Baofeng: Should You Buy A Baofeng UV-5R As Your First Radio? Is A Baofeng UV5R The Best First Radio?

Boy that DOGE image you have is just gonna look worse and worse over time as it fucks over more Veterans who gave so much to this country. Enjoy simping for a billionaire with yoru little electronics channel you hack.

im sure the only reason i like my UV5r is becouse i had such a fine teacher.....4 years ago...thanks

I'm new here - Why hold the Baofeng item by the antenna ? Is it to show how well manufactured the Baofeng is assembled /made ?

Subbed just cuz you're FE😎

Butchered the name.

I think the best low-cost radio available now is the TID Radio H3...can be set up as Ham, GMRS, or unlocked however you see fit. Nice little radio, with wireless programming and also Chirp compatible. Great bang for the buck.

As a train hopping 'Hobo' i am happy with my UV-5R (my first) after almost two years of owning it. I eavesdrop on the rail crew to keep the guessing to a minimum, as well as use it to get NOAA weather reports. Works almost anywhere. Very handy for those like me, especially because of the price. I think i paid around $35-$40 for mine if memory serves. Its provided far more value to me than that paltry sum. Solid buy. Highly recommend.

He needs a linguistics course

Hopefully you can help me, my LED lights are not coming on with the new Baofeng UV5R I just purchased, I may have hit a wrong button by accident and disabled the LED light. Could you tell me how to turn it back on? I see that it can be in white, orange or purple light but am not having much luck getting any color to come on. Thank you for any assistance you could give.

Boof Wang. 😂

These HTs are junk. Absolute junk. They are like disposable Bic lighters. They are a nightmare in most cases to program and are going to break down for you. They are Chinese junk. You get what you pay for. They are total junk. If you like backing Communist Red China. These are the radios for you.

What would you recommend for my first ham radio with walkie-talkie me and my wife are disabled and looking for or first ham radio with walkie-talkie to communicate with each other

You got me... too many videos to see in your channel...no long intros = tons of videos to watch and learn...subscribed. Thank you.

I'd say get either a CB or a GMRS HT as a first radio, that way you can get a foot in the door and be able to use it right away. The bubble pack FRS radios are trash unless you are using them aroud the house and it's probably best not to mess around on a Ham radio until you at least figure out some things. If you just want to listen, scanners are fantastic and cover a wider range than the Ham HTs.

Hands down my favorite channel.

Man I love your videos. Recently picked up a UV-5R to replace my 88e and Im facing a problem rn. I programmed both of them via Chirp on the same frequencies but on the 88 I can overhear the next channel when transmitting from the uv5r. Like for example the 88 set on channel 6 is recieving signal while i transmit on channel 7 from the uv5 but not vice versa and only if the uv5 is on the higher channel. This never occoured between only 88s or uv5rs

This Baofeng is my first budget radio that I bought.

Hilarious how you think the biggest welfare government subsidy king will cut overspending. 😅😅😅

Reason #1 to buy one: The antenna doubles as a very durable handle.

I'm so glad these radios come complete with the convenient vertical handle for holding the radio.

DOGE coin!

I wanted a cheap radio to talk to my wife as I park my RV. She got tired of shouting at the top of her lungs at the campgrounds. I just googled cheap 2 way radios and found the Boof-Whangs on Amazons for $40 for the pair. Was cheaper than shitty children's walkie talkies. I'm not wasting my time getting a Sad Ham license either. Don't like me stepping on your tows as I park my RV? I don't care, I'll be off channel in under 10 minutes; too short of a time for the Sad Hams to triangulate me. Even if they did, I doubt they'd approach a stranger who may, or may not be packing heat.

I LOVE baofeng so much! I’ve got a BF-21 but I’m not sure how to program it lol.

Chatting with anonymous men…😂😂. Love the switch to the SM7b, it’s my go to mic. I run both to a Rodecaster Pro 2. Love your stuff man…new sub

Your videos on the UV-5R are why it was my first radio.
It's a very feature rich and well-functioning radio for the price, and it can help you figure out what you personally want in a radio, both by what it has and doesn't have.

Upsides:
Access to HAM, MURS, NOAA, FRS, GMRS, and FM radio means that this and a CB radio would let you have access to the vast majority of publicly available radio communication bands.
Easy to set up if you know what the menu options do.
Built in flashlight and alarm.
Small and easy to carry.
Very customizable.
Very cheap.

Downsides:
You basically need to buy some plastic bits off Etsy to keep from accidentally keying the radio or the battery from falling off because you grabbed it wrong.
Needs an extended battery to be comfortable for people with bigger hands.
Not rated the slightest bit waterproof.
Likely not very durable.
2-pin mic connector rather than the much more secure Motorola style.
Complicated to set up if you don't know what the options do.

Give how cheap a TD-H3 is, I would say, "Not anymore."

New sub, new to radios beyond the good ol' blister pack variety. Super informative and the sarcastic humor is just hilarious. Happened upon your channel after purchasing a few Baofengs; 2 UV-5R GMRS, 2 UV-5G Pro, and 1 FP-F8HP Pro. These things are definitely the gateway drug to the radio world. I've much to learn. You've got a great channel, man. I pop in here to get my learn and laugh on. Stellar job, sir.

