Radios

Baofeng F8HP · Volume 4

Baofeng F8HP — Vol 4: Reference

8-watt 2m/70cm handheld — high-output Baofeng

4.1 Tips and tricks

A handful of non-obvious operational notes that come up over the F8HP’s life:

4.1.1 If CHIRP shows max 5 W, your CHIRP is too old

The F8HP-specific 8 W power-mapping requires CHIRP to know the model. Older CHIRP versions (pre-2018, when the F8HP driver was added) read the F8HP as a generic UV-5R and clamp the max power level to 5 W. The symptom: you set a channel to “High” power expecting 8 W, the radio outputs 5 W. Fix: update CHIRP to a 2018-or-later daily-build. The radio’s hardware is unchanged; the CHIRP driver just needs to know the model to expose the right power-level enum.

4.1.2 Disable the DTMF “courtesy tone” at TX end

The factory-default F8HP behaviour transmits a DTMF ”*” or ”#” character at the end of every TX (a vestige of an obsolete autopatch convenience). Most modern repeaters interpret this as a stray DTMF event and either log it (annoying for the repeater operator who has to review logs) or trigger an unintended menu entry. Disable in CHIRP: Settings page → “DTMF Settings” → “PTT-Released Send” or similar (exact field name varies by CHIRP version). On the radio itself, the toggle is in the keypad menu under “DTMFST” — set to “OFF”.

This is the single most-common F8HP courtesy gripe heard at club meetings: “your radio keeps kerchunking the repeater with a DTMF tone at the end.” Disable it before the first net.

4.1.3 VFO-mode scan is sluggish; use memory scan with a narrowed list

Scanning all 128 memory channels takes ~10-15 seconds per pass at the F8HP’s modest ~10-channel/second scan rate; VFO-mode scanning is slower still (~3 channels/second). Prune the memory list with the “Skip” flag in CHIRP — a 15-channel scan list refreshes every 1.5 seconds, fast enough to catch most transmissions. For serious monitoring (>15 channels, or any digital trunked system), the F8HP is the wrong tool — use a Uniden SDS100 (Vol 13).

4.1.4 USB-PD pigtail for faster field charging

The drop-in cradle takes ~4 hours to charge a BL-8 from empty (current-limited 500 mA — cradle regulator, not battery). A USB-PD-to-12V-DC pigtail ($15 from Amazon, 5.5 × 2.1 mm barrel matching the cradle’s input) runs the cradle off any USB-C 20W+ power bank — vehicle charging without an inverter, hotel-room charging from a laptop charger. The charge rate doesn’t speed up; the input flexibility expands. For genuinely faster charging, a third-party CC/CV smart charger ($35) replaces the cradle entirely and does ~1 hour from empty.

4.1.5 The service menu — break glass only

MENU + power-on, then keypad 350 enters the F8HP service menu — factory per-band reference-oscillator calibration, TX power calibration, squelch threshold. Do not enter unless you know what you’re doing. A wrong keypress can clear the calibration tables, leaving the radio off-frequency by tens of kHz and 30-50% off-spec on power. Recovery requires either a calibration backup (which most operators don’t have) or a known-good reference unit. The miklor.com page documents the menu; BaofengTech does not.

4.1.6 TX outside ham bands — don’t

The F8HP hardware TXes 136-174 MHz and 400-520 MHz — far beyond the amateur 2 m / 70 cm allocations, into MURS, GMRS, FRS, marine VHF, and Part 90 land-mobile. The F8HP is not Part 95 (GMRS/FRS/MURS) or Part 90 (LMR) type-accepted. Even with the right license, the radio itself isn’t certified for those services — use a Midland MXT-500 or other Part-95-certified radio for GMRS. Full type-acceptance discussion: Vol 4 (Frequency Planning & License Envelope). The short version: TX only on amateur 2 m and 70 cm with this radio.

4.2 Resources

4.2.1 Local references

  • Manuals (PDF): ../manuals/baofeng-f8hp/ — F8HP_Manual.pdf and any vendor-supplied addenda. Verify file presence; TBD against the manuals directory.
  • Codeplugs: ../../programs/baofeng-f8hp/codeplugs/ — see §5 for the layout convention.
  • Project-level decision graph: Vol 1 §3 ↗.

4.2.2 Cross-cutting volumes in this series

4.2.3 Cross-project (Hack Tools / Antennas) references

4.2.4 Vendor and community

  • BaofengTech product page (US distributor): https://baofengtech.com — official spec sheet, drivers, firmware notes (when published; BaofengTech updates infrequently).
  • CHIRP project: https://chirpmyradio.com — download, install instructions per OS, and the Baofeng driver maintainer’s notes.
  • CHIRP Baofeng wiki entry: https://chirpmyradio.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Baofeng_UV-5R — the wiki page covers UV-5R, BF-F8, BF-F8+, and BF-F8HP collectively; the F8HP-specific notes are in the latter sections.
  • Miklor BF-F8HP / UV-5R community reference: https://www.miklor.com/uv5r/UV5R-PowerOutput.php — Mike Brown KK4UB’s long-running community reference, including the F8HP power-output measurements, service-menu documentation, and firmware-version-to-behaviour mapping. The most operationally-useful third-party reference for any UV-5R-family radio.
  • RadioReference (frequency database): https://www.radioreference.com — local repeater coordinates, talkgroup lists for adjacent digital systems, CSV exports compatible with CHIRP.
  • ARRL Repeater Directory: https://www.arrl.org/repeater-directory — the printed annual is still the most reliable single-volume reference for US repeater listings.