Chinese VHF radios

[goeasy123]

The OP here. Thanks all for very useful info. Having done some research here's my takeaway.

- The Baofeng UV-5R (and derivatives) is the worlds best selling transceiver. I'd never heard of it until this thread. The '9' version is waterproof. The reported reliability and customer support reported Vs more expensive brands is similar.
- I also didn't know you could program a device with CHIRP.
- I already have a fixed station on the boat.
- The battery pack on my old ICOM M71 has gone U.S. and will cost £60 + to replace. It has two 18350 Li-ion cells in that cost £2 a piece. but it's not user servicable. That kinda pisses me off.

I don't buy into the idea of 'brand value', especially in this case. So for the occasional ship to tender/shore purposes a £30 programmed UV-9R will do just fine. And for those of you well read in the subject of consumer economics I have an as new, high quality buggy whip for sale.

 

[Refueler]

I don't buy into the idea of 'brand value', especially in this case. So for the occasional ship to tender/shore purposes a £30 programmed UV-9R will do just fine

The similar argument rages on with Radio Control Model gear ... you can buy Futaba / Spektrum gear that is quality - not denied, but for significantly less ... up to 1/4 the price - you can buy Chinese RC that has just as good interference rejection ... as good range ... less latency in fact ... more channels .... and actually more spare parts if needed without need for dealer service !! Even the Program Firmware is user updated ... even can be modified by user as its open source.
But of course the diehard 'Brand boys' try every excuse to rubbish them ...
But in fact those budget Chinese radios like FlySky .. FrSky ... Radiolink etc. are forcing the Brand Names to sort out their act and give more for the money they ask ...

I've been model flying for over 55 yrs and was a confirmed Futaba / JR user ... till 10yrs back when I saw the light !!

 

[Daverw]

I’ve had 6 off the UV-5R radios over the last 5 years, 3 have failed, just go dead. It as I’ve paid between £15 and £25 no big deal. Use them for field comms instead of my Yaesu or Icom Ham stuff, Yaesu the manufacture of Standard Horizon.

I would not use them as critical comms kit but have one on board due the wide band tuning, also means I can listen to channel 0 when on the river

 

[pvb]

I’ve had 6 off the UV-5R radios over the last 5 years, 3 have failed, just go dead. It as I’ve paid between £15 and £25 no big deal.

That's not a brilliant reliability statistic! I've had a Standard Horizon handheld for over 10 years which still works fine. And it has DSC.

 

[elton]

That's not a brilliant reliability statistic! I've had a Standard Horizon handheld for over 10 years which still works fine. And it has DSC.

I've had a UV-5R for four a five years and it behaved perfectly. It's been dropped more than once, from waist height onto a hard surface, and it's been drenched, though not submerged.

 

[pvb]

I've had a UV-5R for four a five years and it behaved perfectly. It's been dropped more than once, from waist height onto a hard surface, and it's been drenched, though not submerged.

Your reliability statistic is better then, but only a sample of one. Does it have DSC?

 

[elton]

Your reliability statistic is better then, but only a sample of one. Does it have DSC?

I think the drops are a good indication of general product reliability, But I suspect there are more than one manufacturer of this radio, and like many Chinese products, will have similar issues. No, it's not DSC, nor is my waterproof handheld.

 

[goeasy123]

The similar argument rages on with Radio Control Model gear ... you can buy Futaba / Spektrum gear that is quality - not denied, but for significantly less ... up to 1/4 the price - you can buy Chinese RC that has just as good interference rejection ... as good range ... less latency in fact ... more channels .... and actually more spare parts if needed without need for dealer service !! Even the Program Firmware is user updated ... even can be modified by user as its open source.
But of course the diehard 'Brand boys' try every excuse to rubbish them ...
But in fact those budget Chinese radios like FlySky .. FrSky ... Radiolink etc. are forcing the Brand Names to sort out their act and give more for the money they ask ...

I've been model flying for over 55 yrs and was a confirmed Futaba / JR user ... till 10yrs back when I saw the light !!

Now that's interesting. I use to fly RC too. In my day (70's/80's) the go-to gear was some very expensive yellow box made in the UK. I can't remember what it was called. I was young and on apprentices wage. I couldn't afford it so I had to buy some cheap shit from Japan call Futaba!!

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

I have a Standard Horizon HX870, floating, dsc, top of the range, £200 three years ago. And a Baofeng.

The Baofeng may be clever, but it's not waterproof, dsc capable and doesn't do the MMSI stuff.

