There are some defaults that need to be changed and the settings you see below form my “standard” Baofeng programming file. When you load your radio through CHIRP, you also get to see+manage the settings – and this is what I’ll be looking at in this blog entry. This will allow you to restore the radio if you make any mistakes during a programming session. Once you’ve downloaded your radio’s settings, select File>Save to create an image file of the radio to your computer. Many OEM models also work as other types, so experiment. Some models of Baofeng present as a different type, eg: The UV-5RTP is also a BF-F8HP but may work as a UV-5R.

Typically, the USB/Serial cable appears as the highest COM Port in the dropdown list. Select Radio menu and then Download From Radio which presents you with a dialog box to set COM Port and Radio Model. Plug your programming cable into a spare USB socket on your computer, connect it to the radio and run CHIRP. You can copy/paste and manage memories by adding/moving rows just like you would in an Excel spreadsheet – it’s a very flexible and powerful program.Īlso free is a complete UK Repeater CSV file which you load into CHIRP, courtesy of Ham Goodies: Download CHIRP CSV File here. There’s no “automatic repeater shift” on these Chinese radios so it’s best to have repeaters (whether they are 0.6MHz, 1.6MHz or 7.6MHz split) on a memory and with a name/callsign.ĬHIRP supports multiple tabs of frequency/memory lists which can be a simple CSV file or a radio “image”.

This makes adding multiple repeater memories (and naming them) much easier and leaves the VFO Mode free for normal simplex working. For this, I’ve been using the free CHIRP software and a selection of programming cables. I’ve programmed a fair few handhelds in my time – Mostly Baofeng models but also some Yaesu FT-60s.

Chirp programming for baofeng