Baofeng UV5 squelch problem, any solutions?

[VE1GAT]

I have several UV5s types with firmware 297
and none of the units have a working squelch.
I have not joined the CHIRP mail list but use daily builds.
Have not found any bugs reported or fixed about this issue

any solutions

 

[robertmac]

Please explain what you mean by not having a working squelch. Not familiar with the Baofeng, but most of these cheap Chinese radios have the squelch set from a menu. Someone may understand you problem but I don't unless you explain it a little more.

 

[VE1GAT]

UV5 has a squelch menu with settings 0-9, 0=off and 1-9 low - high
all settings 1-9 produce the same result (a low set squelch),
this results in unwanted low level noisy transmissions triggering reception.

 

[robertmac]

I'll make a couple other assumptions. You have tried this on different frequencies, VHF and UHF. And in different locations in the area you live, that is away from home. As an example, I have cable RFI leaks that I have not been able to fully squelch out. And this occurs on different frequencies, mostly VHF.

 

[VE1GAT]

those assumptions are correct, various frequencies various antennas

 

[robertmac]

But different locations, like 20 or more kms apart? And what happens without antennas screwed on?

 

[VE1GAT]

yes many locations tested, 20-350kms apart,rural, mountains, near sea shore, urban, mobile....
no antenna, no signal

 

[robertmac]

One more assumption. After changing the squelch settings, you hit FUN [or what ever key Baofeng requires] to input the change and not just hit EXIT [or what ever key on the Baofeng]? If this has been done, next suggestion would be to garbage them or return them and get a "real" ham radio.

 

[K4APR]

The only issue I have noticed with my UV-5R's is the squelch is slow to snap open. For me, this is not that big of a deal for voice. Sometimes if I key a repeater, the squelch doesn't open fast enough to catch the courtesy tone, but that's it.

For packet, it's a bit more important. Running closed squelch pretty much ensures the first part of the packet will be missed and will result in not being decoded. Maybe not even being detected. For this, I run open squelch and it does just fine. Since the speaker is cut off when the mic/speaker cable is plugged in for the TNC interface, you don't have to listen to constant dead air static.

 

[VE1GAT]

I find it odd all of my three units have the same useless squelch, different sellers. Might be a CHIRP bug

 

[mancow]

It's a known bug in the radios. They all seem to be built on the same base firmware and only the cases differ.

 

[willeren]

have done some reset?

 

[FFPM571]

You get what you pay for..

 

[OH6NXB]

Baofeng UV-5R squelch is not holding....

I have the same problem and it seams to bee almost whole 160 MHz area. SQ-level no meaning
400 Mh area is clean.
Noise burst is like carrier wave with "digital data" and it stays on 0,5 - 3 s or more, every now and then during the daytime.
I am quite sure that front stage is self oskillating what means that it is unstaple.
No effect, is it Helix- or 1/4 wip-antenna. Big or small accu.
But, roof antenna ok.

 

[ScottPerry]

CHIRP cause of Baofeng Problems REAL

I just went through TWO of these Baofeng BF-F8+ radios ruined by CHIRP.

Out of the box, all functions worked. I spent an hour testing the radio, talking to another on 70cm with success, listening to channels on scan . . . everything worked.

One plug into CHIRP and a quick upload of channel settings . . . the radio squelch no longer lets transmissions through.

No matter if the squelch on the menu was set anywhere from 0 (hearing static) to 9, absolutely NO AUDIO can be heard unless the monitor button on the side is held in. Before using CHIRP, even a squelch of 7 would allow another radio within the same room to be heard.

There is something wrong with CHIRP on this radio.
Like I said, I had a working radio, connected CHIRP, uploaded settings, then lost use . . . TWICE! I sent the radio back, got a replacement, and the same thing happened when I used CHIRP.

I really wish all of you would quit bashing the cheap Chinese radio. This Baofeng (all 3) unit was pretty nice until I took someone's advice to use this software to configure it. Please pay attention and fix this.

