http://buddy.brannan.name/Baofeng-UV5R-eyes-free.rtf
Baofeng UV-5RTips And Hints For Eyes-Free Operation
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV, [log in to unmask]
Last Updated: 8 May 2012
The Baofeng UV-5R is an inexpensive dualband handheld radio, operating on 2M
and 70CM. This radio may be of interest to blind hams, since (unlike more
expensive radios from the big three manufacturers) Baofeng has managed to
implement limited speech feedback for some functions. While we would wish
for more, such as voice confirmation of frequency, CTCSS/DCS settings, and
so on, this radio provides a very usable alternative to other, more
expensive handhelds from the traditional manufacturers.
Please feel free to distribute this document. please send additions,
corrections, or modifications to me via Email to [log in to unmask]
Thanks.
Any additions, corrections, clarifications, or suggestions are gratefully
accepted. Please Email them to me for inclusion or incorporation into this
guide. I can be reached by Email at:
Email: [log in to unmask]
Notably, a menu listing would be very much appreciated. I believe I can
piece it together from the manual, but if someone already has it or can
quickly throw it together, I'd appreciate it. Also, accurate key labels
would be appreciated, especially where I don't have them.
The latest version of this document can be had here:
http://buddy.brannan.name/baofeng-uv5r-eyes-free.rtf
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the following fine folks for their assistance:
• Ed Griffin, W4KMA, at Import Communications
(http://www.importcommunications.com) for providing the initial Baofeng
manual, as well as for orientation to the radio's keypad.
• All the folks on the Baofeng UV-5R Yahoogroup for hints on programming and
use, as well as on getting around the radio's many little quirks.
Inserting the Battery
The battery attaches to the back of the radio, very like many other handheld
radios and mobile phones.
• Place the radio facedown in front of you and the top of the radio facing
away from you.
• The battery pack is rectangular, with a plastic tab at the top center of
the pack. The back of the battery, toward the bottom edge, has three
contacts for charging in the included drop-in charger.
• Line the top of the battery up with the bottom of the radio so that the
top of the battery rests on top of the bottom edge of the radio, with the
charging contacts facing up. Then, slide the battery away from you, towards
the top of the radio. You will feel the battery slide up the guides on the
radio and then latch in place as the latch in the radio connects to the tab
at the top of the battery.
Attaching the Belt Clip
The belt clip attaches to the back of the radio with two included Philips
head screws, which will be screwed into the back of the radio, towards the
top, just above the top of the battery pack.
Remove the screws from the back of the radio. Put them into the holes on the
sides of the hinged plate on the back of the belt clip. It might be easiest
to do these one at a time, as the screws are fairly small.
Line the screws in the belt clip up with the holes in the radio. I found
this a little tricky, as it's necessary to squeeze the belt clip open so
that the plate with the screws in it is flat only when the belt clip is
squeezed open. Screw in one of the screws partially, so that the clip holds
in place, then start the other. Tighten both once the belt clip is properly
aligned. It's a little tricky and feels like you need an extra hand.
Fortunately, once it's done, you won't have to do it again.
Orientation
Stand the radio up with the keypad facing you. Naturally, the keypad will be
the front of the radio, and we will discuss the radio in this orientation.
At the top of the radio, you'll find an SMA male antenna jack on the left
and the on/off/volume knob on the right. Between these is a large LED
flashlight bulb. Behind the LED is the battery release latch. Push the
release latch forward and slide the battery down to remove it.
The right side of the radio only has the loop for the wrist strap and the
speaker/mic jacks. The speaker/mic jacks are located under a cover that
swings open towards the back. Pull the front of the cover free with a
thumbnail to open it and plug in either a speaker/mic or programming cable.
The left side of the radio has three buttons. From top to bottom, they are
the FM radio key, the PTT key, and the Monitor key.
The FM radio key turns on the FM radio if pressed briefly. If this button is
held, it will turn on a pretty annoying alarm siren.
