was out 1 week. Water out for 2 weeks.
Wouxun KG-905G with Nagoya 771G or Diamond RH77CA. I bought 3200mah packs for both HT's and they were charged fully as well as the original 2800mah batteries. I never had to charge them during 4 days of no cell service. I never had to swap out batteries either. I used one to scan to listen to work crews with a Laird FG-4503 antenna on the roof. It and the Bolton600 feed line went through the storm no problems at all. Wind rated to 125mph. A few days later I replaced the 4503 with a TE connectivity FG-4607...also 125mph wind rated. Giant improvement for listening close as well as far away! 
I only have the 2 Wouxuns so I gave my daughter a Quansheng K5-(8) Programmed with all gmrs and frs channels. We stayed in the first 7 channels and that radio performed flawlessly with it's stock antenna. It just sipped the battery and still showed full charge after 4 days of being used. Daughter much preferred the smaller "cute" radio. A solar power bank kept the cell phones charged as both ladies ran the batteries in them down as they fruitlessly searched for service.
The electric chainsaw and other Dewalt XR power tools did all I needed and also did not need charging for the week with no power.
  Whatever base radio you get, make sure you can power it. Overkill on the antenna windspeed rating is also recommended! Both GMRS antennas I have used have one piece radomes. And a 5 year warranty.
I bought a Midland MTX-500 because I wanted to test it and figured if it works ok it can be used as a mobile or base. It arrived on the Wednesday before the storm.
On Thursday the antenna arrived...and I took a break from pumping out the basement to unbox it. Friday all services disappeared.
 The midland is extremely easy to program repeaters into without a computer and it has enough power into repeaters to work well. I never needed it during the blackout. The HT's were more than enough. Power output seems fine as it draws very close to 9 amps@13.9 volts into the 4607 on repeater inputs. It has 128 channels too. No tone scan, a major omission. Audio recovery is excellent on weak signals. I was going to buy a part 95 kenwood but it will have to wait for my finances to recover. The Midland is way overpriced...it cost more than my Icom 2730A which is dual band and has crossband repeat built in. And tone scan and so many other features its nuts. But it's legal and works well.  The ANL is obviously a DSP noise reduction scheme that rapidly nukes intelligibility as you go past the lowest setting. The radio gets hot if you transmit a lot on high power. A small nearly noiseless fan I have on hand blowing air under the radio makes it stay nice and cool.
 The Midland never exhibited intermod or signs of overloading here before the storm when used with a high Comet GP-3. After the storm I heard some weird stuff that sounded like intermod but my SDR showed "someone" was using equipment that was a wide pulsed signal that moved around the band occasionally.
 It was heard on the Wouxun on the other antenna at the same time...as well as a Icom 8500. Not intermod. A strange out of place transmission. Only noted during heavy military air traffic. Its gone now...air traffic is much much lower.
The midland is great for scanning as the audio is good and it is much less noisy than the Wouxun. It performs on par with the Icom 2730 as far as sensitivity. It actually has a useful signal meter that only goes all the way up for really close or ultra strong signals. The wouxun pegs its scale so early it is useless for determining when someone is very close. I like the Midland, even though it is overpriced. The Wouxun KG-905G and the Nagoya 771G are both very highly recommended...as is the TE Connectivity FG4607 and the Bolton600 feedline.
 Sorry if this post is a bit chaotic or unclear. I am still a bit disoriented. I used ham radio, GMRS, and the scanners heavily for information. I won't post some of the things I heard. Really horrible stuff. Much worse than the media coverage conveys. I fared very well actually. But others lost everything. Many others.
 

The Apache cases are hard to beat, especially when on sale and/or you are an Insider Member. I have several Apache cases.
Here is one I setup for portable use with my Xiegu G90 20 watt HF radio.

I've been thinking about setting another one up for my Wouxun KG-XS20G and maybe a 2m/70cm radio.

My MX275 radio goes between my RV, boat, and occasionally my wife's car, depending on the activity. It always has been kind of a handful of stuff. Harbor Freight had a coupon that I used a week or so ago, purchasing an inexpensive Pelican case knock off. There was room in the case for the 275, its cig plug, two UV5Gs, one "RM", three rubber duck antennas, a charging base for the UV5Gs, and the stock mag mount antenna for the 275, which I don't use, but seemed like a good thing to toss in for completeness sake. I used the lower foam layer for the Baofeng charging base, cig plug, and stock external magnetic mount antenna for the 275. The MX275 instructions are underneath it all, since you need them to translate real PL tones to the codes that Midland uses.
 

