Full disclosure: I was hired by BTECH to write the user guide for these amplifiers.
At the recent Livonia swap, I had for sale a little HT amplifier that I had acquired when I purchased my first handheld from a fellow club member. I never used the amp, but it was supposed to make the HT more useful in situations where more power was needed. Heathkit made a similar amplifier, the HA-201. I haven’t seen a similar product on the market since then.
Now, however, BaoFeng Tech (BTECH) has introduced the AMP-25 Series of amplifiers for the 2m and 70 cm bands. They boost a handheld’s signal of 2W to 6W up to 20W to 40W.
There are four models in the series:
- AMP-V25 operates from 136-174 MHz and can be used for analog FM, P25 Phase 1, C4FM (System Fusion), NXDN, IDAS, dPMR, and MPT1327 modes.
- AMP-V25D operates from 136-174 MHz and can used for all of the modes supported by the AMP-V25 plus DMR and P25 Phase 2.
- AMP-U25 operates from 400-480 MHz and can be used for analog FM, P25 Phase 1, C4FM (System Fusion), NXDN, IDAS, dPMR, and MPT1327 modes.
- AMP-U25D operates from 400-480 MHz and can used for all of the modes supported by the AMP-U25 plus DMR and P25, Phase 2.
The amps come with an RF cable to connect the RF output of an HT to the amp, a control cable to connect the control signals, a power cord, and a microphone, which plug directly into the amp and allows you to not have to hold the HT being used as the signal source.
The amps are designed to work with any BaoFeng or BTECH handheld transceivers, but they will also work with any handheld radio that outputs 2 W – 6 W with the appropriate cable. With the included RF Cable, the amplifier will also work with Wouxun transceivers, some TYT transceivers, and some Kenwood transceivers. If the supplied cables do not connect to your radio, you will need to use adaptors or build cables with the appropriate connectors.
BTECH sent me a demo unit to use when writing the user guide. I connected it to my UV-5R and talked to a few guys on the local repeaters. All of them gave me nice signal reports. I didn’t do any spectral testing, but BTECH says that the amps have harmonic filters on the input that allow them to transmit a clean signal even if the input isn’t as clean as you’d like.
The AMP-V25 and AMP-U25 cost $88. The AMP-V25D and AMP-U25D cost $105. They’re available directly from BTECH.
Cale K4HCK says
At those prices they’re going to find themselves with a nice chunk of the market.
Steve C - KE8HXM says
Since I have a couple of these HTs I am thinking about this as a way to get into mobile radio. Thanks for the review and bringing this product to our attention. Those of us who are not subscribed to radio magazines don’t see this kind of thing, but this device will greatly enhance the utility of the little handheld radio. The only thing that would make it better is a power jack for use with a wall wart for those beginning hams that want to get more out of the little HTs. Since you are connected, maybe you could suggest this modification so the UHF/VHF HTs could serve as a small home station with this amount of additional power.
Dan KB6NU says
A better power adapter would be a nice addition, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. Instead, just chop off the cigarette lighter plug and put some Anderson PowerPoles on the cable.