NEW to all this Scanner/Radio business

elizabetholive · May 28, 2016

Hello Smart Radio Peeps,

I bought Baofeng UV5R/UV82 Dual Band FM Transceiver and I am WAY out of my league.

I was hoping to be able to listen to my local (Gresham) police scanner, listen to weather, and listen to repeaters. NO TRANSMITTING for me.

Someday if I ever feel like I can get the hang of this I will take the test and get licensed but for now I feel so stupid about this stuff that I wish I could return the stupid things. Oy. I bought them last year and felt so dumb i haven't tried again till now to figure it out.

I need help finding frequencies. I looked some up and can't seem to hear anything. I can listen to them online but why can't I get them to play on my radio? Help me please or offer to buy these things. ;-)

nd5y · May 29, 2016

For frequencies look up your state and county at RadioReference.com - Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference Database.
If your local stuff is digital or trunked you won't be able to hear anything with Baofeng or any other analog-only radio.

For help with the radios go to Miklor Information Site, VHF UHF Handheld Radios. Click on the radio model and read all the links. There is extensive programming help and instructions.

DickH · May 29, 2016

elizabetholive said:
Hello Smart Radio Peeps,

I bought Baofeng UV5R/UV82 Dual Band FM Transceiver and I am WAY out of my league.

I was hoping to be able to listen to my local (Gresham) police scanner, listen to weather, and listen to repeaters. NO TRANSMITTING for me....

Gresham PD is on the Portland trunked system. The Baofengs can not receive trunked systems. The Baofengs can can hear limited Clackamas Fire & Police, Clark county dispatch, Skamania county, Mt. Hood national Forest, Cowlitz county, railroads, etc.
On your UV-82, go to Frequency Mode.
1. Turn it OFF.
2. Hold the MENU button down while turning it on.
3. Enter 15543.
4. Push the EXIT/AB button (the arrow moves to the other line)
5. Enter 15519.
6. Push MENU.
7. Push an arrow until you see TDR and a small 7 on the right.
8. Push MENU again. The arrow moves to the bottom line.
9. Push the UP arrow until it is ON.
10. Push MENU again (that saves the setting).
Now it will scan those two freqs., Clackamas PD LAW 1 & LAW 2.

DickH · May 29, 2016

I bought Baofeng UV5R/UV82 Dual Band FM Transceiver and I am WAY out of my league.

I forgot about the voice prompt. To change it to English:
1. Push MENU.
2. Push an arrow to get to #14.
3. Push MENU again (arrow moves to bottom line)
4. Push an arrow to see ENG.
5. Push MENU again to save the setting.

gewecke · May 29, 2016

elizabetholive said:
Hello Smart Radio Peeps,

I bought Baofeng UV5R/UV82 Dual Band FM Transceiver and I am WAY out of my league.

I was hoping to be able to listen to my local (Gresham) police scanner, listen to weather, and listen to repeaters. NO TRANSMITTING for me.

Someday if I ever feel like I can get the hang of this I will take the test and get licensed but for now I feel so stupid about this stuff that I wish I could return the stupid things. Oy. I bought them last year and felt so dumb i haven't tried again till now to figure it out.

I need help finding frequencies. I looked some up and can't seem to hear anything. I can listen to them online but why can't I get them to play on my radio? Help me please or offer to buy these things. ;-)

. Beth, you need a digital capable SCANNER, not a analog talkie. Asking questions here first, usually prevents those mistakes! :wink: 73, n9zas

DickH · May 29, 2016

gewecke said:
. Beth, you need a digital capable SCANNER, not a analog talkie. Asking questions here first, usually prevents those mistakes! :wink: 73, n9zas

She will need a digital scanner in a few years, but Gresham PD is on the Portland ANALOG trunked system now. A little research will avoid erroneous advice.

gewecke · May 29, 2016

DickH said:
She will need a digital scanner in a few years, but Gresham PD is on the Portland ANALOG trunked system now. A little research will avoid erroneous advice.

