Baofeng UV-5R

[filsgreen]

Morning all

Well I'm studying for my foundation license and should have my exam around the first week in November. In the mean time I was thinking of getting this radio to listen in to Ham radio users and to get used to the functions and controls; I will NOT transmit until I receive my call sign.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007 ... MJYSHA4UDP

Is this a good radio to start off with? If so, what sort of aerial should I use with it? Any advice/guidance will be appreciated.

Phil

[Hamradioop]

Yes that is an excellent entry rig to Ham Radio. I have one as do many others here.
I would also buy the programming cable and down load chirp to program it http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Download

[filsgreen]

Thanks for your recommendations H.

[The-Mendologist]

Yes, good little radios for the price, i have two UV5RC's.
Be mindful that they are only 2M & 70CM's on FM, but you can also program in PMR 446 and they also work on marine freqs too, as i live near the river i also listen in on the VTS too.

[Derv]

What is the potential range with these handsets? I've done away with the standard antenna and got one of those Nagoya ones in anticipation of getting my ticket and using a local-ish repeater.

Its about 12 ish miles as the crow flies, but there is a bit of lumpy land in between. I'm thinking I'm going to need an antenna on the roof

[The-Mendologist]

What is the potential range with these handsets? I've done away with the standard antenna and got one of those Nagoya ones in anticipation of getting my ticket and using a local-ish repeater.

Its about 12 ish miles as the crow flies, but there is a bit of lumpy land in between. I'm thinking I'm going to need an antenna on the roof

The Nagoya antenna is ok as is the Diamond rh771 as well as the Surecom, as long as it has the correct conection for the radio, as for distance they do go a long way but you have to remember that certain conditons will affect the signal as it does for all of the amateur bands and so will the terrain.

If you are going to put an antenna on the roof please be careful.

What sort of antenna are you looking to get for the roof?

I have other rigs indoors so they will work ok on the antennas i have, i first started out with an X50 then gave that to my mate over the road for him to use on his handheld, now i have an X300 which is bigger.

It all depends how deep your pockets are.

[Wingfoot]

The UV5R may be cheap but in my limited experience its a very capable intro rig.

I have purchased a small number of them for use within the family should the SHTF, and also for my baby steps into ham radio.

I have a friend who has an M0 callsign & together we have tested my UV5R several times, both from home & out on the hills, as with any 2M vhf set up "height is might" & the higher you can get your antenna the better, but 25 miles is possible without to much trouble if you have a good takeoff point.

Mine is currently conected to a diamond X50 colinear at my home qth at 130M above sea level & I also use it in the car connected to a covert 1/4 wave antenna on a mag mount, its very easy to connect them via the many adapters available to just about any antenna, the UV5R is a great prepper radio once you learn how it works, & with that in mind there are some great "how to" videos on youtube to get you started.

Also im of the opinion that you should not waste you money on the many aftermarket replacement antennas that screw direct to the radio, like the nagoya 701 & 771, I bought these & others & while the standard rubber duck is not great its good enough for handheld operation & with a clear line of sight will get 25 miles & the aftermarket options gave very little more in terms of performance in my view by comparison, others may have say different but knowing what I know now I would have saved the money & put it towards some other antenna, like the fantastic roll up slim jim antenna from nelson antennas, its certainly the best £20 I have spent so far on my journey into radio.

I have also programed mine using the chirp software & it works great, but dont buy the cheap programing cables from china, the first one I bought wouldn't work, spend a bit more & locate a seller here in the UK & it will be money well spent.

Wf

[filsgreen]

Thank you all for your invaluable advice, may I impose on you a little more? My station is going to be in a shed in the garden, it is only 25 feet from the house. I'm thinking of attaching a 15 foot post to the end of the shed and attaching an aerial to it. However, the aerial will still not be above the roof line of the houses around it, plus another house is less than 25 feet away from it. I live not far from a railway and the docks are only a mile further on, to make things worse we are only 10 metres above sea level. Even if I were to put the aerial on the gable end of my house, it would only be 10 metres above ground, am I flogging a dead horse? I've attached a photo so that my question makes more sense, just to be clear it is the shed on the left of the picture.




Phil

[The-Mendologist]

Thank you all for your invaluable advice, may I impose on you a little more? My station is going to be in a shed in the garden, it is only 25 feet from the house. I'm thinking of attaching a 15 foot post to the end of the shed and attaching an aerial to it. However, the aerial will still not be above the roof line of the houses around it, plus another house is less than 25 feet away from it. I live not far from a railway and the docks are only a mile further on, to make things worse we are only 10 metres above sea level. Even if I were to put the aerial on the gable end of my house, it would only be 10 metres above ground, am I flogging a dead horse? I've attached a photo so that my question makes more sense, just to be clear it is the shed on the left of the picture.




Phil

You really need to get the antenna as high as posible and into free air, like you i am only 76ft ASL, my antenna is on the side of the manor as my shack is in the east wing.
It is bolted on the side of the manor by a set of 24" T&K brackets to escape the roofline and then on a 20ft galv steel 2" pole.

[filsgreen]

Thanks for your advice M. Have you had any planning issues with the council regarding the height?

Phil