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A Real Baofeng UV-5R Owners Manual

Baofeng UV-5R Dual Band RadioThe Baofeng UV-5R is very popular among ham radio enthusiasts, and for good reason! It is a dual band radio (2m/70cm) with tons of options at an almost unbelievable low price. This has made the UV-5R a perfect choice for amateur radio newcomers as well as a must-have for long time hobbyists.

The biggest complaint with the Baofeng UV-5R? The lack of documentation. Baofeng is a Chinese manufacturer and these products are imported (this helps explain the low price). It is pretty common for imported radios to have poor documentation, and the UV-5R is no exception. A printed users manual is included with the radio, but it doesn't even scratch the surface in explaining the many functions of the UV-5R.

Looking for a better option, I stumbled upon The (Chinese) Radio Documentation Project. This project aims to create quality documentation for popular but notoriously poorly documented Chinese amateur radios. The project, created by Lennart Lidberg, produces open source documentation that is released under an extremely generous license.

Fortunately for us, the radio that they have started with is the Baofeng UV-5R. They have released version 1.0 of their manual and it is detailed, illustrated, and extremely well written. Anyone who was hesitant to purchase this radio in the past because of poor documentation can now scratch that concern from their list.

Writing manuals like this one is a very time consuming process and it is extremely generous that they are releasing the documentation to the community for free. If this manual was helpful to you, I would encourage you to visit the project web site and make a donation. Donations show that the work was appreciated, and will encourage them to keep the documentation up to date and add other products in the future.

62 thoughts on “A Real Baofeng UV-5R Owners Manual”

  • Bob Parr

    Is there information on how to program the FM side of the radio..
    Thank you

    Reply
  • Rick

    Hi Zack, a radio can transmit on Part 97 amateur frequencies and still be Part 90 certified for business use. There is no Part 97 certification required for radios, so technically and legally, a business radio that is capable of transmitting on ham frequencies can be also be used as an amateur radio. If such Part 97 type acceptance was required, much of the experimentation and DIY radio builds that are part of the hobby would not be possible, because a ham would not be able to build a radio themselves without FCC certification of the device, thus stifling any sort of experimentation and innovation at all.
    On another note, the Baofeng UV-5R is indeed Part 90 type accepted for business use. The FCC ID is ZP5BF-5R. If in doubt, look it up in the FCC ID database.

    Reply
  • Zack

    Hey, You are not legally allowed to transmit on law enforcement frequencies ever, If you are a first responder you need to get a proper radio for your tasks. Talk to someone in your station, or wherever you work. If you are not a first responder. You NEVER EVER EVER transmit on law enforcement frequencies. Seriously it is a felony in the United States. Even if it is to save a life. You should never use law enforcement frequencies. Use any other ones you wish only if someones life is in danger. However, cell phones are your best bet. Sorry. From an emergency communications perspective you should learn how to be a ham radio operator. The licence is 15 dollars or less. And then you have frequencies that you can legally operate on, and usually you can get help through the network of repeaters and/or autopatch.
    However some have said it is part 90 certified. However it is not because it can transmit on part 97 frequencies, and therefore cannot be part 90 certified. Coming from a ham operator, you should not buy this radio to transmit on the frequencies you wish. Get a specific radio for those purposes, buy a real business radio for business radio purposes. If you are law enforcement you might be able to get a radio from your unit or district if you just want one to carry around. Transmitting on law enforcement frequencies can be dangerous because it can impede a response to another emergency. They do prioritize. Just because you think the emergency is important, doesn't mean that it really is. They look for the greater good. One person vs ten people kind of thing. They will save 10 and sacrifice 1 if they have too.