What radio would be the best for impressing the chicks? I assume anything with a belt clip, but could you narrow the field a bit for me?

Still have my 5R's and I love them. I bought 3 of them and gave them to my grandchildren to pique their interest early in radio.

Could you make T-shirts pr maybe some ID cards for the Boo-Fwang Gang?

What if I just want NOAA alerts from something that looks cool and not like an answering machine?

Here is my comment: Nice Suzie sunburn on your neck. Level two red neck <UNLOCKED> I'm poking fun in the most loving, yet offensive way I know.

I feel attacked about the broken attention span! 😂

Thanks for absolutely nothing. Surely that was your intent since you have transmitted nothing but a bunch of bullshit. Good luck with that...

Aliens are contacting me. The Dr calls it tinnitus, but, I know the real truth. They are using Morse code but only the dots, no dashes.

Sorry to ask you on this video, but I can’t find the one i was looking for. I think i saw on a past video, you talked about some of the things you have for your Jeep. One of the things was what you use to de-air your tires. What is the tire deflator you use? Thank you.

If (On my 5RH PRO ) I hold the PTT and the button below it (sorry, I ate my user manual so I don’t know what it’s called) at the same time, then turn on the radio, I am greeted with the word Password. This only allows 6 digits, but after trying a few obvious guesses, I have had no success in working out what this does if I get it right. Turning the radio off and on as usual, and it’s back to the normal function. Does anyone know what this pass is, and what secrets it unlocks? Thanks fellow Sherlock’s.

If there was a radio made in Canada 🇨🇦, would you buy it?

Baofeng Gang: LOVE IT! i am.

I bought mine for using as a spotter at the race track. My friend and I both bought them for the same use. Worked great all season! Could we have bought the proper equipment? Sure but we are ballers on a budget and took the chance on these.

Your shirts, your dry humor, the subtle breaking of procedures. You are a legend

Was my first radio. Still use a Baofeng GT-3TP I bought 8 years ago. I have better HT's now but use the B-Fang more just to piss off the radio snobs.

this dude such a dweeb with all his conservative pride flags but i fw his vibe

Thank u 4 all the helpful information.

i have 3

Yo Randy, glad to see you are looking better.

This was a great video you put in explaining things. In short people are stupid - plain and simple. They are willing to do things just to keep up with the Jones. "Mr Jones has (what they think is) a Ham Radio, let me get one too!" Then proceed to but a Baofeng for under $30 , use it a couple times and then put it is a sock drawer never to be seen again, but when it comes to Bragging Rights will make up all sorts of PooFeng of how grea the radio is.

I'll do both, a No and a Yes as to why the Baofeng is a great starter's radio.

First the "NO." As you stated, and I wil get into details, people will buy it and think they can get in with the radio crowd and talk Ying Yang and BS about what they got and how much they spent on it, but are unable to set frequencies or channels, not know where the action is, and think they can talk to friends with so they tell their friends to buy them and they end up in the same trap.

It requires a lot of research and be able to use a radio. Even a GMRS Radio requires some skills to use it. CB Maybe simpler than GMRS in operations but there are those who can not be able to handle that and even then they still want a Baofeng. Well, it is my opinion that some people do not deserve what they want - that includes: Cars, Guns, Radios, and Microwave Oven for the same DARN Reasons tht is it their fault we have instructions on shampoo bottles! They are the one who got their driver's licenses out of a Capt'n Crunch Cereal Box!

And they will not even read that. Manuals? Who needs them! (tosses them into the trash.)

For "Yes": If they are will to some of the basic research to study how a radio works, how to set up channels and frequencies, and read the manual to understand what the radio can and can not do, and if they put the work into it - then yes, they should be allowed to see what is it all about.

The one thing I see very few speak about us using MURS on a Baofeng; which can be done if the radio is opened up to transmit in the 2meter band up to 174MHx, as MURS is in the 150MHz area. It is unfortunate that a locked Baofeng only goes to 148MHz, if they were to expand it to the MURS channels, it would be great.

If they learned how to program the radio and gotten the software (CHIRP or Baofeng's software) and the programming cable, they can set up channels to share with their friends. They should be able to program the MURS Channels, and the GRMS Channels (if the radio is unlocked), and a few secret channels out there. And the program the police/fire/EMS frequencies to listen in and use it a a scanner.

And lastly, hell, for under $30, (under $50 if you get them in pairs like the GRMS ones and some special orders are sold under) it is a great radio to start with and learn. But that it the point - not many people do not want to learn and think they are entitled that if if came out the box then it should work as they expect it to do so.

Thank you for the great video!

Personally, I LOVE, "short and to the Point", because at 69 yrs old and handicapped I DO have a "short attention span".
I bought 3 of the UV-5R, but I really need to get them out, programed and play with it.

Bought 10. My daughters live a couple miles away and multiple friends are less than 5. I can reach them all with the Abbree antenna on them. Our own network if you will.