Boafeng UV-5R: Tests for Common Problems

From Jaap via the UV-5R Yahoo Group:

Off frequency receiver test:
-Tune in to a station with a known transmit frequency
-Note original receiving frequency
-Set the step size to 2.5 khz
-Increase receiving frequency until squelch blocks signal
-Note (upper) frequency
-Decrease receiving frequency until squelch block signal
-Note (lower) frequency
-Add upper and lower frequency and divide by 2
-Compare outcome and original  receiving frequency
-If they are not the same, your radio has the bug

Overheating and blurred display test:
-Set the radio to HIGH power
-Start regular communication 
-The radio might get hot; first noticeable at the top screws at the back of the radio
-The display might get blurred when the radio gets hot

No CTCSS low frequency scanning test:
-Program a channel with a CTCSS decode of a tome below 100hz for a known receiving frequency with this tone encoded
-Start scanning
-When the radio stops at the receiving frequency during reception of an encoded signal, the bug is not there

TYT TH-UV3R: Display and Colors

A quick review on the TYT Yahoo Group... looks like all these Chinese radios are going to be available in colors and I am slightly disappointed it doesn't have the reverse display.

"Noteworthy is the size of the unit is almost identical to the Baofeng UV-3R radios just a little thicker (side by side photos of the Wouxun KG-UVD1, Baofeng UV-5R, TYT and the Baofeng unit). Another photo of the back of the box seems to indicate 4 colors are available. Unlike the brochure photos the display is the standard lcd (not the reverse image as pictured in the ad)."

Game of Thrones + US Politics

If you like Game of Thrones and are paying attention to US Politics, you will laugh. I don't agree with all of them, but "Winter is coming" = climate change is hilarious.

Want

I may just have to go buy an iPad.

arrington I'll probably never buy an actual laptop again. kickstarter.com/projects/55250…Thu, Apr 26 18:16:55 from web

No More Ribbit

Tim, WB4GBI, posted a note about his 900 MHz repeater on his blog. but what caught my eye was this note:

"And on a final note, while at the repeater site, after taking care of a couple of matters for the " Frog," (that's the nickname of the radio station whose tower we share), I was also able to complete some work on the 146.94 repeater which removed the FM broadcast audio from the repeater audio. Now I know some will be disappointed that they can no longer hear the faint country music on 146.94, They can tune to 107.7 and hear it for real."

It is the end of an era.

Cloud Storage

Between Dropbox (3 GB), Microsoft's SkyDrive (25 GB), and Google Drive (5 GB), I've got more cloud storage than I can use at the moment. Whatever you use, be sure to encrypt any sensitive files before you upload them - or don't upload them at all.

BTW - if you've been using SkyDrive, make sure to claim your 25 GB before it drops to 7 GB.

Baofeng UV-5R: Ronson UV-8R

Despite a box that looks like it says 7W in the video and on the 409Shop listing, the specs for the Ronson UV-8R say it is 5W. The HT is $56 USD. Also, I noticed the description calls it a UV-5R as the Item Number.

RONSON UV-8R BLACK 5W Dual Band 136-174/400-480MHZ

VHF/ UHF  DUAL-BAND TWO WAY RADIO

Frequency Range: 136-174 / 400-480MHz

Dual-Band Display, Dual Freq. Display, Dual-Standby
Output Power: 4 /1Watts
128 Channels
50 CTCSS and 104 CDCSS
Built-in VOX Function
1750Hz Brust Tone
FM Radio (65.0MHz-108.0MHz)
LED Flashlight
Large LCD Display
Hight /Low RF Power Switchable
25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable
Emergency Alert
Low Battery Alert
Battery Saver
Time-out Timer
Keypad Lock
Monitor Channel
Channel Step: 2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25KHz
ROGER SET

