BaoFeng UV-82HP (CAMO) High Power Dual Band Radio 136-174mhz (VHF) 400-520mhz (UHF) Amateur (Ham) Portable Two-Way

10 reviews for BaoFeng UV-82HP (CAMO) High Power Dual Band Radio 136-174mhz (VHF) 400-520mhz (UHF) Amateur (Ham) Portable Two-Way

1. 

   5 out of 5

   Darrell Young – January 23, 2020

   I own a pile of Baofeng radios and can’t seem to quit buying them. Most recently, I’ve been using the UV-82 series and really enjoy the higher quality build of the radios. I have three of the UV-82 model and two of the UV-82C style. Now I have purchased one of the new UV-82HP units, to get the extra couple of watts over my other UV82s. I was hoping that the UV-82 line would eventually come out with a tri-power version because I also own a Baofeng BF-F8HP tri-power and have really enjoyed the extra wattage. Now, with this new UV-82HP, I have a 7-watt version of my favorite low-cost legal HAM and emergency-use-only MURS, FRS, and GMRS radio.The build quality of the UV-82 line is much better than the smaller Baofeng radios, such as the UV-5R line.I drove around town testing this new UV-82HP unit with a family member at home, indoors, on another Baofeng handheld (standard UV-82). I can really tell the difference in how it performs from inside a car to another radio inside a house. I could drive about three miles from home and still have reasonable reception, which is excellent under those circumstances. I was able to get a response from local HAM repeaters easily (2-5 miles) and also repeaters over 10 miles from home, from inside my house. I am using the stock V-85 antenna included with many new Baofengs and am quite surprised at how well it does. I will now be carrying this new UV-82HP radio as my daily carry HT. For the low cost of this unit I am quite impressed with its capabilities. I already preferred the “commercial” build of the UV-82 line, and now I have all the goodies of the UV-82 along with a couple of extra watts of power for better communication (HP).For a new ham on a budget, the UV-82HP receives and transmits (RX/TX) on the Ham 2 meter and 70 centimeter bands. To use the two Ham (2m and 70cm) bands you must have a valid Ham Technicians license. The GMRS, FRS, and MURS (walkie-talkie) frequencies can be used in an emergency only (the radio is too powerful and not FCC Part 95 certified for legal non-emergency use on the non-HAM bands).This excellent radio, with features matching or exceeding much more expensive radios, is highly recommended for a person seeking his or her Ham Technician license!

2. 

   5 out of 5

   Brian – February 22, 2020

   Love this radio. Received audio is clear, and it has the power to transmit a long way for a handheld. I’m at a higher elevation than the majority of the surrounding area And with the stock antenna I can hear repeaters 30-40 miles away regularly. I upgraded to a longer 2 m 1/4 wavelength whip and can transmit to those towers with the longer antenna. The only thing I was a little disappointed with, and I have to preface this statement saying I have no other radio to compare this to so this may be normal, but I was a little surprised by how fast the battery died when doing a lot of transmitting over the course of a day When transmitting at full 8 watts. I bought this as part of my disaster preparedness kit, and due to the battery life I plan to add a battery bank to my kit so I can get a few recharges to make sure I could get through several days or a week without power.

3. 

   5 out of 5

   Allison – April 15, 2020

   Since this model has better manual in plain English, I was able to manually program the first 15 channels in about 30 minutes and hit a 2 meter repeater about 6 miles away using the stock antenna in suburban Atlanta from inside my brick office building for a net that day! The extra power and the V85 antenna included really make a difference over the UV-5Rs I had. I like the zero being in the more normal place (like a telephone keypad.)The only “trick” I had to learn on this new model is that you have to hold down the menu button while you turn it on to switch modes between frequency mode and channel mode. That used to be done with the orange button on the UV-5R. So it’s tough to remember at first to switch off the radio to go audio check the channel you just programmed in frequency mode, but you get used to it. Also remember that you can only program from the top frequency line and not the bottom one in frequency mode.I am going to work on using CHIRP for the first time for the rest of the available 127 channels I have not filled yet. My elmer did this for me on my first radio, but it’s time to get my own programming done. (NOTE: You need to spring for the $20 cable on Amazon with the FTDI chip and avoid the cheap Prolific chip cables!)

4. 

   5 out of 5

   Dale – July 2, 2020

   Ok so this is a great 2way radio.-IMPORTANT-Learn very diligently how to legally use this radio. For example, yes you can transmit on NOAA weather radio frequencies, air traffic, military, police and gov services with this radio. That in itself is a big problem. Using instructions from online with Chirp software you can easily switch those frequencies to receive only. Just make sure you can legally scan frequencies you program it for.Also, these are not fully FCC compliant for GMRS FRS bands. The FCC states a radio must only be programmable for a single band when using these frequencies. They are also capable of transmitting way too high of power for some frequencies.That being said, if you do your homework and set them up right or aren’t worried about jail time they are great radios. I was highly impressed with build quality.

