Radio Test 6 - Distance comparison

BaoFeng BF-F8HP vs
Baofeng BF-888SA vs
Midland GXT vs
BaoFeng UV-5R
with and without Nagoya NA-717
Test location details: this was a very difficult test for RF, with a huge variety of power lines, houses, steel and concrete buildings over relatively flat terrain. The recorded audio is analog out from a Midland GXT at the base location.
Radio specifics: The Midland GXT has auto receive gain adjustment that can make static quite loud. The BaoFeng models with the exception of the 888 have high or low pass filters to reduce hiss. The 888 has no filters, probably part of its cost savings. The Midland GXT did great considering its power levels, but its battery tech and feel in the hand is terrible. Its standard headphone jack made recording this test a breeze. I do not talk loudly or at an even volume, please don't hold that against any of the radios.
Conclusions: Power levels help marginally, with antenna upgrade helping slightly more. The value for money of the BF-888SA even without an upgraded antenna can't be beaten. If you want the full fat power and battery life in small size, get the F8HP with an upgraded antenna.
The BF-888SA has one of the best feel in the hand of any radio I've tried.

[@thomasanreise3107]

This is awesome and much needed side by side comparison. You just can't get this kind of information off the product specs. Good job.

[@thenar]

Thanks for taking the time Aaron. This was helpful.

[@sidaytona]

Nice test. I have a BF-F8-HP with a 15 inch Nagoya whip in NYC and can reach/trigger New Jersey repeaters that are about 8 miles away with a S-7 on the repeater side using high power It even works from the basement of my office building at a range of about 5 miles. Solid perfomance on UHF. Stinks thats its only a dual band model, but its performance, battery life and price can't be argued with.

[@bulldogbrower6732]

Thanks for the testing. Great modality. I hope you continue testing in wooded area vs open fields vs mountainous terrain. You’ve also demonstrated the difference when you don’t speak directly into the microphone hole.

[@RGC198]

Interesting comparison. Thanks for sharing.

[@vk4jsn]

Excellent no nonsense comparison test.

[@teobaric1109]

Hello from Croatia. When I was in a technical camp, we had an exercise on the island of Krk and the baofeng 888s worked perfectly at 8km distance

[@n3ssaya972]

I worked on simplex from Brčko in Bosnia to Zagreb in Croatia from a 600m hill top. Range is not that simple to calculate.

[@teobaric1109]

True

[@abudabidibibudi]

DRUZE MOJ KUPIS ICOM I ZAVRSIS PRICU PUSTI OVE SMECE BREEE :) poz iz UL

[@mtbc-trailsmihajlovic8909]

abudabidibibudi dali fata zavidovice :)

[@attilarivera]

In my oppinion baofwng uv-5r is the best! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@longrider42]

I have the BF F8-HP Baofeng radio, and believe me, range can be deceiving at best. So many things come into play. Like how much of a charge your battery has, are you using a good antenna, because its all about the antenna. Where the person you are transmitting too is, as in, do you have good LOS. And last but not least is Atmospherics. Even in the Digital age of today, radio's can still be effected by so many things. So range is deceiving. As a Tech class license holder, my BF F8-HP, using the battery and antenna it came with, I can hit a repeater that is at least 30 miles away, but then I have good LOS on it. In the end there really are so many things to consider. But, this is a good video.

[@imjustmetoo7419]

I'm new. As will be obvious by my question(s), I'm sure. I ordered the BF F8HP last night as a starter radio. At this moment, I can only listen, as i have no liscense. Will I legally be able to set up repeaters w/o liscense? Antenna...if I had a Base Station antenna (and an adaptor), will this radio then function as a base radio (or will I have to shell out money for a Base Unit)? And finally... can you/someone PLEASE point me in the direction of a study guide for Amature Liscense...as well as the other various liscense study guides that i will need to work my way up the ladder. Thank you for your time.