The PTT button keys the radio.
The monitor button, if held, will open the squelch for as long as the button
is held in. If it is pressed quickly, it turns on (or off) the LED light at
the top of the radio. Unfortunately, both "On" and "Off" play the same tone,
so there is no non visual way to know whether the light is on or not.
The front of the radio is where we will focus most of our attention. At the
top of the front panel is the LCD display. Directly below the display is one
button at the left side of the front panel. It is labeled, "VFO/M R.
This is the button that toggles between "Frequency mode" (VFO) and "Channel
mode" (Memory channels). You will also find a generous speaker grille, with
a hole right below the button for the microphone.
Below the speaker are two more buttons, one on the left side of the front
panel and one on the right. The left button is the A/B button, which
switches from the "A", or top display frequency or channel, to the "B", or
bottom, frequency or channel. Since most programming functions can only be
done from the "A" side, we won't do much with this button. Also, be aware
that there is no audible indication as to whether you have switched to "A"
or "B". The only way you'd know would be by trying to program a memory and
having the memory not program.
The button on the right side of the display is the "Band" button. This
determines whether you are entering VHF or UHF frequencies. This button has
no effect at all in channel mode.
Below these two buttons is what looks like a traditional DTMF keypad, having
four rows of four buttons each.
This keypad, however, isn't exactly traditional in its layout. The top four
buttons are the "menu" button (used to open the settings menu), the "up"
button, the "down" button, and the "cancel" button. In transmit, these
buttons send A, C, B, and D DTMF tones, respectively. Below these, you will
find (left to right, top to bottom): 1, 2, 3, and scan/reverse (which is
also the star key); 4, 5, 6, 0; 7, 8, 9 lock (which sends pound).
Turning the Radio On
To turn the radio on, turn the power/volume knob to the right until it
clicks on. You will hear two short beeps, followed by an announcement of the
radio's mode. You will hear "Frequency mode" for VFO mode or "Channel mode"
for memory mode. The first time you turn the radio on, it will be in
"Frequency" mode with "dual" receive mode enabled.
In order to make using this radio a little easier, I recommend turning off
the "Dual" receive option. Once turned off, this setting will be remembered
permanently. It can always be turned back on if you want or need it.
Press "Menu". The radio will say "Menu".
Press "7", then press "Menu". The radio will say "Dual stand by". Yes,
really. She's hard to understand sometimes, but that's what she's saying.
Press "0", then press "Menu". The radio will say "Confirm".
Finally, press "Cancel" to exit the menu.
I have been putting the "dual" in quotes, because it isn't really dual
receive. It's more like dual watch, because audio from only one channel or
the other is heard at any given time.
To further complicate the issue, there is an option to have the transmit
follow whichever channel (A or B) opens the receiver. If this option is
turned on, it may be difficult to know where exactly you are transmitting.
On the whole, it's probably best to just turn the dual function off.
A Couple Other Initial Setup Tasks
There are a couple of options that are turned on by default that it's best
to turn off. Having these on will make operating the radio annoying either
to you or to the people you're talking to.
There are three settings for eliminating repeater tail tones or courtesy
tones. It is not exactly clear what the differences are in these settings,
but you want to turn them all off. There is also a "roger beep" setting that
you also want to disable. These are menus 35, 36, 37, and 39. Set all of
these entries to 0:
• Press "Menu", "3", "5", "Menu", "0", "Menu".
• Press "Menu", "3", "6", "Menu", "0", "Menu".
• Press "Menu", "3", "7", "Menu", "0", "Menu".
• Press "Menu", "3", "9", "Menu", "0", "Menu".
A Note About the Menu Key
-
When the Menu key is pressed, the radio will say "Menu". This key also
functions as "Enter". Thus, after modifying a menu option, press the Menu
key again to accept the change. The radio will say "Confirm" to acknowledge
a change in a menu's parameters.
