Tag Archives: BaoFeng

Radio Waves: Baofeng HTs Used by Militants, Ham Radio Memory, and Radio Sunshine

Radio Seribatu FM Tower

Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dan Robinson, William Pietschman, NT, and Tracy Wood  for the following tips:


Walkie talkie made by Chinese firm link militants across groups (Hindustan Times)

Baofeng walkie talkie sets are common among Maoists, insurgent groups, and anti-military forces in India and Myanmar, aiding communication in remote areas.

Made by China’s Fujian Baofeng Electronics Co., huge numbers of these walkie talkie sets have been seized wherever there is insurgency. They are inexpensive, hardy, easy to use, and have a range of 5 km, which can be extended to 10 with an easy hack. [Continue reading…]

Commander 1 Brigade Nigerian Army Donates Baofeng Radios To Civilian Joint Task Force In Zamfara State (EONS Intelligence)

The Commander, 1 Brigade Nigerian Army, Gusau, Brigadier General Sani Ahmed donated 100 sets of BAOFENG Communication Radios (Walkie-Talkies) to members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in a brief ceremony at Headquarters, 1 Brigade Gusau Zamfara State

In his remarks, the Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Sani Ahmed said the donation of the Baofeng Radios is part of his Corporate Social Responsibilities to the host communities and to enhance the operational capacity of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) in the state. He added that this will aid the CJTF to carry out their responsibilities in securing lives and property in their respective communities effectively. [Continue reading…]

Electric ‘Ripples’ in the Resting Brain Tag Memories for Storage (Quanta Magazine)

[Note: this is not a radio article, but mentions a connection to ham radio.]

György Buzsáki first started tinkering with waves when he was in high school. In his childhood home in Hungary, he built a radio receiver, tuned it to various electromagnetic frequencies and used a radio transmitter to chat with strangers from the Faroe Islands to Jordan.

He remembers some of these conversations from his “ham radio” days better than others, just as you remember only some experiences from your past. Now, as a professor of neuroscience at New York University, Buzsáki has moved on from radio waves to brain waves to ask: How does the brain decide what to remember? [Continue reading…]

Radio Sunshine – Niue (Now streaming)

SWLing Post Tracy Wood writes with the following note:

The Internet audio stream for Niue’s Radio Sunshine now appears to be active, albeit not 24×7. The station operates locally on FM but formerly was a top AM DX target.

Niue is a self-governing dependency of New Zealand.

On the technical side, the audio stream URL unfortunately appears to be somewhat dynamic as it’s using a “radioplayer” Javascript. The player (and stream) can be found at the tvniue.com homepage, the official radio/TV corporation of the island.

Fans of Oceania radio can add this one to other area countries that stream such as Nauru, Kiribati, and Samoa.


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The BaoFeng UV-5R is tougher than the $25 price tag implies

UV-5R

I’ll admit it: I’m a bit of a handheld radio snob.

I don’t own many HT transceivers, but the ones I do own are manufactured by the “big three”–namely, Yaesu, Kenwood and Icom. For ages, these three companies dominated the handheld radio market.

A few years ago, several Chinese radio manufactures (BaofengWouxun, TDXone and TYT to name a few) started flooding the market with inexpensive handheld transceivers–radios that literally cost a fraction of those produced by the “big three.” Where a Yaesu dual band handheld might cost between $150-250 US, a Baefeng model might cost $25-50 US.

As one might imagine, these inexpensive transceivers gained quite a following in the ham radio community and with preparedness/communications enthusiasts.

I’ve read that many of these ultra-cheap transceivers are difficult to program and I’m sure that’s one of the factors that has kept me from purchasing one.

I also assumed that a $25 radio must be very poorly constructed. Seems I’m incorrect at least on this point.

Many thanks to Dave (K4SV) for sharing the following video from Chris (K5CLC), who put the popular Baofeng UV-5R through an “extreme” field test:

The Baofeng UV-5R is available at Amazon.com for a mere $25.80 US shipping included.

UV-5R accessories. Click to enlarge.

UV-5R accessories. Click to enlarge.

The UV-5R even comes with a number of accessories:

  • a ANT5 SMA-J flexible antenna,
  • BL-5 Li-ion battery (7.4V 1800 mAh),
  • belt clip,
  • wrist strap,
  • AC adapter (8.4V 600ma)
  • and drop-in charger.

Frankly, it’s hard to believe you get so much radio for the price.

Curiosity is getting the best of me and I believe I very well may purchase a UV-5R in the coming days. I’ll probably purchase the USB programming cable as well [UPDATE: several readers suggested this proper FTDI cable as a much better option].

Click here to view the Baofeng UV-5R on Amazon: I encourage you to read the numerous reviews–many of which sing its praises, others do not.

Readers: if you have the UV-5R, please post your comments about this little radio. I’m curious if you find it easy to use and if the battery life has held up over time.  Any tricks for programming it?

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