BTECH, BaoFeng BL-5 Battery Eliminator for for BF-F8HP, UV-5X3, and UV-5R Radios

I Use the equipment for my radios (uv-5x3 , Bf-f8hp & ft-60) as of right now I have trying for three days to get support from Chirp. Support is needed to make the cable of use. A 2 on value, money and life. The cables work on an old computer so they are OK. I need support from Chirp.

The battery fit my BaoFeng GMRS radio as expected.

As previous reviewers have stated, the top center battery terminal can easily come loose, touch another terminal and short out the pack. *I have not experienced this.* Although I have taken the precaution advised and glued the top center battery terminal in place so that it does not wiggle free. See photos. After this quick fix, it works safely and as expected. With 6x NiMH the battery life is considerably longer (2-3 times) than the 1100 mAhr Li-ion supplied with the Baofeng UV-5R. Another gripe about this product is how loose the snap mechanism is securing clam shell design together. I can pull the two apart pretty easily without hitting the release button. And also... please please please use the included dummy battery when using alkaline (1.5V) AA batteries!! If 6 alkalines are used, the radio will intentionally not work due to the higher total voltage being outside the operating range. Many people have given this product bad reviews because they didnt read.

Works great on my 2012 spec Baofeng UV-5R. Adapter seated fully and locked in place no problem or modification necessary. Ask the electronics appear to be contained in the 12v plug adapter. The battery replacement portion is glued together and I opted to not destroy it for the sake of taking pictures. I will update at a later time with pics if I relocate the wire to the side of the battery adapter so it can ride in a cup holder in the car better. I knocked off one star for the somewhat flimsy construction, and the fact the cable exits the bottom and not the side of the battery adapter. Radio powered up fine, I didnt have a chance to perform tx/rx tests. That being said if youre a light user and mostly monitor I think youll be fine. For high power, more constant use I anticipate that the power transformer would become hot/exceed its duty cycle. Good enough for how cheap it was. I can always repurpose it with another higher current DC-DC adapter for higher power Tx requirements/ higher duty cycle/talk times.

Ive purchased several things from BTech. The latest was a AA Battery Pack. It works like its supposed to. There are a lot of cheap counterfeit Baofeng accessories on E-Bay and other places. Dont go there. Go straight to BTech to get real Baofeng radios and accessories that really work. Lots of cheap programming cables out there that dont work. Get the real ones from BTech.

Bought a cheaper TENQ one and had to return it. It did not provide enough power on transmit and the radio would turn off and back on when key was released.(7.4V or so idle) This is the one by Baofeng and is designed differently. The pcb is in the DC jack portion not the battery adapter portion. It provides 8.5V which is clearly what the radio needs. The batteries and this unit state 7.4V but they all put out about 8.5V. I will be replacing the coiled cord which I really dislike and putting in a long straight cord. I have included a collage of a tear down of this unit which will hopefully be of some use. UPDATE: 2/19/15 The radio began rebooting on tx on 2m. There was a rattling sound from the plug. I opened it to find a large diode loose. It was either very cold solder joints or the part got hot enough to desolder itself from the pcb. I was able to fix it easily but def not worth the orig 4 star review I gave it. If I can find a way to add or update the pics I will add photo of the issue.

No alterations required, slid right on like its supposed to . Dont goet snookered into getting a cheaper replacement, go with the manufacturer item. I learned that the hard way.

It’s a cool product for the compatible radios but one drop from waist height and the thing will break on you. I would definitely use this battery as a back to the original, not the other way around.

Great extra battery life.

It is expensive for what it is, but the product seems legit. It works as described.