The latest version of the Bao Feng UV5R

[pkveazey]

In order to pacify the FCC, Bao Feng has started selling the latest UV 5R Handi-Talkies with limited Transmit capabilities 144 to 148 on 2 meters VHF and 420 to 450 on 440 UHF. Well, that's going to suck if I want to use Marine Band, MURS, FRS, and Ham Bands. Yesterday, I went through the AMAZON ads and found some of the older wide open versions of the UV5R's and ordered a whole bunch of them. They have a deal of 6 complete radios with all the accessories for $128. Yea, I know, I should have bought 12 instead of 6. When they arrive, I'll program all of them and they will be held in reserve for passing out to my neighbors for when the SHTF. Most of the latest one's that I bought are tri-power 8 watts but for the short distance that we'll need, the 5 watters will be more than strong enough. If you want full capability HT's, you might want to order some like I ordered. Just read the fine print to make sure they aren't limited to just the Ham Bands.

[pkveazey]

I couldn't stand it any longer. I'm waiting to receive my six UV5R radios that haven't been limited to 144-148 Mhz and 420-450 Mhz. They come with all the accessories for each radio. I explained to my wife, who also is a Ham, that these radios haven't been frequency limited. I asked her what she thought about me ordering 6 more. That would give me a total of 12 more to add to the bunch that I already have. You get 6 complete radios for $128. She said "Go for it". Somebody is going to ask, "What about extra battery packs?" I'm way ahead of you. I've got a whole bunch of 1800 and 3600 Milli-Amp Hour batteries. I think we are getting way too close to SHTF and I feel that I have to be ready to start handing out preprogrammed radios to my neighbors. I'm holding off on even discussing SHTF with them until it becomes obvious to them that things have gone South. I don't know all of my neighbors but I do know about 1/2 of them and when the time comes, I plan to pass out radios and cheat sheets that explain what they can and cannot legally do with them. If they don't own a gun, they ain't getting any radio. My plan is one radio per household and if they want to buy extra radios and extra batteries, they can buy them from AMAZON if they are still available. I have created a CHIRP file labeled DISASTER that I can use to quickly program all the radios. The DISASTER radios will have NOAA weather frequencies, Marine Band, FRS, MURS, a few analog Government frequencies like MEDFLIGHT, local FIRE & RESCUE, and even some of the local Ham repeater frequencies. I'm still toying with the idea of locking the TX functions on the Ham frequencies. If any of my neighbors decide to become Hams, then unlocking those frequencies is pretty easy.

[Felix]

Lord have mercy.  I just received my radio/computer cable _today_ and am still trying to figure out CHIRP for programing.  My five (ONLY FIVE!!!) radios are the old ones, not disabled.  Guess I'll be able to flout rules with the best of them should things get crazy.  And I have Jack Lawsons Civil Defense Manual with extensive list of emergency radio frequencies.  Suggestions on how many frequencies to program in for monitoring what's happening?   But not make it unwieldy for novices (myself and the other four) in neighborhood who would get a radio?
How many presets to select for talking among ourselves without leading to confusion if we need to switch frequencies?

[pkveazey]

Lord have mercy.  I just received my radio/computer cable _today_ and am still trying to figure out CHIRP for programing.  My five (ONLY FIVE!!!) radios are the old ones, not disabled.  Guess I'll be able to flout rules with the best of them should things get crazy.  And I have Jack Lawsons Civil Defense Manual with extensive list of emergency radio frequencies.  Suggestions on how many frequencies to program in for monitoring what's happening?   But not make it unwieldy for novices (myself and the other four) in neighborhood who would get a radio?
How many presets to select for talking among ourselves without leading to confusion if we need to switch frequencies?

Once you figure out CHIRP, you'll think all the other programs are impossible. CHIRP is actually very easy as long as you don't try to just load somebody else's file directly into your radio. Open up the CHIRP program, plug the USB cable into your computer, plug the other end of the USB cable into the radio, then turn the radio on. Do it in that order. Then left click on RADIO at the top of the screen. Then left click on Download from Radio. Then a screen will pop up that wants to know the PORT. Just ignore that one at first. Then left click on Vendor and then left click on BAOFENG. Then left click on Model and then left click on the UV5R if that's what model you have. Now, as to the PORT. The computer probably assigned it to a proper port all by itself and if a shows something like COM3, then that's probably correct. Don't change it unless it doesn't work for you. Then left click on OK and it probably will ask you some stupid questions about if you want to still proceed. Just click yes. Then it should a light on the radio should start blinking and you'll have to wait until it is finished. At that point you will have a proper worksheet to enter all your frequencies and settings. Once you've entered all the information onto the worksheet, then go back up to the top where it says RADIO and left click on upload to radio and the light should start blinking again and you'll have to wait until it has finished. Once you get to that point, left click on "File" and "Save As" and give the file a name and then left click on SAVE at the bottom right of the Box. Then you are done and can retrieve that file anytime you want in the future and then you can copy and paste the contents into another radio. DON"T JUST BRING THAT FILE UP AND DUMP IT STRAIGHT INTO ANOTHER RADIO. If you do and the FIRMWARE isn't exactly like the first radio then it will bugger up the second radio. There is a cure but its a real BITCH to fix.