Baofeng/Pofung GT-1 UHF Transceiver
Price: £11.50 free shipping
Designed By: Sainsonic
Manufacturer: Pofung A.K.A. Baofeng
Model: GT-1 (based on 888s)
Band: single band UHF
Power: 5W (2W more likely)
Run By: 3.7V 1500mAh rechargeable battery
Vendor: Seller via ebay
Shipped From: UK
Notable Features: 16 Channel, FM radio, flashlight, monitor button, channel scan, voice prompt, battery save
On the outside this package looks fun and colourful.
Big bold fonts and colours along with a hipster "color me RADio" tagline adorn the front. None of the plain brown cardboard you normally get.
As far as radio box's goes this is one of the most eye-catching designs I have seen.
I'm not sure which age group they are trying to target though.?
Thankfully there is very little in the way of bullshit written on the box unlike the majority of baofengs. No real over inflated claims or features that don't exist.
The usual Baofeng bundled bits in the pack
Inside the flashy box are the usual accessories that are bundled with most Baofeng radios. The Charging dock, lanyard, belt clip, crappy ear piece etc etc. Nothing new to report.
Full frontal shot
First Impressions
So here we have it....a Baofeng 888s radio in new fancy clothes - the Sainsonic GT-1.
Its hard to look on ebay for radios without coming across the very popular Baofeng 888s single banders. They are absolutely everywhere! and dirt cheap.....£10 each or something? Now that's what I call value.
I perhaps should have bought one a while ago but I never bothered. The reason is that these style of radios don't have a display screen. I like having a screen so I can see what's happening and maybe input some stuff. So when it comes to choosing a radio then an LCD display is quite important to me however, after some glowing recommendations from friends I thought I would pay my money and take my chance.
The Pofung/Baofeng/Sainsonic GT-1 is available in three colours, green, orange and yellow.
This orange version was on ebay where I managed to buy it for £11.50 including the postage.
Research suggests that this model normally sells for around £12.00 from UK sellers which seems a good price for a 4-5W radio. In comparison to an similar featured Intek branded radio the GT-1 is vastly cheaper!
The package arrived in good time and without any mishaps.
First thing I noticed was the rather trendy outer retail box. Gone are the drab generic plain cardboard boxes offered up by Baofeng. It looks like Sainsonic have redesigned more than just the radio.
I took the radio from the box and took a closer look....
The battery looks like a standard 888s unit. (3.7V in power and around 1500mAh effective capacity.)
This is half the power of the UV-5R and UV-82 batteries and a slightly lower capacity too. I hoping that the lack of an LCD screen on this radio may offset the lower power capacity of the battery. - it may last longer than a few hours before charging I hope.
Much like other Baofeng radios, the GT-1 has a metal chassis to which everything is attached to. I'm not sure if it's made from aluminium or die cast but it feels solid.
The top of the radio features the power/volume knob together with a channel selection knob. - vital if you don't have a screen.
The selection knob operates quite nicely switching between the 16 channels with a positive and firm action. It's unlikely to get accidentally switched whilst on the belt or in the pocket.
The little LED Flashlight is the next feature to be found on the top. Just like other Baofengs it is activated by clicking on of the side function buttons. It's bright and works as expected.
Lastly on top is the Antenna connection. Male SMA as usual.
The left side of the radio features the PTT button and the usual secondary function buttons. (Assigned to FM radio, ,monitor, Flashlight or alarm) The buttons feels a little cheap to the touch. It's quite easy to to hit the PTT by mistake and TX when you don't want to.
On the right hand side of the radio sitting behind an orange flap is the comms port. This is the standard Motorola type incorporating speaker and mic jacks. As well as plugging in a set of earphones this port is used to program the radio of course.
The last part of the radio to look at is the Antenna.
As a comparison the photo above shows the GT-1 antenna on the left and the UV-5R stock antenna (A-85) on the right.
The 888s/GT-1 antenna is around 2cm shorter and only covers the UHF band unlike the A-85 which is dual band capable.
I have heard some bad things about the gt-1 antenna so I get the feeling that it will find itself in the bin before too long.
Overall I think it's a nice little radio package for the money.
I don't think it would be a radio I would use everyday but it would certainly be good as a back up pocket radio
Testing
So far I have tested short and long range communication (up to 20 miles) and I'm impressed.
The stock antenna is the weak link in this radio. It's awful.
Below is a video demonstrating the recieving quality of this radio with a repeater station just around 20 miles away from home. Despite the crap antenna the audio quality is good.
20 mile recieve - Indoors
20 Miles recieve - Hiltop
One unfortunate feature of this radio is its front end. The radio can become overloaded or go totally deaf at the drop of a hat. This is quite normal for the cheap Chinese baofengs though - nothing new there.
The GT-1 was able to open a repeater some 20 miles away when tested outdoors at altitude.
* The GT-1 antenna did indeed turn out to be mostly crap. Switching it with the A-V85 was like switching the light on. More stations could be found when scanning the channels and commercial FM radio was clearer with less static.
Switching the stock antenna again with the Sainsonic 641 was a huge improvement when I took the radio out in the hills.
The best thing about the GT-1 stock antenna is that it doesn't take up too much room in your bin when you chuck it out!
Definitely replace it...
Good Points:
- Cheap
- Good battery life
- Stylish design
- Small and compact
Bad Points:
- Stock antenna is crap
- PTT button is a little too sensitive
- Listening to FM stations is hit and miss
- Front end is easily overloaded
- Cannot change settings on the fly
- Has to be programmed via a PC + cable
Rating: ✅✅✅✅
A fantastically priced back up Walkie-Talkie is how I would describe the GT-1. A definite boost to the PMR446 scene.
Cheap enough to buy, cheap enough to replace.