Baofeng UV-5R/Radioddity GA-5S Question

[nvanw27]

I was in the market for another handheld scanner, as one wasn't cutting it, and I wanted some new accessories to go with my old and new scanners. I found a deal on Radioddity's version of the UV-5R (the GA-5S) that comes with a headset (mine was DOA), a shoulder mic (so I can look more suspicious) and a Programming Cable.

My question is: if I run the correct software and have my radio connected to the computer with the programming cable, can I decode transmissions such as non-encrypted NXDN and DMR? NXDN and DMR are quite large around here and i've been looking for a way to hear the communications on the other side.

Also, bonus question, does anyone know of any software that I can use my GA-5S/UV-5R to find some frequencies used nearby, like Uniden's CloseCall?

 

[Forts]

No, the cable is strictly for programming, you can't remote control the radio. You would use DSD+ with a dongle (ideally) as the audio source to listen to DMR/NXDN etc. Also if you want to listen to NXDN on the go you'll need a modern scanner with that feature enabled (your UV-5R isn't gonna cut it...)

 

[nd5y]

My question is: if I run the correct software and have my radio connected to the computer with the programming cable, can I decode transmissions such as non-encrypted NXDN and DMR? NXDN and DMR are quite large around here and i've been looking for a way to hear the communications on the other side.

No. The programming cable doesn't pass audio to the pc and even if it did there would be no way to decode speaker audio. You need unfiltered baseband discriminator audio to decode most digital modes and there is no way to get that out of a Baofenfg because of the one chip transceiver design.

Also, bonus question, does anyone know of any software that I can use my GA-5S/UV-5R to find some frequencies used nearby, like Uniden's CloseCall?

There is no such software because Baofeng radios don't have that capability for the reasons I just mentioned above.