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New Baofeng UV-5R

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JSB51708

Newbie
Joined
Aug 5, 2014
Messages
1
I just purchased a Baofeng UV-5R & I am looking for some help & tips on programing it.

I have heard that the "Chirp" software is good but do not know where to begin.

My computer is running Windows 8.1 as well.

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advanced.
 

WQPW689

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2014
Messages
318
Location
Palm Beach Co., FL
UV-5R Getting started

Have one myself. Lotta fun for not too much money. However, programming the thing is going to take you a bit if you're not used to these Chinese radios, and it's a little too involved for me to try to give detailed instruction. I use Chirp just fine. You'll need to download drivers and such.

I'd start here:

Baofeng Pofung Wouxun UV5R UV82 UV8D UV82X GT3 UVB5 Information Site, Ham Radio

Click on the UV-5R model and it'll take you into that particular section. Plenty of downloads. I'd start with The FAQ page.

Don't forget YouTube. There are numerous applicable videos there.

Good Luck!
 

Ed_Seedhouse

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 10, 2010
Messages
570
Location
Victoria B.C. Canada
I just purchased a Baofeng UV-5R & I am looking for some help & tips on programing it.

I have heard that the "Chirp" software is good but do not know where to begin.

My computer is running Windows 8.1 as well.

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advanced.

You need the programming cable and a computer that will accept it's drivers. You'll probably need to figure out what COM port your computer will talk to your radio over. You'll need the CHIRP software which is available with a simple google search.

I have programmed my UV-5R via the official cable using CHIRP under Windows 7 with no major problems. I didn't find it all that hard, just followed my nose.
 

wkm

Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
77
Location
WA
Hand programming it from miklor's instructions is pretty easy. I have to do it that way because either my cable is broken or my ht is. Going to buy a fdti chipped cable to diagnose.
 

DJ11DLN

Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2013
Messages
2,068
Location
Mudhole, IN
You can also use a Kenwood cable, that's what I had on hand and it worked. Chirp isn't exactly intuitive but if you play with it for awhile you'll figure it out. You get what you pay for with these radios. I bought a couple last year to play with and while I was surprised at how rugged they've so far proven, they have some issues. Using one as a scanner will be maddening because they are pretty wide-open and thus subject to interference and intermod, and the scan rate is, well, just real slow. And the stock antenna is pretty dismal as well. But they're cheap, so it's hard for me to bash them too badly...if they cost $200 apiece, I'd have been pretty disappointed. Well, if they'd cost $200 apiece, I'd probably never have ordered one in the first place...
 

jonwienke

More Info Coming Soon!
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Jul 18, 2014
Messages
13,416
Location
VA
First thing is to get either a Kenwood or factory Baofeng programming cable with FTDI chip. If you get a $5-6 cable off Ebay or Amazon with a fake Prolific chip, it's unlikely to work at all. A decent cable is going to cost about $20. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUB0ONK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Once you get a working cable, go into Device Manager and make a note of what COM port it is using. This will change depending on what USB port you plug the cable into.

First step is to download what's in the radio. Start up CHIRP, plug the cable into the computer and radio, and ALT-D will bring up the download dialog. Select your radio make and model, and make sure you have the correct serial port selected. The channels and settings in the radio will import into CHIRP. Change the default channel display to 0 to 127 to match the radio. Now you can change radio settings and channel settings in the channel spreadsheet and settings dialog.

When you're done, ALD-U will bring up the dialog to upload the settings from CHIRP back to the radio. You can change the COM port, but not radio make/model (for obvious reasons).

Make sure you save the preset file in CHIRP before you exit.
 

Kd9bku

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2014
Messages
18
Location
Noblesville, indiana
I purchased the same radio and had the same issues. At first i used You Tube and programed a couple of repeaters in. After that i sprang for the software and cable. It sounds confusing but once you get started it all works out pretty easily.
 

westsac95691

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Messages
9
Trying to enter the frequency (via radio) 452.18750 into the baofeng uv5r and it just jumps the frequency to 452.185 Not sure what im doing wrong here. Please help
 

nd5y

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
11,228
Location
Wichita Falls, TX
The step (menu 1) must be set to 12.5, 6.25 or 2.5 kHz then you must use the up/down arrows to set the last digit. (press 4 5 2 1 8 7 ^)
 

jonwienke

More Info Coming Soon!
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
13,416
Location
VA
Just set the step to 2.5K and you can enter any reasonable frequency setting.
 
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