Due to Chip Shortage, Some Baofengs May Not Be Equipped to Receive FM Broadcast

[mrgmrs]

According to a Reddit article titled "No FM broadcast on new UV-9G"...

Due to chip shortages, some Baofeng radios which supported broadcast FM reception might not be equipped to do so.  In addition to the UV-9G, the UV-82 was mentioned.  According to copy/paste responses from Baofeng and Radioddity's tech support, they confirmed the missing functionality was due to chip shortages.  Also, Baofeng stated that due to the number of batches, it would be difficult for them to confirm whether a particular radio is missing broadcast FM reception for this reason.

So if some of your Baofengs are missing broadcast FM reception that you expected, this may be "normal."  The new normal.

 

 

 

[gman1971]

Whoah... same thing happening for other manufacturers too, Motorola included. I believe the newest XPR7550e might come without WiFi/BT and/or GPS IIRC..

The new normal...

[Radioguy7268]

Yup, no WiFi - no Bluetooth, and lacking GPS.  3 things that might be important if you built a fleet around advanced feature stuff like Indoor Location or Enhanced GPS.  Those chips are also missing now in the XPR3500e/3300e portables. The good news is that by dropping those features, they reduced the lead time to months instead of years.

A recent customer order for some XPR radios shows a January 2023 expected ship date. The good news is that by getting the order in now, I have already beat the next 2 expected price increases.

[back4more70]

That explains why one of my UV-9G can get FM and the other cannot. Bummer.

[PACNWComms]

3 hours ago, Radioguy7268 said:

Yup, no WiFi - no Bluetooth, and lacking GPS.  3 things that might be important if you built a fleet around advanced feature stuff like Indoor Location or Enhanced GPS.  Those chips are also missing now in the XPR3500e/3300e portables. The good news is that by dropping those features, they reduced the lead time to months instead of years.

A recent customer order for some XPR radios shows a January 2023 expected ship date. The good news is that by getting the order in now, I have already beat the next 2 expected price increases.

Wow. Thank you for the heads up. I am due to purchase several hundred XPR7550e radios this year, with my last order being placed last November (2021), with a reported ship date this coming November (2022). 

The decision makers I work for stressed the ordering of APX6000XE and XPR6500 mobiles, and decided to leave most of the Trbo series radio orders until later this year. We do not use Bluetooth, WiFi, or GPS, but I am sure the big /\/\ will still charge the same or higher prices without those features (chips) over the next year.

This messes with my intended plan to implement Radio Management and WiFi programming if the newer XPR7550e radio lack the chip for WiFi. Another project revolved around GPS location, which would be impacted as well. 

Glad that even my Baofeng's and Anytone's are older, which still have th eFM receiver chip.

[gortex2]

Who actually listens to FM radio on a CCR anyway ? Is that a thing ? 

[TNRonin]

Who actually listens to FM radio on a CCR anyway ? Is that a thing ? 

I actually do. I'm a range master and regularly tune the radio while working. Before you get into safety, I only listen when one or two of our regulars is shooting.

Sent from my SM-T860 using Tapatalk

[lazarus1024]

I do on my UV9g. I take a pair camping so I can give the other one to my kids or my wife if we are somewhere with no cellular coverage. Sometimes it is nice to have something in camp to listen to some music/radio and I am not draining my car battery by rolling the windows down and turning the radio on. It is a nice feature to have, even if not critical.

[kerstuff]

I use the FM as well on my lawn tractor. Use it on my garden tractor or sitting on the porch. 

[WRQV528]

I see it as a useful SHTF feature, even though a more fully-featured AM/FM or shortwave radio would be preferable (at least IMO) in such situations. I enjoy it for casual listening as well; I have 13 out of the 20 available FM radio presets programmed on my KG-935G. On that note, I'd be pretty bummed if Wouxon went down the same road as Baofeng.

I recently ordered a UV-5R+ and UV-5RTP off of Radioddity, and will be anxious to see if either are stripped of the FM radio feature.

EDIT: Both radios, which were ordered on June 6, 2022, and arrived on Friday, June 10, both have the commercial FM radio functionality.

Edited June 11, 2022 by WRQV528
Update

[WRQX963]

Any new equipment that receives FM broadcasts should include all of their HD subchannels.

[MichaelLAX]

22 hours ago, WRQX963 said:

Any new equipment that receives FM broadcasts should include all of their HD subchannels.

I do not think that is an accurate statement: In the US; perhaps your statement is a hoped-for request.

