OE1FLP resources and links for the Baofeng UV-5R
Overview
Like many radio amateurs, the Baofeng UV-5R was my first transceiver. I purchased it while I was still learning for my licensing exam to listen to the chatter on air. Very quickly, however, the UV-5R showed its deficiencies. The receiver is overly sensitive and does not discriminate signals well. In effect, it happened several times that other stations could hear me loud and clear, but I did not receive them at all. One day, I was trying to activate (SOTA) OE/NO-204 Anninger and just barely managed to make the required 4 QSOs. That hill has a microwave tower on the next summit over, and overlooks a highly industrialized and urbanized area in Austria. Accordingly, there is a lot of RF energy in the air, and the UV-5R dropped the ball on that. I decided on that hill that I would sell it and buy myself a better HT.
That said, the UV-5R offers a cheap and fairly accessible entry into the hobby. Accounting for its various known limitations, it does its job. It can be useful to have it tumble around in a glove compartment, backpack, or anywhere else as a backup HT in a pinch.
Manuals
Menu reference by KC9HI Jim. This is avery useful document, describing every menu item of the Baofeng UV-5R in detail.
Codeplug and programming help
Useful links
PC software
CHIRP