Specifications

Baofeng UV-5R
41
Chapter 11. Repeaters
A radio repeater is an automated transceiver in a fixed location. Usually mounted high up
on hill tops or on tall buildings, but sometimes they operate within buildings for internal
use. A repeater takes one signal and relays it, usually after amplifying it by orders of
magnitude. This can be very handy, as this enables you to use a small low powered hand-
held two-way transceiver such as the Baofeng UV-5R to reach great distances.
Whether you're a commercial (business or government) user or an amateur radio opera-
tor, chances are you'll be dealing with a repeater system sooner or later. To find out what
settings to use to use your local repeater, ask your employer or someone at your local
IARU member organization for details.
A common type of repeater, is the duplex repeater. In a duplex repeater system, the
repeater transmits and receives simultaneously, but on different frequencies. To utilize
this type of repeater, your radio have to be capable of transmitting and receiving on
different frequencies on the same memory channel. How you use this kind of repeater is
by setting the receive frequency of your radio to the output frequency of the repeater, and
the transmit frequency of your radio to the input frequency of the repeater. Often times,
the transmit frequency to use isn't explicitly stated, but rather an offset relative your
receive frequency is specified. This is conveniently enough also how the Baofeng UV-5R
natively handles repeater setup, by specifying offset rather than transmit frequency.
The following instructions assume that you know what transmit and receive frequencies
your repeater employs, and that you're authorized to use it.
Procedure 11.1. Repeater setup
1.
Set the radio to Frequency (VFO) mode with the key.
2.
Enter the repeaters output (your receiving) frequency by either using the and
keys, or by entering it directly on the numerical keypad.
3.
Press the key to enter the menu.
4.
Enter on the numeric keypad to get to frequency offset.
5.
Press key to select.
6.
Use the and keys and the numerical keypad to enter the specified frequen-
cy offset. See the section called “26 OFFSET - Frequency shift amount” for details.
7.
Press to confirm and save.
8.
Enter on the numeric keypad to get to offset direction.
This causes a lot of
confusion because
many expect this to be
true globally when it
isn't. SFT-D and
OFFSET only function
in VFO mode.
MR mode uses and
stores the RX
frequency and the TX
frequency only. SFT-D
and OFFSET don't
have to be set or they
can even be set
completely wrong and
a working repeater
channel can be
created.
It is convient to use
SFT-D and OFFSET
with 'reverse' mode to
determine the TX
frequency to be stored
in a channel, but they
themselves are
otherwise unused for
MR mode.