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New Baofeng uv-82

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Ducktruck

Newbie
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
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4
Location
Calgary Alberta
Good day everyone! I Live in Calgary Alberta and I just bought this new unit and I cannot figure it out at all. I bought at NTF communications here in town and the sales person had no idea what to do except show me the weather station. Lol he referred me to this site. I'm hoping someone can help me set it up. I understand that the police service is now digital but I'm sure there are many other things to listen to. I am in familiar with repeater towers etc. if someone can set me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated. Is there a club in my city that I could join? Looking forward to get some help! Thank you

Ducktruck
 

jaspence

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3,042
Location
Michigan
uv-82

You will want to get a programming cable and software. Chirp is a good programming choice as it works with your radio as well as many others. Be sure to read from your radio before attempting any changes. Also check Youtube for radio and Chirp assistance.
 

robertmac

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2,290
Well, if you don't know, in Alberta all radios require a license except the CB frequencies and GMRS/FRS. I don't really know if the Baofeng radios are approved to transmit on GMRS/FRS. You must have had something in mind when you bought the radio. Not sure what you are interested in when you ask about a club, please be more specific. If you are interested in becoming an amateur radio operator there are a couple of clubs in Calgary. One being Calgary Amateur Radio Association which a google search will find. If you are programming frequencies in, make sure you inhibit transmit to avoid interfering with a licensed service. I know this section is for new scanner users, there is much more information on Baofeng under Budge and Entry level transceivers https://forums.radioreference.com/budget-entry-level-transceivers/. Also more information on Alberta and Calgary is available under Prairie and Pacific Coast https://forums.radioreference.com/prairies-pacific-coast/. And perhaps the reason the sales person couldn't help you is you did not have the proper license?
 

Ducktruck

Newbie
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Messages
4
Location
Calgary Alberta
Thanks for the info. Robertmac All I want to do is listen to my radio as a scanner while I drive thru out the western provinces. I drive truck for a living and Imwas told that this little radio would work. Unfortunately it's not what I wanted. I have a bearcat 350A and it only picks up analog. I wanted a hand held digital scanner. I will try to return my Baofeng UV-82. What would you recommend for a hand held digital,police scanner for western Canada?
 

robertmac

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Well no digital scanner will work soon as all or most interesting departments are going encrypted which unfortunately no scanner will decrypt. However, I thingk the best scanners to consider are the BCD436HP, BCD536HP, Whistler TRX-1 or Whistler TRX-2. Baofeng transceivers generally make very poor scanners and do not cover digital.
 

jonwienke

More Info Coming Soon!
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Jul 18, 2014
Messages
13,416
Location
VA
For driving your best handheld choice is the Uniden 436. You can connect a GPS to it (or put one inside it) and scan local frequencies and systems wherever you go. With GPS, it will automatically turn things on and off as you travel so you don't have to manually toggle things.

For handheld use, the Diamond Rh77CA is a good all around choice. In a vehicle, you want an external antenna. No antenna will work well inside a vehicle.
 

Rred

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Nov 21, 2014
Messages
830
ducktruck, the UV82 or any Baofeng or similar cheap chinese radio will make a lousy scanner.

First consider, they are fairly insensitive and prone to interference. That's the nature of cheap radios.

Then consider, they are generally illegal as transmitters of any kind, except for use by amateur radio operators. (Generally, not all and not completely, but generally.)

The nail in the coffin is SPEED. A good scanner should zip through the channels, all in a blur on the display. Any cheap transceiver is going to walk through them slowly. Even a ham radio from a brand name is going to be dog slow compared to a real scanner.

So, if you've got 100 channels programmed in and it takes 1/2 second to change to each one...that's 50 seconds gone by before they hit any channel "again". You can miss a lot in a minute that way.

The UV82 can certainly be useful, it is certainly cheap enough. And if you decide to study for a basic ham radio license, it will get you going on "2 meters" for that. But for serious use? Vastly oversold. And the folks that sell them all know that very well.
 

Ducktruck

Newbie
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Messages
4
Location
Calgary Alberta
Thanks for info guys!

I took your advice I bought a bcd436 love it! I can get Calgary Police and Fire no Problem but I can't seem to figure out how to get EMS? Anybody have any suggestions please? I'm still playing around with this machine slowly but surely getting the hang of it.
I forgot I can get Edmonton EMS no problem.
Help would be great!
Thanks
 

robertmac

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Jun 6, 2005
Messages
2,290
I took your advice I bought a bcd436 love it! I can get Calgary Police and Fire no Problem but I can't seem to figure out how to get EMS? Anybody have any suggestions please? I'm still playing around with this machine slowly but surely getting the hang of it.
I forgot I can get Edmonton EMS no problem.
Help would be great!
Thanks

Read some of the threads I posted above if you have not already done so. Or start with https://forums.radioreference.com/p...-radio-communication-system-info-here-97.html as this will tell you all EMS has gone to AFRRCS and are encrypted in Calgary.
 

spongella

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Feb 21, 2014
Messages
945
Location
W. NJ
Miklor.com is a pretty good site as was previously mentioned. Used it many times.
 
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