Two new toys - cheap but good

These are my two new toys. The Baofeng UV-200 arrived from China about two months ago and I've enjoyed it so much I decided to get the new UV-3R which is an upgrade of sorts, the main update being a dual display. Both these radios are two watt dualband handhelds. They cost around 50 euro apiece - including postage! - and take about a week to come from China.

I bought a longer dualband whip about 30cm long also which increases the gain massively. With just two watts these are great little performers. With the longer whip I was able to open EI2KPR Kippure Repeater in Dublin from the centre of Dundalk, a distance of approximately 95 kilometres! OK, I was on the top of the little hill in Ice House park, but it was impressive. I can open the Dundalk 70cm repeater EI7LHR from my home in Drogheda even with the shorter antenna.

These radios can also be used to listen to the commercial FM band. But if you leave the radio on a frequency, say 145.400, and then turn on the radio and listen to, for example RTE1, if someone comes up on 145.400 the radio automatically switches over to two metres so you can have a chat. Very nice.

They also come with a little blue LED light which is handy but runs down the battery much quicker.

They are both very easy to program and it took me just a few minutes the other day to program in 12 memories on the UV-3R which would include 70cm and 2m simplex and repeater frequencies.

The Baofeng UV-200 with the LED light on

They are small too, at just 9cm tall. The standard dualband antenna is a further 12cm. They easily fit into the palm of your hand or your pocket. The Baofeng covers 136-173 Mhz on VHF and 400-469 on UHF which includes the licence-free 446 walkie talkie frequencies. The receive is excellent. There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing these radios receiving the International Space Station. The TX range with the longer whip is very good too, although handheld-to-handheld with the standard antenna covers about a mile before degrading, depending on terrain.

These are probably the best handhelds I have owned - and I have owned only a few. They are smaller, lighter and cheaper than my previous handheld transceivers and the addition of the commercial FM band plus the little light makes them that bit more useful.

For the more adventurous ham among you the UV-3R is available in a range of colours to suit your tastes! As well as black, they come in blue, red, yellow and camouflage. I'm not why a licenced amateur would want to be clambering around in the woods for, and I'm puzzled about the military colouring, but everyone's different! Below is a photo showing the different colours available. You can buy the UV-3R and accessories at www.490shop.com

Here are the specifications in brief:

VHF/ UHF  DUAL-BAND TWO WAY RADIO

• Frequency Range: 136-174 / 400-470MHz
• Dual-Band Display, Dual Freq. Display, Dual-Standby
• Output Power: 2 Watts
• 99 Channels + 1 Emergency Channel
• 50 CTCSS and 104 CDCSS
• Built-in VOX Function
• 1750Hz Brust Tone
• FM Radio (87.0MHz-108.0MHz)
• LED Flashlight
• Large LCD Display
• Hight /Low Power Switchable
• 25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable
• Emergency Alert
• Low Battery Alert
• Battery Saver
• Time-out Timer
• Keypad Lock
• Monitor Channel
• Channel Step: 5/6.25/12.5/25KHz