Programming a Baofeng (UV-5R & GMRS-V1)

Baofeng radios are cheap, common, and a little fiddly to program by hand. Here's how to set up BEL 550 on one.

Heads up: the UV-5R is technically a ham radio, and programming it for GMRS is a gray area. Lots of people do it, but the GMRS-V1 is the purpose-built GMRS version if you'd rather keep it simple and by-the-book.

By hand (frequency mode)

1. Put the radio in frequency mode (VFO/MR button → VFO).
2. Enter the receive frequency: 462.5500.
3. Set the offset direction to + (Menu 25, SFT-D) and the offset to 005.000 MHz (Menu 26, OFFSET).
4. Set the transmit tone to 151.4 (Menu 13, T-CTCS).
5. Set bandwidth to Wide (Menu 5, W/N) and power to High (Menu 2, TXP).
6. Save it to a memory channel (Menu 27, MEM-CH → pick an empty slot → MENU → EXIT).

With a computer (easier)

Free software called CHIRP makes this much easier — you type the numbers into a spreadsheet-style grid and upload them with a programming cable. If you're comfortable on a computer it's the way to go, and it's easy to copy the same settings onto a friend's radio.

Stuck?

Baofengs are famous for confusing menus. If yours won't cooperate, post in Gear & Antennas — someone here has almost certainly programmed the exact radio you're holding.