Since the UV-5R series share the same manufacture programming software and CHIRP support most of Baofeng UV-5R models, this programming guidance is a helpful preference to the following model:
Baofeng GT-3, BF-F8/BF-F8+, BF-F9, UV-5R+/UV-5R+Plus, UV-5RA/UV-5RA+/UV-5RAX+, UV-5RAX (2M/1.25M), UV-5RE/UV-5RE Plus, etc.
Preparation before Programming
1. Computer System Requirements
Operating System: Windows 98, Windows Me. Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10
Hard Disk Space: at least 50MB available
Minimum memory: 64M
2. Programming Cable
A. USB programming cable - The driver should be installed before programming.
1) Find the corresponding driver of the system.
2) Click install and wait for the installation.
B. If you use an FTDI cable, it does not need to be installed with a driver. You can just plug in and use directly.
3. Software Download & Install
1) Turn on the computer, check if your computer system meets the requirements.
2) Download the manufacture programming software on baofengradio.com or CHIRP programming software.
3) Install the programming software.
4. Connect your Walkie Talkie with Computer
1) USB programming cable connects with the computer end.
2) Connect the other end of the cable with your walkie talkie.
3) When both ends have been connected, turn on your radio. Make sure it has enough power during the programming procedure.
UV-5R Chirp Software Programming Process
1) Open the CHIRP software (Latest Version), click "Download From Radio" under "Radio"
2) Select the corresponding cable driver port, and select Model "UV-5RX" under Vendor "Baofeng", then click "OK" to read the radio.
3) And you will come to the page of Memories, in which you can adjust the limited parameters (Channel, TX Frequency, RX Frequency, CTCSS/DCS, High/Low Power, and Wide/Narrow Band, etc).
4) Then if you switch to the page of Settings, you can adjust the limited parameters (VOX Function, Squelch, Backlit, DTMF, FM Radio, Voice Prompt, Scanning, VFO Mode, etc).
5) All the modification will be saved by clicking "Upload To Radio" under "Radio".
Then you can check the settings you modified after reboot the radio.
UV-5R Manufacture Software Programming Process
1) Download and open the manufacture software. Click "communication" and choose "COM" Port, then click the "Confirm" button.
2) Click the "Read" button, then click "Read" and ready to read the data from your radio.
3) You will come to the parameter page and adjust the limited parameters (Channel, TX Frequency, RX Frequency, CTCSS/DCS, High/Low Power, and Wide/Narrow Band, etc).
4) Click "Optional Features" under "Edit", a page of "Optional Features" will pop up, you can adjust the limited parameters (VOX Function, Squelch, Backlit, DTMF, FM Radio, Voice Prompt, Scanning, VFO Mode, etc.).
5) If you want to modify the DTMF function, you can get into the DTMF page by clicking "DTMF" under "Edit".
6) Finally, all the modification will be saved by clicking the "Write" button, then clicking the "Write" button on the popup.
And you can check the setting you modified after reboot the radio.
Troubleshooting
1. The radio cannot connect to the computer
Please kindly check if you have firmly plugged in the programming cable and selected the correct comm port. If you have other programming cables that can help test, please also try to program the radio using another programming cable.
2. The radio fail to be programmed even if I have plugged in the cable
Please follow the instructions below and check if the driver installs properly:
1) Open the device manager
2) Plugin the programming cable to the computer
3) If there's no change or device shows up after the cable is plugged in, there are two possibilities, one is that you have not installed a driver yet, the other is that the programming cable is defective or the cable does not make a good connection with your computer.
4) Please click here to download the drive for Baofeng original cable.
5)If the radio fails to be programmed again, please take screenshots of the error your computer shows and your device manager with the Other Devices opened when the cable is plugged in, and then contact support team for further assistance.
3.I cannot unzip the .rar file
To extract those files often requires a utility you may not have installed on your computer. Please Click Here to a free .rar file extract utility.
Thank you. That cleared up a lot wit this radio. I can now safely say that I got all the software installed.