UV-82HP (CAMO) High Power Dual Band Radio: 136-174mhz (VHF) 400-520mhz (UHF) Amateur (Ham) Portable Two-Way

I bought two BaoFeng UV-82HP radios for some outdoor adventures over the holidays. The radios came with two chargers, two headsets, and two sets of very detailed instructions written in actual English by a native speaker! Everything worked as advertised. I also ordered an adapter cable so I could hook my radios up to my laptop and program then with CHIRP software. The first time I hooked them up, I had to do some online searching for troubleshooting as the radio woudn't connect to chirp. I installed a couple drivers online, but I don't think this step was necessary, because it didn't resolve the issue. I turned off the radio, unpluged the radio from the cable, plugged it back in, powered it back on, restarted the CHIRP software, and IT SUDDENLY CONNECTED! My friend bought a TYT radio and he couldn't use chirp. His radio is great functionally, but he was pretty envious at how I could instantly reprogram both my radios via CHIRP in seconds, and to do the same would take him literally like an hour. After initial setup, we took the radios out for a field test. My friend was on his TYT handset, and had my second UV-82HP as well to compare as I drove away from the house with my UV-82HP. He read me loud and clear in the city out to about 2.5 miles on my UV-82HP, but lost me after that. I was in a vehicle in the city and he was inside my house. With his TYT and a 15" whip antenna, he was able to communicate with my BF UV82-HP out to 3.5 miles in the city. We were reading loud and clear both ways until 3 miles, and could still communicate at 3.5, though the signal was broken. On the highway, my friend and I used the UV82-HP for about 2 days of intermittent transmitting before I exhausted the battery. I don't know the exact runtime in hours, but suffice it to say these batteries will last through a full day of constant use easily. All our transmissions were loud and clear from vehicle to vehicle, and I never want to do another roadtrip without my BaoFeng!. In the outdoors, we never reached a distance at which our signal became broken. On your average hiking trip, where you become separated at most by about a mile, you can easily communicate with these radios on medium, and usually low power! We rarely even used high power. I estimate the distance of the radio on high power outside of a vehicle in the forest if not separated by mountains is at least 3 miles, which is a LONG ways in the woods. For the price, the radios are an outstanding value. They are super easy to program and use, and function very well in the hands of a beginner like myself. These were my first ever radio, and it took no time at all to get them up and running, and even communicating with other radios using unique privacy tones at specific frequencies. I recommend these for you first radio. The price is equal to the super cheap box-store radios with 2W max power, but these easily outperform them. You can't go wrong with these radios.

This review is from the perspective of a totally blind person who is also a longtime ham. I sold all of my ham gear about 15 years ago, when I lost my eyesight. We recently moved to a new State and I thought that getting on the local repeaters might be a good way to meet some local hams and build some new friendships. I wanted a 2m portable radio that was at least partially accessible for me. Naturally, I sought out the offerings from the big three plus Alinco. I had previously owned portables from Yaesu, Kenwood and Alinco and they were all wonderful radios. The only currently available radio that I found with any accessibility built-in is the Kenwood THD-74 at over $600. That was well out of my $300 budget. I then began reading about the radios from China and learned that some have partial accessibility built-in. I did a lot of research and Baofeng was a very popular brand. After many hours of research, (too many hours for a $63 purchase) I settled on the UV-82HP. I have only had the unit for a week, so I cannot comment on how well the radio will hold up in the long run, but so far I am very impressed. This radio feels solid in the hand, not like a cheap toy from China. The volume control is solid and the buttons on the front and side, feel and work very well. While I have not yet transmitted with the unit (other than to key up the local repeater) the reception and audio quality are excellent. I have been listening in on the regional fire dispatch and it is loud and clear. I charged the unit on the day that I received it and have not charged it since, which is 6 days so far. Of course, if I was doing more transmitting, it would certainly require more charging. Speaking of charging, I did experience one problem and that was with the charging base that shipped with the radio. It was nearly impossible to insert the battery into the charger. It required excessive force to both insert and remove the battery. I contacted the seller, Baofeng Tech, and they sent me a new charging base and wall wart. The new base is much better and the radio easily slides in and out of the base. I was impressed with the level of service from BT and that is why I did not hesitate to give this product a five star review. There are resources on the Internet that provide info on using the UV5R as a blind person. I was able to apply much of that information, along with some excellent YouTube reviews, to get up to speed with the UV82HP very quickly. I did send a note to BT, asking them to consider two additional accessibility enhancements. The first would be to have the voice announce either A or B when switching between the two VFO displays. The second would be to program one of the buttons to speak the frequency or the individual letters of an assigned channel name. I do not believe that this would be very difficult to accomplish and would make a huge difference for a visually impaired user. As a screen reader user, I decided to purchase the RT Systems programming software and cable. I was able to quickly learn the software and program in my desired frequencies. It is necessary to use the software with the NVDA screen reader, as it does not work with Jaws—I tried it. Be aware that there are sections of the software that are not accessible using NVDA, but the sections most important to getting the radio programmed are accessible. I always treat my electronic items with care. I feel that this radio will last me a long time, if I treat it well. After my brief experience with this Baofeng product, I would not hesitate to purchase another of their higher-end radios.

