BaoFeng UV-17Pro with GPS
UV-17Pro with GPS Opening
In this article we’re going to take a look at a new UV-17Pro GPS handheld transceiver from BaoFeng.
There’s a bit of a back story to this radio that you’ll need to understand to help ensure the radio you ordered is really the one that shows up.
I ordered a UV-17Pro from Ali Express a bit over a month ago.
Anyway, I liked the color screen, expanded channel memories and USB charging as well as the bottom facing flashlight. While the screen font was a basic block style, the screen worked pretty well in all but the brightest sunlight and after searching around for a while, I found a CPS that worked for easier programming.
About a week after posting that review, I noticed another Ali Express seller offered a UV-17Pro with GPS and the photo had a much improved screen font.
After a quick check on the FCC device database, I discovered BaoFeng had gotten an FCC Part 15 certification for the device and the photos on the FCC page showed a couple of small differences – most notably, the keys on the faceplate showed letters and not menu shortcuts.
Well, I ordered one and it arrived about 10 days later and low and behold, it’s a very similar but at the same time, a very different radio.
UV-17 Model Similarities
First let’s talk briefly about what’s the same.
As you see, the case and styling are identical with the exception of the lettering on the key pad.
Both have bottom mounted LEDs for flashlight use. Both have an IP 54 intrusion protection score so they are both splashproof, although not submersible.
Because of the IP score, both have batteries that mount using a screw, not a spring clamp. Speaking of batteries, both batteries have a USB C connector for charging.
They both came in a similar box and have the same accessories including a charge cradle as you’ll see during the radio tour clip in just a minute.
At this point, things diverge quite a bit. For clarity, I’ll refer to the first model as version one which in my photos is green, and the second model as version two which is orange. BaoFeng labels vary so we’ll stick to version one and two.
UV-17 Model Differences
The first thing you’ll notice when turning on version two is the female voice is gone. You’ll now be greeted with a male voice announcing “channel mode” and the channel number. That was a bit unnerving but I’ve gotten used to him and he seems nice.
Next, the version one has the traditional Baofeng menus and menu structure. Version two’s menus are grouped into categories and while pretty much the same, you navigate them a bit differently. Version two also doesn’t have the SYNC or single screen display option.
As this photo shows, version two also has a much improved font for its onscreen display.
Behind the scenes, version two has 6 receive bands as well as NOAA weather channels. These include the AM air band, the FM broadcast band, and the 350 to 355 MHz band as receive only. The radio transmits and receives on VHF from 136 to 174 MHz, 200 to 260 MHz, and 400 to 520 MHz.
You’ll need to manage your frequencies to stay within the limits of your license.
Like version one, version two has 1000 user programmable channels but while described in the manual, multiple channel banks or zones don’t seem to be implemented yet. There’s a menu setting for Banks but only one choice with a Chinese descriptor. The manual describes a Zone choice in the menu, but currently it’s not there.
As we’ll see in a minute, the radio has a GPS receiver that will receive either the US or Chinese GPS satellites or both. The screen will give you a text readout of your latitude and longitude, your elevation and the GPS time. If you have several radios set up with DTMF signaling, you can share location data.
Unfortunately for us hams, this is not APRS, nor are there any APRS functions in the menu.
UV-17Pro Missing Pieces
As of today, the big missing piece of the UV-17Pro is the CPS. The CPS that works with version one won’t connect to version two. Hopefully, that will change soon. The good news is that programming channels with the new menu structure goes pretty fast once you get the hang of it. I got about 14 channels input in just under an hour.
That relates back to the key pad letters. Unlike version one, you can name channels using the radio keypad. They keys work like texting on old cell phones with multiple presses to cycle through the letters on each key. I haven’t found a space key yet so names are kind of run together.
Closing
First, with the FCC certification and nearly the same price as the earlier version one model, the version two UV-17Pro is a better choice in my opinion.
The extra bands, nicer screen and other features the two radios share make version two the way to go. If the CPS is a deal breaker for you, then version one is still a nice radio at this price point.
The new menu system and fancy screen fonts along with more channels and USB C charging seem to make this new 2023 radio the first of what I hope is the next generation of BaoFeng radios.
