Baofeng MP31 GMRS

[WRDJ205]

I was looking for a low priced radio option to take to the beach and came across the MP31 radios.  For ~$10 ea they have an IP54 rating and can be programmed using a Baofeng specific software.  They are only narrow band but we’re pushing right at 2w.  
 

I programmed them to my local repeaters and everything seems good to go.  If they make it back from the beach they will become my “hand out” radios next hurricane/cell phone outage.  
 

I’ll give a better AAR after we use them more.  

[Guest]

If they are anything like the 888 they will do fine.  I know a few people that use the 888s on big ranches and they serve them just fine year round. 

[WRXB215]

I have a couple of MP31s and I love them. They were my first GMRS radios. Sound quality is better than I expected. Easy to use and quite durable. These are my go-to radios for anything short and simple like going up in the attic to work.

Used them on the beach once and talked for exactly 1 mile clear as a bell.

Up in the mountains in New Mexico they did fine. Every time my son disappeared around a finger out of sight, we still had coms.

Down at White Sands, the dunes were no problem.

Nice little gems these radios.

[lougasp61]

So. are these definitely only narrow band capable?

[OffRoaderX]

2 minutes ago, lougasp61 said:

So. are these definitely only narrow band capable?

Yes. Sorry..

[WRXB215]

45 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

Yes. Sorry..

This is true but it has never been a problem for me.

[Davichko5650]

18 hours ago, OffRoaderX said:

Yes. Sorry..

When I programmed mine, they were all set for NB on all channels, and I was unable to alter them to WB.  But definately worth the 23 bucks for the pair.

Just what Wifeypoo wanted, a basic, no frills turn on and use radio as she has no interest in my radiodorkness!

[FlatTop]

Glad to see someone that finally likes this radio.  Every review I have read says don't bother.  Good to see you enjoy them. 

[OffRoaderX]

7 minutes ago, JoCoBrian said:

Every review I have read says don't bother.

Then you have not watched any of the reviews that actually matter.

[FlatTop]

15 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

Then you have not watched any of the reviews that actually matter.

Apparently not.  I am a sad ham. 

 

[WRDJ205]

Found that the ones I have put out about 2W.  Very compact and slip in a pocket easily.  Even tested with the earpieces and really no complaints.  
 

These would be the radios I hand out for people who might be intimidated with too many options.  At the price I bought them I’m not worried if they get lost.   

[WRZV602]

They are fine FRS but not GMRS WB as they will sound faint on GMRS and GMRS Repeaters.

[WRDJ205]

Interesting.  I don’t notice that with any of the ones I have.  They’re probably all a bit different.  I would still recommend them for basic communication or hand out radios.  

[SteveShannon]

5 hours ago, WRZV602 said:

They are fine FRS but not GMRS WB as they will sound faint on GMRS and GMRS Repeaters.

I have done tests with people listening to me while I change from narrow to wide and back to narrow. The difference was just not very noticeable. 

[WRXB215]

I've used a UV-5R GMRS on wide band with an MP31 and they worked just fine together.

[OffRoaderX]

20 hours ago, WRZV602 said:

They are fine FRS but not GMRS WB as they will sound faint on GMRS and GMRS Repeaters.

With a strong signal, most normal people will not notice.. With a (very) weak signal it becomes more apparent and irritating.

[Shawnctx]

I recently picked up the Baofeng mp31, and was messing around with chirp software. CHIRP doesn't work on them directly. but I found that the Baofeng T20 frs version will allow you to change and hold the settings to high power on channel 1-22 only and change to wideband as well.  just read the radio and change settings in chirp, then write back to radio. I then used the software from Baofeng to read the MP31 and all settings stayed from the Chirp software channel 1-22 only sadly and the rest of the channels to 38 stayed listed as normal. not sure if it actually did any thing since I don't have a way to verify if it other than software indicates the changes.

I just wanted to share this information.