O.k so these came today, They were £16.40 for two. I have programmed one up with 6 repeaters and 10 simplex channels. I’ve hooked it up to my no expense ( note not spared just no expense) 2 pieces of recycled ex copper water pipe cut as a 2 meter dipole ( 3 half wave dipole for 70) and some old ropey coax ( I really need to get some better coax and build a dedicated 70cm antenna) and it all seems to work. Tomorrow or Saturday I may give it a wurl on top of Titterstone Clee on a dog walk . They are a little different from my other which are for pmr446 in that they have a removable antenna and the charge cradle has a 3 pin mains plug on rather than a USB end .
The photo are a bit naff as I took them with my old battered second hand low grade smart phone ) yes I am a cheapskate.
Funnily enough I was speaking to someone recently whilst on top of a Sota Summit about the Mini.I was on the normal UV5r at the time which sparked the conversation.I had seen you could get the radios much cheaper abroad but never quite trust them ! They do look ideal though . The Tech Minds channel is also good .I was also trying to go as cheap as possible, I did find the newer PMR446 model slightly cheaper but then would have had to mod it and fit an antenna socket.
I have a couple of those BF-888s and they work swell! Couple of watts on UHF and I can hit some of the local repeaters with them. They’re real easy to program with the computer, simple to operate. I programmed 1 channel to a FRS (USA Non-licensed frequency) so my grandson and I can use them to talk to each other around the yard/house/town. They work quite a distance on simplex.
K6YK
My first experience with the BF888 was with some PMR446 ( Europe’s FRS equivalent) legal handhelds with a fixed antenna and 0.5 watts out put . I used them down in South West England to keep us all connected where there was no phone signal . I was that impressed by their simple user interface( I hate menus) and their performance that I brought a couple of the model with the exchangeable antenna. I tried one of them on Titterstone Clee ( a sota summit) today with an improved handheld antenna to see if the RX would fall apart in the High RF area and can report there were no problem at all. I also made a few contacts.
In August 2023 I got my UV82 HT for £7.49 with free shipping. The handheld works OK but isn’t the most sensitive. The battery lasts forever and the whole unit is light. My Yaesu FT60 is a much better radio but it’s heavy. I throw the Baofeng in my pack if I’m not expecting to use it, as the weight penalty is minimal!
I picked up a Mini for £6.60 including post in a flash sale on Aliexpress! It’s not half bad! Fun to put in your pocket, for those grabbed moments. I carried it on an activation yesterday, along with my Yaesu FT70d. The Yaesu is obviously better but I do think the Mini is a step up from the Baofeng UV-5R.
I use it semi regularly. I have never had an issue. I am careful which manufacturer/shop I buy from. Just do a bit of prior research. The Baofeng Mini I bought, arrived in 6 days and I was getting daily updates. I was sceptical about the Mini at £6.60 but thought it wasn’t a lot to loose. Very happy with it for the money
I bought a two radio pack. First impression, a good small walkie. Good value for the money. Sound is ok. App works well. We will see how it will ehave in the mountains.
Today I did the first SOTA (EA1/AV-014) with the little walkie and a Retevis RHD701 antena. Very good reports and I have heard the others very well a 50 km far S2S included. The 5R mini is as good as my Yaesu Ft4x and I have to say, I like it more than the Yaesu, because I can charge it everywhere thanx to USB (car and camper) and I enjoy the way I can program it with bluetooth. I use the Odmaster app …. very easy to get a repeater list to the radio and to save different config and channel lists.