But despite several smug people with EPL (excess product loyalty) on here telling me that the battery on their HX870 lasted for days, mine doesn't do better than about 11 hours without any transmitting. Three hours sometimes if I've talked for a few minutes. And other times it just wouldn't turn on at all. I can copy and paste the to and fro emails from HS telling me that I'm an idiot and that I've killed the battery if you like. It turned out that it had leaked and damaged a circuit board. I 'think' it's reliable now, battery life's no better, so I bought the Baofeng, manually entered the basic frequencies (not that hard) and keep it in a plastic bag.

My advice then would be to buy the big brand radio that will do the job to be legal and because it's probably more reliable. Get a Baofeng too. Keep one in a sealed bag for when the other dies.

ps. Baofeng must be a pretty big operation, and I'd be a bit surprised if their reliability really is the 50% quoted above - surely it's likely that somebody is making cheaper copies?

 

[Skylark]

The similar argument rages on with Radio Control Model gear ... you can buy Futaba / Spektrum gear that is quality - not denied, but for significantly less ... up to 1/4 the price - you can buy Chinese RC that has just as good interference rejection ... as good range ... less latency in fact ... more channels .... and actually more spare parts if needed without need for dealer service !! Even the Program Firmware is user updated ... even can be modified by user as its open source.
But of course the diehard 'Brand boys' try every excuse to rubbish them ...
But in fact those budget Chinese radios like FlySky .. FrSky ... Radiolink etc. are forcing the Brand Names to sort out their act and give more for the money they ask ...

I've been model flying for over 55 yrs and was a confirmed Futaba / JR user ... till 10yrs back when I saw the light !!

An interesting analogy? I started flying RC model aircraft in the 1960’s. My first radio was an ED Single Channel. As I graduated through “multi channel” to “proportional” the gear of choice was Kraft, made in USA. I remember it being expensive (for my parents). U.K. made gear was MK, Fleet and Macgregor and it had a reputation for being unreliable, hence a lot of crashes ?.

I also remember the introduction of Futaba. It was greeted with suspicion and no one in my club would touch it. Today it’s considered a high quality brand.

I still fly model aircraft and use Spektrum radio It’s made in China, low cost and very reliable. I’ve seen adverts for the Chinese budget gear but yet to see it in use.

I’ve also had Amateur radio gear since the 1980s and my equipment of choice is Trio/Kenwood, made in Japan. I’ve had my Baofeng UV-5R for less than a year but I’m very impressed with it.

My boat, which I bought new, has Simrad electronics with a wireless remote handheld. I also have an Icom handheld. I sail on a number of different boats during the season so I carry the little gem as a back up. No, it doesn’t have a Ch16 button, nor DSC. For £20 I don’t see what all of the fuss is about. What’s not to like?

Almost every piece of electronics on my boat has been replaced under warranty.

There’s a lot of unfounded prejudice. On a radio forum, someone decides to test a Baofeng and finds harmonic spoggies. Most people jump on the bandwagon and claim “rubbish”. Some others question the robustness and validity of the measuring equipment, the process and the results but of course they are shot down. Sound familiar ? Anchor, anyone?

 

[Refueler]

An interesting analogy I started flying RC model aircraft in the 1960’s. My first radio was an ED Single Channel. As I graduated through “multi channel” to “proportional” the gear of choice was Kraft, made in USA. I remember it being expensive (for my parents). U.K. made gear was MK, Fleet and Macgregor and it had a reputation for being unreliable, hence a lot of crashes .

Lets be honest very early radios were using reeds and stuff that meant more time trying to get it to work than actually fly.

I also remember the introduction of Futaba. It was greeted with suspicion and no one in my club would touch it. Today it’s considered a high quality brand.

Today JR has gone ... Futaba struggles to survive ...
But I was a dedicated JR guy .. still have their flagship radio from the 80's ...

I still fly model aircraft and use Spektrum radio It’s made in China, low cost and very reliable. I’ve seen adverts for the Chinese budget gear but yet to see it in use.

Spektrum owes its existence basically to JR and Horizon Hobbies ...

I fly budget radio that is open source FW, more channels, options for less than 1/2 the price of a basic Spektrum. Range is excellent, latency is a lot less etc.

I’ve also had Amateur radio gear since the 1980s and my equipment of choice is Trio/Kenwood, made in Japan. I’ve had my Baofeng UV-5R for less than a year but I’m very impressed with it.