Not erroneous at all dick. That cheap $20 talkie will scan far too slow, and not perform nearly as well as a full featured scanner. Will it receive the Gresham area on analog? Poorly if at all. The right gear for the right job always does what's needed.

. 73, n9zas

OregonScanner · May 29, 2016

She will need a digital scanner in a few years, but Gresham PD is on the Portland ANALOG trunked system now. A little research will avoid erroneous advice.

Gresham PD shares the MCSO dispatch talkgroup which has shown up on the P25 system as 1301.

Baker845 · May 29, 2016

Anyone getting into scanning they should buy a P25 trunking scanner because, with in next 4 to 5 years all public safety systems in the Portland area will be P25 Phase 2 systems

gewecke · May 29, 2016

Baker845 said:
Anyone getting into scanning they should buy a P25 trunking scanner because, with in next 4 to 5 years all public safety systems in the Portland area will be P25 Phase 2 systems

. I very much agree. In the future I may find myself moving to the Portland area so I'm shopping for a P2 capable unit now so I'll be ready to listen.

. 73, n9zas

mthunter65 · May 29, 2016

Yahoo has a group for these radio types, very easy to program channels and just be a listener.
You could also talk on "prepper channels" just be proactive and learn.

DickH · May 31, 2016

mthunter65 said:
Yahoo has a group for these radio types, very easy to program channels and just be a listener.
You could also talk on "prepper channels" just be proactive and learn.

I think the site you mean is Miklor Information Site, VHF UHF Handheld Radios.
My Baofeng UV-82 works very well on Hi Band and 460 conventional freqs.. I hear Fire Dispatch channels from Clackamas county, Yamhill county, Skamania county, Cowlitz county, Columbia county, etc. and the audio is better than all my other scanners. And for a fraction of the cost.

Baker845 · May 31, 2016

A Baofeng UV-82 won't listen to P25 or 700/800 MHZ trunking systems. But, yes its great for conventional VHF/UHF stuff. scanning on that radio is very slow tho.

DickH · Jun 1, 2016

Baker845 said:
A Baofeng UV-82 won't listen to P25 or 700/800 MHZ trunking systems. But, yes its great for conventional VHF/UHF stuff. scanning on that radio is very slow tho.

Well, no wonder I can't get Portland on 800MHz. I should have talked to you before spending $34 on that radio. What a rip-off!

KK4JUG · Jun 1, 2016

DickH said:
Well, no wonder I can't get Portland on 800MHz. I should have talked to you before spending $34 on that radio. What a rip-off!

It wasn't a rip-off. Don't blame the radio, You simply didn't buy the right kind of radio.

Baker845 · Jun 1, 2016

Yea, don't blame the radio, it doesn't know the person who got it thinks it a scanner.lol

Welcome to the hobby and the forms here are always here, if you have questions.

902 · Jun 1, 2016

elizabetholive said:
I bought Baofeng UV5R/UV82 Dual Band FM Transceiver and I am WAY out of my league.

I can't contribute any more information than the very thorough things you've already been provided, but I did want to welcome you to this hobby of ours. Enjoy all these magic moments you have while you're learning. Reading your message gave me flashbacks to just starting out and building all kinds of contraptions to hear towns that were further away on my scanner. At one point, the antenna mast I made out of wooden poles screwed together fell into my neighbor's swimming pool. I was 13 and those were the only things I could scrounge to put my antenna up higher. I thought it was funny even if no one else did. It's been a while, but I'm still learning.

Best wishes - hope you enjoy and learn!

NEW to all this Scanner/Radio business

elizabetholive

Newbie

nd5y

Member

DickH

Member

DickH

Member

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good

DickH

Member

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good

OregonScanner

Member

Baker845

Member

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good

mthunter65

Newbie

DickH

Member

Baker845

Member

DickH

Member

KK4JUG

Member

Baker845

Member

902

Member

Similar threads