$40 BaoFeng UV-5R Dual-Band Handhelds

[robgendreau]

I ran into all kinds of difficulty with the "clone" chips on the Mac. There are ways around it with PCs but it's more troublesome with OS X.

I installed the official FTDI drivers (2.2.18) and then found I couldn't go back to the other driver, apparently older. I deleted kexts, prefs, BOMS, nothing worked. I finally decided it wasn't worth it to save a few bucks and just got the Three Old Crows cable and bingo, in business.

BTW when I migrated to my new Hackintosh the driver was there, but wouldn't load. Hmm. I had to reinstall; I'm thinking that the process actually created the new virtual comm port since a new one showed up that worked after I did that. There are probably ways to do that manually if you know what you're doing, but I don't.

And the driver seems to work fine with my FT60 cable as well.

Rob

 

[fourstringfletch]

Lots of great info here, thanks all.

I'd like to dust off the topic of 12v charging; how are battery eliminators / batteries with female plug / etc. working out? Any fires yet??
Charging from my rig seems pretty important to me and I'd rather not run the inverter / mount the base somewhere in my truck.

I'm still on the diving board at the HAM pool, but ready to jump. Still the best option around, or is the UV-82 the new king of value?

 

[robgendreau]

I haven't had problems with my car charger. But you have to be careful and check voltage; I've seen stuff that fits that sends too much (like straight pass-thru 13.8v) to the radio.

Dunno if the UV-82 has battery eliminators that fit yet; the UV5R's won't work. But I found the battery eliminator kinda useless. First, the thing keeps a battery charge quite well, and it's not so tough to use a cradle and connection to your 12v instead. Second, inside the vehicle you really need an antenna connection, and with that coax AND a power cord it's a mess. I'd like something more integrated like the Midland HT CB, but barring that you should prioritize an antenna connection over a battery eliminator.

Given the price of these it's literally 50/50 on which to get. I'd go with most recent, just because of bigger buttons, but YMMV.

Rob

 

[fourstringfletch]

Thanks Rob, got a link to your car charger?

Full agreement from me that eliminating the battery is a bad idea for a radio like this.

 

[robgendreau]

I got mine from http://www.409shop.com/.

 

[fourstringfletch]

Ok any last words on a better handheld than this before I order?

Thanks!

 

[SteveG]

I'm sure there are better but for the price?

 

[Herbie]

Check out the comparisons for this radio to the UV-82. For the extra couple of bucks, I thought it was worth it for slightly better antenna and squelch performance.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[robgendreau]

Yeah, the current Yaesus, Icoms and Kenwoods, for example, are better. More features and better performance. But they are also massively more expensive and not really in the same class. At this price point the differences with the older Baofeng models, or NVTs or whatever are probably pretty marginal. The only consideration I'd worry about are the availability of chargers, batteries, programming software/cables and any other add ons you might want to use. The UV5R has a big user base out there right now, so it's pretty easy to get stuff for and program.

 

[fourstringfletch]

Good stuff guys, thanks again.

 

[fourstringfletch]

Finally pulled the trigger on a uv5r v2+. Performance isn't critical for me yet, and I couldn't find much in the 480-520 range. What am I missing there?

I'll be listening... if I can. No repeaters within sight here in Telluride and some big rocks between me and the few nearby. Any recommendations from those who have ham'd here are appreciated.
My first accessory will be 12v power, anyone have a cig plug they like?

The nearest test locations are 2+ hours away; any online options for us woodsies?

 

[jerdog53]

Finally pulled the trigger on a uv5r v2+. Performance isn't critical for me yet, and I couldn't find much in the 480-520 range. What am I missing there?

I'll be listening... if I can. No repeaters within sight here in Telluride and some big rocks between me and the few nearby. Any recommendations from those who have ham'd here are appreciated.
My first accessory will be 12v power, anyone have a cig plug they like?

The nearest test locations are 2+ hours away; any online options for us woodsies?

External antenna if you can both on the house or truck.

I have the OEM "cig plug" and it works, its not pretty or that robust (read fickle) about connecting so watcgh the light. I have found the unit will last a full 3 days with normal trail simplex use on high power and longer on low.

 

[Beowulf]

jerdog53,

Could you just cut of the plug and install a much more robust end such as Marino or Hella? Perhaps even just hardwire and pull the Unit end out from under the dash/glovebox..etc when needed?

 

[jerdog53]

Yeah you probably could do that, I'd be for hard wiring it directly rather than change out the plug.

 

[Beowulf]

How do you carry it in the vehicle. Do you use a CB mic mount, belt clip to visor...etc?

Has anyone used the Mic attachment?