5. 

   5 out of 5

   TLengr – July 2, 2020

   I have been a ham for 50 years but this is the first handy-talkie I purchased for amateur bands. I am generally not a fan of HTs. I have operated and serviced many VHF and UHF HTs back in the day. So, this review is probably biased a little bit towards what I’ve seen in commercial and industrial applications. Without considering the extra features for ham use, the Baofeng UV-82HT checks most of the boxes. Overall, it seems like a good radio. But, as some say, the devil is in the details. There are some great features and in my opinion some warts. That said, let’s get to it.I think the great features (not necessarily unique) are:User Manual is well written and illustrated in English, and is actually helpful!Dual Push to Talk (PTT) / Dual Watch This is fantastic. One can monitor two frequencies at once: UHF/VHF; VHF/VHF; or UHF/UHF. To transmit to one or the other just press either the A or B PTT as applicable. A question is what happens if both have a signal at the same time? If you don’t want this feature it can be turned off.Three programmable transmit power levels: High-Medium-Low For VHF: H=8 Watts, M=4 Watts, L=1 Watt For UHF: H=7 Watts, M=4 Watts, L=1 WattBattery Voltage Display Press the “0” key for about 2 seconds and battery voltage is displayed; for example, DC8.2V It also displays the legacy battery ICON with bars to represent battery reserve.Ability to listen to broadcast FM, NOAA Weather, etc Press the F key below the PTT and listen to some tunes on FM Radio while your favorite repeater is idle. Reception of a signal on your active channel will interrupt broadcast FM radio and put you on the active channel. You won’t miss a call. FM reception will resume after a little delay when the VHF/UHF signal ends. There is a scan feature for FM that will stop when it gets a signal, regardless of which scan mode is programmed. NOAA weather can be programmed from the keyboard in VFO mode or with software. With software you can skip the scanning of this channel.There is a built-in LED flashlight on top of the radio that can shine steadily or strobe.Comes in various colors How cool is that? I bought a blue one.Some of the wartsSquelch threshold adjustment, or the lack thereof? The adjustment is made by programming a digit (0-9) into menu 0. The default setting is 5. Programming a 0 will open squelch continuously. I have tried different digits and there is little change in squelch threshold. Recently a weak, fading signal on 2 meters kept opening the squelch when nothing but noise could be heard. It could not be squelched – no matter what I programmed. Annoying! Like audio volume, squelch adjustment works better when analog.A dual concentric audio/squelch pot would be great.Scanning / Memory – Channel Mode There are 128 channels that can be programmed with either a VHF or UHF frequency, CTCSS, etc. However, the scanning rate is 3 channels per second. Obviously, scanning a large number of channels is impractical. You will probably want to scan only a dozen or so. A given frequency must be stored in a memory to scan it and each channel in memory will be scanned unless programmed to skip. With CHIRP this is easily done by placing an S into the skip column of the channel table. It doesn’t appear to be possible to skip scanning a channel by a keyboard entry.VFO Mode Awkward and cumbersome. It enables manual programming via the radio keypad. The user manual suggests VFO mode is useful for experimenting in the field and programming is somewhat difficult at first. I would say its painful. You must first specify a vacant memory channel. This is problematic. You can scroll through the memory channels: 1,2,3… or enter a channel number from the keypad, but I have found no way to determine which, if any, channels are empty. Once programmed, a channel cannot be edited using the key pad. The channel must first be deleted. This insures that an existing cannot be overwritten. Scanning is possible in VFO mode. It can scan by incrementing the frequency in fixed steps as programmed in menu 1, STEP – Frequency Step. This scanning mode is very slow and probably not practical for many.Radio Case and Battery Case The radio case is pretty solid and feels good in the hand, but the bottom is not flat. There are two plastic nubs on the bottom of the case and two more on the bottom of the battery. There is also two rectangular depressions, one in the battery, another in the radio. If you set the radio upright on a hard surface it is unstable and can easily fall over. Not cool!Charger When placed on a hard surface, the charger can slide easily. There are four circular ridges on the bottom presumably for feet pads, but no pads were provided for my charger. Not a huge deal, but I fume when the charger, along with my radio, slides around with the slightest touch. Finally, the LED on the charger is red while charging, green when finished charging, and flashes multi-colors when you remove the radio. OK, maybe this is not a wart, but it annoys the heck out of me and it attracts small children. Why not just turn the LED off?Summation Any design involves compromises between performance, features, aesthetics, price, etc, leaving room for improvement. I think the UV-82HT is designed with a good mix of compromises. The radio has more features than I will likely use. It is very flexible. I have not tested any performance specifications. Perhaps I will in the future. Meanwhile, I can enjoy operating it. I like it a lot. It is an outstanding value. I give it 5 stars and my recommendation without hesitation. 73

6. 

