Anyone running Baofeng UV-5R for mobile (1 Viewer)

[Kofoed]

$33 is a steal. I'll be getting a couple, thru amazon of course, due to return policy.

I just blew a but more than that to replace a mic for my children's band radio

 

[surfpig]

So, what is the best way to get one of these things programmed properly? I got one a couple of weeks ago and have been playing with it, I just got the cable today.

Got my ticket yesterday, won't be "official" for a week or so.

Well I got the cable to talk to the computer so far, so that's nice...

 

[Pin_Head]

Make sure that you are tuned to a channel with no traffic or set the squelch to 10 when you down/upload programming because if radio gets a signal during programming it will interrupt it which can cause problems.

The cheapo cable with the pirated chip is a PITA to install.

 

[surfpig]

Make sure that you are tuned to a channel with no traffic or set the squelch to 10 when you down/upload programming because if radio gets a signal during programming it will interrupt it which can cause problems.

The cheapo cable with the pirated chip is a PITA to install.

So I'm assuming you have to put all your files/channels onto a single worksheet then load it onto the radio?

Do I also assume all the offsets, etc are correct for the repeaters, or do I need to go through each line and check them?

I can modify the universal settings through CHIRP too, looks like...

It would be nice if there were some more than completely vague instructions for all of this.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

The cheapo cable with the pirated chip is a PITA to install.

Yep. Don't bother. THe $9 Amazon programming cable works perfectly. Avoid ebay cables.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

So I'm assuming you have to put all your files/channels onto a single worksheet then load it onto the radio?

Do I also assume all the offsets, etc are correct for the repeaters, or do I need to go through each line and check them?

I can modify the universal settings through CHIRP too, looks like...

It would be nice if there were some more than completely vague instructions for all of this.

Basically right. You realize you are getting all of the programming stuff free, right? The instructions a pretty good on the CHIRP site.

Some repeaters have weird offsets but most that you will use follow standard conventions, on the standard band plan.

 

[Pin_Head]

You only get a single sheet which has 128 channels. It can't hurt to check the parameters, but I haven't noticed any that were wrong. I added the FRS channels because my kids use them when snowboarding. The UV5R is not approved for FRS, but I have them set to the proper low power setting, so I doubt anyone will notice. I would rather them have the UV5R with all the access to the local repeaters in an emergency.

 

[surfpig]

You only get a single sheet which has 128 channels. It can't hurt to check the parameters, but I haven't noticed any that were wrong. I added the FRS channels because my kids use them when snowboarding. The UV5R is not approved for FRS, but I have them set to the proper low power setting, so I doubt anyone will notice. I would rather them have the UV5R with all the access to the local repeaters in an emergency.

Yup, that and the weather channels...

 

[surfpig]

Basically right. You realize you are getting all of the programming stuff free, right? The instructions a pretty good on the CHIRP site.

Some repeaters have weird offsets but most that you will use follow standard conventions, on the standard band plan.

Of course I "realize" that. WTF does it matter how much a program costs if you can't figure it out? There are a lot of other settings in there that I would also like to set up correctly, maybe even the first time. That's all...

You "realize" that you can memorize a whole f***ing mass spectrometer users manual and still not have a clue about how to run one, right? I know that you "realize" that there is a whole lot of stuff in your profession that you can't just learn from a manual or off the internet.

I know that you've done this a few times, so you probably think it's easy. For a novice, it's not. Just trying to get a little help.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

What cable are you using? If you are having a problem, it's often there. You can use my programming cable if that would help.

THe Miklos site has a pretty good description of what to do.

I could never figure out the cloned cable and driver thing. Mine just worked.

 

[surfpig]

My cable was the cheapie outdated clone. Getting that to work was easy.

 

[jonheld]

I know that you've done this a few times, so you probably think it's easy. For a novice, it's not. Just trying to get a little help.

FWIW, I use CHIRP to program all my radios, Baofeng, Kenwood, whatever. Basically it's an Excel spreadsheet. What are you having a problem with? Can CHIRP talk to your radio?

 

[surfpig]

FWIW, I use CHIRP to program all my radios, Baofeng, Kenwood, whatever. Basically it's an Excel spreadsheet. What are you having a problem with? Can CHIRP talk to your radio?

