Baofeng Baofeng UV-5R programming problems

[CCo275]

I have purchased a set of Baofeng UV-5R radios and programmed them using Chirp. Everything seems to work very well. I purchased another set and tried to program the same channels (following the same steps with Chirp) and am not able to make either of the new radios work. They appear to have the ability to program up to 127 channels, but I can only see 2 channels (the “0” and the “127” - both showing frequencies). I am unable to add additional lines in the Chirp app that would allow me to enter additional repeater or simplex frequencies. I have tried the factory reset option on the Baofengs as well as deleting the Chirp app and reloading it. Nothing appears to fix the problem. Has anyone seen this before? I am wondering if I am doing something wrong or if I just got a set of radios that were not set up correctly from the factory.

 

[ladn]

I have purchased a set of Baofeng UV-5R radios and programmed them using Chirp.

• What are the frequencies you programmed into the first set of radios?
• On the second set of radios, did you just try to upload the same codeplug (set of frequencies) without first "reading" the radios? There are some variances within the UV-5R models' firmware. and sometimes you can't just move a codeplug from one radio to another, even though they both are the same model.

I'm not trying to be the radio police, but, since you appear to be new to the radio hobby, UV-5R's and their CCR cousins are only legal for amateur radio use. The radios aren't certified for any other radios services, even if you hold a license for another service. And, for amateur radio service, you (and anyone else using the radios) must be licensed amateur radio opertors.

 

[nd5y]

CHIRP doesn't use therm "codeplug". Their name for it is "image".

Make sure you have the latest version of CHIRP.
Use CHIRP-next not CHIRP-legacy which is no longer updated.
(I see that sometime recently their website domain changed from danplanet.com to chirpmyradio.com.)

Download - CHIRP

Redmine

chirpmyradio.com

Then go to Documentation - CHIRP and read everything.

When you buy Baofengs you never know what you are getting or if multiple radios purchased at the same time all have the same firmware and factory settings.

Read (download) the image from each radio you have.
On each radio go to the Settings tab/Other Settings.
Look at Firmware Messages and 6+Power-On Messages.
If they are not exactly the same for each radio then you should not try to upload the image from one radio to another radio with different firmware. If you already did that then it's possible the radio is FUBAR unless you have the original radio image you can upload to it. Sometimes even that won't fix it.

 

[CCo275]

I programmed in 26 frequencies (simplex and repeaters) into my original radios and saved them. I did the exact same steps with the two new radios except when I plugged the radios into Chirp to read them I was given a different looking screen that only displayed the two channels instead of the six that were on my original radios. I was not able to get as far as trying to upload the code plug. I also tried to add extra rows in chirp (like in an excel spread sheet) and it would not allow me to do that either.

I'm not trying to be the radio police, but, since you appear to be new to the radio hobby, UV-5R's and their CCR cousins are only legal for amateur radio use.

Absolutely no issue at all. I should have mentioned that earlier. I have my amateur radio license (as well as my brothers, father, uncle and cousins). That is why we are looking at the numerous radios. Trying to get them all programmed the same. I am also new to the radio hobby so I am learning as I go. Thanks for the help!

 

[CCo275]

CHIRP doesn't use therm "codeplug". Their name for it is "image".

Make sure you have the latest version of CHIRP.
Use CHIRP-next not CHIR-legacy which is no longer updated.
(I see that sometime recently their website domain changed from danplanet.com to chirpmyradio.com.)

Download - CHIRP

Redmine

chirpmyradio.com

When you buy Baofengs you never know what you are getting or if multiple radios purchased at the same time all have the same firmware and factory settings.

Read (download) the image from each radio you have.
On each radio go to the Settings tab/Other Settings.
Look at Firmware Messages and 6+Power-On Messages.
If they are not exactly the same for each radio then you should not try to upload the image from one radio to another radio with different firmware. If you already did that then it's possible the radio is FUBAR unless you have the original radio image you can upload to it. Sometimes even that won't fix it.

I have the latest version of Chirp. I will definitely go back and look at the firmware message. I also tried resetting the radios back to factory settings several times and that changed nothing. That is why I was wondering if the two radios were not programmed the same from the factory. THANKS! I will check that out now.

 

[nd5y]

If you have radios with different firmware or different radio models you should be able to read each one and then select all the memories and copy/paste from one to the other. If you do that it won't mess up the other settings.

 

[CCo275]

Thanks nd5y. I purchased the exact same radios. I also just purchased a cloning cable that goes directly from radio to radio. I was wondering if that might be a simple short term fix. That will probably change once I make any changes to the original radios.

I have not tried plugging the original two radios back into Chirp because I was not sure if they would also get screwed up.

 

[ladn]

I purchased the exact same radios. I also just purchased a cloning cable that goes directly from radio to radio. I was wondering if that might be a simple short term fix.

Maybe, maybe not! Older uV-5R's would clone, but, apparently, newer ones will not.

I have not tried plugging the original two radios back into Chirp because I was not sure if they would also get screwed up.

Just "plugging them in" shouldn't cause problems. Make sure the radios are powered off before connecting cables!
It's a good practice to always "read" the radio first, then save that codeplug just in case.

 

[CCo275]

Good point! I will try the cloning cables and see if they will work. If I can get them cloned then I will also try updating my original ones from chirp.

 

[nd5y]

I have never used radio-to-radio cloning so I don't know how that works if the radios are different.

CHIRP can't mess up a radio unless you write (upload) to it.

 

[CCo275]

I will let you know what happens! I am going to try it tomorrow and will advise. I will keep messing around with CHIRP and see if I can’t figure out what is going on. Greatly appreciate the wisdom.

 

[CCo275]

I wanted to follow up and close this out. I tried using the cloning cable to fix the problem and it would not work either. We returned the two problem units and ordered new radios. They arrived today and I used CHIRP to get them set up. All seems to be working well. Thanks again for the help.

FYSA - I tried using the cloning cables from my original units to the new units and they would not clone. I was hoping that would be a quick fix, but it was not to be.

 

[fgmoore]

I have had intermittent problems with several Baofeng models - almost could blame it on the phase of the moon. Then I tried using a very old laptop - Intel "Centrino" vintage - and all problems disappeared. Going back to a latest and greatest laptop or desktop showed the intermittent problems again.

My results certainly point at timing issues. I was never able to find a cable that worked better than the others, regardless of manufacturer or USB interface chip.

 

[merlin]

I have always had problems with Chirp, so I use Baofeng's UV-5R_en, and no issues at all.
Stay away from clones, those can be unpredictable.
Also use USB2 port. Haven't tried USB3 but data transfer can be picky with Baofeng.