Unlocked UV-5G?

[WSIK532]

Has the UV-5G been unlocked and what's the advantages to doing so?

I'm just wondering.

[UncleYoda]

There's no advantage; you could just get a UV5R.

[OffRoaderX]

1) NO

2) You would be able to transmit on non-GMRS frequencies but still have the convenience of having the pre-programmed simplex and repeater channels.  

[WRYS709]

Chirp has been instrumental in helping “unlock” certain GMRS radios that come from the factory locked down to satisfy FCC requirements. The Baofeng UV-5X(G) comes to mind

 

[WSIK532]

4 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

There's no advantage; you could just get a UV5R.

I have one of those as well. 

[WSIK532]

2 hours ago, WRYS709 said:

Chirp has been instrumental in helping “unlock” certain GMRS radios that come from the factory locked down to satisfy FCC requirements. The Baofeng UV-5X(G) comes to mind

 

Yes I use CHIRP for programming my radios.  

[WSIK532]

Thanks for all the input! 

Oh, and if you are a DAD, Happy Father's Day in advance!

 

 

[WRYS709]

7 hours ago, WSIK532 said:

Yes I use CHIRP for programming my radios.  

Watch this!

He mentions in the first pinned comment that this may no longer work unless you have the original software. 

[WRUE951]

10 hours ago, WSIK532 said:

Thanks for all the input! 

Oh, and if you are a DAD, Happy Father's Day in advance!

 

 

if you are wanting to 'un-lock'  a UV-5G you actually need a UV-5R

[OffRoaderX]

42 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

if you are wanting to 'un-lock'  a UV-5G you actually need a UV-5R

What if the UV-5R is locked also?

[WRUE951]

2 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

What if the UV-5R is locked also?

I havent bought one for two years,  the half dozen or so i purchased prior shipped unlocked which i thought was the norm.. Are they shipping these locked now?  If they are, can you un-lock as easy as some of their other radios?  

[OffRoaderX]

2 minutes ago, WRUE951 said:

Are they shipping these locked now?  If they are, can you un-lock as easy as some of their other radios?  

Yes - All the newly manufactured ones destined for the U.S. are locked and cannot be unlocked. 

[WRUE951]

9 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

Yes - All the newly manufactured ones destined for the U.S. are locked and cannot be unlocked. 

thats good to know...   sounds like i picked up mine at the right time.    - thanks  

[WSAQ296]

are we honestly worried about only having one 30 dollar radio for both ham and gmrs?  nobody is going to hear you with it anyway, so buy the band you're most likely to be on and monitor the other with it.  
I am curious tho, to those of you 'unlocking' the ham style, how are you complying with the bandwidth of gmrs? 
Oh, ha ha, that's right, to heck with the rules! LOL
Seriously, keep it simple. They are 30 dollar radios. You'll need spare parts quickly enough anyway. 

[WRYS709]

The Baofeng UV-13Pro is the Ham Radio version of their Radioddity GM-30 clone, the UV-15. 

It comes “opened” for GMRS and MURS in addition to 2 meters and 440 MHz. 

I purchased one because as an HT it will scan repeater inputs and outputs and report the Tones being used. 

I then retired my Pofung UV-15 and TYT-88UV. 

[dosw]

On 6/14/2025 at 9:34 AM, WSAQ296 said:

I am curious tho, to those of you 'unlocking' the ham style, how are you complying with the bandwidth of gmrs? 
 

Which bandwidth requirement are you looking at?

GMRS allows 5kHz deviation in channels 1-7 and 15-22, along with repeater inputs. It's not out of line with what 70cm ham radios will emit.

 

Usually where ham radios are problematic is that they often won't transmit as low as 0.5w ERP unless you're transmitting them into a dummy load.  So channels 8-14 are often impossible to be in technical compliance on, when using a ham radio.

[WRTC928]

On 6/14/2025 at 10:34 AM, WSAQ296 said:

I am curious tho, to those of you 'unlocking' the ham style, how are you complying with the bandwidth of gmrs? 

I dunno about everyone else, but I do it by selecting 20 kHz or 12.5 kHz when I program the radio, according to what's authorized for the frequency. 

[WRTC928]

1 hour ago, dosw said:

Usually where ham radios are problematic is that they often won't transmit as low as 0.5w ERP unless you're transmitting them into a dummy load.  So channels 8-14 are often impossible to be in technical compliance on, when using a ham radio.

I set duplex to off on 8-14 so I can monitor them but not transmit. Should there be a legitimate reason to do so, I can pretty quickly restore the transmit capability on that frequency. It's hard to imagine a situation where that would be necessary, but I can do it if I need to. I just do all my GMRS communication on the other channels.

[dosw]

36 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

I set duplex to off on 8-14 so I can monitor them but not transmit. Should there be a legitimate reason to do so, I can pretty quickly restore the transmit capability on that frequency. It's hard to imagine a situation where that would be necessary, but I can do it if I need to. I just do all my GMRS communication on the other channels.

I do the same. I was just curious what bandwidth problem he thought we would be out of compliance on 

[UncleYoda]

1 hour ago, WRTC928 said:

I set duplex to off on 8-14 so I can monitor them but not transmit. Should there be a legitimate reason to do so, I can pretty quickly restore the transmit capability on that frequency.

Unless your UV-5G is different from mine, it can't be changed from the radio.  It requires editing in Chirp.  The Shift-D set to "Off" is the same as blank in Chirp, which is the setting for simplex transmit.