• Chirp Import Tips

Baofeng handheld two way radios are well known among amateur radio operators everywhere. Models such as the, and the legendary are a common staple in the modern ham shack, and with good reason.

Jan 25, 2014 How to Program the Baofeng UV-5R from Tin Hat Ranch. Learn here how to program it using the front panel or using Chirp Software. Don't have one? BaoFeng Radios lead the affordable ham radio market with the BF-F8HP, UV-82HP, UV-5R, and more. Visit the site to learn, buy, and get support.

These radios are compact, easy to use, versatile and, best of all, extremely inexpensive. They are some of on the market. These attributes have made Baofeng a household name in the ham community. However, programming a Baofeng radio from a computer isn't all that intuitive and can become messy even for the most experienced ham who is not used to Chinese-made radios.

The USB cable driver offered by Baofeng is buggy and the programming software made by the manufacturer is, for all intents and purposes, junk. Fortunately, there are other options available, and once properly installed, they are actually quite good.

You just need to know where to find these options and how to install them properly. Once that is accomplished, programming is usually a breeze. To find and install the Baofeng USB Programming Cable driver and programming software correctly, follow the instructions below. NOTE: follow these instructions completely and in order. Failure to do so may only bring more frustration when things don't work. To start, the computer should be on and the radio should be off. Locate the correct USB programming driver for your operating system.

You can download the Prolific driver for Windows, Mac and Linux. If you purchased the from, the driver for Windows will be on the CD included with the cable in the USB Cable Driver folder. Insert the CD and go to USB Cable Driver USB Cable Driver Prolific 3.2.0.0.exe. This is the correct driver. Install the USB programming cable driver.

Do NOT connect the USB cable at this time. Locate the CHIRP Programming Software for your operating system. The latest stable build for Windows XP, 7, 8, MAC and Linux can be downloaded from. It is also included on the Buy Two Way Radios CD in the CHIRP Programming Software folder. Choose the appropriate folder for your operating system. Install the program but do not run it yet. Plug the USB programming cable into the USB port on your computer.

Plug the other end of the cable into your radio and turn it on. Additional steps for Windows. There may or may not be a notification after connection.

To verify the connection, check the Windows Device Manager. Access to the Device Manager will depend on your version of Windows. Once in Device Manager, click on Ports (COM and LPT). It should be listed as Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COMX). X denotes the COM port number. Note the number and write it down if necessary, as you will need to know it when configuring the programming software. If there is a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark next to the USB device, Windows did not install the driver correctly.

To correct the issue, right-click on the device and choose Update Driver Software on the pop-up menu. Choose Browse My Computer to install the driver manually. Choose Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.

Choose Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port Version: 3.2.0.0 and click NEXT. The correct driver should install and the yellow notification should disappear from the Device Manager. Note the COM Port number. Run the CHIRP Programming Software.

Click Go to Radio on the menu bar and choose Download From Radio. Choose the COM Port number for the USB cable, the Vendor (Baofeng) and the model of the radio (such as UV-5R) from the drop down lists in the pop-up box. Your radio should be connected to the computer and CHIRP should now be able to communicate with it. Additional Instructions for Windows laptops. On some laptops, the device manager may indicate the cable is installed correctly, but CHIRP may not detect the COM Port.

This may occur if Windows Power Management is enabled on the device. To activate the cable, go to the Device Manager and right click on Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COMX). X denotes the COM port number. Click Properties on the pop-up menu. Click the Power Management tab. Remove the check from the box next to Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power and click Apply or Save.

To verify the connection, Run the CHIRP Programming Software. Click Go to Radio on the menu bar and choose Download From Radio.

Choose the COM Port number for the USB cable, the Vendor (Baofeng) and the model of the radio (such as the UV-5R) from the drop down lists in the pop-up box. The program should download the frequencies from the radio. When it completes the data transfer, the frequency table will appear on the screen. The radio is now ready to program through your computer. As an authorized Baofeng Dealer, we want installation to be as easy and painless as possible so you can enjoy your radios for many years to come. If these instructions are followed correctly, you should not have any difficulty connecting the Baofeng radio to your computer.

After the initial setup, future connection to the computer should be a matter of simply plugging the USB programming cable into your radio and computer and running CHIRP. Note: If you followed the installation instructions and are still having trouble, there is now another solution available. The installs quickly and easily on computers with Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Installation is automatic on many systems with little or no user interaction required. The works with Baofeng, Kenwood, Wouxun and other two way radios equipped with standard two pin Kenwood connectors. Update: Hear our of! Rick-I can only up load some of the frequency selections that I got from the log book via chirp. But when I tried to narrow it down to York county only-I was unable to get the upload to become bold so that it would work-I have tried naming it-but again cant get the save or save as to become bold. Can you walk me through the' save it' portion again-I'm not doing something correct.

The sc -all- is working and I can upload it ok-so that tells me the com port 3 is the correct one-I am still practicing with this and would like to get proficient before I type in all the ones that I will want to keep. Thanks for your help barnes w4goy. I just got a UV-5R and followed these very well-written instructions. Downloaded and installed the USB driver. Downloaded and installed CHIRP.