[@longrider42]

@@imjustmetoo7419 First, no with out a license you cannot set up a repeater, all you can do is Listen!. Yes, you can use the F8 as a base station, I did for almost a year, till I got something better. Here is what you will need. A good base station antenna, Good Coax cable. The adapter so you can hook the Coax to your F8, but be careful, do it in such a way as to not put much if any stress on the antenna connection on the radio side. Next the Battery Eliminator, and last, a 12 volt desk top power supply, oh and a speaker/mic. As for a study guide. Look up a guy on KZbin called "The Ham Whisperer" and find his study guide for the tech license. Its very good. Then when your ready find some one who can give you the test. Good Luck, if you have any more questions, let me know.

[@imjustmetoo7419]

@@longrider42 Thank you very much for all this information. I'm studying for my license as I type this. And am looking forward to putting your words to action. ;)

[@longrider42]

@@imjustmetoo7419 Okay, I would recommend putting a Arrow Open Stub J-Pole antenna on a 20 foot tall mast, simple and easy to do. I use said antenna and its very good. As for Coax, with such a long run, using a 8 watt radio. Your going to have too spend some money on low loss or No lose Coax. So you loose little or no power going out through your antenna. Good Luck, and keep studying. You Can Do it!

[@imjustmetoo7419]

@@longrider42 thank you very much, I will write this info down in my "Ham Radio" notes. (I'm still old school and believe in paper and pencil lol).

[@thecat6688]

Very good test job. I give you thumb up before finished the video.

[@mannyzuccarelli]

This was a great review thank you

[@TheRickardJaeger]

Thx for the effort and sharing

[@DAVIDTHACH]

How to set the power setting to low or high! I am using Baofeng UV-5R

[@AaronBlankenship]

chirp on danplanet, software for computer.

[@ricknoah9184]

Nice job ! Very informative content. I do have one criticism, though.... each one of those radios is tempermental about consistency as far as mouth to mic distance and volume of voice. Each radio has a sweet spot where your voice goes out strong without over modulating.. In your video, the F8HP consistently improved every time you got close to the mic. In my experience a lot of HTs like your lips almost touching the case-- so long as you don't get too excited. Just my opinion.

[@AaronBlankenship]

BTech radios are very temperamental on their mic amplification. One reason why I won't purchase anymore of them.

[@bahramkashanian4252]

Very good comparison thank you .

[@michaelloughlin734]

Good tests thanks....

[@trevlo9208]

I’m surprised that from @3:55 and on, the UV-5RE had a more powerful signal than the F8-HP!

[@ajbulan2029]

No. Pay attention on how he's holding the radio. Because he was holding the uv 5re's antenna upright, it has a sronger signal. This is called polarity. And when its bf f8 hp's turn. He held the radio a little diagonaly and further away from his mouth. This explains why there is so many hiss noise on the f8 hp. And thats why its so important on how to hold your radio especially when talking to really far places. And also its not the watt that makes the signal clear. Its the antenna

[@beansmalone1305]

I love my baofeng. I have a 5R and a 5G. With my gmrs license and the approved 5G I can talk to my buddies up to 20 miles away using repeaters.

[@johnroberts6695]

"A mile, or half mile away" tells us nothing. Is it a mile, or is it a half mile away? Which is it? It makes all the difference. A mile is _twice_ the distance of a half mile. It would be nice to see the radios as well. Hearing the difference is helpful, though. Some say watts makes little difference. It's mostly antennas.

[@stanlleypajdak8547]

A mile or half a mile is a big difference

[@Mykoako]

thanks

[@edwin97a]

Yes vhf frequency please.

[@jjohnston6645]

I have the Baofeng BF-F8hp, my radio's seem to talk clearer and farther than this test

[@AaronBlankenship]

James Johnston That may be the case if your receiver is BF, this one is not.

[@jeddi209]

@2:49 and your description is wrong then? There's another F8HP model?

[@AaronBlankenship]

Andrew Yi The the receiver is not shown and not in my hand. It's a different model I think I listed it in the description.

[@peterlove2593]

Stand up next Time,for better transmission,eh

[@Kombokiller123]

Beeeewfeng