Beginner’s Corner

By David Harden, KJ4CMY

I have some more information on the Baofeng UV-5R radio to share this month.  While looking at ham radios on YouTube, I came across this interesting video:

Baofeng UV-5R Review and Set-Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56PvtAqacz8

This should give Baofeng owners (or potential owners) a good look on how to set this radio up, which brings up the topic for this month:

Programming your radio

Assuming that you have purchased a radio, setting up to talk on it would be the next logical step in getting on the air.  You might ask, “How do I go about finding the frequencies to program ino my new radio?”

Glad you asked!  There are several sources. Perhaps the most popular is the ARRL Repeater Directory.

This book comes our every couple years, and is perhaps the most comprehensive source for repeater information.  This book has just about every repeater on every band in the U.S. and Canada.  There is a large edition (shown above), a pocket-sized edition, and an edition on CD-rom.  You can get a copy from Ham Radio Outlet, from the ARRL directly, or from just about any ham radio dealer on the web.  When I first programmed my new HT, I looked up Georgia and located every repeater that looked like it was close to Atlanta, and entered them all.  The nice thing about this repeater directory is that you can find frequencies for anywhere in the country, so when it comes time to travel, you can look up your destination (and cities en-route) and enter them into your radio before you go.

Another great source is the Internet. I looked up one called RepeaterBook.com (http://www.repeaterbook.com/) and found it to be comprehensive. Another site is Artscipub (http://www.artscipub.com/repeaters/).  Also typing something like “Georgia amateur repeaters” or “Atlanta area repeaters” should yield a wealth of sites.

I have found that looking for club web sites will yield a lot of information. Most amateur radio clubs have repeaters, and they will almost always have their repeater information on their site.

Last but not least, ask fellow GARS members.  It is fair to say that nearly every club member has at least one HT, and would be willing to share their list of repeaters with you. Keep in mind that there are a lot of variables between what you might be able to pick up and what other club members have.  Things like location, height, and antenna types will change from ham to ham.

Don’t forget to enter the simplex frequencies, as well. 

73 de David, KJ4CMY!