Our most advanced HAM accessory for the CS800 or CS800D - the CS-BFD - has been generating a lot of excitement because of a number of popular new features, including an amazing large touch screen display that enables you to read more data than ever before from several feet away. The display area is 15X larger than the display that comes with the CS800D radio. No more squinting! The picture below shows a typical display when you are having a QSO.
The Favorite Zone screen will simplify your life by enabling you to go quickly to one of the 16 zones you use most frequently. With the standard CS800D, you can have up to 250 zones. With the favorite zones feature, simply press the touch screen display in two places to get to one of your your sixteen favorite zones. The picture below shows a typical display with the sixteen favorite zones.
The Favorite Channel feature is also a wonderful time-saver for the CS800D which has up to 4000 channels. All you need to do to reach one of your favorite channels is to press the touch screen display in two places and voila - you're in. The picture below shows a typical display with the sixteen favorite channels.
The Enhanced Monitor feature automatically provides you with a graph showing which are the most active groups on your favorite channel. This features provides you with a solution to a problem you probably never thought about. The problem is which groups are using your favorite repeater? If you want to start a QSO on your favorite repeater, which groups are listening? You can monitor the radio for days at a time to determine who is active on that repeater. At the end of the day or the week, depending on how long you want the CS-BFD to monitor the channel, you will get a graph that shows the most active groups and tabbular data that shows exactly how busy each of the groups are. The picture below shows a typical display that shows the accumuation of talk groups from a repeater.
The new Spectrum Analyzer allows you to scan between two frequencies, enabling you to find unknown stations and determine how busy those stations are. The picture below shows a typical display that shows the RF activity in this area.
The Enhanced Channel feature allows you to easily set up a temporary channel in a few seconds. Just put the relevant information in the screen and press the activate button and you instantly set up a temporary channel. The screen below shows a typical channel.
The VFO mode allows you to manually scan between two frequencies. Once a channel has been found you can then start a QSO. A typical screen is shown below.
You are on a channel and you need to take a break and when you come back you can see who has spoken while you were gone. Press the touch screen in the right spot and the CS-BFD will bring up the last several calls as shown below.
Here is the best part. If you do not think this display is worth what you paid for it, you can return the display within 30 days and get a complete refund of your purchase price. If the display breaks during the first year, we fix it for free.
39 Reviews Hide Reviews Show Reviews
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BFD
Don't leave home without it... Makes driving and doing radio a lot safer and gives a lot more options to operation of the radios it is used on.
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BFD
I bought one, and as stated here before it is big, which is cool..... Mounting this dude on a short gooseneck works well for me on the desk.... I use it at home with a CS800D Plus Have fun with it!!!
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I like it but its big...
I bought this because of the tiny display on the standard radio. This thing is huge. I wish there was an option of something a little smaller.
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CS-BFD
Connected to my CS-800D used as a base station. I'm happy with the size of the display. Great piece of equipment. Bill, W7ERH
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CS-BFD Display
The display works fine. It is much larger than I imagined it would be. So far so good.
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CS-BFD
A very worthwhile investment. Larger than I had expected, but for base use not a problem. Really brings out all the features of the CS-800D/800 in an easy to see and pleasant color presentation. Speeds up selecting various operating functions.
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Very static sensitive
I live in a place that gets very dry and cold in the winter, which is conducive to accumulation of static electricity. I use the display inside on the desktop. About 25% of the times I walk into the room the display goes blank and/or all fields disappear until next refresh. The radio itself is working correctly - there's just no way to see what's going on. Power cycling the radio is necessary to re-boot the display. I've tried every type of grounding I can think of without any success at all. Sometimes even discharging myself on the light switch at the door zaps the display and requires a reset. Touching the display anywhere with even a slight charge? Forget it. The problem is somewhat less noticeable during summer months. I agree in general with the other reviews - the display functions well otherwise and has good features. But something should be done about the static sensitivity. BTW, I can hit the CS800 body with a full charge and it chugs right along.
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CS-BFD
It sure does make using the radio a lot easier. Wish it would show ALL of contacts info like the ANYTONE 578 does. All I see is DMR ID
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CS-BFD
The CS-BFD is an awesome display that works great and looks great too. I do not need to put my glasses on to read it and is is easy to set up.