The Ultimate Guide to Baofeng Radios: The Complete Setup, Programming & Field Guide for Baofeng Radios (The RF Handbooks)

The Baofeng is one of the most capable and affordable handheld radios available today. This guide covers everything you need to get the most out of it, from day one through advanced use.

Inside, you will find a plain English breakdown of how radios work, including frequencies, VHF and UHF, squelch, CTCSS tones, and the difference between simplex and duplex. Licensing is covered in full, with overviews for the USA, Australia, UK, and EU, including emergency use exemptions and when you can legally transmit without a licence.

Setup and programming are covered in detail, both manually through the keypad and using CHIRP software on Windows, Mac, and Linux. From there, the book moves into real world applications: survival and off-grid communications, urban range techniques, building small repeater networks, and creating neighbourhood or family comms plans.

For those who want to go further, there are dedicated chapters on modding your radio with better antennas and accessories, advanced CHIRP configurations, batch programming multiple radios, and hardware teardowns. The book closes with quick-reference charts for frequencies, tones, and menus, a full glossary, and a guide to community resources.

Sixteen chapters. Everything in one place.