UV-5R

The Amazon page shows pictures of a few chips in the UV-5R vs. GT3. I design circuits for a living and have access to a database of most of the worlds chips so I looked them up.

One chip handles the commercial broadcast FM (music) band. The GT-3 has an incremental improvement over the old chip. It only handles FM music, so it doesn't matter for us.

The next chip handles the 2M & 70cm bands. It also looks like an incremental improvement over the old one, but I can't get a full data sheet on the new one. Since they kept the same part number and chip package and I don't see anything really different in the radio's descriptions, I'm guessing the difference between the chips isn't great.

The 3rd chip drives the speaker/headphones.


So, of the 3 chips, only 1 might make a difference to us and I haven't read anything that tells me there is a difference I would notice. My next Baofeng won't be a $63 GT-3.
 
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Congratulations WD! Welcome to the hobby.

I think the Boston .21 machine and the Waltham repeaters are pretty active. The Waltham repeater has a swap net Wednesdays at 9:00. In the North Shore the Danvers repeater is pretty busy.

I also use nerepeaters.com, but go back to post 142. Dwarven1 says you can download repeater set-ups directly to Chirp from repeaterbook.com. I would program in 10-20 repeaters you think you can hit and just let the radio scan them. You'll learn pretty quick which ones have a lot of chatter. Naturally, commute times and after dinner are the most popular times.
 
The next chip handles the 2M & 70cm bands. It also looks like an incremental improvement over the old one, but I can't get a full data sheet on the new one. Since they kept the same part number and chip package and I don't see anything really different in the radio's descriptions, I'm guessing the difference between the chips isn't great.
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Looks like the 1486S adds 200-260Mhz as a band, but the GT-3 firmware doesn't support it. Unless you need the yellow, the uv5r is essentially the same.
 
OK guys I know this is on the 5 but I just found this gem on amazon and was wondering some input on this one as well http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FMIYEKW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1396375877&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40


Internally they are all the same...
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The F8+ is a 5R+ with a black and white screen; I can't check to see if it's supported by chirp while I'm at work.
 
OK so if I were to choose between the 8 and the 5 which one should I choose. I just wanna see the opinions out there before I order one. I was gonna buy the 8 but just wanna see what u guys have to say before I go ahead with it
 
The UV5 is far easier to use and program than the UV8. The 8 is more for just programming a particular frequency set from a computer. While you can also do this with the 5, it is not limited to only that. Neither is particularly sturdy or public safety grade but they are adequate for the intended user.

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The UV82 is very similar to the UV5 in a slightly larger package.
 
One thing I do whenever I set up unlocked transceivers to listen to police and fire, even if I enable the CTCSS for RX filtering purposes, I always turn the offset on and turn the offset in the WRONG direction- so that even if someone picked up my radio and tried to key it up when it was on one of these channels, they won't actually be transmitting on the correct split and they won't cause problems.

-Mike

I just program a "dump" frequency into the transmit parameter. If you just shift the offset, it's still transmitting simplex 3 mhz or 5 mhz up or down in the same band.

Having my ham ticket, I just use a 440 mhz simplex freq.

I bought 8 of the Baofeng UV-B6 model radios for use around my farm and SHTF purposes. For the money, they are a great radio.

Also for everyone here with the Uv5r radios, check out this guy's youtube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/asuseroako

Lots of interesting videos.
 
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I got 2 UV-5R's. One came from China. They work pretty well in Simplex. They are nice compact radios. I keep one in my pocket when I am out and about and usually have it hooked to my mobile rig.
 
If he's comfortable with a computer I would say go for it. The menus on the radio can be a PITA, but if you buy the usb cable and and download chirp it's a breeze to program the radio.

The menus can be a PITA, but so can the USB. I tried reading my programmed stations from memory and it consistently failed (sometimes immediately, other times almost 1/5 of the way through). The radio works great (just got off the Skywarn net), but reading and updating the memory can be a challenge.
 
Just picked up a uv5rv2+ for about $34 on Amazon. Works pretty well, but I am only listening. Also grabbed the AA battery pack and a nagoya antenna. I grabbed an nmo magnetic base for a temporary vehicle antenna with an adapter for the female SMA. Also picked up a short 18" Comet antenna with a spring as an offroading antenna. Later I'll get a proper vehicle ham radio, but for now this temporary setup will get me started.
I'll reuse the nmo antenna when I drill a hole in the roof, and I'll also have a longer antenna for swapping in and out. Looking at a Kenwood tm71a for a mobile radio. I don't think I'll setup a home shack, at least anytime soon so I'll spend a little more money on a decent mobile rig.
Taking my test on the 28th of February in Danvers. The baofeng is already impressive for the price. I'll see how it works fully when I get the ticket.
 
I recently picked up a third UV5R-V2+ off of Amazon and it didn't work out of the box. Ordered from Amazon, not a third party and they were easy to work with on the return.

For the price, it's worth the investment. My other two work perfectly and with CHIRP and the cable, I can clone each to have the same channel lineup.
 
Passed the technician exam today in Danvers with a 100. If I can do it anyone can. Just took one weekend of doing the tests alot and a few times per week o practice. Took the general without much exposure to it and got 17 right. I'll go back for it later. Should be able to play with the uv5r soon.
 
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