■ Dual band, dual display, dual standby
■ A/B band independent operation
■ 128 groups channels storage
■ Shortcut menu operation mode
■ VFO & Memory channels scan
■ Emergency Alarm
■ Tri-color background light selectable
■ 0~9 grades VOX selectable
■ PTT & ANI ID
■ FM radio and 25 stations storage
■ Voice companding
■ 50 CTCSS/104 DCS
■ PC programmable
■ Wide/Narrow Band(25kHz/12.5kHz)
■ Transmitter time-out timer(TOT)
■ High/Low TX power selectable
■ Busy channel lock-out(BCLO)

Specifications:
Item number UV-5R
General
Frequency Range 65-108MHz(FM Receive only)
136-174MHZ and 400-480HZ (TX/RX)
Channel No. 128
Frequency Stability ±2.5ppm
Antenna High gain DualBand antenna
Antenna Impedance 50Ω
Operating Voltage DC 7.4V
Mode of operation Simple or semi-duplex
Dimension（W x H x D） 100 x 52 x 32 mm
Weight 250g（including battery, antenna）
Transmitter
Output power 4W / 1W (Max 5W)
Modulation Mode 16kΦF3E / 11kΦF3E
Maximum deviation ＜5kHz(Wide) / ＜2.5kHz(Narrow)
Spurious Radiation ＜7μW
Adjacent Ch. power ≤-65dB(Wide) / ≤-60dB(Narrow)
Pre-emphasis characteristics 6dB
Current ≤1.6A(5W)
CTCSS/DCS deviation 0.5±0.1kHz(Wide) / 0.3±0.1kHz(Narrow)
Intermediation sensitivity 8-12mv
Intermediation distortion ＜10%

Earpiece / mic type : Kenwood Plug type
Antenna : SMA -Female

Via Steve (KF9ZA).

TYT TH-UV3R: 409Shop

I didn't give any details this morning when I posted the video, but Steve (KF9ZA) sent me the link to the 409Shop listing - so info below. 409Shop has the TH-UV3R for $55 USD. (KightRadio is $69.95 USD. I did not see a price on ImportCommunications, but did notice Ed says it will be available in red.)

TH-UV3R
Dual Band Radio 136-174 & 400-470 MHz

1. Dual Band 136-174 & 400-470 MHz
2. FM Broadcast Receive
3. Wide Band / Narrow Band
4. 128 Channels
5. 2.5 Watts High Power -- 0.8 Watts Low Power
6. Full Keypad
7. CTCSS  --  DCS
8. USB Chargable Li-ion Battery
9. 1750 Tone
10. Computer Programmable
11. Alpha Name Tags
12. Dimensions (not inc antenna) 3.62 x 1.89 x 0.94 inches
13. Voice/Beep/OFF

Baofeng UV-5R: Ronson UV-8R

So, we have the Baofeng UV-5R, the Waccom UV-5R, the original TYT TH-F8, and now the Ronson UV-8R that looks like the other radios, but claims to be a7W dual-band HT. I don't see the radio on the 409Shop.com site yet so no price or other details..

TYT TH-UV3R: First Look Video

Do I see a standard USB plug on the side of the TH-UV-3R?

TeleTweet

Google Tap comes one step closer to reality with this iPhone Morse Code Twitter app - TeleTweet.

TYT TH-UV3R: DTMF

An e-mail from Ed at Import Communications:

"I wanted to inform you on the progress of the TYT radio.  Part of the delay is the original design did not have DTMF tone capability.  This is something I informed TYT was really needed.  They had to manufacture a totally new circuit board to add this, but they did it.  The radios are being assembled right now and the shipment will be made by the end of April.  I'll be the first US dealer with this radio and I'm pretty excited about it.

When the TH-UV3R stock arrives, you will receive another email letting you know it's available to order.

73
Ed
www.TH-UV3R.com"

Pretty glad to see he has some influence on the manufacturer.

TYT TH-9000: Remote Disable

Pretty cool demonstration of the remote disable (stun) of the TYT TH-9000. Special guest appearance by the UV-5R sending the DTMF tones.



DranoWeb (or on Facebook)

Free Zombie Book

Mad Ogre is giving away a free e-version of his Zombie thriller Uprising USA.

