[Updated Amazon link on January 26, 2021.]
In October 2018, Amazon sold Baofeng/Radioddity UV-5R handheld ham radios at an extreme discount. While the low price makes them a great deal, these radios are not easy to program. Follow these instructions to program your UV-5R to use the SLVARC repeater. (Note: if you want to program your handheld for a VHF repeater other than the SLVARC repeater, the instructions below describe how.)
Important: listen to the voice prompts, and ensure that they are correct. If anything sounds wrong, press the [EXIT] button and restart the step.
Step 1. Switch on the radio by twisting the on-off-volume knob.
Step 2. Use the keypad to disable Dual Standby. On-line instructions recommend this step. (If you know what this feature does, and it’s important to you, you can re-enable it after programming. Otherwise just turn it off)
Press Hear [MENU] "Menu" 7 [MENU] "Dual standby" 0 [MENU] "Confirm" [EXIT]
Step 3. Put the radio in “frequency mode” by pressing the (VFO/MR) button once or twice until you hear the “frequency mode” voice prompt.
Press Hear (VFO/MR) "Channel mode" (VFO/MR) "Frequency mode"
Step 4. Select the upper display by pressing the [A/B] button once or twice until the display shows an upward-pointing triangle on the left.
Press
[A/B]
[A/B]
Step 5. Set the receive-CTCSS tone to 94.8 Hz.
(Note: in this step and the next, if you are following these instructions to program your handheld for a different repeater than the SLVARC repeater, then enter that repeater’s CTCSS tone for 948.)
Press Hear [MENU] "Menu" 11 [MENU] "CTCS" 948 [MENU] "Confirm [EXIT]
Step 6. Set the transmit-CTCSS tone to 94.8 Hz.
Press Hear [MENU] "Menu" 13 [MENU] "CTCS" 948 [MENU] "Confirm" [EXIT]
Step 7. Set the frequency offset to 0.6 MHz.
Press Hear [MENU] "Menu" 26 [MENU] "Offset frequency" 000600 [MENU] "Confirm" [EXIT]
Step 8. Set the VFO to the repeater frequency by entering it on the numeric keypad. The SLVARC repeater uses 147.120 MHz.
(Note: if you are following these instructions to program your handheld for a different repeater than the SLVARC repeater, then enter that repeater’s frequency instead of 147120.)
Press Hear 147120 "147120"
Step 9. Set the frequency-offset direction to + or −. The SLVARC repeater uses +.
D is 1 for + (for SLVARC) D is 2 for −
(Note: if you are following these instructions to program your handheld for a different repeater than the SLVARC repeater, then enter that repeater’s frequency-offset direction for D.)
Press Hear [MENU] "Menu" 25 [MENU] "Frequency direction" D [MENU] "Confirm" [EXIT]
Step 10. Save the current settings to a channel by “deleting” (clearing) the channel and then storing the receive and transmit frequencies in it. (Note: if you’ve already programmed some channels in your radio, and you want to retain them, then be sure to choose an unused channel. You can check which channels already are programmed by briefly entering Channel Mode and then using the up and down buttons to see which channels already are present. After this check, re-enter Frequency Mode before continuing with this step.)
N is the channel number. You can use 1 or any other number between 0 and 127.
Press Hear [MENU] "Menu" 28 [MENU] "Delete channel" N [MENU] "Confirm" 27 [MENU] "Memory channel" N [MENU] "Receiving memory" [EXIT] Press [*] Press Hear [MENU] "Menu" [MENU] "Memory channel" N [MENU] "Transmitting memory" [EXIT] Press [*]
Step 11. Put the radio in “channel mode”.
Press Hear (VFO/MR) "Channel mode"
Step 12. If necessary, use the up and down buttons to select the newly programmed channel. You’ll see that you’ve selected it when the top text line of the display shows the frequency of the SLVARC repeater (147.120).
Step 13. The default programming of the radio includes an unknown repeater on channel 127. If you’ve stored nothing important there, you can delete channel 127.
Press Hear [MENU] "Menu" 28 [MENU] "Delete channel" 127 [MENU] "Confirm" [EXIT]
Programming Using a Computer Cable
It’s possible to program your handheld using a computer and a special cable, but setting up the computer takes more time than following the instructions above. If you decide to get a cable and install the Chirp programming software, I strongly recommend spending a bit more money to get the official cable instead of one of the cheaper clones. The cheaper cables cannot use the current programming software and drivers.