 

[jonwienke]

There is a bug in some versions of Baofeng firmware, where if you turn off key beep (not roger beep) the receiver will never open squelch. It doesn't matter whether you change the setting in CHIRP or from the keypad.

The simple fix is to turn key beep back on. You can do it from CHIRP or from the keypad, and the radio will work again.

It's not CHIRP's fault.

 

[KC9HI]

I just went through TWO of these Baofeng BF-F8+ radios ruined by CHIRP.

Out of the box, all functions worked. I spent an hour testing the radio, talking to another on 70cm with success, listening to channels on scan . . . everything worked.

One plug into CHIRP and a quick upload of channel settings . . . the radio squelch no longer lets transmissions through.

No matter if the squelch on the menu was set anywhere from 0 (hearing static) to 9, absolutely NO AUDIO can be heard unless the monitor button on the side is held in. Before using CHIRP, even a squelch of 7 would allow another radio within the same room to be heard.

There is something wrong with CHIRP on this radio.
Like I said, I had a working radio, connected CHIRP, uploaded settings, then lost use . . . TWICE! I sent the radio back, got a replacement, and the same thing happened when I used CHIRP.

I really wish all of you would quit bashing the cheap Chinese radio. This Baofeng (all 3) unit was pretty nice until I took someone's advice to use this software to configure it. Please pay attention and fix this.

Scott,

New radios have N5R-20 firmware. Baofeng changed the memory layout in the radios with these firmware versions. So you must not load cross load a .img file from a previous firmware version into a radio with N5R-20 firmware or upload a .img file from a radio with N-5R firmware into a radio with previous firmware. If you do (and is sounds like you did), your radio will no longer receive unless you press and hold the [MONI] button.

CHIRP was updated quite a few weeks ago to prevent the cross loading of .img files across these firmware versions. You apparently weren't using the latest CHIRP daily build.

The fix is to load the original backup .img that was saved from each radio when you first received them. This will return the memory structure back to the way the radio was originally received from the factory. Once this is done, receive will function as is did before the non-compatible .img file was uploaded to the radio.

The problem is that most do not realize to save an untouched backup .img from their radio before starting to change settings and loading .img files that were saved from other radios. For those, there is a "recovery" page on the Miklor website that explains the recovery procedure and provides a link to "factory" .img files that can be used to "reset" their radio(s).

UV-5R with N5R-20 Firmware Recovery

Once you "recovered" all of your radios, upgrade to the latest CHIRP daily build so you won't be able to accidentally cross load .img files in the future. Then use the CHIRP "Import" feature to safely load the channels from your .img file.

Jim KC9HI

 

[joeuser]

Yikes, I haven't touched the firmware on my radios & after reading this, I'm glad. What does new firmware bring to the table anyway, that compelled you guys to update & deal with this mess?

 

[KC9HI]

Yikes, I haven't touched the firmware on my radios & after reading this, I'm glad. What does new firmware bring to the table anyway, that compelled you guys to update & deal with this mess?

I said nothing about updating firmware. The firmware of these radios is on a one-time-programmable chip and is not updatable. The only way to get a different firmware version is to buy another radio that has a different firmware version.

What I said was that because of a memory layout change brought about by the latest firmware version, namely N5R-20, CHIRP .img files saved from radios with previous frimware version must not be uploaded to a radio with this new firmware version. The same is true the other way around. You must not upload CHIRP .img files saved from a radio with N5R-20 firmware into any radios with an older firmware version.

CHIRP daily builds after 20140714 have been updated to prevent the cross loading of these incompatible .img files. So to safely transfer the channels from an older .img file into one of these new radios you should use the CHIRP File -> Import function and change the file mask to "CHIRP Radio Images (*.img)".

Jim KC9HI

 

[nd5y]

Baofeng has poor software engineering QC if they even test it at all.
They change the firmware to fix bugs or change features like adding a third power level for the high power radio or fix the DTMF bug but each new version has different bugs. You can't upgrade the firmware. You have to buy a new radio to get the latest version.