Changing Channels Or Frequency
You can set the frequency by using the up/down buttons or by entering the
frequency or channel number directly. Note that the numbers speak when
pressed. Enter six digits for frequency, i.e. 146520 or 444100, and three
digits for the channel number, i.e. 001, 024, or 114.
(Since only six digits can be entered in the frequency field, entering
frequencies containing more than six digits is accomplished by adjusting the
"step frequency"/Menu option 1, then using the up-down keys.
frequencies in a 6.25 KHz channel spacing, like 467.7125, enter six digits,
such as 467.712. If you have the channel spacing (Menu 1) set to 6.25 KHz,/
the radio will set the channel correctly. For frequencies in a 2.5 KHz
channel spacing, such as 154.5275 set the radio to 154.525 and, with a 2.5
KHz channel spacing (Menu 1, option 0) press the "Up" button once.
(In menu 1, Step Frequency Option,
0 = 2.5 KHz
1 = 5 KHz
2 = 6.25 KHz
3 = 10 KHz
4 = 12.5 KHz
5 = 25 KHz.)
See the menu section below for a more complete discussion of setting menu
parameters.
Programming Memories
You can program memories either with a standard split or with odd splits.
Remember that once a memory is programmed, it cannot be changed, short of
deleting it and starting over. Memories store receive and transmit
frequencies, along with receive and transmit CTCSS or DCS codes and channel
width (wide or narrow). Power level can be changed in memory mode.
Programming a repeater channel with standard offsets:
1 Choose the "A" frequency, printed on the top line of the display. This is
probably already done, but if you go through all the steps to program and
get a single beep upon the final press of "Menu", you are in the B VFO and
need to press the "A/B" button.
2 If you are in channel mode, press the channel/frequency button. Remember,
channel mode will speak the channel number if you press the "up" or "down"
button.
3 Ensure you are on the correct band. If you enter a frequency and the radio
says "Cancel" when you press the last digit, press the "Band" button to
select the correct band.
4 Enter the repeater output frequency, such as 147060.
5 Press "Menu", "2", "6", "Menu". The radio will say "Offset frequency".
6 For 2 meter repeaters, enter 00600. For 70 cm repeaters in the US or
Canada, press
05000. This may be different in other parts of the world.
7 Press "Menu", "2", "5", "Menu". The radio will beep but will say nothing.
8 Press "0" for a 0 or Simplex offset, "1" for a plus (positive) offset, or
"2" for a minus (Negative) offset, then press "Menu". The radio will say
"Confirm".
9 Set the CTCSS or DCS codes for transmit and receive, as appropriate. These
are in menus 11 and 12 for CTCSS and DCS receive respectively, and menus 13
and 14 for CTCSS and DCS transmit. CTCSS tones can be entered directly; for
instance, enter 885 for an 88.5 Hz tone, 1318 for a 131.8 tone, etc. See
below for a list of DCS codes.
10 If the menu has exited, indicated by two very short bleeps, one higher
followed by one slightly lower, press the Menu key to re-enter the menu.
This should not be necessary often, as the menu stays up for close to 10
seconds before timing out.
11 While in the menu, press 2, 7, Menu. The radio will say "memory channel".
12 Enter a channel number from 000 to 127. However, be sure not to use a
channel number that has already been programmed since the radio will not let
you overwrite a stored memory. Programming over a channel with data in it
will simply change that channel's transmit frequency. Once the channel
number is entered, press "Menu" again. The radio will say "Receiving
memory".
13 Press "Exit".
14 Press the "Scan/Rev" button. This will swap over the transmit and receive
frequencies so that they are reversed. This is handy for listening to the
repeater's input channel, in order to determinee whether a station is in
simplex range or not.
15 Press "Menu", "2", "7", "Menu". The radio will say "Memory channel".
16 Enter the same memory channel you entered above in step 12. Then press
"Menu" again. The radio will say "Transmitting memory".