I have not read the whole thing, but I am about 10% in and I can tell you it is a radical departure from your common zombie book where the survivors panic and try to make it easy to be bitten.

Here is the condensed versions of what I read so far - minus the actual zombie shooting:

"Ho, hum, the zombie apocalypse is here. Grab the guns and let's head over to the gun shop to pick up more ammo. We should probably round up the rest of our family, too. We can grab a sandwich and a Mountain Dew while we are out."

It makes for a fun read when people aren't just running around advertising themselves as zombie bait. Maybe these characters are a little too calm and collected, but it has been a cool read so far.

Wouxun KG-UV6D: FCC Update

There are some new entries on the FCC site for Quanzhou Wouxun Electronics Co., Ltd. (Go the the FFC site here and type WVT for Wouxun in the "Grantee Code" field to see all the files.) I was hoping to see a new entry for the KG-UV920R, but, alas, no. Looks like they want all models of their radios to share the same FCC ID. From the cover letter:

"We declared, added models KG-UVD1P, KG-UVD1P V2, KG-UV2D, KG-UV2D V2, KGUV3D, KG-UV3D V2, KG-UV5D, KG-UV5D V2, KG-UV6D V2, KG-UV6D-E, KG-UV6D-A, KG-UV6D-R, KG-UV6X, KG-UV7D, KG-UV7D V2, KG-UV8D, KG-UV8D V2, KG-UV9D, KG-UV9D V2, KG-UVA1, KG-UVA1 V2, KG-UVA2, KG-UVA2 V2 basis of the original models KG-UV6D. These models are identical circuit, PCB LAYOUT to the original model, only the appearance and name are different. All models sharing the same FCC ID without permissive change would be electrically identical."

Baofeng UV-3R: + Plus in Colors Now

Now in Red, Yellow, Camo, and Blue at the 409Shop.

 

 


Thanks to Steve (KF9ZA) for the tip!

TYT TH-UV3R: Available Now

Kight Radio has updated their web page and says the TH-UV3R is "available now" with "delivery in 10 days or less."

Import Communications still lists the radio as "coming soon."

Baofeng UV-5R: TYT Spare Batteries

Hans compares the TYT TH-F8 and Baofeng UV-5R batteries. The batteries appear to be the same except for a slight weight difference and some cosmetic molding. And despite the different rated capacities, he suspects they may be identical internally. He's going to do some more looking, but if that is true then the TYT battery is a much better deal at $4 less than the Baofeng. Looks like the Baofeng brand is beginning to be worth something.

Game of Thrones: Religions of Westeros

This video is a good review of the religions in Westeros from the A Song of Ice and Fire series of books and the HBO Game of Thrones TV series. One of my favorite things about the books is how tightly the culture, geography, religion, fashion, and architecture are tied together.

 

Literati

The Kindle Index: e-Literacy in America:

"To identify the most electronically literate places in America, we analyzed the Priceonomics database of eight million electronics for sale by city. We examined how prevalent the Amazon Kindle was by city to rank how popular e-reading was across the nation (we also examined Nook sales, which didn’t change the results). To our surprise, the most populous and culturally-reputed cities in America did not rank among the most digitally literate."

Emphasis is mine. I can explain this. They are counting Kindles as a proxy for literacy. Hipsters have iPads - not Kindles. Hipsters live in big cities.

107 Days

I missed it by a little, but good news anyway... you have now worked enough days (107) to pay your taxes for the year. You can now use the rest to buy frivolous things like food and shelter.

Macs Stink

Despite what some will tell you, Macs stink and stink some more.

And they smell, too.

(I really don't have any problems with Macs - I just cannot let go of the statement by a co-worker at a sister company that they are "impervious" to viruses.)

Baofeng UV-5R: Off Frequency Receive Problem?

There have been more than a few reports of an off frequency receive problem (here, here, here, here, here, and there).

Remco, PA3FYM, did some testing and had no problems with his UV-5R. Full results here.

