
Be Vewy Vewy Quiet, We’re Hunting Baofengs - adulau
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/03/be-vewy-vewy-quiet-were-hunting-baofengs/
======
kawfey
The headline lead me to believe they were finding _people_ with Baofeng
amateur radios, so as to prosecute them...

Indeed, there are repeaters out there who's owners have "banned" Baofeng
operators[0] since they believe the radios aren't legal (due to high spurious
emissions[1]) underamplified microphones, poor output audio levels, and
clicking noises, and that their low cost is undermining "real" ham radios.
They can be uniquely detected through fingerprinting [2] (typically by looking
at it's carrier frequency drift during the first few seconds of keydown).

No, this is just using a Baofeng transmitting the output from an mp3 recorder
using an Arduino-powered relay to key the radio. This is also known as
foxhunting[3], and it's a lot of fun!

[0]
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Baofeng/comments/5aitr0/oregons_lar...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Baofeng/comments/5aitr0/oregons_largest_repeater_network_just_banned/)

[1] [https://hackaday.com/2018/09/25/buy-a-baofeng-while-you-
stil...](https://hackaday.com/2018/09/25/buy-a-baofeng-while-you-still-can-
fcc-scowls-at-unauthorized-frequency-transmitters/)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_fingerprinting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_fingerprinting)

[3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_direction_findin...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_direction_finding)

~~~
setquk
The attitude towards Baofeng handsets annoys me somewhat. I've had both of
mine on an SA and they were absolutely fine.

What tends to happen I reckon is that the end user runs it into a cheap
antenna or mismatch and nukes the LPF, something which can happen to a $500
Yaesu HT if you're an idiot.

But the gatekeeping is strong in amateur radio. Annoyingly so.

~~~
yardie
And I get it. You've spent decades and $1000s acquiring HAM equipment,
learning the craft, just so you can DX some guy in Kazahkstan. Then some
amateur with a $80 handheld and a bit of antenna wire manages to pull off the
same thing. Without the years of experience and hundreds of dollars of
equipment.

~~~
sizzzzlerz
Not with a Baofeng. Long distance DX is typically done with HF gear at lower
frequencies. Baofeng is a 2-meter VHF radio where communications is basically
line-of-sight.

~~~
iamatworknow
You're right in the context of Baofeng HTs, but people get equally furious
about some Chinese HF radios as well, like the Xiegu X5105 or Recent RS-918
(though the argument with that one is that it ripped off the open design of
the mcHF, but the fact that it's an all mode, all band QRP HF transceiver with
better features than the likes of a Yaesu FT-818 costing hundreds of dollars
more probably factors in as well).

~~~
baybal2
Very true, HF radios are nothing magical. Very common parts can make you as
good HF radio as physically possible.

$10k iComs are mostly unicorn poo, with exception of somewhat useful DSP
filtering, for which the real cutting edge research in radio tech is said to
be used.

~~~
setquk
So true. One of the first things I did was build a direct conversion receiver
with decent audio filtering. It had 45 mostly discrete components and sounded
as good as a top end Yaesu. Similar to this one:
[https://aa7ee.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/using-the-nm0s-hi-
per...](https://aa7ee.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/using-the-nm0s-hi-per-mite-
filter-from-4sqrp-to-make-a-simple-40m-dc-cw-rx/)

------
nimbius
anecdotal evidence, but I once bought a Baofeng F8hp as a cheap 2 meter for a
trip to catalina island. The flashlight LED on it died on the ferry over, and
the radio itself eventually barely received even local NOAA, let alone the
2m/440 relay at the islands airport. At no time could i hit any repeater.

the sights and sounds were incredible, but it was the last time I went cheap.

~~~
lb1lf
Anecdotal evidence suggest the most affordable indestructible handheld is the
Yaesu FT-60.

Sure, it retails at $150 or so - a handful of Baofengs - but the upside is
you’ll only ever need one...

~~~
i_am_proteus
Plus, it has wideband receive coverage for whenever you want to monitor
airband or marine VHF. Similar marks for the FT-70, which often costs about
the same as the -60.

Same price as four Baofengs; will last longer _than four Baofengs._

~~~
crooked-v
It sounds like a pretty straightforward Sam Vimes Theory sort of situation.

------
driverdan
What are the legalities of a fully automated setup like this? I thought
automated transmitting was illegal on ham bands.

~~~
sciurus
Beacons are explicitly allowed. You can find the regulations covering them at
[https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/97.203](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/97.203)

Relatedly, automatic control is defined at
[https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/97.3](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/97.3)
and covers other devices as well like repeaters.

------
antihero
Baofengs do seem to die quite quickly if they are TXing constantly, at least
they do in the desert.

~~~
jes5199
burning man? (that's the only place I've used mine)

