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Greetings. If you have programmed your AR-152 radio with Chirp or RT Systems BAO-152 programming software, it is possible that your radio is malfunctioning and you won’t know it because your AR-152 will continue to appear to function normally. I need your help if you (1) have programmed your AR-152 radio with third-party programming software and (2) you own or have access to a VHF-UHF Power Meter. I have purchased a number of these radios and I believe that I have discovered a fairly serious problem that probably affects all AR-152 radios because, as far as I know, Baofeng is still using its original hardware design and A152V01 firmware version. But, since your radio still appears to operate normally, the true problem will be hidden from you. Here’s the problem: When you first receive your new AR-152 it functions correctly. However, as soon as you connect it to either Chirp or RT Systems’ BAO-152 programming software and program the radio, a Transmit Power malfunction is triggered and, after this happens, there appears to be no way to restore the radio to normal operation. One of the problems with this malfunction is that your AR-152 radio still appears to function normally. It can still receive and make transmissions. There is zero hint that anything is wrong. When you set TXP=High/Mid/Low, the little “H”, “M”, “L” indicators appear in the LCD and so on. When you push the PTT button, the little transmit icon makes it look like your radio is transmitting the selected power. However, the truth is very different and the only way to determine if your AR-152 is working properly after it has been programmed, is to measure its Transmit Power. If it works properly, setting TXP=High should always produce the highest Transmit Power and setting TXP=Mid should always produce more power than TXP=Low. If you have not yet programmed your AR-152, I strongly recommend that you NOT do so. Configure its Memory channels only via the built-in menus and avoid programming it with external software and you will not trigger the malfunction. If you have programmed your AR-152 with external software, I’d like you to do a quick Transmit Power test and report your results here. Any Surecom Power/VSWR Meter with a 50-ohm test load will work for the test. Here’s the test procedure: Fully charge your AR-152 battery. Put your radio in VFO mode with a long press of the MENU key. Enter a VHF frequency (such as 144.000 MHz) and test the Transmit Power at each of the radio’s three TXP settings (High, Mid, Low). Make a note of the frequency you used and the Watts at each TXP setting. (Hint: The keypad shortcut to change the TXP setting without using the menu is a short-tap of the #/lock-keypad key while the radio is in standby.) Pick a UHF frequency (such as 462.600 MHz) and test the Transmit Power at each of the radio’s three TXP settings (High, Mid, Low). Make a note of the frequency you used and the Watts at each TXP setting. Describe the kinds of programming changes you made when you programmed your AR-152. Turn your radio off. Then press and hold the 3/SAVE key while you turn the radio back on. As soon as the LCD comes to life, release the #/SAVE key and the firmware version of your radio will momentarily appear. It happens so fast that you may need to do this several times so you can record your firmware version. Please include it in your post. (All of my radios have firmware “A152V01”, which I believe is version 1.) If your radio has the Transmit Power malfunction, you’ll discover that the Watts you measure do not match the TXP settings. When TXP=High, the Watts will be too low. When TXP=Mid or TXP=Low, the Watts will be the same and they will be way too high. The dangerous aspect to this is: You think your radio is transmitting its lowest power when you set TXP=Low. But, in reality you’ll be transmitting at nearly full power. To help you visualize the problem, I’ve attached five graphs which illustrate what is happening. Each data point on the plotlines was measured by me. The before measurements were made before the radio was programmed. The after measurements were made after the radio was programmed. The first graph shows the AR-152 when it is working correctly. This is how our radios should work. The second graph shows the AR-152 after the malfunction has been triggered by programming the radio. The third graph combines the first two so you can view both in one graph. The fourth graph focuses on TXP=High only and shows its dramatic drop in level after the malfunction sets in. The fifth (last) graph focuses on TXP=Mid and TXP=Low. The reason TXP setting are shown in the same graph is because, after the malfunction is triggered, the radio thinks they are the same setting and regardless whether you select TXP=Mid or TXP=Low, you'll get the same power level and it will be way too high. Thanks in advance for your help. Together, I hope we can demonstrate to Baofeng that this malfunction is not an isolated incident and this will prompt them to give its solution their highest priority. If you know other AR-152 radio owners who have programmed their radios, please ask them to join myGMRS and add their Transmit Power measurements to this thread. Again, thanks! Kind regards, RGB