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Baofeng UV5R - Power Output 'Override' Discovered

KF6IRK

Kapt. Irk
Mar 2, 2013
323
136
53
So Cal
I own two of these little gems. They really do offer a lot of bang for the buck :D

UV5R.JPG

One, I typically carry when I leave the home QTH, and the other one is usually left laying around the QTH, and used as a wireless mic for my remote base.

The power output level (either 'HIGH', or 'LOW') is retained in the memory channel(s) when you program it, so I set my 'mobile' one up for 'HIGH' power and the 'remote mic' one set to 'LOW' power. They look identical, so sometimes I would get confused as to which one I had in hand.

I thought I could change the power output on the fly, by simply going into the MENU and choosing whichever level I wanted. Well, that didn't work. Every time I attempted it, the radio would revert back to the programmed power level (either 'HIGH', or 'LOW') :glare:

The normal sequence to change the power level is as follows:
(Note: this sequence works fine if you're in the VFO mode, but not in the MEMORY CHANNEL mode).

1. Depress [MENU] button
2. Scroll to menu # 2
3. Depress [MENU] button again
4. Toggle the UP or DOWN arrow until 'HIGH' or 'LOW' is displayed (your choice)
5. Depress [MENU] again to confirm
6. Depress [EXIT]



So, I thought, well, maybe I'll just program multiple memory channels with the same freq, PL, etc., just different power levels, right? This would work, but whatta PITA, trying to remember all the memory channels that were programmed with 'HIGH', and 'LOW' power levels.

Purely by accident, I found that if you perform the following sequence, you can temporarily change the output level until you turn the radio off:

1. Depress [MENU] button
2. Scroll to menu # 2
3. Depress [MENU] button again
4. Toggle the UP or DOWN arrow until 'HIGH' or 'LOW' is displayed (your choice)
5. Depress [MENU] again to confirm, BUT - DO NOT depress [EXIT]
... an 'L' will appear adjacent to the 'S' meter in the LCD if it 'took'
6. Depress the PTT button on the radio
... Note, if you depress [EXIT] instead of the PTT button, the 'L' will disappear from the LCD.

The radio will retain this changed power level until the radio is turned off. When the radio is powered up again, the power output level will again revert to the original programmed level.
 
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I've been going through an "Improved User Manual" (http://radiodoc.github.io/) and there is a keypad power shortcut: press the "*" key briefly. The unit will change from High Power to Low, or vice versa. If you don't want to slog through the entire manual to find it, here it is:

"In channel mode, also acts as a transmit power short key. While in channel mode,
momentarily press to change between High and Low transmit power. Do note that
this is does not alter the transmit power stored to memory for that channel, it only affects
the current session. Switching to another channel or another operating mode (including
broadcast FM) will reset transmit power to what's stored in channel memory."

(last revised 28-August-2013)

Not clear on whether this is firmware related, so this may not be applicable to your unit. Hope this helps. :)
 
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