Followed all directions, made sure the plug was in the radio all the way. Then tried RadioDownload from radio. I got a pop up saying it may not work but procedeed. A little box opened indicating data being transferred. And it didn't work. So tried a few more times. I kept getting a pop-up saying the radio didn't want to cooperate, althoug hthe Com port was correct.

Although I thought I read that the radio should be tuned to a channel that was NOT operating, I tried tuning the radio a channel that WAS operational. And it worked - all the channel info from the radio was copied to CHIRP, allowing me to edit it. Hope this is helpful. Rich made a valuable observation. Do in this exact order: 1.

Make sure radio is off. Connect the cable to the radio. Make sure it's all the way in.

Connect the other end of the cable to your computer's USB port 4. Turn the radio on. Within CHIRP, click RadioDownload from radio After a couple of pop-up windows, CHIRP should import what's on your radio's channels. Then you can edit. When done, click RadioUpload to radio, and it should transfer your new presets. Save your file someplace you can find it again.

Note: When uploading from radio to CHIRP, be sure your radio is tuned to an active station - in spite of the instructions you'll see pop up. #4 says, 'Ensure that the radio is tuned to channel with no activity.'

I tune it to a channel that IS active - the little green light on the face of the unit is on or flashing. If I tune to a random station and there's no green light, I get a message saying CHIRP can't communicate with the radio. Very confusing! UV-5RA and 'Genuine BAOFENG' cable ordered from Amazon recently. Could't get Mac OS 10.9 to recognize cable no matter the driver. Windows 7 installed drivers automatically. Secure 8000.

As soon as radio is turned on, it begins transmitting several times per second continuously. ONCE I got the channels to download from the radio to CHIRP by unplugging and reconnecting the USB while leaving the radio on. Oddly, if I lift the radio a few inches off the desk, it starts transmitting continuously instead of repeatedly.

I've been working on this for days - trying every driver and reading every set of instructions I can find. I'm throwing the cable and mini CD and radio in the garbage. Honestly, I expected such 'quality' from a $28 radio when I ordered it, so no big loss.:). Hi Joe, if you tried everything in the instructions, you should already have the Prolific driver. You can't proceed past the second step without it.

Where did you purchase the Baofeng programming cable? If it was, it will come with the driver CD. If you purchased the cable from another dealer and it did not include the driver, you will need to contact them to obtain it. Keep in mind that there are a lot of counterfeit cables out there, so if you purchased a cable purported to have a Prolific chip but won't install the driver, it may not actually have one.

There is another option. The installs easily in most versions of Windows without a driver CD. It works with most Baofeng and Wouxun radios that use a standard Kenwood connector, including the UV-5R.

If you are having trouble installing your current cable, the XLT Painless Programming Cable is well worth the investment. Steve, The top A display and bottom B display are independent from each other. They cannot be automatically synchronized. When the top display is selected (black triangle to the top left) and you scroll through the programmed channels, the channel number in the bottom display does not change. That is why you keep seeing 136.025 on the bottom display when you scroll through the channels on the top display. Tap the A/B key to select the bottom display (black triangle to the bottom left) and then scroll through the channels. You will now see the frequency change on the bottom display and the top display will not change.

That's how the radio is supposed to work. Alan, I agree. Roger's problems are driver related. With Prolific chips on Windows, genuine or not, you might as well plan to downgrade the drivers. V2.0.2.1 for Windows XP and V3.2.0.0 for Windows Vista, 7 and 8.

They are available from the miklor.com website. I have a mixture of cables with genuine and knock-off chips. I never have to worry about which driver is in stalled because the older drivers work with both. And yes, Prolific drivers for Mac OS X have the same issues with knock-off chips. The needed generic drivers are available from links on the CHIRP website wiki/documentation pages. The Linux open source drivers don't care which Prolific chip you have. CHIRP Live CD uses the Xubuntu linux OS.

It boots from a CD or USB flash drive without messing with your regular OS. If you boot this CD and your programming cable works, but it doesn't work in Windows or Mac OS X, then you can be reasonably be sure that you have a driver problem. I've installed practically every Windows Prolific driver that I could get my hands on to figure out which one was the best to have installed. It really isn't that difficult to get the older compatible drivers installed. You just have to each and every step.

But after doing that, and you still seem to be having problems, then get the XLT Painless programming cable. It uses the FTDI USB-to-serial chip and has compatible drivers for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and more. Phil, Double check Device Manager to make sure that you have successfully downgraded to the v3.2.0.0 driver. You not only have to install it, you have to specifically select it instead of the v3.4 something driver that Windows 7 automatically installs. Along with the video posted here, you may also want to take a look at the instructions here: If you have verified with Device Manager that the v3.2.0.0 is installed and selected, then the problem is likely the plug is not fully inserted into the radio's socket.

