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Author Topic: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.  (Read 1538 times)

Offline pkveazey

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Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« on: December 20, 2018, 07:59:25 AM »
Baofeng has had 3 versions of Digital Radios. The first one was terrible because it transmitted on both tier 1 and tier 2 at the same time and reeked havok on digital repeaters. The second worked but you had to force it to transmit on the proper tier. The third version is the one I just got and you just tell it which tier to use and all is well with the world. Its also dirt cheap. I got it the other day and signed up for my ID number. Well, I never thought Digital was a good idea and now that I've got one I no longer think that. I know that. That damn thing is more complicated than any radio operating system that has ever been invented. It has its own program that comes with it and the programs works straight out of the box without any problems. The problem is an Electrical Engineer would end up pulling out their hair trying to make it work and get the frequencies into memory. Even though I have everything I need to get it up and running, I'll grow old and die before I'll ever figure it out. I'll hunt up someone who has programmed one and knows how it works and let them do it for me. The one thing I've learned is that when the SHTF nobody in their right mind will be using them in an emergency. All it takes is an interruption in repeater linking or loss of internet interfacing and it will be out of the loop. It was dirt cheap and it will be fun to see how it works but as far as I'm concerned, digital is only good on HF. Mine is VHF/UHF dual band, Analog/Digital and only cost me $56 brand new. Its so complicated I can only operate in VFO mode.  :thumbsdown: :gunner: :faint: :suicide:
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Online Nemo

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2018, 09:17:24 AM »
So, if I understand you correctly, you mean don't buy them.  Correct?

Unless you are bald.

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Offline Jackalope

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2018, 04:01:03 PM »
   For digital VHF/UHF I've gone with Dstar radios.  They are more complicated than analog radios, but there are plenty of youtube videos that help learn about the mode.  Among the benefits of Dstar is that scanner listeners and non-Dstar radios are not capable of receiving intelligible transmissions, so in a way the transmissions are more private than normal analog radios.  In simplex digital voice mode it's possible to transmit images, maps, etc. between Dstar radios.  And the Icom and Kenwood Dstar radios will work in ordinary analog mode too.  I'd say the 90% of the time my Dstar radios are used in analog mode. 

     Digital modes on VHF/UHF have their place in a communications toolkit, but it's just one tool.
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Offline pkveazey

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2018, 05:14:32 PM »
Not really. I think it will be fun to play with once I get it to accept memories and get the talk groups set up. For the small amount of money I spent, I think it was a good investment. With that said, I think that as a SHTF radio, it will be very limited. The worse things get, the more we will move backward in technology so more people will be able to effectively communicate. For instance, when Digital won't work, we will drop back to Analog, then when Analog becomes ineffective, we will drop back to CW and the HF Bands. Putting all our hopes and dreams in having Analog or Digital Linked systems and Internet linking is a bit risky. By the way, the new DM5R is actually the BF5R. The BF5R is the Baofeng that actually will do a proper tier 1 and tier 2 job without creating havoc in the digital mode.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2018, 04:43:07 AM by pkveazey »
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Offline pkveazey

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2018, 04:55:30 AM »
I noticed that the Radio has DM5R on the outside but when you turn it on it reads BF5R on the welcome screen. Hmmmmmm........ That's odd. I do know that when the first DM5R came out it reeked havoc with the Digital repeaters because it transmitted on both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 slots at the same time. Then they supposedly fixed the problem and people weren't setting them up correctly and they still did it. This is the latest version and it is easy to tell it which slot to use. I'm still learning but it is very difficult. The first chance I get, I'll find one of the digital Hams that knows what he's doing and I'll get them to straighten out any messes that I've made in my set up. Now that I have digital UHF and VHF, will I become one of those digital freaks? Hell no! I will be equipped with it if I need it though.
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Offline JohnyMac

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2018, 10:24:45 AM »
Digital radios are becoming the new fun thing especially if a local repeater is a designated Dstar repeater.

On another note, you can use your analog BaoFeng HT and a Fldigi app on your phone to send digital simplex or on a repeater.

