Baofeng UV-3R: 220 Mhz on the Mark II

Neil (W2NDG) does the expanded frequencies mod to his Baofeng UV-3R Mark II and shares his results:

"During my morning commute, my train passes south of my club’s main repeater site. Now this is on a rather high building, in one of the highest points on western Long Island, and is pretty much line-of-site for a 4-5 mile stretch of my train ride. I tested to see if I could key up our 220 machine, and it seems that the effective range was about 4 miles this morning. Now that was just keying the repeater up. I’ll have to check to see if I can actually be HEARD on it."

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.

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.

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.

Baofeng UV-3R: Expanded Frequencies 222 MHz

Pat (WA6MHZ) expanded the capability of his UV-3R to include 222 MHz. His results:

Upon measuring the Power Output of the UV-3R+Pus on 223.5, I find the power is greatly reduced, On 2M and 440, I see +33dBM, which is 2W. On 223.5, I only get +12.26dBM, which is pretty lame. That come out to be 0.0168267406W, or roughly 16mW. So there must be some Filters messing with us. But I can hear it in my Kenwood TM-331A mobile rig just fine, so for short simplex it will work. Also to some repeaters where U have a good shot at it. The stock antenna is optimized for 2M & 450 so I need to score a Triband antenna so I have a chance of getting out with the 16 Milliwatts.

RX sensitivity is pretty good. Measured at -119dBM minimum discernable signal.

Measured TX frequency (223.5) 223.4988120 Mhz

So it WORKS on 222, KINDA!

In a follow-up post is a link to an app that will auto-mod your .ini file to open the frequencies. He has successfully used the program with a UV-3R Mark II and a UV-3R + Plus. Head on over to Mark's (VE3PZR) page and check it out.

Instructions:

How to update your UV-3R Mark II to support 220mhz Ham Band

 Some models of the radio are able to support a much broader range of frequencies if you store a special memory file into the radio.

Follow these steps:

[1] Install UV-X4 programming software

[2] Run the UV-3R-soft-Modder program to update your UX-X4 software to add some extended Band Plans

[3] If you have an existing memory file, re-run the soft-mod program to change the Band Plan that is embedded inside the .3R memory file.

[4] Load the memory file inside UV-X4 and write the memories to your radio and your radio will now have 220mhz added to your radio!

Tech TIP #1: If you are unable to write a memory file to your radio, power-on while holding down the VOL button. It will reset your radio back to factory and you will be able to write the extended frequency file.

Tech Tip #2: 2 memory files are included. Both files have 220mhz included but during tests with other hams, we found that my radio gave better 220mhz results if we lowered the UHF instead of raising the VHF frequency range. I suggest testing both methods with your radio to verify results.

Baofeng UV-3R: Original, Mark II, and + Plus Video Comparison

From Chris, 2E0CTH, a video comparing the original UV-3R, the Mark II, and the + Plus model.

Baofeng UV-3R: Triple Watch

Set up a triple watch by using the dual watch feature along with the priority channel:

"Andy, I tried not disable the DW and turn PRI ON. It works. It scan two channels on top and one channel on the bottom line. WOW, now I can monitor three channels at the same time."

Baofeng UV-3R: Comparison

Geoff (N3OWJ/4X1GM) provides a great summary of the differences between the UV-3R Original/Mark II and the UV-3R + Plus models. I added the links to his original text.

"From the specs and advertisements, the Mark II and the Plus are thesame radio. The changes are external.

The Mark II takes an antenna with a pin in the SMA connector, the PLUS

takes one with the pin in the radio.

The Mark II uses a 4 conductor earphone plug for the speaker/mic andprograming. The PLUS uses a Kenwood/Woxoun speaker mic connector (2separate plugs).

The PLUS shares antennas, earphones, speakermics and progaming cableswith the Wouxoun and if you have both an original or Mark II and aPLUS you will need two different sets of each.

The Mark II uses the same battery as some of the Nikon and othercameras (but not any Canon), the PLUS uses a special battery.

The Mark II battery has to be taken out of the radio to be charged in the external charger, which is why no one ever does it, they leave itin the radio to charge.

The PLUS has charging contacts on the back and it looks like you charge the battery by dropping the radio into the external charger.

There are videos on YouTube of a car running over the PLUS and it falling from 5 meters with no damage. I would not expect a Mark II tosurvive.

The PLUS is significantly bigger and heavier.

Yaseu AA battery packs for similar radios work on the original and Mark II and there are cheap knock-offs. There are currently no AAbattery packs for the PLUS."

Baofeng UV-3R: F8BDX Review and Information Page

I like reading the reviews on non-English sites. We are all usually saying the same things - at least best I can tell using the built in translation function of Google Chrome. Some of the literal translations are mildly amusing as are just some of the different ways to say things - like dual band or bi-band.

F8BDX Review of the UV-3R

Baofeng UV-3R: Disassembly and LCD Replacement Video

409Shop released this video for replacing the LCD, but it is also a good video of how to disassemble the UV-3R.

