setting up for PMR 446 complete novice

[bobtheboater]

Worried ive bitten off to much ive bought a baofeng UV-B5 two way radio to use on my boat, I basically want to scan and listen to PMR chatter, does anyone out there have any idea how i setup this unit.

Many thanks in advance

[bigpimp347]

does the radio not have a manual

[rogerbeep]

I would not recommend you to try to set up a Baofeng radio unless you are experienced with such radios or a genuine interest in learning new things.

For setting up the unit you have to read a lot, try some, fail some and accept that these radios are not intuituve for the user at all (compared to well known brands).
You will very soon find out that the best is to buy a proper programming cable instead of try setting up directly on the radio.

For chatter and general monitoring the radio is good. If you got SRC you can use it for maritime VHF comms as well.
For scanning... well, get a scanner instead...

My best tip is that you read and understand a lot at this web site:
http://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_NewUser.php <--- Read this first
http://www.miklor.com/UVB5/ <--- Here you will find descriptions and links

By the way: Don't try to take any shortcuts in your learning process (as the rest of us happy Baofeng owners already tried that before we got happy)

I am not, in any way, affiliated to the Miklor web site, the reason for pointing to them is that Miklor has been my Saviour since the day I got a Baofeng.
There might be better web sites out there - please tell me if you find one.

[radiosification]

be careful not to transmit on any frequencies you aren't meant to be on!
It easy to do, but you can usually select RX only in the programming software on that type of radio, otherwise just program in a different frequency as the transmit frequency, so it won't matter if you accidentally sit on the ptt.

[Excalibur]

be careful not to transmit on any frequencies you aren't meant to be on!
It easy to do, but you can usually select RX only in the programming software on that type of radio, otherwise just program in a different frequency as the transmit frequency, so it won't matter if you accidentally sit on the ptt.

Like radiosification said if you intend to use a transceiver like that as just a receiver/scanner it's best not to receive it in VFO mode or program them manually this is because can't disable TX that way.,

Instead use the programming software and program the TX on 446 mhz (low power) or just input 00000 to disable it. I you have to listen to a frequency using VFO or manual programming make sure the power is set to LOW so if you accidentally transmit you will have a lesser chance of interfering with the said frequency.