Has anyone bought the NEW Baofeng GRMS UV-5R?

[WRYC330]

Agreed... my old Kenwood and ICOM gear (made in Japan), and my even older and still working Hammarlund and Collins gear (made in USA) are built like tanks. But those days where quality ruled are gone...  what isn't built in China today?  And you're right... the Quansheng will probably be more "CHjunk", which means I will have thrown away a whopping $11.54 including shipping on Aliexpress

[Lscott]

3 hours ago, WRYC330 said:

what isn't built in China today?

Most, if not all, of my commercial Kenwood radios are built in Malaysia. Kenwood has been manufacturing radios there for many years. One recent model I have. Radio was upgraded to analog and DMR. Also just acquired the ARC4 encryption license too. Have three radios to upgrade. It’s Part 90 but functions perfectly on GMRS. You’ll find a lot of people on this forum using Part 90 radios. The TK-3170 also has a Part 95A certification too in the prior post.

 

[Lscott]

Oh, forgot. The NX-1300 radios with display and limited keypad are fully front panel programmable. Just have to enable the feature in the radio’s programming software when you write the code plug. Most commercial radios this isn’t possible without a hardware mod, or purchasing and expensive license key for the feature.

[WRYC330]

Really helpful info. I don't need the radio to do my thinking for me, but I assume they can be programmed to fully comply with GMRS regulations?  eBay has the 3170 at around $125 and a used 1300 at around $70. For perspective, 70 bucks is the total combined cost of my 5 Chinese HTs. My Bfengs all have warts, but they are perfectly functional (hell, I'm talking to 12 different repeaters, and distant contacts can't believe I'm using a 5 watt handheld). But, your suggested higher quality K-woodies would make nice additions to my collection. Thank you for your excellent info... much appreciated

[axorlov]

On 8/25/2023 at 4:31 PM, WRYC330 said:

what isn't built in China today

My company moved all production from China to Philippines and Mexico. It is some special-purpose electronic devices. It's better to build up a partnership with neighbors and allies then to feed a future adversary, even if it costs a bit more. My TK-3170s are all built in Singapore. Moot point, of course, today they are out of production.

[back4more70]

On 8/25/2023 at 9:01 AM, Lscott said:

Instead of wasting so much time buying cheap junk Chinese radios on eBay just get a pair of commercial rated HT’s and be done with it. I’ve purchased several of the below radios on eBay. Yeah, bit more expensive, if you shop you can score a good deal, and they “just work”.

 

I'm partial to my Wouxun KG-UV9D Mate, The One to Rule Them All 

[Lscott]

4 hours ago, axorlov said:

My company moved all production from China to Philippines and Mexico. It is some special-purpose electronic devices. It's better to build up a partnership with neighbors and allies then to feed a future adversary, even if it costs a bit more. My TK-3170s are all built in Singapore. Moot point, of course, today they are out of production.

If you only need a few radios buying used isn’t bad. Currently I have 10 of the 3170’s and 8 of the 3173’s, which is the same radio except it as trunking.

The NX-1300’s are current production. I’m buying the 400-470 MHz band split since they will work for Ham and GMRS. As far as programming for GMRS they can meet the technical specifications except for the 0.5 watts on the FRS channels. On low power they output about 1 watt. 
 

The radios can be upgraded, or purchased, to do digital voice as well as analog FM. Since most of the Ham digital voice operation is on UHF this radio model is attractive so all I need is just one. Some of the limitations I’ve read people complaining about in various cheap GMRS radios doesn’t appear in the commercial radios. They have a lot of flexibility on their setup. 

NX-1200_1300 Num 2.pdf

[axorlov]

@Lscott What about the software for the nx-1330? it is a easily found and unlocked as for the earlier Kenwood radios? Does it cost arm and leg?

[OffRoaderX]

How it started:  If you bought the New GRMS UV-5R BAOFENG, please let us know how it works. 

How its going: Currently I have 10 of the 3170’s and 8 of the 3173’s, which is the same radio except it as trunking / What about the software for the nx-1330?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

How it started:  If you bought the New GRMS UV-5R BAOFENG, please let us know how it works. 

How its going: Currently I have 10 of the 3170’s and 8 of the 3173’s, which is the same radio except it as trunking / What about the software for the nx-1330?

Sounds about right -- that's how many posts end up at the same two mantras:

1. Cheap Chinese -> bad *** Used Kenwood on ebay -> Good 
2. I can use my radio for everything and I will - rules are for others!

We could make a challenge out of this:

• Whoever posts the topic that takes longest (most replies) to end up with one of those two mantras wins 

 

[axorlov]

Youtube peddler of chinese junk worried about his monetization. How novel.

[WRUI365]

I just picked up a Harris Unity XG-100P so the sky is the limit.

[Lscott]

3 hours ago, axorlov said:

@Lscott What about the software for the nx-1330? it is a easily found and unlocked as for the earlier Kenwood radios? Does it cost arm and leg?

Ah, yes there is! I have a copy. It will do both wide and narrow band FM. If it wasn’t for the availability of the patched/cracked copy I wouldn’t be interested in the NX-1000 series. So far as I know the software for the NX-3000’s and NX-5000’s has not been cracked. 

[WRYC330]

1 - My earlier BFeng GMRS UV 5R "Pros and Cons" post was my objective assessment of the product after 1 month of use... I intended to assist future buyers and let them make a value judgment, not to start a war of words.

