• To anyone looking to acquire commercial radio programming software:

    Please do not make requests for copies of radio programming software which is sold (or was sold) by the manufacturer for any monetary value. All requests will be deleted and a forum infraction issued. Making a request such as this is attempting to engage in software piracy and this forum cannot be involved or associated with this activity. The same goes for any private transaction via Private Message. Even if you attempt to engage in this activity in PM's we will still enforce the forum rules. Your PM's are not private and the administration has the right to read them if there's a hint to criminal activity.

    If you are having trouble legally obtaining software please state so. We do not want any hurt feelings when your vague post is mistaken for a free request. It is YOUR responsibility to properly word your request.

    To obtain Motorola software see the Sticky in the Motorola forum.

    The various other vendors often permit their dealers to sell the software online (i.e., Kenwood). Please use Google or some other search engine to find a dealer that sells the software. Typically each series or individual radio requires its own software package. Often the Kenwood software is less than $100 so don't be a cheapskate; just purchase it.

    For M/A Com/Harris/GE, etc: there are two software packages that program all current and past radios. One package is for conventional programming and the other for trunked programming. The trunked package is in upwards of $2,500. The conventional package is more reasonable though is still several hundred dollars. The benefit is you do not need multiple versions for each radio (unlike Motorola).

    This is a large and very visible forum. We cannot jeopardize the ability to provide the RadioReference services by allowing this activity to occur. Please respect this.

Baofeng Programming a Baofeng UV-5RA

Status
Not open for further replies.

Cobb0623

Newbie
Joined
Mar 26, 2019
Messages
3
Location
Westminster South Carolina
I just got a Baofeng UV5-RA and I am having a hard time getting it to program so I can use it as a portable radio for CERT TEAMS/Fire Reacue. I can not talk to dispatch or anyone but I can hear them. I have located the repeater tower and have all of the frequencies and information that I can get. I have even used the CHIRP software to program but it does not seem to work. I just want to be able to transmit on it because of CERT TEAM. If anyone has any information that could help me get this programmed it would be very thankful and helpful.

Thanks,
Paul
 

Whiskey3JMC

Airwave surfer...Cowabunga!
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
Messages
8,788
Location
Philly burbs 🇺🇸
Yes, best advised not to seek advice about this on a public forum. Baofengs should NOT be used for life safety applications under any circumstance, it is illegal to do so. It would be best to bring up this concern to your chief officer and maybe they'll point you in the right direction to get a proper radio to be used on the system.
1612741151808.png
 
Last edited:

ko6jw_2

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
1,471
Location
Santa Ynez, CA
Regardless of the legal status of these radios, they are NOT suitable for emergencies. I personally had experience where some CERT members who were licensed amateurs attempted to use Baofeng radios on a simplex tactical ham frequency and were unable to hear each other at short range because the Baofeng receivers overloaded. They lose sensitivity in the presence of strong signals. This might be fatal in a real emergency. Get rid of them. By the way, CERT does not have any frequencies allocated to it or a national communications plan. Some groups use GMRS which is possibly legal with type accepted radios. Each operator would need a GMRS license.

For general interest I went to four ham radio stores in Tokyo in 2018. I asked about Baofengs and they said they don't sell them as they are illegal in Japan. They should be illegal here too.
 

PDXh0b0

Active Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
845
Location
Woodland, WA
Still a perfectly decent device too scan thru frequencies and listen in while watching the ducks have a splash. I purchased for the cheap price, with no intention of keying up.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top