WSAA635

I second this choice mainly because that's what I have in the truck. All the controls are on the hand-set so you can mount the base where ever you want it. Only draw back is that it doesn't go below 5 Watts so channels 8-14 can't be used to TX but all the other GMRS channels are good. I also have 4 of our local DPS channels programed to scan while I'm driving to keep track of what's going on on the roads. Tests show 15-16 watt output so it's not a true 20 watt but close enough and the price isn't too bad. You also get the BTech quality and customer service which is a plus.

As some of you may know CHIRP isn't reading my AR-5RM radio. It's NOT the cable and I've tried both 5RM and UV-17 Pro with Zero results. The factory program from Baofeng works with the exception of adding Airband Frequencies in the program. I did find out that I can manually add the Airband frequencies to the radio then go into the program and update the name and scan delete so they'll not be scanned when I'm scanning my DPS channels. So, you can get Airband on the radio, it just has to be done manually first then modified after they're entered with the program. Hope this might help someone out who's having a similar issue.

I know it wouldn't TX on MURS but the AR does. I had the same issue with CHIRP so I'm going to return the UV-5RM Plus. I may get another AR-5RM at a later date because I do like the power level and it's nice having a large battery that'd usb-c chargeable.

Same "no read" issue with the UV-5RM Plus that I have with the AR-5RM in CHIRP. Baofeng software reads the radio but you can't program Airband and the UV won't accept the saved AR radio program so I'll have to enter everything I'm the program by hand.

The UV-5RM Plus has the same issue, no go with CHIRP but it'll read with factory program. Oddly enough I can't write the program I hand wrote and saved for the AR-5RM into the UV-5RM Plus even though it technically be the same radio. I'll have to read the UV-5RM Plus then delete each channel and rewrite the new channels into it. I did test the power level of the AR and it's not too bad, I need to check the UV now.

Mine is the "M" version because it has the Scramble function in the menu and I can monitor Airbands if I use VFO mode.

Yes, I did. If it was a loose connection it wouldn't work with the factory program but it reads the radio just fine with the factory program so it's NOT a loose cable.

I just ordered a UV-5RM Plus, it'll be here tomorrow and I'll see if it responds differently to CHIRP than the AR-5RM. It'd probably going to be the same radio just with different stickers but you never know. Either way it'd be good to have 2 of the higher powered radios. I'll post the results.

Yes, same cable. Com5, on UV-5R, 805G, A36 Plus. I had to use a different cable for the BTech 20V in the truck but CHIRP still worked just fine.

Chirp simply gives the error, Unable to read the radio. It's not the cable since the same cable works just fine to read the radio with the factory program and Chirp works fine with my other radios. There's just something about the AR-5RM that I got that doesn't work with Chirp. Also, I don't need drivers for my cable, I got the one with the built in driver chip set.

There's already been bug reports put in for this. I downloaded the Baofeng UV-17 Pro software and extracted and installed it and it's identical to the 5RM software.

I'm running the same version of CHIRP and my radio is the same firmware version. CHIRP simply can't read the radio and I've tried 3 different cables so it not the cable. As I stated, Miklor said that the factory programing software won't allow Airband input. I'll just going to use my A36 Plus for Airbands if I want to listen to them.

The factory software won't allow airband inputs into memory, that's what I just posted above. Airbands would have been a plus but they're not a deal breaker.

This is interesting. Got this from Miklor web site on a review of the 5RM. Since I can't get CHIRP to work I guess IF I wanted to program Airband I'd have to do it manually through the keyboard.

I set CHIRP to 5RM and it couldn't read the radio, I tried a couple other options as well with zero success. The Baofeng program gave no option for AM, only FM xnd NFM. I can manually (VFO) type in an Airband and it takes but can't program one into memory with the software. Under the Baofeng software if you don't want to TX you just leave the frequency under TX blank. Also, I have the newest version of CHIRP installed so I do have the 5RM listed. I'll see if the UV-17 Pro will work but I'm not going yo hold my breath.