Day one
Your first day with a UV-5R
Do not transmit until you have a callsign and programmed memories. This checklist gets you from box to listening on a local repeater in one evening.
- Charge fully — stock battery, then label which side is antenna vs accessory port (they look alike).
- Swap the antenna — Nagoya NA-771 or similar before you judge “deaf” repeaters. See UV-5R vs GM-30 if you have not bought yet.
- Verify programming cable — genuine FTDI; counterfeit cables fail silently. CHIRP article
- Install CHIRP — on-site CHIRP cheat sheet + download from chirp.danplanet.com
- Load one repeater memory — frequency, offset, tone from local frequencies; save as “RPT-TEST”
- Listen 30 minutes — confirm activity, note net times, copy how check-ins sound
- First transmit (licensed only) — “KI4TQN, monitoring” or wait for directed check-in; keep it under 10 seconds
- Write phonetics on tape — phonetic alphabet until muscle memory
- Store spare battery and cable in a labeled pouch — future you will not remember which cable works
Common day-one mistakes: transmitting on repeater input without offset, wrong tone, VFO instead of memory, and “kerchunking” without ID. Read mistakes that cost money before buying accessories #2–#5.
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