Changing Radios BF-F8HP From Vertex Standard VX-180

[erickirchey]

Hey I have been banging my head against the wall I am a total noob to all this i am on the voluntary fire dept here in bennett spring, mo
We currently have Vertex Standard Radios VX-180 I have downloaded the list from the radio but i am not sure how to transcribe this to the new baofeng BF-F8HP is there anyone who could help maybe give me some advice on programing this radio
I have the CE44 software and the back up file from our vx-180 radios if needed!
Thank you again for all your help!

 

[KC9HI]

Hey I have been banging my head against the wall I am a total noob to all this i am on the voluntary fire dept here in bennett spring, mo
We currently have Vertex Standard Radios VX-180 I have downloaded the list from the radio but i am not sure how to transcribe this to the new baofeng BF-F8HP is there anyone who could help maybe give me some advice on programing this radio
I have the CE44 software and the back up file from our vx-180 radios if needed!
Thank you again for all your help!

You need to know the frequency/frequencies that are being used and the tone/code (if any) that is being used for selective squelch.

Jim KC9HI

 

[erickirchey]

Herer is a screen shot of the ce44 program with our back up

 

[erickirchey]

Here is pdf of the same

 

[KC9HI]

Herer is a screen shot of the ce44 program with our back up

Looks pretty straight forward to me. How do you plan on programming the radio (keypad, OEM software, CHIRP software)?

Jim

 

[erickirchey]

Looks pretty straight forward to me. How do you plan on programming the radio (keypad, OEM software, CHIRP software)?

Jim

I have chirp or the oem i would prefer to use chirp! the two programs are so different i don't know what to put where lol again i apologize for being a noob lol

 

[erickirchey]

Chirp view

does this look correct based on my first channel using chirp? for the new radio.

 

[teufler]

fOR THE MOST PART, THIS FILE IS A F8HP FILE, N5R3403 FILE SO IF IT CAN NOT BE IMPORTED TO YOUR RADIO, YOU CAN SEE THE INDIVIDUAL CHANNEL SETTINGS AND TRANSFER TO YOUR RADIO FILE. IF YOUR HAVE NOT DOWNLOADED YOUR RADIO, DO IT NOW BEFORE ANYTHING IS IMPORTED. THIS WAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE AN ORIGINAL FILE TO GO TO SQUARE ONE WITH IF NEEDED. The F8hp does NOT have a mic gain setting, you do not have a sequential two tone ability, so just listen to all fire calls. Since this is a "duty" radio, I have auto lock turned on. This way if you are using the radio, you can not bump the radio to another setting. If you want to change channels, press the * key, the voice will say unlock, then you can make channel changes, switch to bank B, after a few moments of no activity, the radio reverts to lock on automatically. The top bank, has the channel id names turned on, the bottom bank has the frequency's turned on. You are set for high power on all channels. I hope you have the 3800 mah battery otherwise with an 8 watts power usage, your battery could run down. $18.00 for the bigger battery is a nice add on. The name field is limited to few characters than the vx160 . you lose just the last letter sometimes.,Split tones are set, first time I have seen that. File attached is zipped per RR requirements..

 

[erickirchey]

fOR THE MOST PART, THIS FILE IS A F8HP FILE, N5R3403 FILE SO IF IT CAN NOT BE IMPORTED TO YOUR RADIO, YOU CAN SEE THE INDIVIDUAL CHANNEL SETTINGS AND TRANSFER TO YOUR RADIO FILE. IF YOUR HAVE NOT DOWNLOADED YOUR RADIO, DO IT NOW BEFORE ANYTHING IS IMPORTED. THIS WAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE AN ORIGINAL FILE TO GO TO SQUARE ONE WITH IF NEEDED. The F8hp does NOT have a mic gain setting, you do not have a sequential two tone ability, so just listen to all fire calls. Since this is a "duty" radio, I have auto lock turned on. This way if you are using the radio, you can not bump the radio to another setting. If you want to change channels, press the * key, the voice will say unlock, then you can make channel changes, switch to bank B, after a few moments of no activity, the radio reverts to lock on automatically. The top bank, has the channel id names turned on, the bottom bank has the frequenc?y's turned on. You are set for high power on all channels. I hope you have the 3800 mah battery otherwise with an 8 watts power usage, your battery could run down. $18.00 for the bigger battery is a nice add on. The name field is limited to few characters than the vx160 . you lose just the last letter sometimes.,Split tones are set, first time I have seen that. File attached is zipped per RR requirements..

I get an error uploading the file and just to be clear this radio can not transmit?

 

[KC9HI]

I get an error uploading the file and just to be clear this radio can not transmit?

You cannnot upload a CHIRP Radio Images (*.img) file to your radio that was saved from a radio having a different firmware version. The best thing to do is download from your radio and then "Import" teufler's image into it.

I don't have time to give you step-by-step instructions right now. So if you don't understand how to do the Import, then download from your radio to create a tab that is compatible with your radio (tab1). Then load teufler's image into a second tab (tab2). Then just copy and past the channels from tab2 to tab1. Then upload tab1 to your radio.

Jim KC9HI

 

[erickirchey]

Got it figured out thank you guys!

What radio would you recommend that would be a good budget replacement for the vx-180 as I did not realize this baofeng radio was not fully compatible with our county

 

[teufler]

I was afraid of a firmware miss match. As for compatability, other than mic gain, which the VX-180 has, and it lookls like the vx-180 can function like a pager, with tone outs, The Baofeng does everything that the VX-180 does, The Yaesu vx-180 has 16 channels, Baofeng has 128, the Yaesu has 2 tone decode, the Baofeng f8hp does not., the vx-180 has an ANI code on transmit, So does the f8hp but I coulfdn't tell if you have an ANI code or not. Sort of like a bell or chirp that sounds when you release you ptt. If you have imported the file, you can put the numbers in your self .

 

[erickirchey]

2 Tone Decode

an suggestions on a radio with 2 tone decode? I got it all imported from the files you sent thank you for all your help!

 

[teufler]

Amazon.com : TYT TH-UV8000D 10W Ultra-high Output Power Amateur Handheld Transceiver, Dual Band, Dual Display and Dual Stand : Car Electronics

From Amazon, not too much more expensive than th F8hp, the TYT 8000 has 2 tone 5 tone, just like the vx-180, has a 3600 mah battery, 10 watts instead of 8 on the f8hp or 5 on the vx-180.

 

[cmjonesinc]

If you're actually going to be fighting fire with it I'd stick with a vx 180. I wouldn't trust my life to a baofeng. If you're just wanting to listen and page the tyt will work. I've heard some complaints with some of the cheaper radios not actually decoding two tones properly and missing pages.

 

[bharvey2]

I'd have to agree that if this radio is used in a public safety/service application then I'd steer away from the Baofengs. I'm not one with a wholesale hatred of Chinese radios. i have a number of them. But, they're finicky enough that I wouldn't want to trust my like to one. I'd stick with what you have or maybe go with something like a Kenwood TK2312. If you're just listening, the Baofeng will do the trick. I don't think that Chirp will "transcribe" you codeplug from one vendor to another though. It does permit cut and paste and I've used that method successfully.

 

[Lawman51]

Also check with your county dispatch center, you would be using a radio that is not certified on their system and that is a no no in public safety...There is a reason they require FCC part compliance, lives are at risk. We actually have to get specific radios/models or they will not allow them on our freqs here.