One of the first questions of a new Ham is “How do I program my new Radio?”
If you’ve gone to a brick and mortar store and spent the “Big Bucks” on a ICOM, Yaesu, Kenwood etc. The sales person at that store may offer programming? Sometimes free.
If you went the amazon direction and bought the Baofeng, Btech, TYT, AnyTone, Wouxon etc., hopefully you ordered it with a programming cable.
The first and some folks say the best way to program your radio is with a RT systems software/cable kit. But this is likely the most expensive option.
My preferred method and the likely least expensive option is CHIRP software with a Amazon purchased cable… for the Baofeng cable it is between $6.99 and $20+ BUT be sure you order the one with and FTDI chip as this is auto-recognized by windows and most operating systems.
Next you will need the latest version of the free “CHIRP” programming software found easily at the Baofeng-tech Website. There is a wealth of information on this software and programming method.
These methods are fairly simple but it may take some time and more than one attempt, don’t get discouraged. Other hams have learned it quickly and finding a local club may help in getting your radio programmed. But getting help with the programming and passing on that knowledge to the next struggling Ham will give you the most satisfaction and is more in the spirit of our hobby.
For the ambitious “do It Yourself” types I have included a link below to assist you in programming your radio.
Manual Programming Your Baofeng UV-5R
Programming Cables?
It has been brought to my attention that the programming cables sold on Ebay or Amazon are not all created equal. The cheaper cables and some of the ones supplied with radios use a “Serial converter” chip that has been cloned so much that the original manufacturer “Prolific” re-wrote the drivers that may disable your “great Buy” cables. Below is a link to help you try and fix the driver issues with you bargain programming cable.
http://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_Drivers.php
Our suggested “fix” is to purchase another programming cable that uses an FTDI serial Converter chip. The FTDI chip uses windows native drivers meaning “Self Installing” drivers, no web searching, no driver disks.
73′ Ken KC6WOK
GOTAhams Local Band Plans, Repeaters and Simplex Frequencies
GOTAHams members seem to live as far west as Glendora, as far south as Chino and as far west as Ontario (possibly Redlands). The Mountains being our northern border. Claremont and San Dimas seems to be our epicenter, as our club meetings are in Claremont, our presence at the Claremont swapmeet and “Radio In The Park” in San Dimas etc. The following is a suggested VHF/UHF band plan, centered around our general geographic area. The GOTAhams band plan was developed with what our area of operations would be in an emergency. Please feel free to suggest edits. Simplex frequencies were chosen from the nationally recognized simplex portions of the bands. 73 de KM6S