None of this is high end stuff, but it should be relatively convenient.

Years back I learned Morse Code while debating on getting a H.A.M ticket.
I regret it now, as the noise from my ceiling fan at night keeps saying "Im watching you from the AC vent".

I've been listening to the old dudes on the local GMRS repeater talk about french onion soup and basketball (separate conversations) for too long and decided I need different soup conversations*, so I took my technician exam today. Got 33/35. Thanks, hamstudy.org!
The proctoring team told me I should study for the general while this test still fresh, so that's the next goal. I have a certification exam I need to study for at work, but... that's not as much fun.
 
*the french onion soup conversation was the first thing I heard on the local repeater but the actual catalyst for getting an amateur radio license was I managed to catch some transmissions from the ISS a couple of nights ago. I was reading about how you could contact the ISS on 2m/70cm bands and then discovered the ISS was directly overhead. Ran outside with a HT and managed to catch what I assume were packet transmissions. Now I want to talk to a space station. 8 year old me would think it's the coolest thing ever. 42 year old me still thinks it's pretty rad. Maybe someone up there prefers broccoli cheddar soup.

try watching this video  
 

Thanks for your reply. Turns out the jumper cable has an intermittent short. And I bought that cable custom made to length using Times low loss cable from a company called ShowMeCables.com. So that will be returned to them. I located another jumper cable in my "junk box" of radio stuff and all is working perfectly now.

Guess what ?? 6 meters was open yesterday and Today !! 😊 I made 11 new contacts on usb , and 4 on fm @ 50 watts !

I'll give you TWO tips!
always back-up your channel set before doing a factory reset dont run with scissors 

It's a trade-off between cost, ease of installation, performance during operation, and a bit of everyone's different opinions thrown in.

At work, I ran two 200-foot runs of Times Microwave LMR600 between the roof and our basement office. One was for a cellular repeater antenna (this pre-dated the pre-registration requirement, by the way) and the other was for a GPS antenna. I had to put a 10dB attenuator between the indoor lightning arrestor and the Wilson cellular amplifier or I'd overload its front end. The General Dynamics box the GPS antenna went into was perfectly happy with the GPS signal level. All the connectors were ordered from Pasternack, as were the LMR600 stripper and crimper. I have a leftover piece of LMR600 with an N connector on the end that I use as a walking stick.😁

OTOH, my entire (large) collection of home-use connector adapters cost less than two of the Pasternack LMR600 connectors. It's a trade-off between price, performance, and personal opinion. My repeater is currently using some no-name super-flex 400 (they can't call it LMR because that's a trademark of Times Microwave) to its temporary antenna. If the Commscope / Andrew fiasco ever starts producing antennas again, my DB420-B will be connected to the entry point lightning arrestor using 7/8" heliax with N connectors. My grounding consists of eight 8' long copper-clad steel grounding rods, 16' apart, with one end tied to the electrical service ground. The whole run from service ground to the antenna lightning arrestor is one continuous piece of #4 stranded copper with green insulation jacket except where the jacket was shaved to connect to the grounding post clamps, electrical ground, and lightning arrestor ground terminal.

Forgive the non-GMRS pictures, but they do show good (to me, at least) cable installation practices... You can't see the outdoor lightning arrestors as they're at the point where the cables are about to go through the roof penetration.

The Amazon man just delivered my BTech GMRS 50Pro - ask your questions now/post your concerns!  I will be uploading a video about it in the next day or two and looking for feedback/questions, even from "some people".
Update: Here is the video:

