Thursday, November 5, 2015

Baofeng UV-82HP Review

A little over two weeks ago, I received a Baofeng UV-82HP from BaofengTech.com in “Fire red” color.  Having a black UV-82 already, most the features were familiar to me, but was in for some nice surprises when programing it via CHIRP.  More on that in later in the post, but first let's walk through the features.  

 The UV-82HP is a dual band (2m & 70cm) that has three power (1, 5 & 7 watt) levels.  The higher power, of course, is probably the attraction point of this radio.  As an added bonus, features previously only available on the UV-82c made their way to the 82HP, such as locking (via software) the VFO/MR, or frequency mode, switching, and disabling the dual PTT - something that I'm a big fan of, especially when using a single PTT hand mic.

 As with other Baofengs, the UV-82HP comes with what you expect; the FM radio receiver, flashlight, alarm mode, and removable antenna.  Speaking of antenna, this comes with a much improved antenna over the UV-5R.  I was able to use repeaters normally just out of range with the 5R, even using 5 watts, not the maximum of 7.  I'm a big fan of the new antenna.  This said, while in the car, I do hook it up to a Tram 1185, with flawless results.  Of course it comes with a desktop charger, the belt clip, lanyard, and a dual PTT headset.  Most importantly, it comes with a very well written (read not chi-english) user manual.  I keep it in my back pack, in case I need to reference it for manual programing in the field.

After using my UV-5R for so long, I didn't realize that I didn't like the keypad until I started using the UV-82HP!  Wow, such an improvement, with larger buttons, and a very distinct "click" when pressed, so there's no guessing if the button was pressed correctly.  On the UV-5R I always had an issue pressing the SCAN button; it was like the button wobbled on me.  Not anymore!  Oh, and the "0" key is in the right spot now, not over on the right.  OCD operators rejoice! :)



The belt clip was the first thing I put on as soon as I took it out of the box.  It's rugged, and very sturdy.  Although it looks like it's in the way, the clip doesn't interfere with the battery being removed or put back in.  Speaking of the battery, it lasts for days.  With an 1800mAh battery, I can use it for about two days before charging.



Only problem I had with the construction is the little "o" screw around the antenna base.  After removing the antenna the first time, the this "o" screw came very loose.  This was quickly fixed with a pair of needle nose pliers.


One thing I really like about the UV-82HP over the UV-5R is the metal plugs (Kenwood style) for the hand mic or programing cable.  When plugging them in, the connection is very snug, and no play at all.  I experienced quite a bit of play with the UV-5R, so this was a nice upgrade for me.


Like the UV-82, the HP has a dual PTT for A/B frequencies, 128 memory channels with alphanumeric names (via a software only), a flashlight, FM radio, and a dual watch receiver.  In the programing software, you can select the priority of the dual watch, or disable it.  I prefer to set B as my preferred, as I usually scan channels on A, or keep 146.52 on A.  For a full list of features, visit BaofengTech’s website:  https://baofengtech.com/uv-82hp


So that's the exterior of the radio.  As for programing, There's two ways to program; manually and via software.

For programing with software, CHIRP is the go-to choice for programing the UV-82HP.  It's interface may look a bit confusing at first glance, but after you do program once or twice, it's a piece of cake.  I'll say this about the programing cable though:  Purchase a FTDI cable, not a cheap knock-off.  I did, and it was a pain to get working (although I did, but heh... I AM the EverydayNerd right?).  Do yourself a favor, and get the USB programing cable from BaofengTech.  It's 100% worth the few dollars more for no issues on PC, Mac or Linux.

With CHIRP, you are able to program the channels the frequency, an alphanumeric name, set the PL tone & offset for repeaters, as well as transmit power, wide or narrow band, and and scan skipping of a channel.   In addition to channel programing, you can also change the radio settings, some of which you cannot do from the menu, like turning off Dual PTT.  I won't go into all the details of programing with CHIRP, as there are PLENTY of resources out there that do a great job of that already:



Manual programing is not as easy as using the software, and you cannot set the alphanumeric name value, but it is not that difficult to do.  I've done while out of town to program in a repeater in the town I'm in (thanks to the RepeaterBook Android App).  First, you must be in VFO mode, not MR.  So how do you get there?  Being used to the UV-5R, I was looking for the VFO button at first, but after a quick look in the well documented user manual, I found that you have to power the radio off, then on - while holding in the [Menu] button.

Now that you're in frequency mode (VFO) make sure you are on the A bank by pressing the A/B button.  If you have Dual Watch enabled, turn it off [Menu 7].  Find an empty channel number (or delete an existing one [Menu 28]).  Enter the frequency of the repeater, then [Menu 13] and set the PL tone (TX CTCSS) - if there is one.  Next set the offset direction by going to [Menu 25] and the offset shift [Menu 26].  The normal offset shift for 2m(VHF) is .600 and 5.00 for 70cm(UHF).   Now all  you have to do is save both the transmitting and receiving frequencies.  Go to [Menu 27] enter the channel number you want to save to, and press menu to save.  This saves the receive frequency.  Now lastly, press the [* SCAN] button to show the offset frequency (verify that it is truly off by 0.600 or 5.00 depending on the band, and in the right shift direction) and go back to [Menu 27] enter the same channel number that you did for the receive frequency, and press menu again to save it.  That's it!  If you switch back to Channel Mode (Power off and on holding [Menu]) and go to the channel you just programed.  It will show Channel # instead of a name.

My overall impressions with the UV-82HP from BaofengTech is very positive.  I did have some weirdness with the power saver, [Menu 3 SAVE].  The options are Off, 1,2,3,4.  The higher the number, the longer your battery will last.   When I had anything other than Off selected,  the backlight display would flash several times about 5 seconds after pressing any key, then turn off the backlight completely.  I contacted BaofengTech.com, and they promptly sent me a factory image to flash, and that fixed the issue. See video of the flashing here.

My pros & cons list:

Pros:

  • Price - seriously, you can't go wrong at this price!
  • Power - 7 watts is great!
  • CHIRP programing
  • Rugged - I dropped mine several times when exiting my car with no issues
  • Antenna - MUCH better than the UV-5R
  • Metal connectors at mic/speaker connection
  • Great battery life
  • Keypad buttons compared to the UV-5R
  • FM Radio - cause sometimes it's just quiet on the repeaters :)
  • CHIRP Settings to disable/enable features (Dual PTT, Menu, VFO Switching, etc.)
  • Great customer service from BafengTech!
Cons:

So who should buy one?  I’d say any Amateur Radio operator could benefit from having this HT.   It's small, rugged (yeah, I dropped mine a couple of times getting out of the car) and if anything a great backup radio.  Although, right now, this is my primary rig for VHF.  If you're looking for a great little HT, I highly recommend it.

Checkout BaofengTech for this, and plenty other Baofeng products.  They are the best in the business, and have fantastic customer support.
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