Baofeng Ham Radio Handheld GT-5TP, 8W Portable with High Capacity Battery, Dual Band High Power Two Way Radio with Dual PTT, Black

I'm a big fan of Baofeng radios, and this model is no exception. The build quality is excellent. It's got a similar "commercial" look and feel to the UV-82 series, the same 1W audio output (many Baofengs only put out 500mW, which warrants cranking the volume—do it on this model indoors and you're in for a surprise!), and has the * / 0 / # keys in the right place.This radio puts out decent power on 'high' and, but 'low' may well be enough and will keep the battery from going flat so quickly. Power requirements depend entirely on one's use case and surroundings. The one thing I found after running tests through an MFJ 894 wattmeter into a dummy load is that the 'medium' setting is more or less useless:High: 6.1W UHF / 8W VHFMedium: 5.9W UHF / 6W VHFLow: 2W UHF / 2W VHFDue to the nature of these super-inexpensive Chinese radios, there's apparently some variability in the output between multiple units of the same model. Unfortunately—for the sake of testing, anyway—I only own one GT5-TP, and those are the readings I have to share.Speaking from experience (as well as reviews: see miklor.com), the stock antenna included with this model exhibits good VSWR characteristics. I don't recommend upgrading the antenna unless you already have something laying around, or unless you plan to stick a magmount on your car and turn the HT into a makeshift mobile. In the latter case, you'll experience a huge improvement due to your car not behaving like a rolling Faraday cage. In that case, the Nagoya UT-72 is a good choice.Let me know if there's a demand for SWR readings and/or video of the actual test results and I'll update this review. Otherwise, take my word that this is a nice little radio for a great price.

I bought the two pack of these and was pleasantly surprised of the quality even the antenna was much better than some of the ones I've purchased previously.The radio is easily programmed with chirp like all the other Boafengs.The clarity of transmit and receive is exceptional,Unlike other radios I have, when I run it in narrowband it doesn't lose its modulation quality or sound in the UHF band.FM is unlike AM modululation, as a deviates the frequency that the IF can direct.I'm a fussy guy and won't except just any old piece of crap that will do the job while having a shoestring budget.I can thank the Chinese for that as these are all offshore industry radios. And once in awhile you just find something from them that you just have to have at that price.This radio is just another variable to the baofeng uv-82.And it doesn't pump out 8 watts like it claims. It falls far below that but what the heck right? It just helps sell the radio and gets it out in the market.I don't always share my tweaks however if you can find the belt clip screw an ad about a 15 inch piece of small gauge wire and attach to it, it will give this radio a lot better performance as it completes the antennas ground plane. As you know all walkie talkies are just a dipole without the other half of the ground which seriously degrades your receive and transmit.It may look a little funky with a 15 inch Tiger Tail hanging from your walkie-talkie but it makes all the difference in the world.

I can always say good things about this radio and the first thing is the power output.VHF low power 1.3 watts medium power 4.1 watts High power 7.4 watts UHF low power 1.4 watts medium power 4 .0 watts High power 5.8/6.3 watts.. I can say the radio is very easy to manually program. The only problem that I have found with the radio so far is the aftermarket antenna. If you're going to add an after-market antenna chances are you're going to need to file away some of the plastic on the base of the antenna. Because need Nagoya antenna is too wide to fit into the radio. And if you shove the antenna in the radio you take a big chance of stripping or breaking your SMA connector. As far as battery life is concerned my first couple of days I use the radio Non-Stop and got all day use with no problem at all. I can say that the receive on the radio is very good excellent..Update on 6/9/18 The Retevis RHD-771 Elite Whip Antenna 15.4" SMA-F Dual Band is a perfect fit on the radio. ....

Very well made Portable Radio and for the Price it is a hard little radio to beat.......the only draw back with any of these type radios is learning how to understand the Menu Functions with there available settings.....and how to program it .....if by using Menu it may take a little getting use to which sometimes can be good for the Operator to learn......if you don,t have time for that then get get software and cable to program it by computerSome neat features with this radio is the duel use of the PTT button, the FM radio,the Flash light and the back lite of the key pad...if anyone wants to match there Harley motorcycle with a look a like Portable this is the one for you......as to the specs. I have not tested them but it works well on local repeaters and simplex with a little mag mount auto antenna......good luck and enjoy

Not bad in terms of features and build quality at this price. But the antenna connection is recessed tightly so it is very difficult to fit a Nagoya NA-771.Battery life is good. Channel scanning is slow. I cannot imagine scanning more than 5-6 channels without missing out on short transmissions.

Called customer support and was told unable to help. Suggested buying a different baeofeng. If there is no support why would anybody buy anything from Baeofeng.. BUYER BEWARE. CANT RECOMMEND