Unlock Your New Baofeng UV-5R To Transmit On GMRS/FRS

I have 1. Firemen PRogramed it for me. I'm thinking won't this thing be a beacon for bad people to find me? Made in China? And dosnt have a tracker in it?

Hmmmm

I have a feeling that if the SHTF nobody is going to care about people communicating illegally. There will be bigger things to worry about including survival.

FRS allows 1/2 watt transmit power. The UV-5R even on low power exceeds this.

If you bought a newer Baofeng UV-5R that is locked out from transmitting on all frequencies like the older models, there is now a simple way to unlock the radio so it works like the older models before the FCC got involved forcing Baofeng to make these changes. Check out the video.......



If you do not want to watch the video, follow these steps...

With the power OFF, hold the MONI, PTT, and VFO button down simultaneously as you power the unit on. The screen will say "FACTORY" as it comes on if successful.

If you have no idea what this thread is about, then here it is. A Baofeng radio is a cheap UHF/VHF ham radio that covers a lot of frequencies. You can scan and monitor and listen to.....

FRS radios
GMRS radios
MURS radios
2M Ham radios
70CM Ham radios
NOAA weather channels
Police, Fire, EMS channels
And even FM radio stations.

Very handy to have one of these. Technically you can only transmit on Ham frequencies only if you have a ham license, but many people use them for 2-way communications on FRS and GMRS channels. Here is more on these radios....

More on these radios and CB radio for SHTF communications.......

You can legally transmit on ANY radio in an emergency situation.

Unless I overlooked it, what isn't mentioned is if this is a PERMANENT Unlocking, or you have to do this every time you turn off and then want to turn on the radio again.

realistically you may get 2 km out of this particular model the op refereed to

Very cool. I saw your skip across the pond video posted last week. Ireland and just outside London on a CB radio. That makes that Hamtards jelly. You run a "footwarmer" to get that done?

FRS allows 1/2 watt transmit power. The UV-5R even on low power exceeds this.

When the conditions are right wattage doesnt seem to make any difference. When I was a kid I talked to a guy in Australia on a kids walkie talkie, and people all over the country. Back in the day they were all on channel 14 of the CB band and when the sunspot activity was high .

Another thing, if you have high voltage power lines in your area parking beneath them will allow you to transmit across an incredibly large geographic area, perpendicular to the direction they travel

I get 15 miles out of mine in the 2 meter range, enough to talk to anywhere one the planet if you know what you are doing.

I'll let you in one a little secret, when the ionosphere is right it only takes 4 watts to skip the pond.

When the conditions are right wattage doesnt seem to make any difference. When I was a kid I talked to a guy in Australia on a kids walkie talkie, and people all over the country. Back in the day they were all on channel 14 of the CB band and when the sunspot activity was high .

Another thing, if you have high voltage power lines in your area parking beneath them will allow you to transmit across an incredibly large geographic area, perpendicular to the direction they travel

Yep! Even more sometimes

Yes. Over the pond on 11 meters.......

Very cool. I saw your skip across the pond video posted last week. Ireland and just outside London on a CB radio. That makes that Hamtards jelly. You run a "footwarmer" to get that done?

By high voltage I mean in the hundreds of kilo volts. Your local grid will usually only serve to attenuate and degrade the signal.

I used to live near the Robert Moses power damn and it has 765 KV lines coming from it. AT times you could hear the local radio station on a barb wire fence. You'd be walking along and hear music or some joker talking about the weather and there was no radio or person in miles.

Nope. Intek HR-5500 power is higher then norml though.

I have 1. Firemen PRogramed it for me. I'm thinking won't this thing be a beacon for bad people to find me? Made in China? And dosnt have a tracker in it?

Hmmmm

A VERY good question!

A VERY good question!

You can legally transmit on ANY radio in an emergency situation.

Doubt it. Only when transmitting for long time periods they might triangulate you.

Only takes a minute or so if they are looking for you.

Only takes a minute or so if they are looking for you.