Baofeng Speaker Mic Modification

Whilst I love this little accessory and can see the benefits of owning one straight away, I can't forgive the fact that the tiny microphone hole on the front is way off center with the actual Mic underneath.

I'm convinced that this little misaligned hole could be causing the poor audio I experienced when testing. As this piece of kit only cost £3 I wasn't that bothered about tearing it up a bit.  I decided to do something about it.

So here's what I did.....

1) I took the three screws off the back with a small ended Philips screwdriver.

2) I then took the two screws off the small PCB with the components on.

3) Carefully I lifed both the circuit board and cable out of the way and gently prized the Speaker out with a thin flat blade screwdriver. Emphasis on the gently here.

4) once the front section is removed I carefully made the hole larger with the screwdriver until I could get a larger Philips screwdriver in and repeated the process. Eventually I could push it right through.

5) A small circle of Speaker grill was cut from an old Bluetooth unit I had lying around. As I didn't like the look of the big hole I just made I thought that filling it with something may help with keeping any water out and improve its looks.. The metal mesh was carefully trimmed to size until it could fit snuggly in the round hole area on the inside moulding.

6) Hot glued everything in place and reassembled! Job done!

Everything seems to be much better now and I don't think it looks too bad

Baofeng Speaker Mic Review

Can this £3 Speaker Mic do the business?

Landing on my doorstep today is my much awaited after market Speaker Mic to accompany my Baofeng UV-5R radio.  Costing only £3.30 and including free shipping I'm amazed at how cheap this was.
Coming direct from Shenzen in China this item has taken roughly two weeks to arrive.  It was well packaged and arrived in perfect condition.

I'm going to be brief with this review just because there really isn't that much to talk about.

Vendor: Amazon UK
Price: £3.30 + free shipping
Description: Baofeng Speaker Mic with transmit LED light and multi position clip.

Good Points:
Positive PTT button click
Good length of cable
Nice transmit light
Ear piece/Headphone jack plug
Great multi function clip


Bad Points:
Really tight fit when connecting to radio
Speaker quality is less than startling
Mine has something rattling around inside?!



Rating:  ✅✅✅✅4 out of 5
Really for £3 what was I expecting? Its cheap both in price and build quality but it works. it does exactly what I wanted it to do. The speaker is tinny and the mic hole is too small and offset from where it should. I think that's whats causing the lack of volume and clarity when transmitting? Anyway, that said it's still a good and serviceable accessory. The multi position clip is fantastic.
Worth £3

Melting Baofeng Charger

Good Grief!

After charging one of my UV-5R batteries I noticed this! 😨

Look at the state of that!

There's a hole on this side! 

Notice the small but alarming melt marks on either side of the dock?!
The charger also gave off a strange chemical smell?!
Something must have gotten hot!
I have not had the time to investigate and track down the rogue component yet but for now it's DOA

When I complained to the Amazon seller they were quick to respond and were very helpful. They promised to send out another within the next 7 days so a big thumbs up there.

After searching online for other instances of melting it appears that it is not a known fault with these chargers which is reassuring. I'd hate to think that this could happen again and perhaps catch fire? Who knows?


I shall be keeping an eye on the new one when it arrives!

Masterdarts Vincent Van Der Voort 26g Review

Discontinued bargain hits the high numbers

Despite ignoring these Darts in the clearance section of Darts Corner for months, I decided to pull the trigger and buy some before they finally sold out.

Vendor: Darts Corner

Price: £15 reduced from £30

Description: Vincent Van Der Voort 26g Darts, 90% Tungsten barrels

What's in the Box?: Darts, medium nylon stems and VVDV standard flights

A leap into the dark

Buying these Darts was indeed a trip into the unknown on two counts. The first being that these would be the first Master Darts I had owned and I wasn't sure of their quality and secondly the difference in weight in comparison to what I usually throw. (21g/22g/23g) these were 26g and at first I had visions of me struggling to even get them to the board! lol

First Impressions
Firstly I noticed the packaging was different to the photo posted in the DC product listing. I'm presuming the one I have is a slightly newer design although I'm only guessing. Another feature on the packaging was the phrase "The World's Fastest Player" which although not a deal breaker, calls into question the claim and the disregard of the famous Richie Gardner from yesteryear. (I always thought he was a fast player?) lol

 These were available in 22/24 and 26g variations

Secondly my eyes were drawn to the actual Barrels, the meat, the thing I spent the money on. They look stunning. The engraving is great and the feel and grip is really good. The grip bytheway is around 3 I would say. Not too grippy and not too slippy.
Along with the Darts of course is the standard ensemble of cheap stem and flight combo in a cheap storage case. I would have quite happily bought them 'Barrels only' if that was the case so I consider these extras to be a bonus.
The stems are medium length in the style of the Unicorn gripper with reasonable grip of the flight. Nothing to shout about.
The Vincent signature flights are light weight and perform OK.