    Reply
  • randall welborn
    randall welborn December 4, 2015 at 8:03 am

    hey i have a few qustions on the BaoFeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way Radio i saw it on amazon.com can you transmit on law enforcement frequencies and on business radieos

    Reply
  • chip,
    I lower frequency / band will provide you with stronger signal over a longer distance.
    The original rubber ducky whip that comes with it is terrible, to be frank. Invest in a better antenna that is designed for the bands this radio is meant to operate on (VHF and UHF)

    Reply
  • chip

    Hello .. and thanks for the info...I just need to confirm settings on how to make them transmit the farthest from each other...i'm only gettin bout 7/10 of a mile...and im told they could go 2 miles...its very flat land and only a few houses in the way..not sure what else it could be...thanks...

    Reply
  • Donald Keys

    i have a uv-5ra and accidentally held down exit instead of scan. Now my radio will not turn on. Can you please help me fix it?

    Reply
  • Rick

    Hi Richard, although the UV-5R does have scan capabilities and can scan the range of frequencies within the two bands supported in frequency mode, the scan function is very slow. It's a great little radio, not a scanner, and is designed to be programmed as a radio to specific assigned frequencies, not detect the frequencies another radio is using. Considering its scan limitations, I would not recommend using the UV-5R as a frequency scanner.

    Reply
  • Richard

    If you don't no the frequency of a radio you want to tie too will this scan to find it ??

    Reply
  • Rick

    Hi James, that is something you should ask your friend. The Baofeng UV-5R is capable of transmitting and receiving on UHF frequencies between 136-174 MHz VHF and 400-520 MHz UHF. The radio is sold in the US for use on amateur and business frequencies on those two bands, however there are some other radio services that also use frequencies in those bands. The radio is intended for use by licensed operators only and only on the frequencies for which they are licensed to use.
    Some do purchase the radio for use as an inexpensive scanner for monitoring other radio services that use frequencies within those bands, and although it isn't intended for use as a scanner, technically it is legal for someone to own and use the radio to listen only, as long as the user does not transmit. The radio can be programmed to disable transmit on select frequencies and listen only, and this is highly recommended for frequencies and services a user wants to monitor, however, it is up to the user to program it into the radio.
    If your friend has programmed the UV-5R with frequencies used by local law enforcement, has not disabled transmit on those frequencies and has loaned it to someone who is not licensed to use those frequencies, those are questions you need to ask your friend, and he or she has a lot of explaining to do.

    Reply
  • I'm borrowing this radio from a friend. Can I ask why I am allowed to TRANSMIT on the dallas police channels?

    Reply
  • Tom Jones

    Re: Baofeng UV-5R radio.
    Do you have optional antennas/adapters for the Baofeng UV-5R radios?

    Reply
  • Philip Brzezinski
    Philip Brzezinski March 28, 2015 at 5:33 pm

    I have the Baofeng UV B6 radio...I don't think the manual would be the same. But I'll try to Google it and see if I come up with anything. I'm not promising anything-computer search engines and I are not the best of friends...

    Reply
  • Rick

    Hi Jim, if you labeled the channels and uploaded the programming file into the radio, all you need to do is set the radio into the the channel mode that displays the channel name.
    To do this on the UV-5R, press MENU and move the arrow up/down buttons to MDF-A or MDF-B (menu option numbers 21 and 22, respectively) depending on which one you want to change. Press MENU again to enter that menu option, then move the up/down arrows to choose between FREQ (to display the frequency), CH (to display the channel number) and NAME (to display the channel lname). Choose NAME, press the MENU button again to set that option, then press the EXIT button. The channel name should now appear on each channel.

    Reply
  • Jim Davis

    Can someone tell me how to name the channels so they display on the unit when turned on. I labeled in the chirp software but am having no luck witht he display on the radio itself. Thx

    Reply
  • G. Cole

    How do you find the micro processing reset? I want to erase the input..

    Reply
  • kim bivins

    I would like to know if anyone out there would do this programing for me I am a disabled vet. and I cant see well enough to do this I will gladly mail it to someone..and pay for return shipping

    Reply
  • ow smith

    my back lit I off how do I turn it back on???

    Reply
  • alpan

    thanks ever so much

    Reply
  • Rick

    The article above links directly to it in the second to last paragraph.

    Reply

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