17 Press "exit". You've set up a repeater channel. You will find it in your
list of program channels when you switch to channel mode.
Programming A Repeater With An Odd Split
Alternatively, you can specify your own transmit and receive frequencies. In
brief, you would program in the receive frequency first, then program in the
transmit frequency in the same way. This may be more reliable, since only
the "A" display works for programming memories, thus, the radio can only
remember one offset value for programming purposes. For this method, the
offset value (memory 26) and offset direction (menu 25) don't matter at all.
To demonstrate, here is how you would program in the infamous 147.435
repeater in Los Angeles into memory 99. This repeater has an output
frequency of 147.435 and an input frequency of 146.400, a decidedly very odd
split. As there is no CTCSS tone, we won't worry with that in this example.
1 If in channel mode, press the "VFO/MR" button at the top left corner of
the front panel. to switch to Frequency Mode.
2 Press 1, 4, 7, 4, 3, 5.
3 Press Menu, 2, 7, Menu. The radio will say "Channel Memory". Then, type 0,
9, 9, Menu. The radio will say "Receiving memory".
4 Press cancel to exit the menu.
5 Press 1, 4, 6, 4, 0, 0.
6 Press menu, 2, 7, menu. The radio will say "Channel memory".
7 Press 0, 9, 9, Menu. The radio will say "Transmit memory".
8 Press "Exit".
9 The odd split is now programmed.
Again, remember that you can use this same procedure to program standard
offsets, too. As long as you know the repeater's input and output, you can
program them separately if you wish, and not worry about the repeater
offsets.
Changing Between VFO And Memory Modes
You can switch easily between VFO ("Frequency") mode and memory ("Channel")
mode by pressing the top most button on the front of the transceiver. The
voice will tell you whether you are in "channel mode" or "Frequency mode".
Channel mode must have at least one channel programmed; there are at least
two programmed from the factory. Incidentally, it's probably a good idea to
delete those channels and put your own data in them immediately. Deleting
channels is done with menu 28.
A channel can be directly set by entering it's three digit number on the
keypad, such as 005, 022, or 122 for channel 5, 22, or 122 respectively. The
new channel number will be announced via a voice prompt.
Adjusting Menu Options
All menu options can be adjusted from the keypad. You can either scroll
through the menu with the up/down buttons, or by directly selecting the menu
option you want numerically. So that you can most easily keep track of where
you are, I believe selecting options numerically is easiest, as there is,
again, no audible indication of when the beginning or end of the menu is
reached, and the menus wrap. Note that the menu begins with 0, not with 1.
Menu 0 is the squelch adjustment.
As with selecting menus, the menu options can be adjusted numerically. For
instance, selecting menu 2 (to adjust the power level), press 0 for high
power or 1 for low power. For offset direction (menu 25), you can select 0
for no offset, 1 for a plus offset, or 2 for a minus offset. So, as menu
options below are listed, the first option is always number 0, not number 1.
To adjust the menus, press the Menu key, which is the first key on the first
row of the main keypad. You will hear "Menu", at which time you can then
enter a menu number or press the up/down buttons. Once you reach the menu
you want, press the Menu key again. In most, though not all, cases,, you
will hear voice confirmation of the name of the menu item you have selected.
In the cases where you do not hear a voice confirmation, you will just hear
a beep. Adjust the parameter by pressing numbers or up/down arrows. Once the
menu is set correctly, press the Menu key again. You will hear the word
"Confirm" spoken to indicate that the option is set. You can then choose
another menu item or press the cancel button to exit the menu. If you do
nothing for about 10 seconds, the menu will exit automatically. In either
case, you will hear a tone to confirm you are no longer in the menu system.
