Need some help with my Baofeng UV-5R

What are some consistently active radio frequences in the South Florida area that I can pick up with my Baofeng UV-5R?

I made an account here because my father is old and blind and really enjoys listening to the radio. Recently, he developed a huge interest in ham radios and police scanners (he had one back in the 1980s), so I bought the UV-5R.

I have the NOAA channel and a fire dispatch channel saved as channels 1 and 2, respectively, but I haven't had any luck finding other channels on this radio (most of those listed on radioreference.com for the Miami-Dade area come up as duds with no sound).

Also, when I press in the numbers for a frequency that has more than 6 digits, the radio tells me "Cancel" and refuses to let me listen to that frequency.

I need some help here because this is getting increasingly frustrating and I'm starting to wonder if my radio is defective or if I'm making a very stupid mistake that is preventing me from using the device as it's intended.

Thank you in advance.

RexTalionis76 said:

Also, when I press in the numbers for a frequency that has more than 6 digits, the radio tells me "Cancel" and refuses to let me listen to that frequency.

Click to expand...

As I understand it, one must round up or down with the up/down arrows to get the last digit(s)? I'm a n00b but undoubtedly good people will be along to help you with more substantial information.

"3.2 Storing the 7th / 8th digit of a frequency"
UV5R F8HP UV82 FAQ - Miklor

An excellent resource for all things Baofeng:
Baofeng Pofung Information Site UV5R GT3, Ham Radio

Merry xmas all... I have one of those radios and they are slick for the low price, I am no expert but what helped me was youtube... there is a video that shows a guy loading channels etc, I am more of a tactile learner so that helps me, good luck

1) Get a better antenna for the radio. Buy yourself a NA-771 (model #) or similar one to replace the stock antenna that comes with the radio. (That said, the one that comes with it is suitable, its just shorter and cheaply designed.)

That might help you with getting more signals from frequencies you monitor. Remember this radio only gets VHF 136-174MHz and UHF 400-520 MHz, so offhand... only expect to hear tow trucks, taxis, Weather and other local businesses/agencies (in small amounts on VHF/UHF around 150-170MHz, 450-470MHz primarily) and Ham repeaters (144-148MHz and 440-450MHz primarily). A lot of VHF/UHF public safety frequencies will still appear in listings here and on other sites, but many of these are deprecated and may not even be licensed to the agency any longer, because of the momentum shift to P25 digital, trunked operations -- and some areas transitioning to State systems offering both of those features. The only thing you find in many areas are the old VHF fire dispatch, as you've already found.

2) For entering frequencies... Enter the six digits. The radio will read back what you're putting in, but it doesn't show all seven digits of frequencies, and will round up/down to the nearest "step size" you have setup in the radio. To precisely lock onto the one you want, you have to adjust the tuning up/down to make it happen.

For example: To make 165.5675 enter in correctly, you'll need to enter 165.567... Radio will speak 165.567 back but the radio will display 165.565 instead. Use the arrow up/down keys and you'll notice when you hit "up" 165.567 (and then a smaller 5) appear on the display.

Another recommendation: Buy the programming cable for this radio, and once you get it hooked up -- Download the CHIRP software to program this radio. It's a pain in the butt to program this radio manually, until you get the hang of it anyway. Having CHIRP do the work is awesome. CHIRP is free, and the cable will run you about $10 on Ebay.

Hope this helps you out.

Depending on where you live there's lots to listen to. Local malls use 2 way radios for their "mall cops", & some stores also use radios. Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, there's hundreds to choose from. Some local PD's have simplex VHF/UHF for car-car to keep it off the trunking system. Most schools use 2 way radios where you can hear that "Timmy missed the bus". Of course if you live in the middle of nowhere, you won't hear much, as everything I've mentioned is short range communications. But this forum is where you'll find all the freq's.