(Part 2) Best products from r/HamRadio

Hi - I recently bought the exact same radio and had the exact same problem as you. It frustrated me for a few days until I figured something out... the UV5RV2+ does NOT cover all of the VHF ham bands. I'm guessing you're having problems anytime you try to input any frequency that starts with 144.? After going crazy and realizing that was the problem, buying a programming cable and trying to see if I could use CHIRP to expand the frequency limits, I finally noticed in the product listing on Amazon (I'm guessing you got yours from Amazon too), and actually says in small print "Covers 145-148 MHZ." (The VHF ham band is 144-148 MHZ.)

I hate to say this, but this is an absolute garbage radio and will give you nothing but problems because of this limitation. The original UV-5R's seem to be ok and cover the entire range, but THIS specific radio does not and from what I can tell, there doesn't appear to be a way to fix it. I have returned mine and am waiting for a refund. My recommendation would be to return it and get either an original UV-5R or similar radio, or to spend a bit more and pick up a used Icom, Kenwood, or Yaesu which will give you better performance overall. Nothing against Baofeng's in general... when they work, they work. I actually have a set of BTech GMRS handhelds (BTech seems to be the American distributor for Baofeng), and those are absolutely awesome... I love them.

If you want to stay with a lower price point, I might recommend upgrading at least to a BTech radio. This will give you 3 bands, and should give you no problems: https://www.amazon.com/BTECH-UV-5X3-Watt-Tri-Band-Radio/dp/B01J2W4JUI

I found out the same thing as you the hard way... the radio you have simply does not cover all the VHF/UHF ham frequencies. Good luck, and feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

Some ideas here:

A better whip antenna (others had some suggestions).

Magnetic mount antenna for the vehicle. MFJ-1721 or 1729 are cheap options. Diamond or Comet for higher quality. The Baofeng uses a SMA-male antenna connector so you'll need a SMA-female to BNC-female or SMA-female to SO-239 "pigtail" adapter cable. I don't recommend using a rigid adapter because the antenna cable can put mechanical stress on the radio's connector.

DBJ-2 antenna, a nice portable option for stationary use. Throw that in a tree and you'll get much improved range.

A speaker mic, then he can mount the radio at a fixed position in the vehicle. Makes it easier to use while driving.

Programming cable — makes it much easier to manage the list of stored frequencies and repeaters.

Extended battery — in addition to the increased runtime, this makes the radio fit my large hands better

Battery eliminator — powers the radio from a vehicle.

AA battery holder — replaces the rechargeable battery pack.

Some kind of bag or case to hold everything.

An FT817 will do you well for portable and backpacking; but, at only 5 watts, I think it is under-powered for emergency communications (in spite of the fact that QRP levels of power can send a signal, such a signal is highly dependent on (1) propagation conditions and the (2) receiving station's antenna and local noise); so, I have an external amp for mine (to take it up to 50 watts; this is the amp: https://www.amazon.com/Amplifier-FT-817-IC-703-Enhancing-Transmission/dp/B00SMH5P8U. I have had it for two years and it works fine for amplifying HF). I have not used a KX3; it has more power - 10 watts I believe - but I would still want more power available for an emergency. Of course a good-sized antenna is important when using low power levels too.

The FT817 has 2m, which is useful. But, more importantly, it has HF. In an emergency you will likely need to communicate over relatively close ranges but at distances too great for repeaters and 2m; DX to some foreign continent is not likely to be useful; hence 80m (or 40m - depending on the desired range) with a NVIS antenna will be key. A good article to read about this is Straw's 'What is the deal with NVIS?'; it can be found here: http://www.voacap.com/documents/Straw1205.pdf

My friend has a FT857; that's 100 watts; but it is bigger and heavier and uses more power than my FT817. I am thinking of saving up for a KX3 given that it is lighter than even the FT817. When backpacking, weight is important - I doubt I would have chose an FT857 given its size and weight and power requirements; but, now that I am more experienced, I think having more power is important; I think my radio and 50 watt amp is lighter and smaller than the FT857.

