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.

[mickeydav]

I recently bought a pair of these radios. They work fine for simplex. I’ve tried several local repeaters and the radios key up the carrier but the audio doesn’t work.  As in I can receive audio but not transmit audio, all while the repeater seems to receive the signal.

[mickeydav]

Following 

Edited April 15 by mickeydav
Duplicate post

[GrouserPad]

The GMN1 gmrs radio is a similar form factor but even smaller. I was wondering if it has been discontinued?. It was a tiny little thing. Think it was a Retevis. I looked all over internet for it to buy and can’t find them in the usual places. 

[WRXB215]

@mickeydav did you double check the tones?

[mickeydav]

@WRXB215 yes,  I tried swapping the "tx" and "rx" even, all combinations.  I returned them and am looking for a higher wattage HT.

[WRDJ205]

It's been about a year since we got these and they are by far the most used radios in our household.  We use them for simplex in the neighborhood when we're out walking or biking.  They have had multiple slips, trips, and falls from bikes and scooters.  We get coverage from inside the house to a point about 0.5 mi away in an urban neighborhood with lots of mature live oak trees.  If both radios are outside, it's closer to 3/4 mi.  I can hit a local repeater from inside Walmart at about the same distance without any problems.  Actually, reaching the repeater can be done from inside my house at almost 2 mi away (elevation matters).  

For a <2W radio that's as small as the bubble pack radios and costs ~$13 ea, we've been very pleased.  They're going back to the beach this year where it all started.  There's more repeater coverage now so I'll have to reprogram them.  I guess that's the biggest complaint is that there are not many DIY programmable channels.  Otherwise, we've been happy with the purchase.