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The "Mk I", "Mk II" thing is from one of the suppliers, not Baofeng's designation.  The "Mk II" has a dual freq display and 18 or 19 menu items, instead of just 12.  The reason I say 18 or 19, they quickly added one more menu item after going to the dual display.

Antennas... you can do better than the stock rubber ducky.  I did some actual on-the-road testing.  Let me skip all the details and just  say, for the UV-3R, get a Nagoya NA-701.  Make sure you get the one with Male SMA connection.  They also have the same antenna with female SMA and BNC.  Male SMA is required for the UV-3R.

There is also a NA-702... don't get it.  A dog.  Get the 701.

The NA-701 added about 3 miles to my range.

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The radio is cosmetically similar to a TYT TH-F8, but those rigs are single-band. So even if they share a mold, the Baofeng UV-5R got some different chips. I'm still not sure who really makes them.

I hope some of you may find the following links interesting/useful:

UV-5R Annoucement & TYT Notes
UV-5R Specs and Pics
UV-5R First Look Video
UV-5R Alphatags
UV-5R Size Comparison - UV-3R and Wouxun KG-UVD1P
UV-5R Programming Repeater Memory
UV-5R Manual

(And thanks for the compliment.)

Cheers,
B

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Really liking this little radio...   pretty active yahoo user group...

just ordered a second one and the programming cable.. to play with the program/ing.. but impressed with the features so far...

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am I the only one who thinks these are uglier than Sarah Jessica Parker?

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How has your audio been?  I'm just about to pull the trigger on one.

Vulcan94

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A follow-up note on the Alphatags. In the software you are limited to 6 characters, but the display will handle 7.

You can manually edit the .dat file and add the seventh character.

Baofeng UV-5R: Alphatags 7 Characters Hack

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And a follow-up to my follow-up...the CHIRP software now supports the 7 character alpha tags. If you haven't heard of CHIRP, it is a universal radio programming app. It won't program every feature of every radio, but it makes loading a standard set of frequencies very easy.

Direct link to CHIRP: http://chirp.danplanet.com/

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And a follow-up to my follow-up...the CHIRP software now supports the 7 character alpha tags. If you haven't heard of CHIRP, it is a universal radio programming app. It won't program every feature of every radio, but it makes loading a standard set of frequencies very easy.



Direct link to CHIRP: http://chirp.danplanet.com/

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This is a new HT, the Baofeng UV-5R.   http://www.radioshop888.com/radioshop_product.php?id=104276

I have purchased three of the UV-3Rs so far, one for me, two for friends.  These are nice little radios considering the giveaway price.

But this is new, the UV-5R.  It has a keypad, but not DTMF tones.  Power is 4 w vs. the UV-3R's 2 w.  

Unlike the UV-3R, this newer model charges in the charging base.

All this for just a few bucks more than the UV-3R.

Some very interesting little radios!


ETA:  It does have DTMF.

 CAREFULLY drilling out the mike hole in the case with a 3/64" drill bit. DON'T DRILL DEEP ENOUGH TO HIT THE MIKE ELEMENT.

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On another note, I've noticed (in typical BaoFeng fashion) there are now two additional models available: a UV-5R+ and a UV-5RC. Aside from cosmetic differences (that inhibit, but not PROhibit, the use of the extended battery) and new firmware, does anybody have any hands-on with the new units? Significant differences?

Originally sent to me by email

How to program the Baofeng UV-5R manually:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Ze-0C9qJs

In all cases, you must program the UV-5R while in VFO, or "Frequency Mode".  And you must program from the upper line, that is, the A line, of the display.  There will be a "cursor" present on the left side of the line that is active.  This is chosen with the A/B button.

The programming sequence is, Menu (to enter Menu mode), then Up or Dn button (or enter the menu number via keypad) to get to the Submenu you want to change. Once there, press Menu again, and use the keypad (such as setting tones) or Up or Dn buttons to make the changes you want.  When you have it set the way you want, press Menu again, then press Exit.  The radio will say "confirm".

Also, set the Band button for the band you wish to program, VHF or UHF.  Now continue with the video.

BUT...

at 01:26, do NOT enter tones in Submenu 11, R-CTCS.  That is receive squelch tones.  Not all repeaters retransmit the tone from the station talking on the repeater.  If you enter a tone in Submenu 11 the radio will only un-squelch if it receives that tone.  This can be handy if you live in an area halfway between two repeaters on the same frequency, but only want to listen to one or the other.  Those repeaters will likely use different tones.

You COULD set up, in that case, one Channel with that frequency, and the tone for repeater A, and another Channel with the same frequency, but the tone for repeater B.  But for the most part, do not activate Submenu 11.  With this rare exception, you should leave it Off.  Likewise, set Submenu 10, R-DCS, to Off.