"Hans [1] asked me to measure the frequency accurary of my Baofeng UV-5R too, because some people claim the UV-5R being 'off frequency'. I assumed that the transmit frequency is an indicator for the PLL accuracy for both RX and TX, as I did not open the UV-5R to measure the local oscillator frequency itself. Measurements with a HP-5326A (yes, nixie tubes! ;-) and a homebrew prescaler, in conjunction with a calibrated rubidium standard as time base, revealed the following results (sample time: 10 sec, accuracy 10 Hz):

UV-5R display        frequency
145.000 (MHz)      145.000.040 MHz       (+ 40 Hz)
432.000 (MHz)      431.999.930 MHz       (- 70 Hz)

My UV-5R frequency accurary @145 and 432 MHz is (far) better than 0.5 ppm, which is very good. 

References
[1] http://hamgear.wordpress.com"

Ham Radio Blogs to Follow

As ham radio continues to grow in the US, we can celebrate World Amateur Radio Day!

In honor of this international event, let me recommend a couple of ham radio blogs to check out.

LA3ZA Radio Amateur and Electronics Blog

Ham Radio Weblog PD0AC

PA1SBM

Enjoy!

AA Bang for your Buck

I continue to be amazed at what people can do with the Aruino.

LA3ZA Alcaline battery with most energy/money is RS Power Ultra? Measuring Battery Capacity w Arduino denishennessy.com/2012/04/08/mea… @denishennessyTue, Apr 17 01:43:58 from Tweet Button

Fix Faded Knobs

LA3ZA Now this is something I might wanna try: "How to restore shine to faded knobs" flic.kr/p/bMrGdZTue, Apr 17 22:20:23 from Tweet Button

QuanSheng TG-UV2

More than once, I've seen people post about the Quansheng TG-UV2 as an alternative to the Baofeng radios. So, I thought I would actually take a look. The eHam reviews seem pretty favorable for this UHF/VHF HT with a 4.7/5 rating. Hans, PD0AC, gives it the once over in a review - his conclusion:

"Pros: little money, great fun, excellent quality, well built, rain proof construction. I tried to be as picky as possible, but the lack of DTMF is the only con I can think of"

Some odds and ends about the radio on the http://tg-uv2.blogspot.com/ site. And, unsurprisingly, there is a Yahoo Group for the TG-UV2.

Baofeng UV-5R: SC33 Case Review by KC9HI

Jim, KC9HI, reviews the $11 USD SC33 Case for the UV-5R from the 409Shop:

"The case is definitely designed for the UV-5R and is a real snug fit. Almost too
snug. The radio loads into the top of the case. A top flap goes over the top of
the radio and snaps in the back. The top flap is notched for the antenna, but is
easier to put in place if the antenna is removed first. This is especially so
with the Nagoya NA-701 aftermarket antenna because the base is a little bigger
in diameter than the stock antenna. I was worried that the case might put
pressure on the antenna and eventually stress the antenna jack. There is also a
cutout for the On/Off/Volume switch and the flashlight LED.

The front of the case has a cutout for the VFR/MR button and TX/RX LED.There is
a small hole for the mic and a 3x3 hole grid for the speaker. There are plastic
covered windows for both the display and keyboard. I could easily read the
display through the display window. I never tried to operate the keyboard
through the keyboard window, though.

The PTT side of the case also has a plastic window to let you see and operate
the three buttons on that side of the radio.
The speaker/mic port side of the case has an opening that lets you open the port
cover so a speaker mic can be plugged in.

The back of the case is notched so it will also fit if the belt clip has been
installed.

Unfortunately the case covers the charging terminals on the back of the battery
and the charger base guide slots on the sides of the battery, so removal of the
case is necessary in order to charge the battery. For me, this pretty much makes
the case impractical so I decided very quickly that I wasn't going to use it."

409Shop SC33 for UV-5R

Failed North Korean Missile Test Video

I'm a little behind in my current events.

ConanOBrien The North Korean missile test has failed. Video here: bit.ly/HF5dXn Sat, Apr 14 14:51:12 from web

UV-3R: Prevent Transmit

If you are using your UV-3R to monitor frequencies where you do not have transmit privileges, you can program the transmit frequency to "0" or NULL. If you press the PTT, then the radio beeps at you, but nothing is transmitted.

