Video Analysis: Police Interview Gone Bad

This video shows the importance of never being complacent and never relying on someone else when it comes to your safety. A suspect is in a police interrogation room and ends up committing suicide with a full size .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol. He could have easily shot the police officer but didn't. After shooting himself you will hear one of the officer's stating that no one shook him. This means that they wrongly assumed that someone else searched the suspect for weapons.

This video is not meant to be critical of the officer but to show that one can never make faulty assumptions.

Stay safe.

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TC
(C) 2013

Baofeng Radios: My Observations

Lately there has been a lot of attention on the low cost Chinese Baofeng radios. It is time for me to put my opinion out there for those who care. First, I own three Baofeng radios so my opinions are based on real life experience with this product.  I own the UV-5R+, UV-5B, and UV-B6.  Amazon.com has hundreds of reviews on Baofeng radios and many are 5 star reviews. Unfortunately, many of these positive reviews are based solely on the price of the radio and not the quality of the radio. Meaning that for $30-$40 you are getting a good deal. There is a significant difference between getting a good deal verse having a radio that truly is worth 5 stars. While a 5 star rating can mean different things to different reviewers the radio should be based on the merits of the radio before being rated as a great buy. No doubt that all the Baofeng radios are a great price but price alone doesn't make it a great radio. Don't get me wrong this radio is not bad but it is not worth 5 stars. Price is but one factor of the radio that should not trump all other factors.

Before getting into the deficiencies of the Baofeng radios it is important to address your reasoning for purchasing this brand. For me, I use ham radios for emergency situations when other forms of communications such as cell phone service can easily fail during a crisis such as 9/11 or the Boston Marathon bombing. I need a radio that is highly dependable and will perform flawlessly within the capabilities of the radio. Now, if you are using the radio for entertainment purposes or as a hobby then your requirements may not be as stringent and this is completely understandable. So, I do realize that people purchase products with different expectations and for different reasons. I need the radio to work in the “worst case scenario” so my expectations are very high as they should be in this situation.

Issues with Baofeng:

Many of the Baofeng radios have potential to be great radios but there are just too many quality control issues that plague this brand.  All three of the Baofeng radios I own have some sort of issue that really detracts from the quality of the radio. Essentially, you may end up with a good radio or a bad radio. It can be a crap shoot. Problems include an LED light that flickers and is not consistent, the number "8" button sometimes works and sometimes does not, and the charger that came with my radio does not work properly. The volume cannot be turned down all the way. Even when turned to the lowest setting you can still hear the radio. Programming this radio is an absolute nightmare. Yes, you can do it but there are a lot of steps involved which increases your chances of making an error. The "user manual" is beyond pathetic. Some of the translations from Chinese to English barely make sense. Baofeng even states, "The new English, German, French instruction, more convenient and more humanized" is quite a joke. There is nothing "humanized" about the instructions or the radio. Yes, there is a ton of information available on the Internet and YouTube but this is by necessity. To program this radio I highly recommend a quality cable and a software program called Chirp located at: http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home . Go to the Miklor website for good information on this radio located at http://www.miklor.com/

For a good programming cable I highly recommend is the Kenwood2-Pin USB Radio Programming Cable FTDI Chipset KPG-22, Also works with Baofeng,FDC, Linton, Puxing, Surecom, Weierwei, Wouxun, and Quansheng. This cable is FTDI and will work without problems as opposed to all the counterfeit cables on the market that will just frustrate you.

Other issues with the Baofeng include:

- User manual is useless and not at all helpful.  The user manual is a poor translation from Chinese to English. Some of the translations do not make sense.

- Scans very slow

- The included earpiece is does not work well

- 4 watts of power as opposed to 5 watts

- The radio does not automatically know the offset so you end up having to enter both transmit and receive frequencies. With radios such as Yaesu you do not have to do this making programming much simpler and error free.

- The channel display tags can be difficult to read

- The volume cannot be turned down all the way even when turned to the lowest setting

Overall Assessment:

The main purpose of this radio should be as a backup radio to your primary radio. Unless Baofeng makes some changes I would never recommend this as a primary radio. If you claim this to be a 5 star radio based on the low price and because it works you are leaving out a lot of details. For example, at $150 no one would rate this as a 5 star radio. The same holds as a radio for under $40. If you decide to go with this radio be very patient with the programming until you get it down. Once you get used to the steps it is not too bad but there are a lot of steps and a lot of room for error.

If you are trying to decide between the UV-B5, UV-B6 and the UV-5R Plus I recommend the UV-B5. I can live without the flashlight and prefer to have the ability to switch frequencies with the knob. It does not respond as well as I would like but it is better than using the up and down buttons.

If Baofeng were to fix the following three issues this radio would easily be a 5 star radio:

1. Eliminate quality control issues as there is too much variance from radio to radio

2. Make programming easier so that both transmit and receive (offset) frequencies do not have to be entered

3. Create a useable user manual for all Baofeng radios

I would only recommend Baofeng as a backup to another radio. Keep in mind that a low price is not a substitute for quality. If you want a quality radio you will pay more money but you will end up with a significantly better product.

Side Note:

I compared performance of the Baofeng UV-B5, UV-B6 and UV-5R Plus with a YaesuFT-60R DualBand Handheld 5W VHF/UHF Amateur Radio Transceiver - Dual Band. The Yaesu significantly outperformed all of the Baofeng models. It was able to receive signals from a further distance and the sound clarity was much better. Yes, the Yaesu costs three to four times as much as the Baofeng models but it is a significantly better radio. The Yaesu is a basic model that doesn't have all of the same features as the Baofeng's such as FM radio or a flashlight. The UV-5R Plus is a 4 watt radio while the UV-B5 and UV-B6 are 5 watt radios. I suspect that they may not be putting out the amount of watts that they claim which has been verified by Baofeng users although I personally have not tested this out for myself. Again, as a backup radio the Baofeng's will be fine but I would not recommend them as a primary radio. If you are a new ham radio operator looking for a high quality, low cost radio I recommend the Yaesu FT-60. Be aware that low cost for the Yaesu is about $149.00 but you are getting a quality radio.

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//TC

© 2013