I'm a long-licensed Ham with a General class license. I recententI got back into the hobby after many, many years away. My primary handheld is a Yaesu VX-6R, which I bought primarily because it's submersible and I can take it with me when I'm kayaking! So much of what I'll say here is as a result of comparing the two! But with that said, I'll cut right to the chase and say I really like the UV-82HP...I liked it enough to buy another one a week later!! Now, realize, the Yaesu costs 4X as much, which might at first glance make you wonder if the BaoFeng was going to suck in comparison! Well, it doesn't!! In fact, in terms of audio quality, and reported signal strength from contacts I've made on 2m and 70cm, they are indistinguishable from each other! With the same antenna, from my office, I can hit the same machines, get the same signal reports, and listen with more or less equal sound quality. Now don't get me wrong...I'm not saying it's a better radio than the Yaesu! For one thing, the Yaesu is a tri-band radio, and the BaoFeng is dual band! But still, for 1/4 of the price of the Yaesu, you get a lot! Dual band, dual view handheld. Dual PTT switch. More power. And, it includes accessories (desk charger, earbud with PTT switch) that cost extra for the Yaesu! These work well, though I cannot get the included foam sock over the earbud no matter how hard I try! Battery life seems good...definitely better than my Yaesu! So, if the performance on 2m and 70cm are equivalent, and given that the BaoFeng comes with stuff you don't get with your Yaesu, at 1/4 the price, you may be asking why anyone wouldn't choose the BaoFeng? Aside from the waterproofing and the third band capability, the big difference between the two is in how they're programmed. The Yaesu allows more options for storing and scanning memories, and it allows a lot more of them to be stored! For example, my Yaesu allows me to assign memories to one or more 'banks', and I can choose to scan all the memories, or a bank of memories, or more than one bank of memories. You can't do that with the BaoFeng UV-82HP...when you scan, you scan ALL the memories...and there's no way to omit a subset of repeaters (say ones that are in the Fort Worth area), when I'm home (near Dallas), or to omit the home repeaters when I'm in Ft Worth! And while I'm talking about scanning, I should mention that the BaoFeng scans memories very slowly. VERY slowly. Slow enough that I can read the names of the channels as it scans them. You're not gonna do that with the Yaesu...it scans several times faster than the Bao Feng. If you want to assign names to the memory channels on the BaoFeng, you can...but you have to do it using software and a computer, and upload it all to the radio using an interface cable! The Yaesu allows entering channel names without having to resort to the computer. To be completely honest though, you're going to want to program either one of these using a computer and an interface cable. Programming without one is possible, but it's a pain in the rump! Another thing I didn't care for was this; if you program the BaoFeng with your PC (using CHIRP, for example), and you assign names to the frequencies you enter into the memory channels, you lose the ability to see what frequency that channel is on! I programmed all the local repeaters with the name of the city they're in. For example, I named the repeater's IN Dallas as 'dall1', 'dall2'. But once I did that, I couldn't see what the frequency was, and I don't have them memorized. I want to be able to see what the frequency for a given channel IS, even if I have to press a button or two to display it,but you can't with the BaoFeng. To get around this, I programmed a duplicate of each channel...so channel one is named Dall1, and channel two, which is the same frequency, isn't named...So, as I'm scrolling through, every other channel is a named channel, and if I want to know the frequency, I scroll to the very next channel and I can see it!! This works pretty well...But, it cut the number of repeaters I can program by half! Since I started with 128 memory positions, if I do it this way, I cut that down to 64! I'm sure that I'll remove some of the lesser used machines eventually, and recover some slots! But it's something to think about, especially if you want to program other channels from other bands...like weather band channels, or police and fire frequencies, etc. About programming....Having to turn the radio off and then back on while holding the menu button to swap from frequency mode to channel mode is getting a bit annoying, but I suspect that will abate some as I finish programming the radio. The Yaesu flips between memory mode and frequency mode at the press of a button! On the other hand, I didn't find that programming the radio manually was all that difficult. It's at least as easy as programming my Yaesu. And the '0' is in the right place on this BaoFeng! As I was initially programming it (manually), it seemed like I was only able to save to a memory channel if I was in frequency mode. I don't know if this was true in all cases, or just saving to an empty channel, or what...but if you have issues saving to memory, or saving changes to an existing channel, it may be because you're in channel mode. I'm just throwing that out there as an observation...I haven't really dug into it to see what the specifics are. This particular BaoFeng model comes with a pretty decent manual. I was prepared for one that was basically worthless, and was pleasantly surprised! Ergonomically, I like this radio. It feels comfortable in my hand, and feels solidly built. I have never owned any previous BaoFeng radios, but I've heard that they were much cheaper feeling than this one. Be aware that when you get your BaoFeng, it's going to come with a couple of pre-programmed memories. I thought at first mine was used...but I saw a funny youtube video that indicated they're all this way. I did a complete reset for mine, and it wiped those channels clean. I'm taking off a star because of the limited memory channels, the limited scanning options, and the issue with not being able to see the frequency of a named memory channel. Nevertheless, I feel the UV-82HP is a good radio and a great value. If both of mine were lost or stolen, I'd buy two more to replace them!