I got it all set up (I think). I was just concerned about particular settings being correct. I just have to try it out now...

 

[jonheld]

I got it all set up (I think). I was just concerned about particular settings being correct. I just have to try it out now...

If you are referring to the "SETTINGS" tab within CHIRP, what I like to do with any new radio is give it a "first birthday" and return it to factory settings. Then I download the radio into CHIRP and copy/paste memory presets from existing radio files or simply start from scratch.

 

[pentangelli]

A lot of times people think they're getting into a repeater because they can key it up and hear it come back to them but that doesn't mean they are actually putting a workable signal into it. That's precisely the problem. New baofeng hams think they're getting in but they are total noise.

If it was realistic to get 70 miles out of a $30 radio, EVERYONE would have one. Local governments wouldn't be spending 10's of millions of dollars on digital trunking systems, they'd all be using baofengs.
It's what makes it all work that matters.


Portables are nice for when you're on the trails and camping but when you're not on the trails or camping and you're in a suburban or urban environment and larger distances to cover and you want to talk to someone from your house or your car, well that's when you see that a portable isn't of any use without the right infrastructure in the right place. In building and in vehicle portable coverage on the ham bands is rare and becoming even more rare as good repeater sites become harder and more expensive to come by.

Though I know why you are saying this, and have very valid points, I am one of those new Baofeng hams that may be the exception to the norm. I bought mine off of Amazon.com for 25 bucks, Figured I'd get a decent magnet Mount antenna right away, spent about 30 bucks on that. Plugged in my local repeater frequency, Offset, Etc. (Tried with the rubber duck fresh out of the box and it was garbage, pretty much like what you said.. I could kinda hear.......By hear I meant I could hear enough to make out "I hear noise but not really much else" - So I knew..I said to myself, just hold your horses and hook up the other Antenna. I did that and I was able to hear crystal clear, and everyone I was talking to could hear me just fine. Now that said, I also agree..Its VERY clunky to use these rigs in the car. Since that first "decent" antenna, I have purchased about 4 more going on my 5th. Whats happening is the cable, which I "strategically" tried to hide in my new Jeep, gets caught up and the end falls off. I figure I could probably fix them, and sometime I will when life settles down a bit in a month or two. But due to my constant double shifts at Job A and running all over town for business B, and barely able to keep my eyes open half the time lately, I have just been buying new ones. But as for the radio itself, I dont have any of the typical issues I read about alot with the Baofeng. Its a great starter radio if you make sure you do it right. I am a storm spotter for a local skywarn group, so I was going to keep with the hobby regardless. I imagine I will get a true mobile radio soon though, if I ever have time to have it installed. Hahaha. Cheers everyone.

 

[pentangelli]

Though I know why you are saying this, and have very valid points, I am one of those new Baofeng hams that may be the exception to the norm. I bought mine off of Amazon.com for 25 bucks, Figured I'd get a decent magnet Mount antenna right away, spent about 30 bucks on that. Plugged in my local repeater frequency, Offset, Etc. (Tried with the rubber duck fresh out of the box and it was garbage, pretty much like what you said.. I could kinda hear.......By hear I meant I could hear enough to make out "I hear noise but not really much else" - So I knew..I said to myself, just hold your horses and hook up the other Antenna. I did that and I was able to hear crystal clear, and everyone I was talking to could hear me just fine. Now that said, I also agree..Its VERY clunky to use these rigs in the car. Since that first "decent" antenna, I have purchased about 4 more going on my 5th. Whats happening is the cable, which I "strategically" tried to hide in my new Jeep, gets caught up and the end falls off. I figure I could probably fix them, and sometime I will when life settles down a bit in a month or two. But due to my constant double shifts at Job A and running all over town for business B, and barely able to keep my eyes open half the time lately, I have just been buying new ones. But as for the radio itself, I dont have any of the typical issues I read about alot with the Baofeng. Its a great starter radio if you make sure you do it right. I am a storm spotter for a local skywarn group, so I was going to keep with the hobby regardless. I imagine I will get a true mobile radio soon though, if I ever have time to have it installed. Hahaha. Cheers everyone.

And I just realized I just commented on a post that is over a decade old. Hahah. Again, cheers,