At 01:55, Submenu 13, T-CTCS (transmit tone), this is the tone your radio must transmit, and the repeater must hear, in order to activate the repeater.  This is not used on all repeaters.  If you set a tone, and your repeater does not require a CTCS tone, your radio will still work the repeater.  However, if your repeater requires a tone, and you do not set a tone, or set the wrong tone, the repeater will not work.  Set Submenu, T-CTCS accordingly, Off for no tone, or to whatever tone required.

Before you start programming there are some settings I suggest.

This radio has "Dual Watch".  That means you can have the upper, or A line set to one channel, and the lower, or B line to another channel, and the radio will switch back and forth to whichever is active.  That is a pain in the drain.  I suggest you set Submenu 7 to 0, which is Off.

Next, Submenu 1, tuning step... I suggest setting to 5 khz.  The UV-5R can go down to 2.5 khz steps, but that is not needed.

Submenu 2, power, set to High (appx 5 watts) or Low (appx 1 watt) as you wish.  I have mine set to High, and can toggle it down or back up at any time, without going into the menu, with the # button, lower right on the keypad.  There is an L (for Low) present on the screen when set to Low.

Submenu 3, Battery Save, set to Off.

Submenu 4, VOX.  Voice Operated... this means it will transmit just from your voice, or other sounds, without using PTT button.  Set this to Off.

Submenu 5, WN (Wide-Narrow bandwidth).  For ham use, set this to W (Wide).

Submenu 6, ABR, display illumination timer.  The number is the number of seconds the display stays lit.  Normally set it to 5 (5 seconds).

Submenu 7, we set already to Off.

Submenu 8, Keypad Beep.  If you want it to beep every time you press a button, set this on.  If that constant beeping irritates you, as it does me, set to Off.

Submenu 9, TOT, Time Out Timer.  This cuts off transmission after so many seconds.  This is good, and will keep from hanging the repeater open if PTT gets stuck on, jams down between the seat and console resting on the PTT, etc.  I set mine to 90 seconds.

Submenus 10, 11, 12, 13, discussed in the video and above.

Submenu 14, voice prompt.  Choices are Chinese, English, or Off.  I set to English.

Submenus 15, 16, 17, 18, ignore unless you have a use for these.

Submenu 19, PTT-ID, set to Off.

The following two Submenus determine how the A and B lines read in channel mode... Frequency, Channel Number, or Name.  You can only put in an alpha-numeric name via software.  With software you could name CH-003, which is the Smithtown Repeater, SMTHTN, and the Jonesville Repeater as JNSVIL.  This requires software programming.

Submenu 21, MDF-A (In channel mode, how Line A reads, Freq, Ch, or Name)
Submenu 22, MDF-B (In channel mode, how Line B reads, Freq, Ch, or Name)

Submenu 29,30,31, leave as they are.  These choose color of backlight for RX, TX, etc.
Submenu 32, set to 0 (Site)  This setting prevents the radio from transmitting the alarm siren sound, it will only sound on the speaker, not on the air.  There is no way to disable this completely.

Submenu 34, set to 0 (Off)

Tail tone stuff, set as follows:

Submenu 35, set to 0 (Off)
Submenu 36, set to 0 (Off)
Submenu 37, set to 0 (Off)
Submenu 39, set to 0 (Off) ("roger beep")

Make all of these settings FIRST. Then proceed to programming your Channel Memories as per the video.

When in Channel Mode, you may navigate to a channel via the Up and Dn buttons OR by pressing three digits for the channel number.  That is, Channel 3 is entered as 003.

In Frequency Mode, if you are entering numbers and it keeps screwing up when you punch in the last digit, check that you have the Band toggled correctly.  That is, if entering 146.520, as you hit the 0, it won't take it, you probably have the Band set for UHF instead of VHF.

You cannot easily edit a channel once it is entered into memory.  The best thing to do is use Submenu 28 to delete that channel number you wish to change, then program that channel from scratch and enter it via Submenu 27 as per the video.



"Setting the Wide/Narrow (Submenu 5) to Narrow will give weak audio if everyone else is Wide band.  For ham use, it should be set to Wide."

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The computer runs on windows xp. As far as the cable, the secretary ordered it from Amazon and I'm not sure which one it is.

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I also ordered one from Amazon last week and It's supposed to be here tomorrow. For the price, it may be worth while to get a second one as a backup.

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just realized AFM began this thread...miss that dude!

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

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I've got 3 of these little jewells and love them.

My question is, what has been your experience with battery life.

I know that you can get larger extended use batteries that fit.

Does anyone make an adapter that you could use regular batteries if necessary?

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There's also apparently a UV-5RE.  They look to just be different outside case/housing designs, since button layout and positions look to be the same.

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Not to derail, but what happened?

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Thanks to all who contributed to this thread, came over here to ask about this very radio, not a ham myself, but seemed smart to buy a receiver at least so I could listen in if there were an emergency in my area.

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I also found a 5RA.





I'm very interested in this HT, but what revision is best?





ETA:  The RA and R+ both say "2013 latest version"