BF-F8HP PRO group programing

[WRPL862]

I just received my new radio and so far I am pretty pleased with it. The one thing I am trying to figure out is how to use the group programming. Getting the frequencies I needed into a group. Has anyone had any experience with this yet?

[WRPL862]

This is a new radio on the market just released. I guess after enough people play with it I will get better answers. So far it seems to have a great speaker and is much clearer than the previous model. The gps feature is nice and the screen is much easier to read. The tx power is a little higher than advertised. When I figure out group programing it will give a great way to jump from key groups of programmed frequencies to others.

[Guest]

It’s not exactly new. It has reviews going back 4 years. Dec 2020.   I think it’s more of a no one has one and not many people really need different groups.  I mean why?   Gmrs is 22 channels simplex and what ever repeaters you have.  I have over 75 channels saved for local and travel repeaters in 15 different hand helds. I have radios in every car and 3 in the house.  All but 2 also use murs and I don’t see the need or usefulness of groups.  I just have each channel named and I know most by channel number.     Others may have the same experience.    
 

to try and answer your question however….. are you programming on the computer?   It’s a million times easier to do so.  

[WSFJ639]

I'm just a newbie - am looking at this radio as a starter. 

It IS a brand new model...September 2024

https://baofengtech.com/product/bf-f8hp-pro/

 

[WRPL862]

This is a pro and has several differences to the original including GPS location share. If you are broken down it comes in handy in remote areas. The groups become a benefit because it is a tri band. Being able to use groups works well for traveling to different locations with different repeaters as well.

I use Chirp and and the manufacturer software and neither have the set up to set up groups.

the radio has just been released to the market and it is very different than its previous generation as far as features.

[WSEZ321]

1-100 group 1

101-200 group 2

and so on

[WRYQ631]

What am I doing wrong?  I am using the latest Chirp and the PC03 cable and it does not recognize it...

[OffRoaderX]

6 minutes ago, WRYQ631 said:

What am I doing wrong?  I am using the latest Chirp and the PC03 cable and it does not recognize it...

This is almost certainly a Windows "driver issue", and if it is, good luck..
But maybe if you gave us a little more info/details like, what steps are you taking, what is happening/what error messages are you seeing, what operating system you are using, which, exact version of CHIRP you are using - really, any actual details at all, maybe someone can help.

[WRYQ631]

10 minutes ago, OffRoaderX said:

This is almost certainly a Windows "driver issue", and if it is, good luck..
But maybe if you gave us a little more info/details like, what steps are you taking, what is happening/what error messages are you seeing, what operating system you are using, which, exact version of CHIRP you are using - really, any actual details at all, maybe someone can help.

I'm using Win 11, chirp next-20250124 and:

I have updated the drivers, and it sees my BF-F8HP

[WRYQ631]

This is my second radio, the first I thought was defective so I sent it back for a replacement.  Is this the correct cable? BTECH PC03 FTDI Universal Plug & Play USB Programming Cable

 

 

[OffRoaderX]

Try turning the volume up more on the radio - if you are doing it with the volume up all the way, try turning it down.. and be extra-double-dog-sure that the plug is pushed all the way into the radio - when you think it's pushed in all the way, use both hands and push it in more.
If it still does not work, stand by for more suggestions from others.

[WRYQ631]

YAY, turning the volume to 1/2 worked.......Thank you all......

My standard F8HP requires full volume and that is what I kept trying.  

Now if I fan figure out how to update the firmware....

[TerriKennedy]

On 1/29/2025 at 7:23 PM, WRYQ631 said:

YAY, turning the volume to 1/2 worked.......Thank you all......

My standard F8HP requires full volume and that is what I kept trying.  

Now if I fan figure out how to update the firmware....

You will need to use the CPS to update the firmware (or the startup image or voices). It is unfortunately Windows-only. You might want to give it a try - you can use it or CHIRP, writing to the radio with one and reading it back with the other, etc.

It is not the usual buggy Baofeng CPS - it is supported by BTECH here in the US (I should know, I wrote it ). CPS new feature requests or bug reports can go through BTECH, or you can reach me here or on Facebook. I'm also happy to pass along radio firmware  feature requests or bug reports (for the BF-F8HP Pro only).

It should be possible to write a firmware update utility to run under Linux and if there's enough demand I'd consider doing it. The existing one is Windows-only because it is built using the same framework as the rest of the CPS. Support for MacOS is extremely unlikely, not because it's more difficult but because the Mac I use for development is old and doesn't receive updates any more, so it can't run modern Xcode.

Since this is one of my first posts here, let me emphasize that nothing I write should be considered an official statement / opinion of BTECH.