Baofeng fans often want to know what firmware version is on their amateur radios. Unfortunately, since the release of version BFB297, the firmware version number that displays on the screen of the Baofeng UV-5R Dual Band UHF/VHF Amateur Radio may not be what is actually installed. To resolve the potential conflict and avoid confusion, Danny Feemster from Buy Two Way Radios will show you how to use the Chirp programming software included with the Baofeng UV-5R USB Programming Cable to check the firmware on the radio and find out which firmware version you actually have.
- Home
- Business Radios
- Consumer Radios
- Accessories
- Antennas
- Antenna Analyzers
- Audio Accessories
- Batteries
- Belt Clips
- Bundles and Kits
- Cases and Holsters
- Chargers
- Coaxial Cable
- DC Power Accessories
- DC Power Supplies
- Dummy Loads
- Duplexers
- Faraday Bags
- Miscellaneous Accessories
- Mounts
- Power SWR Meters
- Programming Cables and Software
- Replacement Parts
- Solar
- Test Equipment
- By Radio Type
- By Radio Brand
- Services
- Other Products
- Buyer's Guide
- Resources
Derrick,
Up until the release of the BFS313 firmware, at least one of the firmware messages had BFB in it. With BFS313 the firmware message became BFS313/BFS297, so without the BFB that CHIRP was expecting, the "firmware not supported" message resulted.
You need to be using CHIRP 0.4.0 stable or CHIRP daily-20240307 or later for this firmware to be detected properly.
Jim KC9HI
I have the same firmware BFS297 and have not yet tried to use CHIRP to read it. I want to stay informed as to what is up with this version.
HI, I got some UV 5R, the firmware is BFS 297, and my CHRIP can't program it, says "firmware not supported". do you know why and how to fix this problem?
thanks
Derrick
Hi Rich, we don't currently carry Tonfa radios and I am not familiar with that model, so at the moment I cannot say for certain whether it is or isn't a rebranded Baofeng or a UV-5R clone. However we are researching this radio and as soon as I find out I will post an update.
Good day Rick (or anyone that might have the answer),
Although suspiciously similar to the BaoFeng UV-5R+ radio in appearance, I can't determine 100% if the fairly new TONFA UV-985 radio is based on the same programming format as in the turn-on sequence of '3+powerOn' it shows me the firmware is version BFB229 (the oldest known BaoFeng firmware). But... when I try to setup the CHIRP program with this radio, I get an error.
Any thoughts/information?
Thanks.
Rich
Jim, there is an entire wiki for using CHIRP that explains the settings at chirp.danplanet.com.
On my 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate version PC, in regard to the using a (Kenwood 2-Pin USB Radio Programming Cable FTDI Chipset KPG-22, Also works with Baofeng, FDC, Linton, Puxing, Surecom, Weierwei, Wouxun, and Quansheng) cable to program the Baofeng UV-5r+Plus using Chirp Daily Build for 8/2/2013: “chirp-daily-20130802-installer.exeâ€
My Baofeng has "BFB307" Firmware.
Where can I find info on the following meanings of various Settings in Chirp?
"Other Settings" tab
"6+Power On Message 1"
(This seems to default to something, but not sure what it is.)
"6+Power On Message 2"
(This defaults to blank.)
And Especially the "Work Mode Settings"?
“Settings†tab
“All Settings†menu root
“Work Mode Settings†submenu
“VGO/MR Mode†Setting
“MR A Channel†Setting
“MR B Channel†Setting
“VFO A Frequency†Setting
“VFO B Frequency†Setting
I found one other person asking similar questions on the net:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baofeng_uv5r/message/32110
Thanks for your help figuring this out.
Jim.
I have a new uv-5re radio. When I ran Chirp-Daily-20130711 to check the firmware of this radio, block 1 only had the Ref and block 2 reads BFB297. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
Are you absolutely sure, Mark? Before we produced any media on the Baofeng UV-5R we did some research on the correct pronunciation of the word to ensure we would pronounce it correctly. We do know that Bao is pronounced "bow", not "bay-ow" as we've heard some Americans pronounce it. From our research, the pronunciation of Feng seems to depend somewhat on whether one is from Taiwan or mainland China. From what we understand, the Taiwanese may pronounce it as "fung", while in People's Republic of China it may be pronounced "fong".
Chinese is not our native language, so we do the best we can to find the correct pronunciation before we open our mouths to talk about it. According to a majority of our sources, Baofeng is pronounced "bow-fung", and sites with audio assistants such as South Mountain China Tours seem to confirm this. However, it may also depend on where the speaker is from.
If you can provide multiple sources to corroborate that prove otherwise, please let us know. We invest considerable resources to make sure we provide correct information on our site and we certainly don't want to butcher anything.
Rick
The name of this manufacturer is spelled b,a,o,f,e,n,g. With an E, not a U! It's pronounced "Bow-Feng" (as in the front of a ship, plus a long hollow tooth used by snakes to deliver venom.). NOT "Bow-Fung"! I mean, you wouldn't pronounce it "Boh-Ming", would you? Well of course not! There's no "Oh or Mi" in it. Same thing here... No "U"! This is a simple one guys... Let's use a little common sense, and at least TRY not to completely butcher it.
Hi Matt, that is correct. At this time, you need to download the latest development build of Chirp. It should be available in the next stable release.
Aswered my own question.
Latest development build chirp-daily-20130606 showed the correct firmware boxes as BFB307 and BFB297 while latest stable release chirp-0.3.1 did'nt.
Thanks!
I am using CHIRP 0.3.1 with my BaoFeng UV-5R that has firmware BFB297. This Version of CHIRP is not showing the firmware levels as I get 4 rather than six message boxes. The two top boxes are missing.
I get:
6+Power-OnMessage 1 130110N
6+Power-OnMessage 2 B5R0001
Power-OnMessage 1 WELCOME
Power-OnMessage 2 (blank)
I can correctly program the UV-5r with this version.
Do you suggest I use the latest development version or an earlier version of chirp?
Thanks!