If you're looking for high power, dual band,
waterproof handheld,
or a radio Part 90 certified for Commercial Service, well... this isn't it. The BF-888S is a very basic
transceiver that gets the job done reasonably well at a
minimal cost.
You'll notice that this transceiver closely resembles the BF-666S and BF-777S,
and that's because it's the same radio in a different shell.
What's in the BOX
Inside the package is a very basic
Manual written in
English. This was accompanied by heavy duty belt clip,
basic 4.5 inch (11cm) UHF antenna, 3.7V 1500mAh battery
and charger.
The antenna is terminated with an SMA Female connector,
which is pretty standard among Baofeng handhelds. The
Li-Ion battery charger is a basic design with an AC
power connector on the back (no Wall-Wart necessary).
The body of the radio is about the same size as the
UV5R, but weighs only 5.3 oz (150g). With the battery,
about 6 oz total.
The top of the radio has the traditional Volume/PowerOn
switch and a 16 channel selector switch.
The left side of the radio has the PTT switch, a monitor
button and the infamous LED flashlight. The right side has the
standard two pin
Kenwood, Wouxun, Baofeng programming cable/speaker-micr connector.
Frequency and Power
The BF-888S is a Single Band, UHF, 400-470MHz, low power radio.
The specs say
<=5W, and that's exactly what 2 watts is. I have
two and on 446.0MHz, one shows 1.9W the other 2.0W. The
factory software only
supports 5kHz steps, however CHIRP allows 2.5kHz steps.
The Receiver
The receiver sensitivity is very good, but the
selectivity is average at best. In a heavily RF
congested area, the lack of filtering would become very
apparent. It does support CTCSS/DCS as well as Channel
Scan which is a good thing.
The Transmitter
Its 2W will get you around locally and the transmit
audio reports are good. Some of these are advertised
having a Scrambler or Beat Shift option, which is more
of a voice frequency inverter than a scrambler. Getting
one with the option, however, is more luck of the draw.
Some of the newer radios have a green sticker on the
upper back side of the radio that says 'Updated' but you
won't know until you open the box.
Software
There is no keypad, so a programming cable is a must. No
software is included with the radio, but it is readily
available and can be downloaded from
Miklor.com.
The OEM software is easy to follow but has its
shortcomings. The good news is that
CHIRP also supports it,
so TX/RX offsets are easily programmed.
So why would you even want one?
When these radios first came out in 2012, they sold for
upwards of $40 (USD). Since then Baofeng has created
much of its own competition, its price has dropped
considerably. They are available on
Amazon for
around $13.
(That's a typo, right? No, not a typo).
Have some Fun You know the drill. Program one on your local repeater
and ask for a report.
Tell the you're using a new K, I, or Y. Don't tell them
it's a $13 radio or they will never speak with you
again.
Bottom Line If you are a ham
and live close to your favorite UHF repeaters, or just
want something for the beach, these are good little
transceivers. If you drop it in the water or get sand in
it, throw it away and get a new one. You definitely
don't want to pay to get it repaired. If you have
spare change in your pocket, you just might want to play with one.
Fancy, High power, Lots of options? Absolutely not.
Simple, Basic, CHIRP compatible, and gets the job done?
Yes.
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.
