Frequency coverage update 2023:
Baofeng radios are often advertised as covering VHF 136-174MHz / UHF 400-480MHz, transmit and receive. However, they have now been set at the factory to cover VHF 144.00 – 145.997 / UHF 430.00 to 439.997. They will not transmit or receive outside these amateur bands. A factory reset will not open up the radio. The only option is to connect your Baofeng to your PC and program the radio that way.
Manual Programming:
0 SQL: squelch level: 0-9
1 STEP: frequency step: 0 2.5, 1 5, 2 6.25, 3 10, 4 12.5, 5 25
2 TXP: transmit power: 0 high, 1 low
3 SAVE: battery save: 0 off, 1 1:1, 2 1:2, 3 1:3, 4 1:4
4 VOX: 0 off, 1-10
5 WN: wideband/narrowband: 0 wide, 1 narrow
6 ABR: display illumination: 0 off, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 seconds
7 TDR: dual watch reception: 0 off, 1 on
8 BEEP: keypad beep: 0 off, 1 on
9 TOT: transmission timer: 0 15, 1 30, 2 45, 3 60, … 585 and 600 seconds in 15-second increments
10 R-DCS: reception digital coded squelch
11 R-CTCS: reception continuous tone coded squelch
12 T-DCS: transmission digital coded squelch
13 T-CTCS: transmission continuous tone coded squelch
14 VOICE: voice prompt: 0 off, 1 on (older versions), 0 off, 1 English, 2 Chinese (Newer versions)
15 ANI-ID, automatic number identification of the radio: can only be set by pc software
16 DTMFST: DTMF tone of transmitting code: 0 off, 1 dt-st, 2 ani-st, 3 dt+ani
17 S-CODE: signal code: only could be set by pc software
18 SC-REV: scan resume method: 0 TO, 1 CO, 2 SE
19 PTT-ID: push to talk id: 0 off, 1 bot, 2 eot, 3 both
20 PTT-LT: delay the signal code sending, 0-30 Ms
21 MDF-A: (under channel mode the channel displays): 0 frequency, 1 channel number, 2 name (name is only programmable via programming software)
22 MDF-B: same as menu 21, for b band
23 BCL: busy channel lockout: 0 off, 1 on. [Note: This doesn’t lock out a channel from memory scan. It prevents transmitting on a busy channel and is programmed on a per channel basis.]
24 AUTOLK: keypad locked automatically: 0 off, 1 on
25 SFT-D: direction of frequency shift: 0 off, 1 plus, 2 minus
26 OFFSET: frequency shift: 0-69.990 MHz
27 MEM-CH: store memory channels: 000-127
28 DEL-CH: delete memory channel: 000-127
29 WT-LED: illumination display colour of stand by: 0 off, 1 blue, 2 orange, 3 purple
30 RX-LED: illumination display colour of reception: 0 off, 1 blue, 2 orange, 3 purple
31 TX-LED: illumination display colour of transmission: 0 off, 1 blue, 2 orange, 3 purple
32 AL-MOD: alarm mode: 0 site, 1 tone, 2 code
33 BAND: band selection: 0 VHF, 1 UHF
34 TDR-AB: transmit+ selection while in dual watch/reception: 0 off, 1 a, 2 b
35 STE: tail tone elimination: 0 off; 1 on
36 RP-STE: tail tone elimination in communication through repeater: 0 off; 1-10
37 RPT-RL: delay of tail tone of repeater: 0 off; 1-10
38 PONMSG: boot display: 0 full; 1 mgs
39 ROGER: tone end of transmission: 0 off; 1 on
40 RESET: restore to default setting: 0 VFO; 1 all
Computer Programming:
Having downloaded Chirp, I’ve now programmed all six of my Baofeng UV-5R radios. Yes, I have six! One for amateur radio. One for PMR446. One for VHF marine. One for business channels… and so it goes on.
Manual here.