I have had this radio for several years now, and it works perfectly. Manually programming it is somewhat complicated but with a programming cable and a computer capable of storing the frequencies and alpha numeric identifiers for the channels desired, it works for my needs. I like the quick change feature to talk and receive on two different channels with just a touch of the button or using the transmit key to alternate talking on two different channels.

I own a pile of Baofeng radios and can't seem to quit buying them. Most recently, I've been using the UV-82 series and really enjoy the higher quality build of the radios. I have three of the UV-82 model and two of the UV-82C style. Now I have purchased one of the new UV-82HP units, to get the extra couple of watts over my other UV82s. I was hoping that the UV-82 line would eventually come out with a tri-power version because I also own a Baofeng BF-F8HP tri-power and have really enjoyed the extra wattage. Now, with this new UV-82HP, I have a 7-watt version of my favorite low-cost legal HAM and emergency-use-only MURS, FRS, and GMRS radio.The build quality of the UV-82 line is much better than the smaller Baofeng radios, such as the UV-5R line. I drove around town testing this new UV-82HP unit with a family member at home, indoors, on another Baofeng handheld (standard UV-82). I can really tell the difference in how it performs from inside a car to another radio inside a house. I could drive about three miles from home and still have reasonable reception, which is excellent under those circumstances. I was able to get a response from local HAM repeaters easily (2-5 miles) and also repeaters over 10 miles from home, from inside my house. I am using the stock V-85 antenna included with many new Baofengs and am quite surprised at how well it does. I will now be carrying this new UV-82HP radio as my daily carry HT. For the low cost of this unit I am quite impressed with its capabilities. I already preferred the "commercial" build of the UV-82 line, and now I have all the goodies of the UV-82 along with a couple of extra watts of power for better communication (HP). For a new ham on a budget, the UV-82HP receives and transmits (RX/TX) on the Ham 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands. To use the two Ham (2m and 70cm) bands you must have a valid Ham Technicians license. The GMRS, FRS, and MURS (walkie-talkie) frequencies can be used in an emergency only (the radio is too powerful and not FCC Part 95 certified for legal non-emergency use on the non-HAM bands). This excellent radio, with features matching or exceeding much more expensive radios, is highly recommended for a person seeking his or her Ham Technician license!

