Baofeng Squelch Fix

You may have seen it elsewhere, but CHIRP now has ability to modify the squelch levels for some Baofeng radios. I'm really excited to test this with the BF-F8HP that BaofengTech has provided.

Here is the overview from Miklor of the squelch settings:

UV5R / UV82 / F8HP series CHIRP Daily Build 20150111 or newer   Modifying settings will change the way your radio performs. Change them at your own risk. This is not compatible with UVB5/B6 or BF888S models due to differences in firmware.

The factory squelch settings on these models has long been known to have little or no impact on the actual squelch level. The smallest noise burst would easily pop open the squelch. Until now, it was one of those  little 'quirks' you just needed to tolerate.   But no longer...  Through the efforts of Jim KC9HI and the CHIRP development team, this has become a thing of the past.  A new 'Service Settings' tab has been added to CHIRP which allows you to alter the factory level settings, so a weak signal can open level 1, and only a monster signal can open level 9. At this time we are not aware of any measurements made with actual test equipment that is designed to measure actual squelch sensitivity, but on the air testing confirms that it definitely works. Compatibility There are too many Baofeng/Pofung models, variants, and firmware versions to be certain which radios are compatible and which ones aren't. Testing that has been done indicates the following:   The CHIRP Service Settings will adjust the levels on: -  UV82 series radios (82C / 82X) -  F8HP series radios -  UV5R series radios with firmware BFB291 and later. PowerOn while holding '3' button displays firmware on UV5R. The Fix The lowest factory levels were 14 > 22, and the highest were 40 > 48. Using the settings below spreads the range from 24 > 64 in increments of 5. This is a good starting point, but can fine tune these  to any value or increment desired from 1 to 64. You also have the ability to change the VHF and UHF values independently. After changing the level values, test the different levels to determine which is the best for your type use.

You can see the defaults I just pulled from the BF-F8HP.