So today I crossed the divide and took delivery of my first #Baofeng radio. They held little appeal until I recently saw there was a ‘mini’ version of the UV-5R. It was AUD36 (USD25) and a mic, extra antenna and earpiece took it up to AUD45 (USD32). If it was a dud, it was no great loss.
I was an early adopter of the Mac Mini, MacBook Air and iPhone 12 mini ands an a fan of small, thin and light devices.
It arrived today. WOW! It’s the total opposite of a dud. It works and well across amateur, marine and CB bands (TX). And it does broadcast FM and Air well (RX). It really is tiny and light. The screen is colourful and bright and the sound, while tinny, is OK. I can program it via the OLA app on my iPhone with Bluetooth and that was easy. And it charges via USB-C. The only annoyance is that it can’t scan memories but it can scan between two user set frequencies (and that’s fine).
I’m in a valley (Bellingen) on the NSW north coast and couldn’t hit nearby repeaters with 5 watts with either of the supplied antennas. But I attached it to my Diamond discone and I hit the Dorrigo (21 km) and Mt Coramba (29 km) repeaters with ease.
It’s left me a little miffed at my AUD1k (USD650) #ICOM #icomradio ID-52A plus purchase (I know, I know…). My ‘good’ Icom radio cost 20 times more than this!
A few other things…
- Without the antenna, it is 9 cm by 5 cm (3.5 in by 2 in)
- 200 grams (7.1 oz)
- The buttons are BlackBerry or Ipaq size.
- And it has a flashlight!
It’s astounding.
Here’s where I got it on AliExpress.
22 August 2025