OK, today was the big day.  I got my buddy to bring over the bucket truck.  I had already made up the antenna with the cable as you all know. 
1st thing to do was get the existing antenna down.  So up to the lightning arrestor and cut off the water protection.  Used a set of channel locks to undo the N connector.  Didn't see anything that would be a water issue in there.  So up the mast I went in the bucket clipping off the tie wraps as I gained altitude.  Got to the antenna and loosened the nuts on the U bolt and removed the antenna.  Back down to the ground.
2nd thing was to put up the guy wire system.  I used a triple clamp designed for 1 1/2" mast and attached 1/8" stainless steel cable using loop thimbles and aluminum double barrel sleeves.  Crimped them up using 2 sleeves.  One tight against the thimble and one about 1 1/2" away where the sleeve hid the end of the cable to make it prick proof.  Had 50' of cable on each of the 3 legs which I knew was more than enough.  I also knew it wouldn't be too short.  Up in the bucket again and mounted it about 2' from the top of the mast and opened up the looped cable and let it hang down.  Back to the ground again.
3rd thing was bring up the antenna.  All the way to the top this time and mounted the antenna using the U bolts that came with it.  And slowly went down to unfurl the cable.  Forgot to bring the tie wraps up, crap.  Back down to fetch them and back up and tied the coax off about every 10" with two tie wraps at each spacing.  Then to the bottom to attach into the lightning arrestor.  Put the heat shrink tubing on, ya.. didn't forget LOL.  And used the self fusing tape to seal the joint.  Slipped the tubing over it and hit it with the heat gun at 700ºF.  Back down again.
4th..  Went into the house to pull the trigger.  Hit my repeater and it came back with a good signal.  Hit the Holyoke repeater which I could barely do lately and I got a response from a friend that I was Lima Charley (loud and clear) which I haven't been in 6 months.  SWR on my repeater frequency was 1.01.  Switched to Channel 22 and the SWR was 1.00, fantastic.
5th I got the 5/16" stainless steel turnbuckles and crimping equipment and tied off one side to take the slight lean out of the antenna that I've had ever since a wind gust bent my chimney mount a bit.  I put 2 more straps on and lengthened the mast 8' and tied it into the chimney with a wood working clamp which stabilized it quite a bit.  The guy wire straightened out the slight lean.  Had to install a screw eye that I needed the bucket to do (or a ladder, but why I had the bucket truck here)  I pulled out one of the long nails holding up my gutter and put a 3/8"x8" eye hook with a PVC ferrule and it hit good.  Very secure, I was worried it's be a rotted pc under the aluminum siding.  But I hit a roof rafter end.  Tied that off with the guy wire and crimped everything up.
Time was up for the bucket truck and he went on his merry way.  I gave him a pair of the TD-H3s for the help and a bit more.
6th .. One more guy wire to tie off and I just moved my truck into position and stood on my tool box and secured the guy wire and turnbuckle.  Pretty much completed the job.  Took about 3 hours, 2 1/2 with the bucket truck.  Still have to clean up all the little tie wrap clippings.  That'll be a job for tomorrow.  Have to paint the blocks I put in to secure the eye hooks sometime soon.

 

1. Yes
2. No

This bubbled up on my local feed today.  I am not sure if this was an honest error or if this dude was legit trying to get into the law enforcement system, but the FCC only sent a no-no letter.  Part of me thinks that if it was an honest error and the person was just trying to repurpose the radio, that's fine... don't do it again.  Another part of me is thinking "he admitted to putting the radio on that frequency himself, which implies some nefarious behavior and he should get more than a warning."
 
Anyway, just a reminder to try not to cause interference when you are attempting to repurpose those older LMR Part 90 radios.
 
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-410850A1.pdf
Snip of text...
 
 

Well I'm getting setup for the big swap out.   Getting the Comet CA712EFC ready for deployment.
Wrapped the area where the antenna joins with self fusing tape.

And then marine grade heat shrink with the adhesive lining on the inside.

Then wrapped the N connector after wrenching it tight with the self fusing tape.

And then the heat shrink tubing again.  Put silicon where the aluminum tube joins the ground plane area before I put the mounting tube on.

Pretty stiff stuff.  I guess that's why they call it hard line.

And the completed assembly.

 
Should be going up sometime this week. 
 

Here are the rules for the 10 meter DX contest. https://contests.arrl.org/ContestRules/10M-Rules.pdf
Yes, a serial number is required and apparently serial numbers are required for some DX contests, but unfortunately I couldn’t find where the term is defined.  It might be as simple as the serial number corresponding to your logbook or to a log of contacts for that particular contest, in which case, since he was your first contact it would have been simply ‘1’. But I don’t really know.
There are FAQs, glossaries, and “Getting Started” articles and none of them (that I could find) define “Serial Numbers” even though they use the term.  I think that’s a stupid oversight.
I have written to the contest director at the ARRL asking for such terms that they take for granted to be added to a glossary that the rules reference.

Well, unless your using this product, your antenna won't be top notch  

Nor should anybody post the details about your repeater here for you. If you become a member you can do it yourself.  That also enables the mechanism people can use to contact you with questions or to notify you of problems.