Baofeng UV-3R: Step Size Video

A quick video on setting step sizes on your UV-3R.

Baofeng UV-3R: Popular Radio

I really think Baofeng found a sweet spot with the price point of the UV-3R. They may not have a huge profit margin in each radio, but they make up for it in volume. Given things like the group buy from the Indiana Gun Owners forum and interest on survivalist/prepper blogs, it isn't just hams who are buying it.

Baofeng UV-3R: Expanded Frequencies Prevent Transmit Hint

Norm Goodkin (K6YXH) has a good idea to prevent an accidental transmission outside the allowed frequencies:

"If you have your UV-3R set to allow Tx on some out-of-band frequencies, but have others that you absolutely never want to Tx on, you can set the Tx frequency to null and you've got an Rx-only memory.

For example, if you put the NOAA Weather channels into memory, you certainly don't want to ever Tx on them. So, using the programming software just put your cursor on the Tx frequency and hit Delete. Note that you might see 0.00001 instead of a null Tx frequency, but the radio will not Tx on that channel. Don't type in a zero, because that might result in something like 136.000."

Baofeng UV-3R: APRS

A detailed report of an APRS project using our beloved UV-3R.

Baofeng UV-3R: Expanded Frequencies - Versions

Based on everything I have read, if you have the original UV-3R, you might be able to access the expanded frequencies. It seems there are differences in the firmware, so some support it and others don't. If you have a Mark II, your chances are much better. It is hard to say if there are firmware versions in the Mark II that don't support it or if people aren't updating the .ini file correctly.

Baofeng UV-3R: UV-3R + Plus

A new version... the UV-3R + Plus. I wonder if we should call it the "plus plus" or maybe the "plus squared." Andy points out that it has a Kenwood type plug. The buttons look a little different to me, too.

Baofeng UV-3R: Fix for Extremely Low Power

Many hams have measured the output of the UV-3R on low power and noted that is extremely low - as low as 100 mW. SP3SWJ reports a fix by "exchange some inductance in first stage transistor driver from 47nH to 220nH." You see his notations in the schematic here. He also reports the change improves the spurious transmissions on the harmonic.

Here are his measurements using Motorola R2670 on SMA antenna port:

HI POWER +33 dBm
2nd harmonics -27 dB
3rd harmonics -41 dB

LO POWER +16 dBm --- before fix
2nd harmonics -10 dB
3rd harmonics -44 dB

LO POWER +31.4 dBm --- after fix
2nd harmonics -27 dB
3rd harmonics -47 dB

He says the the change improves the output across all VHF frequencies.




Bert, DD5XL, verified that the mod works:

He "used a 150nH wire-wound 0603 SMT coil to replace the stock 47nH type. Before that my low-power output was around 60mW, it increased by nearly 10dB now up to 620mW with a fully charged battery (4,1V). High output is at 2,1W now, this increased of about 200mW compared with before mod.

I've also made a quick check with the spectrum analysator for the low-power setting, the first harmonic is now down to roughly -45dB, this is also an improvement although I already had a improved harmonic suppression by the PA0EJW filter mod."

Via the UV-3R Yahoo Group

Baofeng UV-3R: Rounding Problem in the Software

The latest version (1.10) of the UV-3R/UV-X4 software fixes a bug where frequencies are rounded incorrectly.

Baofeng UV-3R: Expanded Frequencies

In addition to the old trick of opening up the ability to store alpha tags in the Baofeng UV-3R, Frank Fort notes in the comments that he's opened up the frequencies available to his radio via the software:

"Baofeng Uv-3r Mark 11 is now with a 115Mhz to 530Mhz TX and RX modification, with the modded program...

• Close the UV-3R Mark 11 software if you have it running.
•  Browse to folder where the software is installed. (The default is C:\Program Files\UV3R.)
•  Double-click the "setting.ini" file.
• I tried copy and paste but didn't worked for me so i just changed manually for this.

[setup]com=2searchcom=1name=1
language=english 

[ModelInfo]
Freq0=[136-174/400-470]
data0=6013401700400047

Freq1=[115-400/400-529]
data1=5011993900409952

• Close the file and save the changes.
• Run the UV-3R Mark 11 software.

The (Name) option will work in the program only,not on the Baofeng but you can take notes.

So now you have now 3 frequencies choices in the menu up left in the program window. Now that's fun...I have a Baofeng Mark 11 with 19 menu options and work very well..."

Anyone else try it and have any luck? I know with the Wouxon that you can open it up and receive, but that the radio isn't designed to transmit outside the original frequencies.

Baofeng UV-3R: $60 for Mark II, Free Ship, and USB Cable

Chris, NH7QH, has sold out of the Mark I radios and is kicking off his new shipment of Mark II radios with a sale:

BaoFeng UV-3R Black Mark II W/Free USB and Free USPS Shipping for $60

In order to spread the deal around, he is limiting the deal to one per callsign. Also, it is for the first 30 units. This is a great deal from a US Dealer, so get moving if you've been sitting on the fence.