ALL BETA TEST SLOTS ARE NOW FULL! TESTERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED!!!

PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR LAUNCH OF THE TRANSCEIVER BETA LATER THIS YEAR!!!!

Factual Amateur Radio has recently learned that Baofeng is preparing a slew of products targeted for the 2016 calendar year, and is preparing to engage beta testers for several of them. It is believed that the first products released will be reworked Tokyo High Power labs inspired amplifiers and tuners (see our previous entry) with a followup rollout of their new “SDR with knobs” transceivers, later in the year.

Baofeng intends to put a strong push on marketing to US amateur radio operators. We believe that the “new” TenTec, (RKR Designs LLC) will be the only official US distributor of the Baofeng HF products, in a similar fashion that the manufacturer has used with selecting a single supplier for their VHF/UHF transceivers. (I’m kidding….we’ve seen the likes of Baofeng and Wouxun tell every reseller that they are “special” or “unique” and the “only official supplier”)

Again, we at Factual Amateur Radio believe Baofeng intends to start customer shipping in 2016. Their amplifier product family could become a game changer, and we suspect that their SDR radios could become the new standard for rigs of that class.

To help facilitate the selection of Beta test candidates, Baofeng is desiring to prescreen potential users, based on the following criteria:

Amateur Extra Class Licensee

Active on HF bands

Strong desire to provide feedback about the product

Willingness to pay for shipping

Desire to own the unit your shipped (at no charge)

Strong communications skills, both written and oral

Baofeng has tasked an in country long time amateur radio operator to assist in the pre screening process. If you’re interested in potentially being a part of the Baofeng Beta test sometime in the fall of 2015, send a note capturing the bullet points above, and the title “YOUR CALLSIGN PICK ME” to XXXXX@ARRL.NET. ALL SLOTS ARE FULL!

This is a fantastic opportunity. Don’t delay!