Two, Baofeng UV-5R Menu Options and choices
0, squelch level: 0-9
1, frequency step: 2.5, 5, 6.25, 10, 12.5, and 25
2, transmit power: high/low
3, battery save: off, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4
4, vox: off, 0-10
5, wideband/narrowband: wide, narrow
6, abr, display illumination: off, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 seconds
7, tdr, dual watch reception: off/on
8, keypad beep: off, on
9, tot (transmission timer) 15, 30, 45, 60, ''' 585 and 600 seconds
(note) the manual shows dot, dot, dot, between 60 and 585 seconds.
I assume this means it can be set in 15 second increments between these
values.
10, rdcs, reception digital coded squelch
11, rcts, reception continuous tone coded squelch
12, tdcs, transmission digital coded squelch
13, tcts, transmission continuous tone coded squelch
14, voice prompt: off/on
15, ani, automatic number identification of the radio: can only be set by pc
software
16, dtmf st, dtmf tone of transmitting code: off, dt-st, ani-st, dt+ani
17, s code, signal code: only could be set by pc software
18, sc rev, scan resume method: to, co, se
19, push to talk id: off, bot, eot, both
20, ptt lt, delay the signal code sending, 0-30 ms
21, mdf-a, (under channel mode the channel displays) frequency, channel,
name, only set by pc software
22, mdf-b, same as menu 21, for b band
23, bcl, busy channel lockout: off/on
24, auto lk, keypad locked automatically: off/on
25, sftd, direction of frequency shift: off, plus, minus
26, offset, frequency shift: 0-69.990 mhz
27, memch, store memory channels: 000-127
28, delch, delete memory channel: 000-127
29, wt-led, illumination display color of stand by: off, blue, orange,
purple
30, rx-led, illumination display color of reception: off, blue, orange,
purple
31, tx-led, illumination display color of transmission: off, blue, orange,
purple
32, al-mod, alarm mode: site, tone, code
33, band, band selection: vhf, uhf
34, tx-ab, transmitt+ selection while in dual watch/reception: off, a, b
35, ste, tail tone elimination: off/on
36, rp_ste, tail tone elimination in communication through repeater: off,
1-10
37, rpt_rl, delay of tail tone of repeater: off, 1-10
38, ponmgs, boot display: full, mgs
39, roger, tone end of transmission: off/on
40, reset, restore to default setting: vfo, all
The command to RESET ALL is: menu 40 menu menu menu
Three,
DCS
WITH ASSOCIATED KEYPAD NUMBERS
000: Off
001: D023N
002: D025N
003: D026N
004: D031N
005: D032N
006: D036N
007: D043N
008: D047N
009: D051N
010: D053N
011: D054N
012: D065N
013: D071N
014: D072N
015: D073N
016: D074N
017: D114N
018: D115N
019: D116N
020: D122N
021: D125N
022: D131N
023: D132N
024: D134N
025: D143N
026: D145N
027: D152N
028: D155N
029: D156N
030: D162N
031: D165N
032: D172N
033: D174N
034: D208N
035: D212N
036: D223N
037: D225N
038: D226N
039: D243N
040: D244N
041: D245N
042: D246N
043: D252N
044: D252N
045: D255N
046: D261N
047: D263N
048: D265N
049: D266N
050: D271N
051: D274N
052: D306N
053: D311N
054: D315N
055: D325N
056: D331N
057: D332N
058: D343N
059: D346N
060: D351N
061: D356N
062: D364N
063: D365N
064: D371N
065: D411N
066: D412N
067: D413N
068: D423N
069: D431N
070: D432N
071: D445N
072: D446N
073: D452N
074: D454N
075: D455N
076: D462N
077: D464N
078: D465N
079: D466N
080: D503N
081: D506N
082: D516N
083: D523N
084: D526N
085: D532N
086: D546N
087: D565N
088: D606N
089: D612N
090: D624N
091: D627N
092: D631N
093: D632N
094: D645N
095: D654N
096: D662N
097: D664N
098: D703B
099: D712N
100: D723N
101: D731N
102: D732N
103: D734N
104: D743N
105: D754N
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