Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Baofeng Tech UV-2501+220: Programming from your PC

A how-to video for installing and programming your Baofeng Tech UV-2501+220. Grab the software here. You'll need a USB cable like the BTECH PC04 FTDI USB Programming Cable as well. (The process is the same for the Baofeng Tech UV-2501 and Baofeng Tech UV-5001 - simply download the appropriate software for those models.)

Some general comments about using programming software for radios:

If the you can't figure out which Comm Port the radio is using, go to the Device Manager in Windows. You can see which port is correct or if the cable isn't showing as installed properly. The latter is often the guess if you aren't using a genuine FTDI chip.

As a best practice, I always like to save a copy of the original configuration before I make any changes.

6 comments:

  1. I am really excited about this radio, but have two questions:

    1.) Currently the page for Baofeng Tech shows the UV2501+220 unavailable on Amazon.com. Did the first batch just sell out? Should I buy it through the baofengtech.com page instead?

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AX26JA4/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&m=AA3MGRC7F9EI2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01AX26JA4&linkCode=as2&tag=btek-20

    2.) One of the more controversial comments on Amazon questions claims that there are some serious problems with harmonics on 2m and 440 on this radio. May just be one unit, but never really resolved. Has anyone done follow-up testing to confirm/reject this critique.

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    1. Looks like it is on back-order on their site, too. It's the same radio either way. I suspect they sold out of the first batch.

      Re: spurious transmissions on the harmonics - I don't have the ability to test, so I can't say first hand. I believe the person who did the test was going to order another and try to repeat his findings to eliminate having just a bad radio. Some people have criticized his testing. The BTech guys tell me that all their testing in development and through manufacturing have not show any problems.

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    2. Thanks for the update, I figured as much.

      I got kinda sucked into the discussion regarding harmonics on Baofeng UV-5Rs today (it was sort of a boring day at work). Read through the QST article about Dayton testing; also saw that PD0AC shows harmonics to be fine. I don't own a spectrum analyzer (although someone in town has a slightly-broken one on craiglist for $75... might see if I can grab it). But to be on the safe side I went to minicircuits.com and ordered three coaxial low-pass filters (two of the VLF-160+ and one of the VLF-490+, both rated at 8+ watts with SMA connectors). I am going to see if they work "in-line" with HT antennas and such.

      The way I read 47 CFR 97.307, it says that hams should do everything practical to eliminate spurious emissions, irregardless of whether they meet the criteria in paragraph e (-40 dB not exceeding -16 dBm). So it should be a useful experiment even if the Baofengs are totally, 100 percent fine and the Baofeng-haters are just blowing smoke. Although at $21 each, the filter costs as much as the dang radio. =)

      I will probably post a YouTube video whenever I get these. Probably also ought to get a hold of a VHF/UHF wattmeter, at the very least, to measure insertion loss.

      Thankfully we have a ham swapfest in Georgetown this weekend and another one in Belton (near Temple, Texas) next month. There is also a big hamfest near Houston two weeks from now, but I'll be busy with the county Democratic convention that same day in Georgetown. =(

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    3. The BTECH UV-2501+220 has Out-of-spec Harmonics on the 146 MHz (2 meter band). 2nd Harmonic levels are only 10 to 13dBc (3rd's are 15 to 18dBc) when fed into a Weinschel HP Attenuator and measured on an HP Spectrum analyzer. Harmonic levels are better than 55dBc when measured at 445 MHz UHF. Harmonic levels were measured at 10 and 20W power levels.

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  2. Looks like it is on back-order on their site, too. It's the same radio either way. I suspect they sold out of the first batch.

    Re: spurious transmissions on the harmonics - I don't have the ability to test, so I can't say first hand. I believe the person who did the test was going to order another and try to repeat his findings to eliminate having just a bad radio. Some people have criticized his testing. The BTech guys tell me that all their testing in development and through manufacturing have not show any problems.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry - started a new comment instead of replying.

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