BaoFeng UV-82HP Review

BaoFeng UV-82HP Review

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The BaoFeng UV-82HP is an upgraded version of walkie talkie from the previous series. The new BaoFeng UV-82HP ham walkie talkie offers many new features although the traditional case design is preserved for compliance with the existing hardware like chargers and connectors.

The box includes a single radio, high gain antenna with a focused radiowave beam width, a desktop charger, and a 120 volt AC adaptor. Also included is an 80 page manual that offers detailed instructions on every feature of the radio, including it’s programmable functions. An earpiece with remote mic is also included. We were impressed with the performance of the earpiece. A lot of the time you get these extra hardware pieces and the quality on them is not the best, but this earpiece offers surprisingly good performance. The BaoFeng is is covered with 1 year warranty. BaoFeng is the only manufacturer in the USA that will not send your radio back to China for warranty claims.

Performance

The UV-82HP offers a radio transmission range of between 65-108 MHz. The VHF range is in between 136-174 MHz while the UHF range is in between 400-520 MHz. There are 3 power levels including 1 watt, 5 watts and 7 watts to either increase your range on the high powered setting, or to preserve battery life on the lower powered settings. You can lock the VFO/MR frequency mode.

The dual and single push-to-talk button allows you to transmit on two frequencies and channels at the same time. When you press up you can transmit on frequency one, when you press down you can transmit on frequency two. Both frequency one and two can be used to perform scanning on the channels. The dual PTT and single PTT functions can be synchronized together for optimum usage.

While it is not stricly required, the BaoFeng Uv-82HP allows you to connect with many repeaters placed all over the country to increase your reach. For this, you would be required to get an amateur radio licence (HAM).  This is surprisingly easy to get and really powers your walkie talkie into another realm!

Other Features

The radio comes with many extra features such as FM radio, and light strobe. You can listen to the FM radio while monitoring the frequencies at the same time. The walkie talkie will automatically override the FM radio when transmission is received so you don’t miss a thing. Additionally, the built in receiver enables you to monitor 2 channels. The receiver will always connect you to the first station that has an incoming call.

The BaoFeng UV-82HP supports a number of calling methods including CTCSS, DCS, and DTMF. It is compliant with the latest standard of tone calling. The capability to transmit DTMF tones enables you to send ANI commands. There is a number of tone burst options including 1000hz, 1450hz, 1750hz, and 2100hz. It can transmit on both narrowband (12.5 kHz) and wideband (25 kHz)

The UV-82HP offers a 1 watt speaker, which is louder compared to the previous model in the series. The body has also been upgraded to a more solid case to protect against various types of impacts. The buttons are just slightly larger too, to improve the easiness of programming the radio to fit your needs. It is equipped with high quality chipset and PCB board.

It offers 128 memory channels. The memory channels can be programmed in any way you want. The channels can be added or removed with the free software you can download from the BaaFeng website. You can name the channels with alphanumeric names to remember and recognize them easily.

To program the radio, you can either use the keypad on the ham walkie talkie, or you can use your computer. Using the BaoFeng CHIRP software to program the memory channel will give you more pre-coded options. The CHIRP software also enables you to set the VFQ limit.

Another useful feature is the ability to skip scanning the channels. You can use the skip scanning feature to skip any NOAA weather channel that you don’t want to scan. The nuisance channel delete feature lets you skip a channel with high traffic to avoid being bombarded with messages, and only get the really important things instead.

The LCD screen displays the information in three colors. It is equipped with second generation LED light. The VOX function lets you communicate hands-free with your friends. You can adjust the VOX level and VOX delay time.

Conclusion

BaoFeng UV-82HP ham walkie talkie has a higher build quality compared to most other similar radios. It offers a much better build quality than the previous series as advertised. It is relatively low cost but packed with many features. It is lightweight, sturdy and it fits perfectly in your hand. The audio output is clear and loud. It is a great versatile radio for amateur users.

The greatest selling point of the BaoFeng UV-82HP walkie talkie is that it is completely programmable with the computer. This enables users to give it so many functions we wouldn’t even begin to list them all. Overall, the BaoFeng UV-82HP is highly recommended for people who are looking for a versatile and affordable handheld radio.