Good budget radio for off-roading with buddy’s

This is a fantastic radio for the price, tons of power easy to use and a nice light package. That said I have some issues, primarily with the material quality: - The provided antenna is extremely susceptible to interference, to the point I can have two of the same radio 5 feet from each other and one works fine while the other gets zero reception. I've effectively had to transmit via the one in my hand and listen for a response via the one laying on the ground 5 feet away. Going with a good Nagoya aftermarket whip antenna fixes this. - The clip is extremely weak and thin stamped metal, the stupid mounting bracket bends just from trying to put the screws in as soon as you take it out of the box. All of my clip plates are bent and contorted, probably soon to rip in half, it would be in my best interest to order some replacements now. - The charging bases don't properly line up with the shape/size of the radio base, and the contact points are made of the weakest metal known to man. Since the bases don't line up properly you have to kind of fight and wiggle the radio in, but if you're just a touch off you'll bend and displace the charging contact points. Out of my 4 bases - 1 I've had to rip apart and rebuild, 2 I am very gentle with to make sure everything lines up right, and 1 actually fits correctly without any hassle. Still with all of the above, these are awful good radios for the price and cheap enough that I can use them for hand outs and not get too upset when one gets lost or destroyed.

This is a HAM radio, and can legally be used for nothing else; not for MURS, GMRS, Business Band or any other frequencies other than ham radio bands by a licensed ham. It MUST be programmed before using because the frequencies that are in the radio when it is received are out-of-band for ham radio operation and cannot legally be used. Do not even think of transmitting when first taking it out of the box and turning it on. I used a BTECH PC03 FTDI Genuine USB Programming Cable to program the radio. Programming it manually will be very time-consuming, but it can be done with a lot of patience. I recommend using CHIRP programming software. Using CHIRP with the programming cable made programming the radio very easy. I especially like the dual-watch and two PPT buttons. This way I can monitor two repeaters at the same time, even VHF and UHF, and talk on either one by pressing the corresponding PTT button. One thing I found is that the squelch settings from 1 to 9 does not change the squelch level much. 0 turns off the squelch. The squelch setting can be changed using CHIRP programming software for each selection from 0 to 9. I was having trouble with noise breaking through the squelch no matter wherever I set it, even at 9. I changed the settings with CHIRP to ones that give me the best results. They are the same for VHF and UHF. Selection 0 should be left at 0 because 0 turns the squelch off. This is a common problem, as I found many such complaints on the Internet, as well as the solution. The original settings in my radio were: VHF and UHF Squelch 0: 0 VHF and UHF Squelch 1: 16 VHF and UHF Squelch 2: 17 VHF and UHF Squelch 3: 18 VHF and UHF Squelch 4: 19 VHF and UHF Squelch 5: 20 VHF and UHF Squelch 6: 21 VHF and UHF Squelch 7: 22 VHF and UHF Squelch 8: 23 VHF and UHF Squelch 9: 24 A number from 0 to 127 can be entered, but if the number is set too high, even a large signal will not open the squelch. 0 to 24 is not much of a range, so I changed them to: VHF and UHF Squelch 0: 0 VHF and UHF Squelch 1: 10 VHF and UHF Squelch 2: 20 VHF and UHF Squelch 3: 30 VHF and UHF Squelch 4: 35 VHF and UHF Squelch 5: 37 VHF and UHF Squelch 6: 39 VHF and UHF Squelch 7: 41 VHF and UHF Squelch 8: 43 VHF and UHF Squelch 9: 47 These numbers give me the best results. Your results may vary. I found that the settings of between 33 and 37 is the sweet spot where the squelch has the greatest effect between the background noise breaking though and not breaking through. I experimented with different number settings before I settled upon these numbers. For me, the radio's squelch setting of 5 is now the best, where before setting it to 9 did not work well at all. I found out that my Wi-Fi network is causing the radio to break squelch intermittently. Actually, my Yaesu HT does the same thing, but it has a knob to adjust the squelch throughout its entire range. I actually like the digital squelch in the BaoFeng better because there is no knob to accidentally bump. I had a few questions about this radio and Customer Support was superb! They answered my e-mail and answered my questions immediately.