As trademarked and patented by iBiquity, HD-FM  and its sub channels requires additional HDR chipsets to function.

[WRQX963]

8 hours ago, MichaelLAX said:

I do not think that is an accurate statement: In the US; perhaps your statement is a hoped-for request.
As trademarked and patented by iBiquity, HD-FM  and its sub channels requires additional HDR chipsets to function.

All my recent cars have had IBOC receivers and I hope that they will be promoted more in the future.
Of course, the rest of the world has opted for a much better technology, DAB+.

[MichaelLAX]

Yes, the FCC made a big mistake when they approved HD-FM for use in the US.

It's peak was about 2009 and I rarely, if ever, see it as a marketing item for inclusion.

The problem, of course, is that the FCC wanted a system that was compatible with existing FM analog radios; whereas DAB and DAB+ are not.

[axorlov]

1 hour ago, MichaelLAX said:

Yes, the FCC made a big mistake when they approved HD-FM for use in the US.

I think DAB+ is a better system, but I can see the logic behind approving the system that shares analog FM frequency with the old system. A way more people in US depend on FM radios in cars than in Europe. Transition similar to NTSC->ATSC TV transition would make many people angry, because they would lose their favorite stations overnight. iBiquity designed the system in the constrains of US market, i.e. 400KHz channel bandwidth, which is not a thing in the rest of the world. The biggest problem is the intellectual property and patents being held by iBiquity->DTS->Xperi. But by now patents should be expired already.

[WRQX963]

On 6/18/2022 at 2:17 PM, MichaelLAX said:

...the FCC wanted a system that was compatible with existing FM analog radios; whereas DAB and DAB+ are not.

Pull out your pyramid chart of who controls whom with the bankers on top and the workers being crushed by everyone else.
The NAB wanted a system that would preserve the relative stick values of their member stations: nothing more, nothing less.

[MichaelLAX]

50 minutes ago, WRQX963 said:

Pull out your pyramid chart of who controls whom with the bankers on top and the workers being crushed by everyone else.,,

With all due respect, Joel, your statement is only one word away from a classic anti-semitic Trope.

When it came to satellite broadcasting, the FCC approved two technologically incompatible systems, the problem of which was only solved when the two companies merged and now offer transparent dual-band radios.

It would have been as if in the 1950s, you purchased a TV from RCA that only played NBC programming and then had to buy another TV that played CBS programming...

[WRQX963]

1 hour ago, MichaelLAX said:

With all due respect, Joel, your statement is only one word away from a classic anti-semitic Trope.

I did not mean it that way, but the powerhouse FM stations would have nothing to do with a system that placed them on an even playing field with graveyard channel AMs plus left room for plenty of new competition. IBOC allows extra stations to exist but only under the control of the big FM stations. NPR stations have benefitted the most by the technology because they can have news-talk on their main channels plus classical, jazz, or folk on their sub-channels. Regulatory agencies are supposed to regulate but they are not above corruption and bribery. It is plain and clear that if the "powers that be" had not been strongly opposed to DAB+, we would have it.

[axorlov]

2 hours ago, MichaelLAX said:

With all due respect, Joel, your statement is only one word away from a classic anti-semitic Trope.

No, no, no, this has nothing to do with Jews. That is straight up Marxism, both feet in, but only ankle-deep for now. The theory of class struggle.

IBOC - Inspiring Body Of Christ? Sure, opium for the masses (another Marxian reference for ya all, I can do it all day, LOL). However, where I live, it does not seem to be the case. FM stations are mostly under the Clear Channel umbrella, with a few independent and one-two NPR affiliates.

[WRQX963]

42 minutes ago, axorlov said:

IBOC - Inspiring Body Of Christ?

The sidebands are so wide that the system is often nicknamed IBAC for
In Band Adjacent Channels

[axorlov]

<double>

[axorlov]

33 minutes ago, WRQX963 said:

In Band Adjacent Channels

Oh, In Band On Channel... I'll be damned! iBiquity tech. Thanks for the hint.

Super funny. I, somehow, never managed to stumble upon this acronym (maybe I don't remember), and when I googled "IBOC radio" I only got Jesus-casters. And I thought: "oh cool, new conspiracy theory!", which is an old conspiracy theory, of course.

[WRQX963]

11 minutes ago, axorlov said:

I'll be damned!

Maybe

[axorlov]

But read your sentence: "IBOC allows <...> to exist but only under the control of <...>". What an honest man to think?!

[WRTF629]

I got 2 baofeng gmrs-9r, one receives fm ( black one) the other does not (green one).