   5 out of 5

   Stew – July 23, 2020

   This is a HAM radio, and can legally be used for nothing else; not for MURS, GMRS, Business Band or any other frequencies other than ham radio bands by a licensed ham. It MUST be programmed before using because the frequencies that are in the radio when it is received are out-of-band for ham radio operation and cannot legally be used. Do not even think of transmitting when first taking it out of the box and turning it on. I used a BTECH PC03 FTDI Genuine USB Programming Cable to program the radio. Programming it manually will be very time-consuming, but it can be done with a lot of patience. I recommend using CHIRP programming software. Using CHIRP with the programming cable made programming the radio very easy. I especially like the dual-watch and two PPT buttons. This way I can monitor two repeaters at the same time, even VHF and UHF, and talk on either one by pressing the corresponding PTT button. One thing I found is that the squelch settings from 1 to 9 does not change the squelch level much. 0 turns off the squelch. The squelch setting can be changed using CHIRP programming software for each selection from 0 to 9. I was having trouble with noise breaking through the squelch no matter wherever I set it, even at 9. I changed the settings with CHIRP to ones that give me the best results. They are the same for VHF and UHF. Selection 0 should be left at 0 because 0 turns the squelch off. This is a common problem, as I found many such complaints on the Internet, as well as the solution.The original settings in my radio were:VHF and UHF Squelch 0: 0VHF and UHF Squelch 1: 16VHF and UHF Squelch 2: 17VHF and UHF Squelch 3: 18VHF and UHF Squelch 4: 19VHF and UHF Squelch 5: 20VHF and UHF Squelch 6: 21VHF and UHF Squelch 7: 22VHF and UHF Squelch 8: 23VHF and UHF Squelch 9: 24A number from 0 to 127 can be entered, but if the number is set too high, even a large signal will not open the squelch.0 to 24 is not much of a range, so I changed them to:VHF and UHF Squelch 0: 0VHF and UHF Squelch 1: 10VHF and UHF Squelch 2: 20VHF and UHF Squelch 3: 30VHF and UHF Squelch 4: 35VHF and UHF Squelch 5: 37VHF and UHF Squelch 6: 39VHF and UHF Squelch 7: 41VHF and UHF Squelch 8: 43VHF and UHF Squelch 9: 47These numbers give me the best results. Your results may vary.I found that the settings of between 33 and 37 is the sweet spot where the squelch has the greatest effect between the background noise breaking though and not breaking through. I experimented with different number settings before I settled upon these numbers. For me, the radio’s squelch setting of 5 is now the best, where before setting it to 9 did not work well at all.I found out that my Wi-Fi network is causing the radio to break squelch intermittently. Actually, my Yaesu HT does the same thing, but it has a knob to adjust the squelch throughout its entire range. I actually like the digital squelch in the BaoFeng better because there is no knob to accidentally bump.I had a few questions about this radio and Customer Support was superb! They answered my e-mail and answered my questions immediately.

7. 

   5 out of 5

   S. QUINN – August 13, 2020

   I like it for what it is – an inexpensive radio.I had problems putting it in the charging base until I realized what was going on. The short answer is the Charger base is designed to charge a loose battery or the handset. The way they did this was to cast two rail into the charger base that need to line up with the battery. If you blindly dock the radio it probably won’t charge. What you need to do is put the radio in the charge dock lining it up with the rear surface and it will drop straight down and charge every time.I had originally throught I couldn’t change the power level on saved channels but this was because the Menu | 2| High / Mid / Low setting wouldn’t save. In channel mode you set the TX power with a short press of the # key.Some other quirks of this radio are that when saving the channel mode from the radio, you need to input the RX and then TX frequency with the tone on it to the channel. In Frequency mode you can set the RX frequency and input the offset amount / direction and it just works.I’m very happy with my purchase.

8. 

