BaoFeng BF-F8HP Radio Basic Setup and operation
Note of Encouragement
In a crisis situation, you are not required to have a license to operate a HAM radio. However, it will
matter that you know how to operate a HAM radio. I encourage all who read this to familiarize
yourself with understanding how to operate a HAM radio. I also encourage you to follow up and study
for the technician license which is the minimum license required for non-crisis HAM radio operation.
The most common material to study is the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Technician manual.
There is also a web site called:
www.hamexam.org
where you can take a practice exam for the
technician license. This web site also contains the entire pool of exam questions which will also help
you to learn the technician requirements.
After you have studied and feel confident enough to take the license exam, you can find an exam
location through the ARRL web site at:
http://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/search
. Most locations run
exam sessions on a regular basis.
Mandatory Equipment:
Baofeng radio model BF-F8HP (do not order BF-F8) hand transceiver (HT) (~$62 on Amazon)
Optional Equipment (highly encouraged)
Nagoya NA-771 Radio Antenna, SMA Female 15.6” Whip VHF/UHF (~$15 on Amazon)
Hypario SMA-Male UT108 Dual Band 144/430MHz Antenna (~$20 on Amazon)
The Whip antenna is used to replace the standard antenna that comes with the HT and improves
distance.
The Hypario antenna is magnetic mount and is intended to be used mounted on the top center of a car.
This by far gets the best transmission quality for distance.
Basic Settings
1.
Radio (HT) settings are changed using the “MENU” button. The HT is setup with default
settings for simplex operation. Only the squelch setting needs to be changed when the HT is
unpackaged from the box. Each setting can be accessed by first pressing the “MENU” button.
There are 40 different MENU settings. Each setting also has a number associated with it that
flashes in the upper right hand corner. There are two different ways to get to each setting.
a.
Press “MENU” and then use the UP/DOWN arrows (white triangles) to scroll through
the various settings.
b.
Press “MENU” and then immediately type a number between zero and 40
c.
NOTE: at anytime if you feel you have messed up, press “EXIT” to cancel and then you
can try again.
2.
Squelch (SQL)
a.
Press “MENU” and then press either the UP or DOWN arrows to get to SQL (setting
zero)
b.
Press “MENU” a 2
nd
time to change the setting
c.
Press “1” to set the squelch setting to one (always use squelch setting of one)
d.
Press “MENU” again. You should hear an audible “confirmed”. The setting is now
entered and will always be remembered.