$40 BaoFeng UV-5R Dual-Band Handhelds

[EricM]

Can the uv-5r pick up fm radio also?

Yes, you just press the orange "call" button and it says "FM" in the display. It covers two ranges, a lower 65-79 and higher 76-109 ish. Just hit the scan button on the keypad to change frequencies, you can not save any Chanel's though.

If you press and hold the "call" button it has an alarm. It makes an alarm sound and flashes the led flashlight.

 

[Nick in Ca]

Yes, you just press the orange "call" button and it says "FM" in the display. It covers two ranges, a lower 65-79 and higher 76-109 ish. Just hit the scan button on the keypad to change frequencies, you can not save any Chanel's though.

If you press and hold the "call" button it has an alarm. It makes an alarm sound and flashes the led flashlight.

And that alarm will transmit on whatever freq you have selected as your transmit. We found that out playin around with them, and got in a little trouble.:yikes:

 

[SteveG]

I just got a pair these yesterday... LOVE them. I'm sure this has already been covered but these are some damn nice little radios and dirt cheap to boot. I can already see these are going to get a TON of use.

 

[Kiddmen57]

I just got a pair these yesterday... LOVE them. I'm sure this has already been covered but these are some damn nice little radios and dirt cheap to boot. I can already see these are going to get a TON of use.

They are sweet, but I did find out some limitations. If you are in a tight vehicle with lots of metal surrounding you, the rubber ducky antennas dont reach very far at all, think less than a mile. They do make a $15 external mag antenna that really helps if you find that you dont get out too far using the supplied antenna.

For the money thought they are very hard to beat for trail comms.

 

[Lono]

Quick and dirty 30 second review: Got mine last week. Impressed with the quality and the features for the money. Not chintzy cheap feeling at all, but also obviously not the same feel as comparably sized Yaesus and Icoms. May be best sized handheld I've used, right in between my VX-7R and VX-3R.

Quick-take downside: I can't seem to get in to my local repeater on it, even at full transmit power. I have 100% connectivity into the repeater on both of my handheld Yaesus, even the baby one. I have swapped out the stock antenna with a Diamond RH951S but to no avail. Haven't had a chance to try out range on simplex. I didn't expect much, but I did expect to be able to get into the repeater near my home, especially once the bigger antenna went on the radio. As mentioned, may be a great trail radio. I have no complaints for the money though.

Just my two cents.

Steve

 

[SteveG]

They are sweet, but I did find out some limitations. If you are in a tight vehicle with lots of metal surrounding you, the rubber ducky antennas dont reach very far at all, think less than a mile. They do make a $15 external mag antenna that really helps if you find that you dont get out too far using the supplied antenna.

My goal with these was to have something to hand to another car in my group that has no radio... perfect for that. I figured the range wouldn't be great in a car... I do have a spare roof antenna and mag mount to loan, too, though.

For the money thought they are very hard to beat for trail comms.

Agreed!

 

[Vicreo A Legarreta]

Quick and dirty 30 second review: Got mine last week. Impressed with the quality and the features for the money. Not chintzy cheap feeling at all, but also obviously not the same feel as comparably sized Yaesus and Icoms. May be best sized handheld I've used, right in between my VX-7R and VX-3R.

Quick-take downside: I can't seem to get in to my local repeater on it, even at full transmit power. I have 100% connectivity into the repeater on both of my handheld Yaesus, even the baby one. I have swapped out the stock antenna with a Diamond RH951S but to no avail. Haven't had a chance to try out range on simplex. I didn't expect much, but I did expect to be able to get into the repeater near my home, especially once the bigger antenna went on the radio. As mentioned, may be a great trail radio. I have no complaints for the money though.

Just my two cents.

Steve

i was in whit the same problem, got me a retech RHA 701 from ebay for 10 dll that scott recommend to me, now I can hit my repeater at 35 miles with no problem.

 

[Lono]

Full disclosure: I am an idiot. It just occurred to me that the reason I couldn't get into the repeater was because I didn't program the repeater offset. Been so long since I got a new radio, or programmed in a new repeater to my old ones that it just totally didn't occur to me. I programmed it manually, without the CHIRP and cable setup. Not so bad to do, just a few steps really.

I just programmed in the proper offset, and I seem to getting into the repeater fine, although nobody seems to be on the air locally this morning.

 

[jerdog53]

I am really having problems with this!

I'm on a MAC

I cannot get this computer to see the radio using CHIRP

I have downloaded the driver for the cable and installed with restart and nothing happens.

I can't figure out how to configure the port, all my google searches have been unhelpful and I have no clue.

 

[zigsrig]

Make sure you have the correct programming cable. The knock off cables don't want to work with mac's. I went thought 3 dirrent cables before I found one that works with my MacBook and chirp and my uv-5r.

I also use chirp to program my other radio (ic-2820h) and it has worked every time with the cable that came with the radio when I bought it.

No need for correcting the port on a Mac, that is for windows only.

Pm me if you have more questions.

I am really having problems with this!

I'm on a MAC

I cannot get this computer to see the radio using CHIRP

I have downloaded the driver for the cable and installed with restart and nothing happens.

I can't figure out how to configure the port, all my google searches have been unhelpful and I have no clue.

 

[jerdog53]

Well the cable is a BaoFeng labeled cable but thats all I know about it.

 

[Kiddmen57]

I am really having problems with this!

I'm on a MAC

I cannot get this computer to see the radio using CHIRP

I have downloaded the driver for the cable and installed with restart and nothing happens.

I can't figure out how to configure the port, all my google searches have been unhelpful and I have no clue.

Ruh Roh - not something I want to hear! I just bought a MAC and haven't fully switched over yet. Was planning on killing the PC HD and selling the remains, maybe I better think about keeping it for a while to make sure everything works OK. Out of curiosity, do you have windows dual boot option? Have you tried it there? I have the option to boot into windows 7 so if the OSX doesn't work, maybe the Win7 will? My el cheapo amazon cable worked fine on the PC after switching the COMM ports.

 

[jerdog53]

Well I broke down and used the wife's PC and was able to connect and get the radio programed.

 

[nckwltn]

I'm on a mac, and I think I have the knock off cable. there are a few special things you need to type in at the terminal to make the cable work. I don't remember where I found it, possibly a link from the chirp website. Do some google'n, you'll find it.

 

[abruzzi]

I tried a bunch of different drivers on OSX 10.9, but this one finally worked:

http://sdrv.ms/1g8iA2N