   5 out of 5

   Gomez Cooley – August 24, 2020

   I will start off by saying I have several UV5R Baofeng radios and they are pretty good for short distances of, maybe, up to 3 miles. I have never been able to communicate beyond that distance.The UV-82HP is the UV5R on steroids. I purchased two of these with two BL-8 backup batteries.I am hitting a repeater (the main one I use) at 14.3 miles away. I talk regularly with friends 7.7 miles away without a repeater, and they tell me I am coming in at 5.9. If you are a HAM you understand that in a technical way; for the layman that means wall to wall clarity. One gentleman that I have communicated with several times from 18.9 miles away comes through scratchy but I can can understand his communications. I am going to purchase two more of the UV-82HPs and BL-8 batteries.The BL-8 batteries are a little odd. Sliding them into the radio takes a little practice at first. But they last a phenomenally long time. I have been turning on the radio at 6:00 a.m. and turn it off at 9:00 p.m. and it still has a good charge. About midway through the second day I have to put it on the charger and snap in the backup battery. If I just have the radio on for standby, the battery lasts a full two days. Consider that I have only had these UV-82HPs since November 28, 2020 and, like all things, the batteries will gradually diminish over time.The only negative with these radios is that they are made in a China. I would prefer to purchase an American manufacturer product like this that is kept competitively priced.

9. 

   5 out of 5

   Jay – September 5, 2020

   I ordered this radio for my father for Christmas. He loves absolutely everything about it, and after playing with it for a while myself, I can honestly say that I can’t find a better quality radio than this one for anywhere near the price. The build is rock solid, the speaker is loud and clear, and it gets wonderful reception with the standard included antenna. You can reach other states away with the standard antenna. Pair this radio with the optional extended antenna and USB programming cable, and you’re set to go wherever you please while still remaining reachable and ready for any emergency situation. The battery easily lasts 2-3 days with about 5 hours of usage in combined total per day. I have yet to test this, but I’m confident in this radios’ ability to keep charged up for trips when it’s off.To add to how wonderful of a product this is, BaoFeng has exceptional customer service. With each product I ordered from them, they went out of their way to email me and make sure I received the products and that they worked properly. If anything went wrong with my order or products did not function correctly, I have the utmost confidence in their ability to make the situation right.I would highly recommend this radio and its accessories to anyone interested in it. BaoFeng will be there to help you should you need them, and at the end of the day, you’re going to get way more than your moneys’ worth out of this purchase!

10. 

    5 out of 5

    BaldTechGuy – September 6, 2020

    This review is from the perspective of a totally blind person who is also a longtime ham. I sold all of my ham gear about 15 years ago, when I lost my eyesight. We recently moved to a new State and I thought that getting on the local repeaters might be a good way to meet some local hams and build some new friendships. I wanted a 2m portable radio that was at least partially accessible for me. Naturally, I sought out the offerings from the big three plus Alinco. I had previously owned portables from Yaesu, Kenwood and Alinco and they were all wonderful radios. The only currently available radio that I found with any accessibility built-in is the Kenwood THD-74 at over $600. That was well out of my $300 budget. I then began reading about the radios from China and learned that some have partial accessibility built-in. I did a lot of research and Baofeng was a very popular brand. After many hours of research, (too many hours for a $63 purchase) I settled on the UV-82HP. I have only had the unit for a week, so I cannot comment on how well the radio will hold up in the long run, but so far I am very impressed. This radio feels solid in the hand, not like a cheap toy from China. The volume control is solid and the buttons on the front and side, feel and work very well. While I have not yet transmitted with the unit (other than to key up the local repeater) the reception and audio quality are excellent. I have been listening in on the regional fire dispatch and it is loud and clear. I charged the unit on the day that I received it and have not charged it since, which is 6 days so far. Of course, if I was doing more transmitting, it would certainly require more charging.Speaking of charging, I did experience one problem and that was with the charging base that shipped with the radio. It was nearly impossible to insert the battery into the charger. It required excessive force to both insert and remove the battery. I contacted the seller, Baofeng Tech, and they sent me a new charging base and wall wart. The new base is much better and the radio easily slides in and out of the base. I was impressed with the level of service from BT and that is why I did not hesitate to give this product a five star review.There are resources on the Internet that provide info on using the UV5R as a blind person. I was able to apply much of that information, along with some excellent YouTube reviews, to get up to speed with the UV82HP very quickly. I did send a note to BT, asking them to consider two additional accessibility enhancements. The first would be to have the voice announce either A or B when switching between the two VFO displays. The second would be to program one of the buttons to speak the frequency or the individual letters of an assigned channel name. I do not believe that this would be very difficult to accomplish and would make a huge difference for a visually impaired user.As a screen reader user, I decided to purchase the RT Systems programming software and cable. I was able to quickly learn the software and program in my desired frequencies. It is necessary to use the software with the NVDA screen reader, as it does not work with Jaws—I tried it. Be aware that there are sections of the software that are not accessible using NVDA, but the sections most important to getting the radio programmed are accessible.I always treat my electronic items with care. I feel that this radio will last me a long time, if I treat it well. After my brief experience with this Baofeng product, I would not hesitate to purchase another of their higher-end radios.