JumpCode

[GMDUSA]

Do you know what jumpcode on Baofeng radios is used for? It is a feature with ON or OFF on each channel in the programming menu.

[KAF6045]

It would help to know WHICH Baofeng radio (to my knowledge most of them rely upon CHIRP for computer programming, and I've not seen a "jumpcode" entry in CHIRP -- granted, I just have BTech labeled HTs).

[GMDUSA]

You are right, it does not show up as an option in CHIRP, only in the Baofeng software at https://www.baofengradio.com/pages/download

[GMDUSA]

Here is another option that showed up too.. It is called Beat Shift. Do you know what the option does to the radio?

[wayoverthere]

7 minutes ago, GMDUSA said:

Here is another option that showed up too.. It is called Beat Shift. Do you know what the option does to the radio?

Haven't found anything on 'jumpcode'...I was able to turn up something on 'beat shift', which is apparently a rudimentary scrambler option.

https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/baofeng-beat-shift-scrambler.308120/

[Lscott]

1 hour ago, wayoverthere said:

Haven't found anything on 'jumpcode'...I was able to turn up something on 'beat shift', which is apparently a rudimentary scrambler option.

https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/baofeng-beat-shift-scrambler.308120/

The “beat shift” function has nothing to do with signal scrambling. 
 

All radios generate internal RF frequencies, from the microprocessors etc. , that can get into the radio’s receiver section. The interfering RF signals are integer multiples of the source. These signals appear as phantom signals, frequently called “birdies”, and may generate rather high signal levels on the radio’s S-meter.

What the beat shift does is electronically shifts the frequency the microprocessor runs at so the interfering internal signal is moved off your desired frequency enough to make it undetectable.

[MichaelLAX]

3 hours ago, KAF6045 said:

It would help to know WHICH Baofeng radio…

I agree!

[wayoverthere]

1 hour ago, Lscott said:

The “beat shift” function has nothing to do with signal scrambling. 
 

All radios generate internal RF frequencies, from the microprocessors etc. , that can get into the radio’s receiver section. The interfering RF signals are integer multiples of the source. These signals appear as phantom signals, frequently called “birdies”, and may generate rather high signal levels on the radio’s S-meter.

What the beat shift does is electronically shifts the frequency the microprocessor runs at so the interfering internal signal is moved off your desired frequency enough to make it undetectable.

That makes more sense, to be honest...thanks for the explanation. I was mostly taking the info from the RR thread with a grain of salt.

That said, I'm a little surprised to see bf offering something like that, but maybe it's an admission of how bad some of them are on spurious emissions, or so badly shielded, not just when transmitting.

[GMDUSA]

In the software called BF-889FCC, the last item in the list is Jump Code. Someone has got to know what that is. What does it do to the radio if I turn that on every channel? The Radio is BF-88ST.

[MichaelLAX]

I purchased a couple of BF-88*s to play with and then donated them to the Haven New Jersey homeless assistance group that was looking for HTs to use in their GMRS network.

These are 16 channel FRS radios, and I used CHIRP at the time.

I took a look at the BF-889FCC software you linked and my best guess is that for this radio, this OFF/ON setting does nothing.

I will do some more research tho.

Have you tried changing the settings to ON on a few channels and see if they operate differently?

UPDATE: My best guess is that if these have a scanning ability, turning JUMP CODE on tells it to skip that channel during the scan.

* Actually it turns out I purchased and donated the BF-888s which are probably not that much different FRS radios.

[KAF6045]

22 hours ago, wayoverthere said:

That makes more sense, to be honest...thanks for the explanation. I was mostly taking the info from the RR thread with a grain of salt.

That said, I'm a little surprised to see bf offering something like that, but maybe it's an admission of how bad some of them are on spurious emissions, or so badly shielded, not just when transmitting.

Not really.  Birdies are generated internally, when tuning to frequencies that heterodyne with the processor clock resulting in a tone in the audio range.

Beat shift is found in my Kenwood TH-D74A (and an older TH-D7), TH-F6A; those weren't cheap radios when new (D74A: $610; F6A: $390). The TS-2000 doesn't have a shift entry, but the manual does document the most likely frequencies for birdies (especially as it has a secondary VHF/UHF receiver besides the main transceiver circuits); similar for the TS-590SG.

[KAF6045]

17 hours ago, MichaelLAX said:

UPDATE: My best guess is that if these have a scanning ability, turning JUMP CODE on tells it to skip that channel during the scan.

* Actually it turns out I purchased and donated the BF-888s which are probably not that much different FRS radios.

Skipping a channel during scan should be accomplished by turning ScanAdd OFF.