2 - Sorry, but I don't view a post suggesting viable alternatives (the K-Woodies) to the specific product being discussed (the BFengs) as "off topic" anymore than Road & Track reviewing a Ford F150 and comparing it to a Dodge Ram or Chevy Silverado

 

[Lscott]

20 minutes ago, WRYC330 said:

1 - My earlier BFeng GMRS UV 5R "Pros and Cons" post was my objective assessment of the product after 1 month of use... I intended to assist future buyers and let them make a value judgment, not to start a war of words.

2 - Sorry, but I don't view a post suggesting viable alternatives (the K-Woodies) to the specific product being discussed (the BFengs) as "off topic" anymore than Road & Track reviewing a Ford F150 and comparing it to a Dodge Ram or Chevy Silverado

 

You’re right. The thread sort of got highjacked.

[WRTD493]

So, to get this thread back on track. . . . I just bought a pair of the UV-5G's direct from Radioddity.  They work well (about one week in so far).  The manual could have been better and contains a few inaccuracies, but is overall pretty well done.  I like that it works with my other Baofeng accessories / cables etc.  I've got all of my local repeaters programmed (CHIRP), and I can hit most of them from inside my house.  If you have any questions about them, I'll do my best to answer.  --Rob, WRTD493

[WRYB860]

I picked one up through Amazon a was delivered yesterday, got it all programed right but still don't know if it's working the way it should, receiving freqs I put in to scan and I appear to it a local repeater because I get the open carrier after transmitting but I have yet anyone to answer my requests for a radio check.

[DarrylLicht]

Just received my two Beofeng UV5Rs.  I'm new to GMRS, just got my FCC license, not a kid.  Not going to rip Chinese products, as most anything electronic is not made in the USA anymore.  

Looking for advice here om the UV5R and I wish to learn proper GMRS etiquette, so that I can tech the wife and grandchildren the proper way to use them.  Any suggested threads are welcomed!

So far I have monitored other channels and I just requested access to the nearest repeater to me for testing. 

[WRYS709]

2 hours ago, DarrylLicht said:

Looking for advice here...

Be sure to check out the Notarubicon series of videos about GMRS on YouTube.

[WRWB851]

1st post here. I received my pair of UV-5R GMRS about six months ago. In my opinion, UV-5R GMRS + CHIRP = the ultimate value radio.

I think for those with issues, I believe the solutions lie within CHIRP. When I first received the radios, it wouldn't do this and wouldn't do that. But after experimenting with configurations I baked up in CHIRP, there is really nothing I don't think I can, or need, to do with this radio. My current programming has the standard GMRS, FM radio, and NOAA functions, and I also programmed in the standard ham frequencies for monitoring, as well as an emergency contact frequency, on which I enabled TX.

Radio-wise, I'm done. I moved on to antenna fun now.

[WRYC330]

I'd be very interested in HOW you programmed your GMRS UV-5R unit to TX on an "emergency" frequency using CHIRP.

I have bought 8 of them and none of them do 100% of what is advertised. I have kept 4 of them and have tried everything to open up the TX range. The standard UV-5R hack of holding down several buttons while turning the unit on does not work on my units. (I have read that the TX limitations are "baked" into the chip on this model).  Modifying the XML file by changing the data at the memory level and saving it in the proprietary Bfeng CPS (as suggested on numerous YouTube video posts) has not worked either. I just get the dreaded "beep" when trying to TX on anything outside of GMRS. If I would have known how limited the GMRS UV-5R is, I would have simply purchased the "regular" (and cheaper) UV-5R unit that appears to be much less restrictive. IMHO, the GMRS UV-5R is an OK radio for the money, but you never know exactly what you are buying. What you can and cannot do with this model is a complete crapshoot because there are so many different variants floating around out there on Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, etc. Is there even such a thing as a "genuine Baofeng" anymore.

[WRXB215]

@WRYC330 The "GMRS" UV-5R is, as the name suggests, an FCC type certified GMRS radio which means it cannot transmit on any frequency outside of GMRS frequencies. The original UV-5R is not type certified for GMRS. There are lots of radios out there that will physically allow you to transmit on GMRS frequencies but it is against FCC regulations to do so.

[WRYC330]

All true... I was addressing the unit's capabilities which are completely inconsistent from unit to unit

1 - There are GMRS UV-5R versions out there that ARE capable of transmitting on non GMRS frequencies with NO modification... as evidenced by the operator who entered an "emergency" TX frequency by simply programming with CHIRP. Even Randy at notarubicon addresses  that in his video review of the GMRS flavored UV-5R unit that he purchased

2 - And there are GMRS UV-5R versions out there that can TX on non-GMRS with software modification by editing the TX frequency on a memory channel in the XML file and then uploading that file to the radio. 

3 - And there are GMRS UV-5R versions out there that are locked down at the hardware level and can't even be programmed to TX on legitimate GMRS frequencies in memory channels 31 through 128.  Those channels can only be programmed to RX. I actually had 4 of those units and promptly sent them back to Amazon... what good were they if I could not even program legitimate GMRS repeater channels into the empty memory bank channels. Nothing illegal about that.

My point is that nobody knows what they are getting when they buy one... its like the scene in the Forrest Gump movie where he describes a box of chocolates as never knowing what's inside.  

 

[WRXB215]

@WRYC330 I understand what you are saying and I agree mostly. Just keep in mind that any time you try to operate a piece of equipment outside of "normal" operation, "you never know what you're going to get." 

[UncleYoda]

As far as I know there were no GMRS UV-5Rs on the market when I got my UV-5Gs, which were sold in pairs.  Anybody know what the differences are between those types?