My boat, which I bought new, has Simrad electronics with a wireless remote handheld. I also have an Icom handheld. I sail on a number of different boats during the season so I carry the little gem as a back up. No, it doesn’t have a Ch16 button, nor DSC. For £20 I don’t see what all of the fuss is about. What’s not to like?

Almost every piece of electronics on my boat has been replaced under warranty.

There’s a lot of unfounded prejudice. On a radio forum, someone decides to test a Baofeng and finds harmonic spoggies. Most people jump on the bandwagon and claim “rubbish”. Some others question the robustness and validity of the measuring equipment, the process and the results but of course they are shot down. Sound familiar Anchor, anyone?

Prejudice is right ....

I have always believed that Humans when they buy something - either end up hate the item and will say anything against it .... or they become so engrossed in defending their right to buy it. Rarely do you see middle of the road.
I honestly believe that people defend more expensive brands because they have to justify what they spent to themselves.

I also find it amusing that people will hunt down a bargain .. often spending more time and money finding it than buying the more expensive item ...

The debate will go on ...

 

[oldgit]

Having sold PMR/Marine and other communications stuff since late 1980s,both well known equipment and some right old cheap ( and not so cheap crap) to earn a crust, the only lesson learnt, is that there will be something out there to suit all pockets.
The real turning point came when the need to have an expensive independant bit of paper to confirm that imported equipment met all the standards required for UK sale was dumped and the folks responsible were reallocated .
HMG basically said we will rely on the honesty of the importers to produce equipment that met the rules.
The larger companies were able to get their equipment independantly certified or had the resources to do it in house, it was in their long term interest to play the game.

Some entrepreneurial chaps had a brillant wheeze, you nip out to Shenzhen with a couple of competitors radios and ask one of the myriad of cloning companies to knock up a thousand rip offs as cheaply as possible and on the way back to the airport you drop in at printer on order a 1000 boxes with the importers logo in garish colors.
You wait 2-3 months for phone call announcing the stuff is ready and send them some dough, to get the stuff shipped.
Now the tricky bit, our importer hastily knocks off 1000 very badly photocopied sheets of A4 with a very difficult to read signature, assuring the world at large that the item in this box meets all the specs regards interference and safety.
The first shipment was actually tested (it failed) but the stuff went on the market anyway. Subsequent similar stuff was not even checked.
The importer did have decency to have a few sleepless nights until all the stuff was sold and out of warranty.
The returns rate was horrific but the profit margin was immense, most on the returns ended up on Ebay as refurbs.
Something for everybody.

 

[GHA]

. So for the occasional ship to tender/shore purposes a £30 programmed UV-9R will do just fine.

The baofeng will tune to pmr 446 for that to stay out of the marine VHF frequencies. From memory it's pretty much essential for marine VHF to get the chirp cable so you can reprogram the squelch set up. Otherwise its not very usable. File with the squelch and marine channels should be on here somewhere if you do a search.

 

[KellysEye]

One thing d concern is the range of frquencies. Modern handheld and mobile radios can have capacities as high as 255 channels. The Chinese phone has 70 Programmable Channels

 

[doug748]

Well now. On a slightly different tack and regardless of how smashing the cheap radio is, how reliable, how much better than things of greater expense, the majesty of it's design and presentation.

Dip into the Pound Shop, there are good bargains there, but:
Chinese crap is a major problem. It takes a lot of energy and materials to make stuff from new. We buy rubbish, it breaks, we throw it in the bin. It's takes all the worldly resources required to make a properly designed and produced item.
However we have grown to like throwing things away, it means we have new stuff, we have been told the new stuff is much better - the last new stuff was worse but, dude, things are moving on.

I always try and mend stuff, it's a old fashioned idea but we are now coming around to again. It's difficult to mend stuff if we:

Don't know who made the item or it or where it came from
Can't find information about how it was made and designed
Suspect it's specification or that it may not meet regulation in it's use
Don't have a spares network, a brand, an importer.
Have nobody to resort to with questions or problems.

Products that meet the above, tend to be more expensive, obviously. Even if you have to take your item down the high street to be mended.....it keeps a shop open, it employs someone, it keeps skills alive, it empowers a community, it avoids all the waste, all the energy of production, all the waste of materials, all the transport,all the packaging.

Part of the problem with the cheapo radio is it bypasses this stuff and encourages us to buy and bin, it encourages us to carry on. It's cheap, it's fine, it does the job, we can buy five.
Maybe what we need is not Harrods but a Two Pound Shop

 

[coopec]

I also find it amusing that people will hunt down a bargain .. often spending more time and money finding it than buying the more expensive item ...