My ACS (Auxiliary Communications Services) uses digital on 2-meters as part of other modes (Phone, CW, etc) for communication in an emergency. It is NOT the end all for communication just another tool in your tool box.
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Offline pkveazey

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #6 on: December 26, 2018, 09:12:07 AM »
Well, I've had a bit of time to play around with my dual band digital radio.I sure am glad I didn't pay a lot for it. Digital is the most complex crap on earth. I finally figured out how to program it and it actually works. I talked to a couple of my friends on the local digital repeater and I could hear them and they could hear me. It only took three days to get the damn thing to do that. Am I glad I have it? Yes. Am I glad I didn't spend a ton of money on it? Yes. Am I glad I went with dual band? Yes. Will I be using it a lot? Hell no!
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Offline JohnyMac

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #7 on: December 26, 2018, 06:37:20 PM »
How much hair do you have left pkveazey?  :dance:
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Offline NC Scout

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2019, 09:46:12 AM »
Something to keep in mind with the Baofeng digital units if your thinking of using them in a tactical role:

Originally Romeo Fox and I tossed around the idea of using them for basic encryption for an intersquad radio. They're ok for that. But we used them as cadavers in my Signals Intelligence class. One of the big selling points of digital is not worrying about interference. These are easily jammed with any analog signal, overloading the front end. I was using it at one point (and being jammed by the students) and the radio simply went silent. No other signs of interference noticed, just silent.

Other units, including the well known MD-380, don't have this problem. Otherwise the radio worked very well, and price wise it's not a bad option for simple obscuring of communications.
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Offline pkveazey

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2019, 07:59:52 PM »
Quote from: JohnyMac on December 26, 2018, 06:37:20 PM
How much hair do you have left pkveazey?  :dance:

Actually, even though I'm 73, I have a long ponytail but a high forehead due to thinning hair. What? Why do I have a long ponytail? Well, it's because I'm a musician and its mandatory. The other day, for no apparent reason, my digital Baofeng just quit transmitting on the frequency I use for my local repeater. It took me two days to get it to transmit on that frequency again. It worked fine on all the other freqs but not on that particular one. I even did a reset and nothing happened. Anyway, I copied the info from another repeater into the codeplug for my local repeater and it came back to life. Whatever it was, it had something to do with the talk group because once I matched it to the other repeater, everything was OK again.
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11C1P

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #10 on: August 26, 2019, 06:38:59 PM »
`

OP you got a link to that radio or the model #?  Thanks. :)
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Offline pkveazey

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2019, 02:30:06 PM »
Quote from: 11C1P on August 26, 2019, 06:38:59 PM
`

OP you got a link to that radio or the model #?  Thanks. :)

Try going to to the AMAZON website and search vhf/uhf digital radio. That should get you into the ballpark. I've made a few contacts on my Baofeng DM5R but for a little more money, it seems the MD380 is more preferred. I don't think the MD380 is dual band though.
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Offline pkveazey

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #12 on: August 29, 2019, 02:46:33 AM »
Quote from: pkveazey on January 20, 2019, 07:59:52 PM
Quote from: JohnyMac on December 26, 2018, 06:37:20 PM
How much hair do you have left pkveazey?  :dance:

Actually, even though I'm 73, I have a long ponytail but a high forehead due to thinning hair. What? Why do I have a long ponytail? Well, it's because I'm a musician and its mandatory. The other day, for no apparent reason, my digital Baofeng just quit transmitting on the frequency I use for my local repeater. It took me two days to get it to transmit on that frequency again. It worked fine on all the other freqs but not on that particular one. I even did a reset and nothing happened. Anyway, I copied the info from another repeater into the codeplug for my local repeater and it came back to life. Whatever it was, it had something to do with the talk group because once I matched it to the other repeater, everything was OK again.

OK, here's picture. I have that much hair.

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Offline pkveazey

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Re: Baofeng DM5R digital radio.
« Reply #13 on: August 29, 2019, 03:07:03 AM »
The other night, I heard a HAM calling on the local 440 Mhz digital repeater which is located about 18 miles north of me so I answered him using the 5 watt Baofeng DM5R with a 15" rubber duck antenna. It occasionally dropped out so I screwed on the PL259 adaptor and hooked it up to my outdoor antenna located 40 feet up the tower. No more dropouts. The guy asked me if I was using a hot spot and going through the internet because it was clear, clean, and rock solid. I'm not a fan of Digital DMR but I got one so I wouldn't be totally ignorant of the mode and it also is another way to make contact in a bad situation as long as the repeaters are up and running and the internet is still available. The one feature that I do like is that mine is dual band and it also does Analog FM.
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