Beginner’s Corner September 2014
A Birthday Gift!
I recently received a nice birthday gift, a Baofeng UV-5R two meter/440 HT (handy-talkie).
Thank you KK4VLR! Well, I was elated to receive it, and decided to give it a first hand review. Up until now, I had to rely on the thoughts from others on this radio.
Upon opening the box it came in, I noticed that it has a metal case. Even my much more expensive Kenwood HT has a plastic case. I was impressed. The second thing that impressed me was that I did not have to charge the battery. It was charged right out of the box. There is nothing so aggravating as getting a new radio and than having to wait until the next day for the battery to charge so that you can use it. I had this with my very first HT. Grrrr! I don’t know if they all come like that, but mine did. This is a small radio that fits in a shirt pocket. The makers packed a lot of radio into a small size and did a good job at it.
Apparently you have to change the language of the voice in the radio to English on some of the Baofengs, but mine came already set for English. It is a pleasure to hear the radio tell you what buttons you are pushing. This radio would be great for a print handicapped person. You have two modes, channel or frequency. I punched in the frequency for the national VHF simples calling channel, 146.520. yes, you have to punch in the last zero for the radio to recognize the frequency, but that is only a minor annoyance. We had to set the spacing, because when I punched in the numbers, they came up as 146.500, even though the radio said 146.520. Thanks to Allison, KK4VLR who helped me correct this problem.
OK, let’s get on the air! KK4VLR and W5RQR both have Baofengs. We were together on a Saturday morning when I received my gift. We all went outside and were able to get on the air. What fun getting a new rig and getting on the air with it within 30 minutes! Try that with a more expensive HT. Oh, yes, this radio receives FM broadcasts and has a built in flashlight.
Warning: if you are a new ham, this radio does take a bit of getting used to. You will most certainly be frustrated trying to operate the radio by yourself. Get an Elmer to help you! Numerous GARS members have Baofengs, and will be willing to help.
I have heard that you should not read the manual. I would certainly not follow anything past page 08. The first few pages are the only useful ones.
Programming the radio.
I wanted to get something more than the calling channel into the radio. I was given the programming cable, which contained a mini CD labeled “Driver”. I popped it into my computer, and looked for Baofeng. Nothing. I looked at the “Read Me” file, but it was all in Chinese. Since I do not speak Chinese, it was useless to me.
Go to the web site http://miklor.com/ . There is a lot of good information there.
I found the proper driver, and a whole lot of valuable information.
I am still learning how to program it. We will have more on that later.
73,
de David Harden, KJ4CMY