beginners guide to chirp programming baofeng uv-5re

If it is necessary to transmit on an antenna not design for a frequency, always use the lowest power setting. Use the correct antenna for the frequency, and the radio will have a longer service life. We should strive to limit the range, or have a range that is far enough to make reliable communications with those whom we would talk to, and no one else. This kind of antenna is suitable only for base stations, and is best as a antenna for scanners, however we are not necessarily interested communicating at the furthest range our equipment is capable of. To make full make use of the Baofeng’s range, a discone antenna is necessary. This antenna–unlike most antennas offered–is pre-tuned, and could also be used as a base station antenna for either a mobile, or a handheld. The external antenna that can be used on a vehicle, that best matches the Baofeng UV5R’s useful transmit range, is the Tram 1181. We would not want to shorten the life of the radio by transmitting outside the antenna’s design range.

If you have one of these short antennas on all, and any of your set of radios, then replace it! Standardize every aspect of your radios, so that they look and function the same. It is also no good for MURS or VHF business band (itinerants). The shortest antenna that a UV-5r normally is supplied with is good for only 144 to 148 Mhz, and is no good for the 70 cm band.

Given the several antennas that usually come on these radios, I would test them, but if not, at least limit the range that the radio will transmit on in the ‘memories’ section in Chirp, to 144 to 153 Mhz, and 430 to 450 Mhz for the most common antenna. One should always have fighting knife handy for these occasions. Note: Should one find the need to use one of these capped button to access the flashlight or FM radio, simply use your K-Bar to carefully pry the ‘cap’ off. (Unless you do not want that radio to transmit. That one is the Push To Talk (PTT) button. Be sure not to do this to the big button that is in between the two smaller ones. This in ensures the flashing light and siren are not inadvertently triggered.

How to program a Baofeng using a computerĪfter punching in some frequencies, set the radio up for a ‘tactical’ operations by:ġ.) Turning off the lighting in the display, and all beeps and bells and whistles.Ģ.) Set the power level on low for all tactical frequencies.ģ.) Select the narrow band option to reduce the range further.Ĥ.) Use several coats of black nail polish to ‘black out’ the LED light, but better yet is to use JB Weld or another epoxy, to form a cap over two of the small buttons on the side.

Download the free programming software called Chirp.

How to manually program a Baofeng UV-5R.

The following is a piece intended to supplement three readily-available World Wide Web resources:

Beginners guide to chirp programming baofeng uv-5re