A 10W Baofeng? Reviewing the UV-S9 Plus + REAL POWER Test

My experience with the Baofeng UV5R has been very positive. All the local repeater sites on VHF and UHF are clear clean and easy access. I've worked some of the FM sats also with no issues. Yes it is easy to decense the front end. Get a grip on yourself this is a $25 throw away radio! Are you pissed because you spent hundreds on a name brand and guys like me are exstatic with a cheap HT. This is not a Cadilac and perhaps you should stop comparing it to Cadilacs.

 

While I agree it isnt the best quality, plenty of people (including myself) are immersed into the hobby because of these cheap turds. All of mine operated well and there are things about them I like over the options from the big 3 I own. No one knows when I am on a baofeng so they must not all be terrible. I now have several Yaesu's, a 7300, 9700...but no way would I have even thought to try ham radio if the cost of entry was much higher. I doubt I am alone in that.

 

Yes you can, and you can sell them to people who don't know any better.

 

No offense, I can spot a Baoturd on my repeaters: low muddy audio, a distinct dekey click and squelch tail elimination. And of course the CB radio roger beep nonsense or DTMF ANI some folks have.

Ham radio equipment of good quality isn't nor has it ever been inexpensive new. In 1991 I bought the first new HT I ever bought as a young ham, an Icom IC-4GAT on clearance at AES. $369.95. You got the HT, duck, 270mah battery (not 2700- 270) NiCAD and a wall charger. That was it. Drop in charger? Another $129. Real battery you could actually use? Another $79. In 1991 money. That would be $1131 in today's money. For a single band HT. Oh you wanted CTCSS decode? Add the UT-40 for another $59.

When you know better, you do better. Congratulations on moving up to real radios. I am sure you aren't sorry you ditched the Boaturds in favor of "for real" radios- the 9700 is amazing. I own two of them

 

Nice.

Now your talking.

 

Instead of Baofeng putting money into higher transmit power, they should worry more about building a better front end for the receiver. Truth is, the receive performance is just terrible with these radios.

Oh I know, they work... but put it up against any higher priced HT with a double conversion superhet receiver, and you will know without a shadow of a doubt that your money is well spent on a higher performance radio.

 

There isn't much polishing of a turd. All the CCR's are based on the same low rent consumer grade WoCs from RDA Microelectronics that is over a decade old design. The heart of them are the same thing in your kids' toy radios. Fact.

 

Receive performance is not all that bad unless you live near Intermod Alley or operate in a big city.

DC to Daylight (Counting the Flashlight) Is a lot of Spectrum for a radio to cover.

 

There you go again comparing the Baofeng " but put it up against any higher priced HT " . Why is everyone doing this! Give it a rest it does not compare to more expensive radios! If you were needing a dump trunk and instead bought an Elantra would you malign the Elantra as not comparable?

 

Don't try to cancel me out with your cancel culture. I have an opinion too. And, as such, I'll say what I want.

 

The white coats gents were supervised by me, if they had bonafide ARRL Lab Coats. They would not have possibly told you such a thing if they were from the ARRL. I wore a white coat, too. It's just plain fact that the more expensive manufacturers always have low harmonic/spurious emission, unless they have been damaged (dropped); 10, 20, sometimes, 30 dB more suppression than required. Please refer to the QST articles, "Technical Correspondence" November of 2015 and January of 2020. I own three Baofeng radios, so no bias here, or at the ARRL, under my watch.

Retired now, not my watch anymore.

 

I like your video on Baofeng 10 watt HT, kc0eoc, Bob.

 

OMG I can't believe someone thought this video was a good idea