BREAKING: #GameofThrones has been renewed for Season 3

Excellent! According to GRRM, the third season will only cover about half of the third book. I think that is a good sign that they want to stretch out the series. Of course, this also takes the pressure off GRRM to finish the next book. I had been predicting a race to publish the sixth book verses the HBO series catching up.

GameOfThrones BREAKING: #GameofThrones has been renewed for a third season. RT and spread the word to #GoTFans across the realm.Tue, Apr 10 12:46:17 from HootSuite retweeted by SimoneBoyce

Scary Video

Hide your kids. Hide your wife.



Via The Blaze

Vero UV-X5: Preliminary Pricing

From a Vero Telecom e-mail posted on the UV-3R Yahoo Group:

"Item:UV-X5 Tri-band dual display two way radios with 2W output power
Frequency range:136-174&400-470&245-246Mhz
MOQ Price:100pcs---USD38.00/PC(Ex work price)
Sample Price:USD43.50/PC(Ex work price)
Shipping cost:USD29.00 for 1pcs ship to USA by DHL"

I would obviously expect street pricing to be higher. It will be interesting to see who will be selling this unit, how much higher the price will be, and if it will be re-branded by the sellers.

Baofeng UV-5R: Alphatags 7 Characters via CHIRP

Timing is everything... Last night, I finally got around to updating the 7 Character Hack post with a Google Cache link to the missing instructions. So, what do I read this morning?

CHIRP will now do the heavy lifting for you and update the radio with 7 character alphatags. Daily builds are here.

Netflix Diversity

I wondered how they handled the different people in a household using the same Netflix account:

"Take as a first example the Top 10 row: this is our best guess at the ten titles you are most likely to enjoy. Of course, when we say “you”, we really mean everyone in your household. It is important to keep in mind that Netflix’ personalization is intended to handle a household that is likely to have different people with different tastes. That is why when you see your Top10, you are likely to discover items for dad, mom, the kids, or the whole family. Even for a single person household we want to appeal to your range of interests and moods. To achieve this, in many parts of our system we are not only optimizing for accuracy, but also for diversity."

Baofeng UV-5R: Version Info

M makes an educated guess that the information displayed when holding various keys down during power on is a version/firmware revision:

If you switch the radio on while holding hold down the "3 key" the radio shouldbriefly display "VER BFB230" which I suspect is either the model number of majorfirmware version.

If you switch on the radio while holding down the "6 key" the radio shouldbriefly display the firmware revision number, and what looks like a firmwarebuild ID. For example mine displays "1203101 VER-05"

Mine is "VER BFB230" and "1201002 0000002". I ordered mine the night they became available on the 409Shop, so I may have a very early collector's edition.

HRO Android App

I installed it, but I'm not sure I will find it useful. When I shop, I want to see my options from various sources.

HamRadioOutlet HRO is very proud to be the first in the industry to announce our FREE mobile Android App in the Google Play store now bit.ly/HmBX19Tue, Apr 03 20:46:40 from web

Ouch

Well, I have this blog...

EricStangel At age 33, Bubba Watson owns a Masters green jacket and the General Lee. What have you done with your life?Sun, Apr 08 20:53:32 from web retweeted by DrewEdwardsUT

Baofeng UV-3R: FM Broadcast Range

Someone asked in the comments if the FM Broadcast receive frequencies could be expanded. I had read in this thread that 65-108 MHz is the FM Broadcast band in Eastern Europe. So are there regional versions of the UV-3R? In the thread, people report difference coverages.

For something like this, I would assume it is much easier to have one version that has the wider range that covers all regional FM frequencies.

Vero UV-X5: Manual

Thanks (again) to Mike (G0CVZ) of UV3R.com for getting the manual for the UV-X5.

UV-X5 User Manual

KF9ZA's Go Box for Ham Radio ARES - RACES

Another project to add to the ever growing list. He's got a list of links for the parts he used to build his Go Box here. I would, of course, throw in a UV-3R.

