yophotoman's diy projects

I have purchased several of their radios as a new Amateur Radio Operator (Ham). While they are sold through Amazon, they are actually warehoused and shipped by Btech in Arlington, South Dakota, USA. While their radios are technically Chinese Boafeng, they are factory branded Btech, who also customizes the radio's firmware so they're a bit more than 'just a baofeng.' In addition, Btech warranties their radios and reportedly stands squarely behind their warranty, though I've not personally had to test this. They're warranty is essentially replace failing radios.

These are the radios most new Hams will purchase because they're cheap ($30-$90) and pretty reliable, if somwhat limited. They allow a new licensee to get on the air easily IF he's close to a radio club's repeater. (another whole topic) There are also several models available from the 4 watt, to an 8 watt HT to a 30 watt amplifier.

The Good Part: Easily Available for a low price - Most models are for sale on Amazon. It's receiver sensitivity is only mediocre and selectivity not great either but it is not likely you will be using it in crowded conditions. If you're in a very VHF congested area, an HT from one of the "Big 3" is a better choice - at a far higher cost. It's also smaller than it looks, fits in the palm of your hand. Can be pocketed to go anywhere, even fold up antennas are available. You won't believe how many accessories are available for this radio! There are larger batteries, USB chargers, ear/micorphone pieces (aka police radios). Big bang for the buck!

The Awkward Part: Channel Programming - It is programmed with an open source, cross platform software called CHIRP. The interface resembles a spreadsheet in Exel. It is fairly sophisticated in that it can access an online page of repeaters in your area and automatically populate the repeater list for you. Of course you will want to review this process carefully to edit and update. There will probably be repeaters too far away for you to reach with only 4 watts of power from your Btech ... unless you bought it's companion amplifier.

Btech sells power amplifiers that are specifically designed to let the Btech HT control it. The amplifier offers a bump up to nearly 30 watts as well as a larger speaker and more powerful audio amplifier. The combination is truly a decent 25 watt VHF station. Of course, you will want an external antenna, prefererably mounted on your house roof or on a pole to use this amplifier. Eventually I retired the single band amplifer and bought the 50 watt Btech dual band transceiver below.

Btech also sells higher powered transceivers suitable for house (base) and mobile use.

Pictured left is Btech's 25 watt mobile rig. Pictured right is their 50 watt base rig. I have them both. The house rig is mounted under the computer shelf and the mobile rig is mounted on a platic sheet between the front seats of the SUV. I chose these two partly because of my satisfaction with Btech radios and the fact that I could effectively use the same CHIRP file to program each one. Both are enclosed in rugged water resistance cases.