The debate will go on ...

I know what you mean!

I've always wanted a cordless angle grinder but most certainly can't justify spending $250+ so I was very pleased when I saw a used Hitachi (skin only) for $50. (I have X 3 batteries).

But the problem is he is 20 km away so I'd have to do a 40km round trip to pick it up. What would that cost me?

 

[Skylark]

One thing d concern is the range of frquencies. Modern handheld and mobile radios can have capacities as high as 255 channels. The Chinese phone has 70 Programmable Channels

Classic misinformation, I’m afraid.

“Modern handhelds” are often capable of working on a number of frequency bands.

A few years ago for example, high quality amateur radio 2m channel spacing was 50 kHz. Modern equipment, even the much maligned “Chinese junk” is capable of using 25kHz channel spacing without cross channel interference.

Consider PMR, Amateur 2m and 70cm and marine VHF, all available within one “modern handheld”. It’s easy to see how a claim of 255 channels can be validated.

But still, please don’t allow facts get in the way of your prejudice ?

 

[TSB240]

I know what you mean!

I've always wanted a cordless angle grinder but most certainly can't justify spending $250+ so I was very pleased when I saw a used Hitachi (skin only) for $50. (I have X 3 batteries).

But the problem is he is 20 km away so I'd have to do a 40km round trip to pick it up. What would that cost me?

Living in the outback has its disadvantages.

I needed to chop a rusty old anchor chain off the other day. I just couldn't find a sharp hacksaw blade or hacksaw in the tool kit and holding the chain was going to be a problem.
I was dragged off to do the weekly shop in Aldi.
It saved me;
A 10M trip down the road to Screwfix for a set ohacksaw blades.
Removing Anchor,30m of Chain and warp and transporting it by trolley to Marina workshop vice.
Fetching it all back again.

I value my time at more than £50 an hour and job could be done in a few seconds with a new cut off disc.

It made the purchase decision for one of these a no brainer:

https://www.aldi.co.uk/li-ion-cordl...MI4KG_796W5gIVRbTtCh0oQg2qEAQYASABEgIvwPD_BwE

I have no idea how long it will last in the boat environment. If it is used as much as my three year old Lidl Drill then I will be in net profit each and every time I get to use it.

I am also interested in the Baofeng UV-9R . I see this would be useful addition to the boats inventory. We often use PMR channels for ship to ship or ship to shore comms that are part of cruising and socialising in company allowing younger children to enjoy some freedom to roam ashore. The ability to monitor these frequencies and the marine channels whilst ashore with one unit is a bonus. I would also find it useful to enable us to hear both sides of our Ch 80 marina conversations as this can make locking in and out movements much easier on busier days.

In extremis the ability to alert a local CG or NCI station to a potential emergency could be life saving.
I doubt it would get a place in our grab bag which does contain a waterproof Icom.

 

[lw395]

I bought an Icom, about 18 years ago. Well actually SWMBO bought it. About £150 IIRC.
It still works fine. Under a tenner a year. True, we use it with AA alkalines now, as a back up.
But it gor dropped in the bilges of a tender a few times, used in wet conditions.
I wouldn't be bothering with anythng non-submersible. False economy.
Also it's legal.
I won't be getting it confiscated or getting fined for using it.
If the worst happens, nobody will be pointing the finger and saying that a legal handheld would have worked when a dodgy one didn't.

The baofengs are interesting hobby projects.
Not to be compared with a tool which works 'straight out of the box'.

My sailing club uses SH h/hs, we use them every weekend and many evenings, we rely on them for race management, we budget for a two year life and we're happy.

 

[oldgit]

Suspect the days of the single use plastic item (including cheapo electronics) are now numbered.
The sheer waste of resources getting that cheapo radio over here from halfway round the world,simply to be thrown away when it fails, will soon be over.
Ships and aircraft until very recently not been the subject of examination regards carbon emissions. , world governments simply turning a blind eye, the days of shipping stuff in for a few pennies will be over.
Perhaps in the fullness of time the following legends will be written on the box.


We guarantee this item will work a minimum of 300 cycles.
We guarantee to have the facilities and staff to repair it for 3 years.
We guarantee to take this item back and recycle the bits.
We guarantee this item will have instruction manual in a language you can understand.
None of our equipment has the outright lie of displaying a CE logo and pretending its got anything to do EU standards