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Old 06-26-2017, 02:05 PM
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Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
<----Zenith C845
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairport Harbor, Ohio (near Lake Erie)
Posts: 4,035
I have a Baofeng UV-5R transceiver that works rather well (at least on simplex [direct, not using a repeater]); however, as others have mentioned, programming the thing isn't easy. (I performed a hard reset on mine which reset the language to Chinese (!), among other things; still haven't gotten to the setting that will change the language to English.) I downloaded the user manual as a .pdf file, so that should be a big help in resetting everything to my own preferences.

I would suggest getting the SMA-to-BNC or SMA-to-PL259 antenna adapter so you will be able to use most rubber duck HT antennas having BNC connectors (or an external mobile or base antenna) with the Baofeng (I have several rubber ducks here). I am amazed this HT uses an SMA antenna input/output connector, which of course is non-standard with most such radios (all HTs made by Yaesu, Kenwood and Icom have BNC female antenna connectors), but I guess since the Baofeng HTs are made in China, they are either breaking with tradition or...who knows?

BTW, don't try to use the stock rubber duck to hit your area's local repeaters unless you are very close (read within a mile or less) to one or more of them. The SWR these antennas present to the output of most HTs is quite high, which means much if not most of the transmitter's output power is being wasted as heat; very little power is radiated from the antenna under these conditions. I personally have had good results with telescoping 5/8-wavelength antennas, such as the one I use with my Icom IC-T22A 1.5-watt HT. I can hit the local 2m repeater (147.81-21, 110.9 Hz CTCSS or PL tone), which is about a mile and a half to two miles away, just fine using this antenna and the Icom HT on high power. I am expecting I will be able to hit the same repeater just as well with the Baofeng UV-5R once I get the antenna adapter, which will allow me to use any of my rubber duck antennas with that HT. The UV-5R puts out five watts when set to the high TXP (transmit power) setting; this should be more than enough power to hit the local repeater, located in the next town south of me.

I will post my test results when the adapter arrives here, and I've had a day or two to experiment with it. I am a member of a local ham club which holds a weekly roundtable on the local repeater (147.81/21 with 110.9 CTCSS/PL), so I may try to check in there with the UV-5R and my best rubber duck, which is a Larsen "Kulduckie" I purchased from Amateur Electronic Supply in Milwaukee several years ago.
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Jeff, WB8NHV

Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten.

Last edited by Jeffhs; 06-26-2017 at 02:08 PM.
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