Some final comments on the Baofeng HTs.
Baofeng is now Pofung. From what I understand they have changed their name in order to come closer to pronouncing the name in Chinese. Chinese words do not translate well into English. Batteries America had the Pofung for sale at the Stone Mountain Ham Fest. This is the first time I have even seen one for sale other than on the internet. I was on the Cherokee Emergency Training Net with my Baofeng. The net control said that was the best I have ever sounded.
I had my Baofeng on a simplex frequency in my pocket during the Stone Mountain Ham Fest to listen for the hourly prizes being given away. It is a small and light weight unit, and fit into my pocket. It performed flawlessly.
I was at the dog show and used my Baofeng almost all day, and it performed flawlessly. There was very little drain on the battery. I had the ARES portable repeater programmed in beforehand. The radios are hard to program, but if you find an Elmer to help you, you will have a small but powerful HT, and you can’t beat the price.
Having a built-in FM radio and being able to program in the Family Radio Service (FRS) frequencies is a definite plus. The antenna that comes with the radio is not effective. (I have never seen a stock antenna that was.) You need to get a good antenna to go with it. There are several to choose from. There is a really large one that works great with this radio.
The Baofeng has a metal case. This makes it more ruggedized. Not all HTs have this feature. The reverse SMA connector is a pain because you are more restricted to what you can connect to it. Reverse SMA connectors are a bit harder to find. The Baofeng (or Pofung) comes with a lot of neat accessories. This makes it an even better value.
Desired Accessories:
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Reverse SMA to SO-239 cable. With this you can connect your radio to an external antenna.
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Auxiliary adapter that fits into the battery slot. This allows you to use your Baofeng in a vehicle without draining the battery.
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Some kind of a case or bag to hold the radio and all its accessories in.
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Extra large battery.
For those of you who have Baofeng radios, enjoy them. They are tough little radios. The more you use them, the better you become at operating them.
73
De KJ4CMY