Baofeng UVB5 vs UVB6 dual band radio comparison
Baofeng Programming Software
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North America - USA 🇺🇸 / Canada 🇨🇦 Amateur Frequencies
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Whistler Scanners [Whistler, Uniden]
Summary: Almost a Perfect Copy of a decent Japanese Engineered Dualband Walkie, but at a third of the price.
ReplyDeleteAfter my first preproduction sample radio disappointed me, a BaoFeng wholesaler sent me a full production model, with the latest firmware. I am happy to report that all subsequent UV-B6 radios I have since received, tested and passed along to other hams, show they are quite a bit better than the first unit I tested and reviewed last month. RX Sensitivity seems much better on subsequent units as tested on my service monitor.
This new radio works well enough that I've provided some units to friends and recommended them to some of my disabled ham friends as well. The voice synthesizer is adequate for sight impaired hams.
With that being said, these radios are not as RX selective as other Japanese made HT's I've tested, but run really close in high RF Metro area side by side testing.
The UV-B6 receiver is so incredibly wide open that filtering is tough at best, but it does a great job with handling most signals.
Don't expect to use this as a base radio hooked up to an outside antenna and not receive wide spread interference, paging, etc. on top or mixed with your received signal.
Considering the price, some Amateurs feel strongly (as already seen here with other reviews regarding my earlier review) that the BaoFeng's are some Miracle Radio and the Red Sea has parted, regardless of those overly loving reviews, it's a cheap radio and made cheaply.
The receiver performance gets overloaded easily in strong noise areas. The unit is totally prone to all computer noise, FIOS ONT's and other boxes that are running in most homes.
Is this latest model better than a Yeasu FT-60R? Seems to work better to me, so there that is.
Is it better than my VX6R? No, not in the receiver sense of things, however the UV-B6 TX audio is pretty miraculous.
Both of the UV-6B and the UV5 series have some of the best portable radio transmit audio I've heard out of any of the 12 + walkies I have owned and tested.
The people I have provided these radios to love them. It's when I cannot tell if they are using their Yaesu Mobile or this walkie that gets me all the time; the UV-B6 TX audio is that clear.
Charger: The unit is 100-277 VAC capable. Some have US plugs on them, some have the UK plug and comes with a UK to US adapter. Some Chargers have the yellow to green (done) light, some seem to have just a green light, that is green is on all the time. Both types charge the radio just fine. Battery life is on the longer side and should be in the miraculous part of the scale. Out lasts my new Yaesu VX6R by about 4 hours.
Better than any review, is the fact that I am here to help anyone with question on this radio. I'm not a dealer, just a walkie enthusiast, so feel free to email me any direct questions about the radio and you'll get the straight answer, without the miraculous puffy stuff that I see posted on some of these reviews that are made by people who are actually dealers of the products reviewed.