Like getting a compatible driver installed, getting the plug fully seated in the radio is also a common problem. Look here for some suggestions: Jim KC9HI. I read somewhere durng my exploits into programing my Baofeng GT-3 radio that you will use the UV-5r programing as the GT-3 Mark II is an upgraded version of the UV-5 and after cloning the radio they lost sound in frequency mode and were only able to hear with a headset.

Well, I figured out the problem and wanted to share. In the column next to the frequency is 'name' and after is 'tone mode', tone mode must be (none) to work properly. After changing all the tone modes it worked as normal. To do so I had to delete the line and re enter it.

Good luck, hope this helps. Hi Taylor, most of the UV-5R series radios are about the same. A good rule of thumb is if it uses the same Kenwood connector as the UV-5R it should be compatible with the UV-5R programming cable. Of course, the programming software is another matter entirely.

We carry the UV-5R but we do not have the UV-5RB, so we cannot guarantee the software we provide for the radios we sell will also work well for your particular model. According to CHIRP, the supported UV-5R variants include the UV-5RB, however, as we do not use or sell the B variant, we have not verified this ourselves. Found your forum while searching for programming updates for my Baofeng Radios. I've recently run into a similar issue with programming these units. I've tried the seating and cable cutting methods described, to no avail with some of the newer versions.

The fix for me has been to use a 2.5 and a 3.5 extension cable to hook into the radio. My best guess is the 1 mm ish metal ring on the bottom of the programming cable is not allowing it to seat deeply enough into the new versions of the radio. It seems to work flawlessly now. Just wanted to post what worked for me. Thanks for this website! Finally got everything to work.Note: I'm on a desktop, and I had to turn off 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' before CHIRP would download the image off my radio to my PC. Was getting error messages before.

I'm using Win 7 (64 bit) and Baofeng UV-5R. So if any of you have followed the instructions and still cannot get CHIRP to 'Download from Radio' correctly, trying turning off the 'Allow computer to turn off this device to save power' in your Device Manager. Worked for me! How can I retitle the name of my downloaded file from my radio? When I select the box it does nothing. I tried adding a new.csv file and using 'save as' but that does nothing either.

Chirp Import Tips

Everything worked fine on this first try of CHIRP until this. I am using the latest download of CHIRP, Win 7 Ultimate, 64 Bit. Normally any other program being used when you select SAVE AS, you get either a box to add the new name, or, the previous name goes blue and you just type the new name in the box. I get nothing to happen. I was trying to use the CHIRP software with my UV-5R plus and I too kept getting the pop-up stating my radio didn't respond. After numerous attempts and a little frustration, I came here and read these instructions. While my radio was communicating with the Baofeng software, it wouldn't with the CHIRP program.

I also noticed my orange 'transmit' light was constantly on. I read the part under 'Laptop' instructions and even though I am using a desktop, when I went into the power management settings in the Device Manager, Properties, Power Management and 'unchecked' both 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' and the 'Allow this device to wake the computer' and the transmit light on my radio went off.

I was then able to get the CHIRP program to communicate with my radio and successfully download the information. I am using Windows 7.

Hope this helps someone having the problem I was having.

Install USB Driver software. Install Baofeng BF5R UV5R Radio Programming Software Step 3. Connect USB cable to your PC. Connect USB cable to radio. Turn on Radio. Run program BF5R UV5R USB Windows XP, 2000, Win98 Cable Driver 2012-04-29 version.

Copy to a temp directory and run usbXP2K09.exe. 3,051,929 bytes USB Windows Vista, Win 7 Prolific Driver Copy to a temp directory and run Baofeng-Driver-Vista-Win7.exe. USB Windows Vista / Win7 Prolific Cable Driver 2011-Sept-12 version. 2,065,563 bytes Some people have problems with the newer Prolific driver on their Win 7 system. They get 'ERR 10' or flaky operation so we also offer this older Vista driver which works fine in Win 7 too.

USB Windows Vista Cable Driver 2003-April-03 version. 1,410,639 bytes UV-5R Series (English) Copy ALL three files into a new directory on your computer and run setup.exe. Do not use either software for UV-5RA model radios.

The 'A' model has its own software. Right click on file name and Save Link as.

Or Save Target As. 2012-04-29 version XXXX 2012-10-25 (NEWOLD) Version Use on radios bought after Mid Dec 2012 2,523,748 bytes XXXX 2,550,385 bytes 139,776 bytes XXXX 139,776 bytes 3,281 bytes XXXX 3,302 bytes Note: There may be a NEWER versions of this software in RAR format on this site. Installing BF5R UV5R Software Run setup.exe Clck on Ok Click on the Computer Button Click on Continue Click on Ok Running BF5R UV5R software Run program BF5R or UV5R Note: Default language for UV5R software is Chinese. Menus may appear as chinese text or just??

Select 2nd from right column and change Menus from ODIA to English if you wish. Pick menu choice Communication Select correct comm port for your USB cable. Click on Confirm Note: UV-5R version has 16 comm ports to chose from.

To download info from radio click on the blue computer icon with the symbol. Under the Program menu. Or type CTRL+W Unplug USB cable from Radio.

Exit Program. Last Revised: Jan 04, 2013.