First throw
It hasn't taken long to get used to the weight difference. They fly well and seem stable during flight when using my regular short setup. (This could be down to the extra weight) 
The Darts sit nice in the hand and throwing is confident and comfortable. Not bad at all

Conclusion
These are a nice Dart for £15. You could do a lot worse . sadly though they are only available in 26g - that said I wouldn't let that put you off if you fancy a punt at a decent Dart. They feel comfortable and composed. The 3g weight increase has not made a difference to my game. Recommended to the masses

Rating:  ✅✅✅✅ 4 out of 5

High quality, nicely finished and at £15 a absolute bargain. A potential collector's set.

Lightway 5W Cree™ LED Trekking Torch Review

Another quality Torch from Aldi?

Having purchased some great torches from Aldi over the years I was happy to shell out for this specimen. Available in a choice of two colours and featuring a clip holder, these seem a sensible buy.

Vendor: Aldi

Price: £6.99 

Description: 5W Cree™ LED Torch

What's in the Box?: Torch, 2 X AA batteries and instruction manual

Features:

. Beam length: 130m

. 2 power mode operation: 50%/100%

.Waterproof and shock resistant 

. Aluminium body

Once the suicide blister pack was opened the first thing I noticed was the feel of quality. The Aluminium barrel of the Torch is well machined and finished perfectly. The focus lens section is easy to operate and doesn't loosely move about like some of the cheaper makes. 

Testing:

The beam on full power is bright and spreads well although this Torch is not as bright as my other Cree 5W Aldi special.  This may be because this unit takes 2 batteries rather than 3? I'm not sure if this Torch is 5W, it's more like 3W but I could be wrong. My other Aldi torch has a level 2 eye warning sticker plastered on the front while this item does not.  If the ultimate bright torch is what you require then better look elsewhere. This Torch does have many good points, far outweighing any brightness concerns.

For a start, this Torch claims to be waterproof and shockproof. It certainly feels rugged and there are rubber gaskets around the areas where water could get in. The pocket clip is a handy feature in my opinion. It's easy to clip it onto your trousers or shirt. The rear push on/off button is well made and water tight. It works every time with a reassuring click. 

Overall after using this Torch for work, it seems really good. It's tough enough for everything I might throw at it. 

One last niggle. The nylon pouch....it's crap.

The Torch is too big for it. Nevermind, it's not a big deal.

Rating: ✅✅✅✅  4 out of 5

A very good torch for seven quid. Whether it throws out 5W or not is anyone's guess but It  very well made and ideal for trekking as well as general work environments. Although I have not tested the manufacturer claims on durability, it looks like it could take a good beating. 

Worth a punt

Baofeng UV-5RE FM Transceiver Review

Fantastic Comms at a bargain price!

 Looks like a child's toy but packs a heavy punch! 

No this handset is not strictly a Walkie-Talkie as such but a powerful dual band amateur ham radio.....which is also capable of operating on the UK PMR446 channels. (The standard Walkie-Talkie frequencies) which is why an awful amount of people went out and snapped these up. The amazing price of these things makes them almost disposable. This Allows those with a passing casual interest the opportunity to buy affordable rather than be put off by the price of much more expensive rivals. This particular model is not the cheapest, indeed other UV-5R models can be bought for just under £20. 

So let's have a look at what's on offer...

Baofeng UV-5R Radio Test - Winter Hill #1

First Altitude test for the new Baofeng

Quite recently I purchased the much praised Baofeng UV-5RE dual band FM Transceiver. Boasting power ratings of 1W (low) and 4W (high) this radio has the potential for boosting my PMR coverage. Not only that, they only cost £20 approx to buy. (A full review will be posted in the very near future).

So armed with my new radio and an after market 773 antenna I headed for the hills.  I must admit, I should have checked the weather forecast first as not long after I found my spot it started to rain. After only five minutes the whole of the main Winter Hill Transmission tower was gone from sight. Signals on the Baofeng were reduced but I still managed to get some good results.

Now you see me...

Now you don't!