What's in the BOX
Included with the radio is an actual in-depth 78 page
English User Manual. Something the traditional UV5R series
owner has never seen included with the radio. The manual
includes graphics and actual programming examples.
Along with the F8HP was the Newer style A-V85,
7.0 inch (17.5cm) flexible antenna, a sturdy belt clip,
and the
7.4V *1800mAh Li-Ion battery and battery charger.
*UPDATE 12/20/14:
Larger stock battery has 30% more capacity
Now uses 3rd Generation Chipset
The antenna is terminated with a standard SMA Female connector, making it
compatible with all prior Baofeng upgrade antennas. As
with many dual band antennas, it is marked 136-174 /
400-520MHz, but on the air tests show its use on the
hams bands is quite respectable.
The Li-Ion battery, charger and accessories are
compatible with the original UV5R series.
Case Design The F8HP has the traditional
case design with the exception of the Band Button,
which is not necessary on the newer models. It's dry
weight (no battery or antenna) is 7g heavier than a
UV-5RC, possibly for a heavier heat
sink design.
The radio supports the high capacity BL-5L 3800mAh
battery with no alteration necessary to the base. This may prove to be a viable
accessory if the radio will be running in the higher power
mode for long periods of time.
The Display
The LCD is the traditional tri-color display with
selectable colors (Blue, Orange, Purple). To support the
Tri Power function, the new LCD shows HML in the upper
left.
Click to Enlarge
The LCD supports Alpha characters but these can only be
entered using software. Upper Case letters A > Z and
numbers 0 > 9 can be shown as well as most special
characters. @ # & ( ) - / etc.
While the
factory softwareallows you to store and display up
to 6 characters,
CHIRP
software allows a max of 7.
New Function added - Battery Level Display
By Pressing and Holding the ZERO key, the radio will now
display the battery voltage on the LCD. No longer
do you need to rely strictly upon the battery level icon
in the upper right.
DTMF
It appears the ongoing Baofeng DTMF issue
has been resolved.
Using the upper row of keypad buttons generates the
proper tones for DTMF A, B, C, D, in the proper order,
through both the speaker and OTA.
2nd Generation Chipset Note: (Since
original review, now uses 3rd Gen Chipset) This is the same chipset that is currently used in the GT-3. The
new chipset (RDA1846S and RDA5802N) provides reduced AGC
switching noise and a low-IF digital audio processor for
improved sound quality.
The Receiver
The receiver sensitivity is very good, but the selectivity is average. In a heavily RF congested area, the lack of filtering
may become apparent. It does support CTCSS/DCS as well as Channel Scan which is a good thing.
The Transmitter
Here's where the rubber meets the road.
The transmitter has three power level settings: Low, Mid, and High.
The power levels
shown below were taken at the same testing session using a recently calibrated
Telewave 44A.
Model
UV
VHF
Low
VHF
Low/Mid
VHF
High
UHF
Low
UHF
Low/Mid
UHF
High
F8HP
1.1
3.9
7.4
1.1
4.5
6.3
F8+
1.3
5.0
1.8
4.8
UV82
2.5
5.2
1.4
3.9
5RC
1.1
3.9
1.2
3.2
Transmit power readings show a
solid 7.4W VHF transmit with 6.3W UHF. That computes to a
2.5 dB gain over a standard 4W transmitter. I purchased
a 3800mAh battery for mine for the extended battery
life.
Frequency
The frequency capability of the F8HP programmed via the keypad
is
130.000 - 176.995 400.000 - 520.995 MHz
The programming steps start at 2.5kHz and goes upward to
50.0kHz.
On the test radio, the UHF range was set at 400-479.995,
but the factory software and CHIRP resolves this with a
click of the mouse.
Software The OEM software is easy to follow, but
CHIRP developers
have the F8HP supported in their Latest Daily Build
which supports the
menu changes.
As always, it is recommended to get a good quality
programming cable so you spend more time talking on the radio
and less time loading special drivers to your PC.
Summary of Upgrades
- Tri-Power 1, 4, 8 watt
- New 2nd Generation chipset
- DTMF keypad issue resolved
- Compatible with all UV5R battery options and
accessories
- Newer style stock antenna
- New 76 page User Guide
- CHIRP compatible
IMHO
The F8HP is a not just a rebranding,
but an actual Upgraded Radio.
The newer style V85 antenna and 76 Manual are a definite
plus.
Beware of Counterfeit Radios Believe it or not, because of their popularity,
there are imitation or fake F8HP radios out there. I
found this article recently. I thought I would share.
Link Here
Note: This equipment was received for the purpose of a
fair and unbiased review. All findings are factual based
on the equipment I received. Any issues found have been
reported both here and back to the seller or
manufacturer.
