2-way radio

In the last week, I have had to try to extend the standard radio layout for our 2-way radios to a model that we have not used before, the Baofeng UV-82HP. This radio is supported by CHIRP, but has some interesting quirks that had to be worked around and the memory layout is 128 channels in 2 banks vs. our standard 200 channel layout. As I am rebuilding and updating our programming, I intend to describe some of those issues here as well as go into why we laid out the HAM channels the way we did in the first place.

A draft of an instruction manual for programming the Wouxun KG-UV6D dual-band radio from its keypad (field programming) is now available on Scribd and downloadable as a PDF. These radios are used by the Sheriff's Auxiliary and we have organized bulk purchases within the community.

The Sheriff's Auxiliary picked up a Wouxun KG-UV920P Dual Band Mobile Radio for purposes of evaluation in its last bulk radio purchase. We were looking for a bare-bones dual-band mobile at a price that volunteers could readily afford. The 920P is programmable to a wide range of channels, allowing us to use a single unit for Amateur radio (2m/148Mhz and 770cm/440Mhz), Part 90 Public Service, and, in a pinch, GMRS and MURS. The unit also supports cross-band repeat and, with the aid of a second unit and a cable, full repeater functionality.

The bulk order of radio handsets (or at least the first set of radios for the community purchasers) have arrived! Some of you may even have gotten yours by now and may be wondering what in the heck to do with them. This post will start to answer that question and we (the local emergency response community) will provide (free) classes in the near future to get you further down the road (keep reading).