For Amateur Radio enthusiasts worldwide, the cheap Chinese handheld radios produced by Baofeng and other brands have been a welcome addition to their Ham Radio kit.

With the low cost there are compromises. Not having the cleanest spectral output, this has caught the attention of regulators in Germany and Poland. In Germany this has resulted in the announcement of a sales prohibition (PDF in German) which seems likely to be repeated across the rest of the EU.

The quality of the Baofeng radios do not reflects their conformity documents, which comes as no surprise. It is interesting that the documents highlighted the Baofeng UV-5R specifically.

Read the full article on Hackaday

Also a comprehensive chapter in the ‘Everyday Carry Preparedness’ book, chapter 14 ‘Communications’.