I myself like canoes - makes for easy hauling of camp and radio!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgqVoobflp0

>what I should order for at home and for mobile?


For base , something like this works well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QVPGKHU/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_.VxJDbJ8CDNAM

The higher you can get it teh better of course.

As for mobile ... Be careful putting that in something operated on public highways without proper permits. In NY for example , that would be unlawful. A pure receiver 'capable of receiving police transmissions' is frowned upon in the VTL equipment section. You ham ticket would cover you if it had transmit capabilities and just so happened to be able to scan.

I dont know of any really good multi band scanner ants for mobile. If it was me , I would likely figure the band I would be most interested in and use a single band that has some gain.

TYT TH-9000 is an "OK" monoband rig, but the PA gets damaged when it overheats. OTOH, it can run 60W and it has a nifty D-sub connector that can interface with controllers and such.

I'm currently using the BTECH UV-25X4, and I've been pretty happy with it for 1.25M use.

Either of these are about half of what the Alinco rig costs, but the Alinco is a higher-quality radio than either.

Add a 3-element Yagi to an HT, and that can work pretty well on the 1.25M band, too.

What's your goal? Asides from a budget, your goal will help define what you need and how you need to do it.

As far as an antenna goes, you could build or buy a small yagi

Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Directional-Antenna-Booster-Connector/dp/B00VK0FFKO

Here is a project someone posted for building a yagi: https://makezine.com/projects/make-24/homemade-yagi-antenna/

You would need to cut your elements in a ratio for that band

The other thing you can do is build a cantenna; which is a metal coffee can, with a small wire probe that is 1/4 wavelength long. http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html

2.5ghz is the 13cm band, which is the wavelength of the frequency. The probe in a cantenna would be 13cm x .25 = 3.25cm or 1.27inches

The other option is a wifi dish. I recently purchased this one: https://www.excel-wireless.com/2-4-ghz-grid-parabolic-antenna/2-4-2-5-ghz-grid-parabolic-antenna-19-dbi

...with the intent on modifying it to detect signals in the 1.2 to 1.6ghz range (chasing INMARSAT and other satellites) but out of the box, it is already tuned for 2.4. It would be a little bulky and useless unless you can get it high enough to have a clear shot over local obstructions. It would also help to have it on a mast and rotor so you can move it around.

Now your range requirement might be an issue, for a few reasons. First, signals in that band are everywhere so unless you live someplace remote; everyone has wireless routers and all channels will have signals. Second, that is a long distance for that band. To detect signals at that range, you will probably need a preamp or LNA, something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/p/Low-Noise-LNA-RF-Broadband-Amplifier-Module-1-3000mhz-2-4ghz-20db-HF-VHF-UHF/849991916?iid=223111239484&chn=ps

I haven't tried those so I don't know if they are any good. There are others though and the SDR community might be able to point you in a better direction.

For the detector side of things, an RF sheild or even 2.4ghz ISM may work (the channels are different so the latter may not work) should do the trick. I don't think you can use just a audrino for RF purposes in most cases, but that bit is not my specialty. :)

I have three of them and they're great.

Get the USB programming cable.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008RZJHJU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Don't bother with the software that comes with it. Just get CHiRP which is free and works well. I set all three of mine up with a basic configuration with FRS/GMRS stations programmed, all my local 2-meter stations, weather, etc. all sharing the same channel numbers so they can be used more or less as emergency radios.

