Baofeng Radios

[Jacob Wright]

Evening all!

Has anyone got any experience with the Baofeng UV-9R's? I've got about 10 of the UV-5's that the team use on events etc, but have recently come across the newer model and wondered if there is any genuine advantage to them? I'm not expecting a massive range increase but the longer battery life and waterproof-ness would be handy for longer events!

 

[Hatchet]

I've used the 9R's but not the 5's, so I'm at the other end of that comparison.

They seem to work ok, usual deal with needing to program them, CHIRP works fine for doing so and saving the image for future use/programming multiple devices. In terms of power I'm lead to believe that any wattage ratings are entirely fictitious anyway, but they worked well enough for me in your standard woodland environment. Waterproofing... who knows? If that's an actual concern you'd probably as well putting your UV-5's in plastic bags and calling it a day.

Point of note is that the accessories socket is different, being one of those motorola multi-pin styles, so you'd need to look at new headsets/mic interfaces, which might be a consideration.

 

[Jacob Wright]

Thanks Hatchet!

Ahhh okay, is the woodland you used them in fairly flat or quite hilly? If the wattage ratings are fictitious anyway then I guess it potentially wouldn't make much difference!

Waterproofing isn't a massive concern of mine - more that it was one of the only other advantages I could see over the 5's.

Noted with regard to the accessories socket, half of the ones I've got are knackered now anyway so replacement isn't too much of a big deal. I may just pick one up and see how we get on with it ?

 

[Tommikka]

I’ve not used a UV9R, but on the topic of signal strength it may or may not be ‘ficticous’ but certainly will be best case / maximum.

On a practical basis for playing in the woods the lesser power limits of PMRs etc isn’t that much of a disadvantage against higher power licenced types of handset.  Terrain is the killer of signals

A stronger signal won’t get through a hill, but could do a bit better through the bushes

We’ve used PMR and licenced systems to get the message across full sites when running events.  For wider areas and passing hills etc we’ve relayed messages among the Marshalls etc

However we’ve also preferred phones - that way we don’t need to penetrate the hill but just reach a mast, and also allows for direct ‘privacy’ without someone sneakily listening to a game admin PMR channel or just overhearing from every other marshal 

For headsets do ensure that the right headset compatibility is checked.

Sometimes a common socket type is used but a manufacturer has their own little peculiarity 

We had an issue once with a games ‘faction command radios’ and teams own radios.

My co-captain took the ‘command radio’ and the job of relaying messages - and then was out of contact from the faction leader all morning.

After radio check he decided to plug our headset into the command radio - it plugged in but received nothing 

On discovery at lunch I educated him on headset ‘compatibility’ and took the command radio off him

 

[Jacob Wright]

Thanks Tommikka, some good points. I've also had to relay in the past due to terrain, and you're right that will probably be the workaround. My issue with using phones is the lack of being able to use them whilst on the move, unlike radios where you can use the PTT in one hand and rifle in another. However, if not moving then WhatsApp etc are a nice quick and easy solution.

Haha it sounds like he'd have been best placed to do a comms check beforehand! We check ours are all working in the setup area before game on to ensure those kind of things don't happen!

 

[Skullchewer]

I have the 9, my friends use 5s.

The only real difference I've noticed is the lack of accessories for the 9, as the pin connector system is entirely different.

I eventually bought an adapter that allows me to use 5r accessory on the 9.

Range etc seems better on the 9, but then I use one of those long flexible antenna, whereas my friend are all using the stock aerials so I suspect its more likely that. 

 

[Jacob Wright]

Which kind of antenna is it? Have you got a link?

Thats a shame ref the lack of accessories, I’ve bought one to trial so will give it a go and see how we get on. 

 

[Skullchewer]

I use this antenna

Radtel Foldable Tactical Antenna 18 Inch with SMA-Female Connector, Dual Band UHF/VHF (134-176/400-520Mhz) Compatible with Baofeng UV-5R UV-9R (or Plus) GT-3TP 88E Kenwood Ham Radios https://amzn.eu/d/ehFUra0

This adapter allows you to use standard two pin peripherals 

943 K-head Audio Cable Adapter,2Pin Cable Adapter for Baofeng BF-9700 A-58 UV-XR UV-5S GT-3WP UV-9R Plus,K interface 2Pin UV-5R headphone https://amzn.eu/d/dXvhhUp

And I have two of these PTTs, one for each of my rigs

K Head PTT Cable, Military Adapter TK-208 TK-220 Mobile Noise Reduce Headsets TCI Round Waterproof PTT for 2 pin BAOFENG Kenwood Puxing 2-Way Radio, TYT Qusheng https://amzn.eu/d/iEeOZbh