Hypothetical Dream Baofeng

[WRQV528]

The past couple of days I've been thinking about how I would like to combine the best parts of several Baofeng models to create my "dream" Baofeng radio. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with my Wouxun KG-935G, but if the price of this hypothetical radio were right...

 

Here's my detailed list so far, which is in no particular order (at the moment, maybe I'll re-order them by rank later):

1.       From the UV-5R family in general:

a.       Use this radio’s feature set, functionality, and design as a base for this hypothetical radio.

b.       Have a similar, compact design. Using the UV-5R family’s exact chassis would be preferable, but may not be possible considering 4.a. See also 1.e.

c.       Have the same set of buttons, with additional new button(s) optional if deemed desirable. See also 1.d.

d.       The ability to press MONI, CALL, VFO/MFR, A/B, and BAND (or a similar set of buttons, see also 1.c) while transmitting to generate repeater tones.

e.       A 3200mAh–3800mAh battery, either as standard, or as an extended battery. See also 1.b, 4.c.

f.        Use these radios’ TX/RX LED, or use one of similar apparent brightness (the UV-9G’s TX/RX LED appears quite dim).

g.       The “FACTORY” trick.

h.       Commercial FM radio functionality (considering this feature is being cut from some models due to a chip shortage, I feel like it should be an explicit part of the list). See also 6.

i.         CHIRP compatible.

2.       From the UV-5RX3:

a.       1.25m/220MHz RX and TX.

3.       From the UV-5RTP:

a.       1W/4W/8W transmit power. See also 9.

4.       From the UV-9G:

a.       IP67 rating (see also 1.b, 4.c).

b.       Volume knob guard. See also 7.

c.       Considering the UV-9G does not have an extended battery, I feel I must point out 1.e. I wonder if this has anything to do with the IP67 rating (see 4.a)?

5.       Support for 199 channels instead of 128 (256 would have been preferable, but the LCD for channel numbers can only represent up to 199, and for the sake of cost I wouldn’t want a new LCD to be developed).

6.       The ability to save and recall commercial FM radio presets (how many, I’m not sure; 20 to put it on par with the KG-935 would be nice). See also 1.h.

7.       A stiffer volume knob. See also 4.b.

8.       A green LED for the LCD backlight in addition to the blue and orange LEDs that already exist on the UV-5R family and UV-9G, for a total of 7 color combinations.

9.       The availability of 0.5W transmit power. See also 3.a.

10.   A “priority channel” feature for scanning.

11.   Weather alert radio functionality (1050Hz Warning Alarm Tone detection).

 

What would you add or remove?

Edited June 17, 2022 by WRQV528
Moved 4.a.i to 4.c, added 10 and 11, and smaller edits.

[WRPC505]

I think you just about covered it all.

Warren, WRPC505 / WQ1C