Baofeng Serial Number Check

[Aili Peal]

Baofengfans often want to know what firmware version is on their amateur radios. Unfortunately, since the release of version BFB297, the firmware version number that displays on the screen of the Baofeng UV-5R Dual Band UHF/VHF Amateur Radio may not be what is actually installed. To resolve the potential conflict and avoid confusion, Danny Feemster from Buy Two Way Radios will show you how to use the Chirp programming software included with the Baofeng UV-5R USB Programming Cable to check the firmware on the radio and find out which firmware version you actually have.

I don't have $500 for a radio scanner. If I know the few (analog) frequencies that I would like to listen to, I think one can use the Baofeng UV5R (which doesn't cost much). The only problem is that one accidentally can transmit with this and this isn't allowed unless one has a license. From watching some Youtube videos it seems like one maybe can set the transmitting frequency to the same FRS frequency. That way, if one accidentally, presses the transmit button, then one wouldn't accidentally talk to the police or something.

EDIT - When I mean permanently, I mean the radio will not respond to the transmit key being pressed. If you get your license in future, you can reenable this feature to turn the radio back into a transceiver.

"Within the Uv5R there is a thin rubber pad that pushes against the TX button. This pad can be easily cut of with a sharp knife. After that the TX button on the UV5R does not work any more while the TX circuitry is still untouched. This means that the TX with the headsed plugged in is still working."

I did apparently succeed in inhibiting transmit on a UV-5RA memory(reports Firmware version BFB297 but above BFB296 may not be updated with each revision) without using a computer. The method used was to set the offset and direction such that you were instructing the radio to transmit on 0Hz. The behavior while programming isn't quite what you would expect, and I initially thought I was unsuccessful, but it still appears to disable transmit.

When actually transmitting, the display should change color to yellowish (depends on menu settings) and the signal strength icon should appear. It will also display the transmit frequency instead of the receive frequency if they are different but won't change if the transmit frequency is invalid. If you have inhibited transmit, display should not change in any way (unless you receive a transmission) other than the backlight may come on afterwards if it was off.

I have included very detailed instructions below. In many cases, those who need to inhibit transmit the most (non-licensed operators) may be those least skilled in operating the radio. Also, even many licensed operators have difficulty programming these model radios even when trying to do something normal.

Some notes on operation:In these instructions, [MENU] is preceded by [EXIT] to make sure you are starting from the correct state (not in menu). When entering one or two digits after menu as a shortcut to a specific menu item, type those digits quickly or radio will time out. If an instruction says "Repeat" something "until" something, repeat the operation as many times as necessary until you see the correct state on display; as a bonus, the available settings will repeat in a loop so you don't have to catch the correct setting the first time and can see exactly what is changing on the display and which most closely resembles the desired setting (in case you are uncertain about which part of the display to look at). Target value could be in top line, bottom line, mode indicators (mostly above top line), channel numbers (to right of top/bottom lines), carets (to left of top/bottom line). The carets show you whether top or bottom line is active. In menus, the top line shows the menu item name and the bottom shows the value and you hit [MENU] to bounce back and forth between them and repeat [UP ARROW] and/or [DOWN ARROW] to select the desired menu item (if on top line) or value (if on bottom line). Returning to the top line using [MENU] enters a value, pressing [EXIT] before doing so will abort the change. Instead of using arrows to select menu item you can enter a one or two digit (quickly) value while on top line and for some values you can enter digits on bottom line. When entering a sequence of digits, do so quickly as the radio will time out if you take too long; in most cases you can simply repeat the digit sequence from the start as you will be in the same state you were in before you started entering digits though the menu item or value may have changed.

The insane method of writing to memory twice is a perversion of a procedure required in some other non-chinese radios if, and only if, you need to program an "odd split". Those radios would save the transmit and receive settings when you saved a memory but let you overwrite the transmit setting using a separate write instruction if you needed to program an "odd split". Odd splits were a way of programming transmit and receive frequencies that were not related to one another by a standard offset value or were separated by a very large offset that might be hard to enter into offset setting or that you wouldn't want to reuse for any other channel. Odd splits might even cross band boundaries such as using a cross band repeater.

When I went to save the results in a memory channel, however, I thought it wasn't working. Normally, you have to save, hit REVerse ([]), save again, and hit REVerse ([]) again to exit reverse; this proceedure is necessary to save both the RX and TX frequencies. But when I hit reverse, the display showed 146.850 and not 000.000. So I thought I had failed. But when I tried to check in on the net, the radio did not transmit (nor complain). And closer inspection appears to indicate it is not transmitting.

I had also tried the split to zero method using SAVE, enter 000.000 as frequency, and SAVE again method (alternative to doing OFFSET, SFT-D, REVerse that you can't test before saving) but it wouldn't accept 000.000 as a frequency.

After you are done, clean up your mess. Set offset back to an appropriate value for the band (000.600 VHF, 005.000 UHF). Set SFT-D back to OFF. Make sure radio isn't left in reverse mode. Performing another partial reset is one way to accomplish this.

If this method fails, you will actually transmit so use a dummy load, a frequency you are licensed to transmit on (or a control operator who is) and state your call sign, or at the very least an unused frequency.

Blocking the tx is actually very simple.Remove the ptt button (from the outside) with a small narrow screwdriver.Remove all tabs from the inside of the buttonand put it back carefully.Ready.It's not necessary to open the baofeng in this way ...

The serial number is displayed on the label inside of the radio and can be viewed by detaching the battery. The serial number includes 10 digits, with an initial letter of Z and 9 numbers. You can also check the serial number of the products by reading and writing the frequency. Each product has an individual serial number.

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