I've swapped the antennas for this one. Im not sure which model you have, but they were a definite improvement over the stock rubber duck on my UV5R
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KC4PWQQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've also got a couple of these extended batteries:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ATTVKFQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm learning too; a great way to accelerate learning is to buy a baofeng 5 (link below) and try to find and listen to conversations on the 2m and 70cm bands. It greatly helped me understand concepts in the ARRL Technician book (studying for the test).

https://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-136-174-400-480-Dual-Band-Transceiver/dp/B009MAKWC0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1510632052&sr=8-4&keywords=ham+radio

going to move up later to better/stronger gear, but this little baofeng is pretty fun, plus there's a lot of vids on youtube (many made by preppers) on how to use it.

then after you're licensed, you can use the baofeng 5 to listen AND talk via 70m and 2m bands (e.g., via repeaters)

In my experience unless you live close to the TV stations those "black rectangle" antennas are at best mediocre for UHF stations and terrible for VHF stations. Do you have an attic you could put an antenna in? If so you could try getting something more directional like this design. If you don't have the space for a larger antenna I'd recommend looking for something that at least has a traditional "rabbit ears" element that you can extend to pick up the VHF channels better.

Best tip I can give you. Get a programming cable for it and use CHIRP to program it. It's an open-source programming software that supports a whole bunch of radios, yours included. WAY easier than using the manufacturers software.

https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp

https://www.amazon.com/Programming-PUXING-PX-555-PX-628-TH-UVF1/dp/B00ZRMJ3CC

Honestly a baofeng is a great starter radio. Mine works awesome in my area for hitting those 2m and 70cm repeaters. I have a few repeaters close by that I can hit and talk to my dad 50 miles away with no problems. If you do go the baefeng route, make sure you get a Nagoya whip antenna, you will get way better tx/rx out of it. I used the stock rubber duck for a while before I got my whip and was very surprised at how much it improved.

Some of the older guys despise the Chinese radios. My dad who’s been a ham most of his life makes fun of my baofeng, but it works and it’s cheap.

Edit: Amazon has a deal for a uv-5r with whip antenna, programming cable, and a few other extras for $37.99. You seriously can’t beet that for a starter radio.

Edit2: BaoFeng UV-5R VHF/UHF Dual Band Radio 136-174 400-480Mhz Transceiver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007UYKG4E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_BXfWAbPN95MYH

I reached out to a friend (who has the Amateur Extra license) for guidance and he recommended the canonical ARRL book (link). I've been reading that and it's been VERY helpful. It organizes all the questions by subject matter and teaches more holistically, while still letting you see the exact content in the exam.

Baofengs are notorious for using non-standard antenna connectors. If you're willing to spend a bit more (if you want to depend on it with your life, you probably should), you'll find higher quality, higher power, and standard connectors, which will give you much better versatility.

I would recommend something like the ICOM V80. It uses a standard BNC connector, which you'll find on hundreds of antennas. You can also get car kits to mount the same antennas on the outside of a vehicle.

Rather than worrying about fixed antennas, start of with something like a N9TAX roll-up Slim Jim. It will give you good performance, and all you need is a length of cord over a convenient branch to raise it.

Are you thinking an SDR receiver or a full Transceiver?

For receive only, most people are purchasing these DVB-T usb sticks. Couple that with an MMX to SMA or SO-239 type connector, and you have a nice setup. As far as putting these in a computer case, I understand these sticks can be pretty sensitive. You'd have to wrap it up in a metal enclosure, which would then be grounded to the case.

If you're looking at a transceiver, then the new hotness these days is the HackRF.

Or, you can go high end and get the Flex-1500 which you should be able to fit in 1-2 drive bays.

I got an HT at home too. The best thing I did was buy the Ed Fong 2 antenna on eBay and 25 feet of rg8. Strung it up in oak tree with fishing line. I get to the SARnet on the sunshine skyway with 8 watts now. From Palm Harbor. Thinking about picking this up:

BTECH AMP-V25 Amplifier for VHF (136-174MHz), 20-40W Output (2-6W Input),

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076H972DH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5jD2Db4HQD8C5

This stuff works good.


https://www.amazon.com/Flex-Seal-Liquid-Large-Ounce/dp/B019PFO4MA