Baofeng UV-5R: CHIRP Support

Ed (Import Communications) sent a UV-5R to Dan, so that he could add it to the list of radios supported by CHIRP*. That was three days ago and Dan has already added support for the UV-5R in his daily builds!


*"CHIRP is a FREE cross-platform, cross-radio programming tool. It works on Windows and Linux (and MacOSX with a little work). It supports a growing list of radios across several manufacturers and allows transferring of memory contents between them."

Vero UV-X5: Micro HT Tribander

My previous post said that the HT in the picture looked like a TYT TH-UV3R, but Mike (G0CVZ) of UV3R.com has identified it as the Vero UV-X5 - a tri-band radio: 136-174, 400-470, 245-246 MHz.

Vero Telecom 2012 HK Electronics Fair

Looks like the VR-2200 (aka TYT TH-9000) and something that looks an awful lot like a version of the TYT TH-UV3R. I will, unfortunately, not be attending...

Dear our valued customer,
We treasure every opportunity to meet  you.
From 13 Apr. - 16 Apr. 2012, we will attend the exhibition of "HK Electronics Fair (Spring Edition)" in HKTDC




We cordially invite you and your colleagues  to visit our booth 3D-A25 in Hall 3.

Thanks and best regards!

	VERO SALES TEAMS
	3 floor,No.3 Chongxiang St,Quanzhou,Fujian,P.R.C 362006
	T: 86-595-22496660 | F: 86-595-86761912 | M: 86-159 6055 9990
	W: http://www.verotelecom.com  | E: info@verotelecom.com

Baofeng UV-5R: Kight Radio Update

Kight Radio and Electronics posted this update on their site yesterday:

"04/04/12

I would like to mention that one of the best sources of information and radios is Ed at www.wouxun.us Ed knows these radios and he one of the nicest guys I know. He will stand behind the products he sells. Ed has been a guest several times in my home in China. He sells more Wouxun Dual band radios then anyone. He is by far the largest seller of Wouxun in the US.

We are holding off selling the Baofeng UV5 because of some issues with the radio. Black out display problem, receiver being off frequency, and too much transmit audio. These problems should be solved soon and when they are, we will have them available."

 I have been seeing the traffic about the off-frequency problem, but I've not had a chance to digest it all. Hopefully tomorrow I can read through the backlog and put together a summary.

An SEO Expert Walks Into A Bar

lukevenediger An SEO expert walks into a bar, bars, tavern, pub, public house, Irish pub, beer, drinks, alcohol.Thu, Apr 05 02:44:01 from WindowsLive retweeted by mrolafsson

Programming Software Problems

I agree with Julian (G4ILO), the various Yahoo Groups are almost unreadable right now due to the flood of programming issues - mostly related to counterfeit chips:

"Problems with programming cables seem to be making up half the traffic in forums and groups dedicated to handheld radios. The problems are all associated with cables that use (or claim to use) Prolific USB adapters. These days, programming cables come with USB adapters built-in, so the need for separate USB to RS-232 converters - which could use a less troublesome FTDI or Silicon Labs chipset - is eliminated. But so, unfortunately, is the option to solve the problem by using a different type of adapter."

These are the major steps - no matter what radio/software.

1. Successfully install the USB to Serial adapter driver for the programming cable. Verify that the OS says the device is working properly by looking in Device Manager (Windows).

2. Also in Device Manager, determine what COM port the cable is using.

3. Install the programming software for your radio.

4. Configure the software to use the COM port that was verified in Step 2.

5. Read from the radio.

You cannot move to the subsequent step until you have successfully completed the prior one.

21 Things To Do After You Get Your Ticket

Dan (KB6NU) started a list of "21 Things To Do After You Get Your Ham Radio License" on his blog. I think his list is pretty good and I added a few thoughts in the comments. I'm sure 21 won't be enough with the depth and breadth of ham radio. Click on over and add your thoughts. Maybe we could get a list of 100 things to do. Being hams, we'd have to mail out certificates to anyone who worked all 100 tasks!

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