Good day, Phil. I am no super user, but with a quick search, I found a UV-5R on Amazon and it definitely says it has narrow limits for both VHF and UHF. See attached. VHF range is only 144Mhz to 148Mhz. Try programming your radio to, say 146.500Mhz. According to Amazon's specs, it should be able to tune to that frequency, but not to 169.038. I have a UV-5RHP and a couple of UV-5R8W's and all of them support VHF frequencies from 136Mhz to 174Mhz and UHF frequencies from 400Mhz to 520Mhz. Those and many other Baofeng models should get you where you want to be. Good luck.
Alex Boerner KJ7CPZ
________________________________ From: chirp_users-bounces@intrepid.danplanet.com chirp_users-bounces@intrepid.danplanet.com on behalf of Phil C pclutt@gmail.com Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2024 12:03 PM To: chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com Subject: [chirp_users] Help with Chirp re Baofeng UV-5R
Hi all. I believe this is the correct way to post asking for help with the Chirp program? If not, could you point me in the right direction please?
I have a Baofeng UV-5R which I want to use to monitor radio traffic on 169.038MHz. Receive only, not transmit. According to the specs this should be possible, but the radio will not allow me to programme that frequency. A Google search has shown me that apparently some of these radios were shipped without that frequency band (136-174MHz) enabled, and that Chirp should allow me to reprogramme my handset to enable this. Currently the only range available is 400-520Mhz.
I have downloaded Chirp and am waiting on a cable to allow me to connect the handset to the computer. If this reprogramming is possible would someone be able to tell me how to do it? Preferably in pretty basic steps, because although I'm reasonably tech-savvy and can hold my own with phone and computer apps like video editing etc I have never reprogrammed a radio and wouldn't know where to start.
Thanks. Phil.