8/10/2019 Baofeng UV-5R Receiver Sensitivity

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Baofeng UV-5R receiver sensitivity measurements

PA3FYM, April 2012

Introduction

Many people consider the Baofeng UV-! the s"ccessor of the s"prisingly pop"larUV-3!#UV-100 $odels% As far as & co"ld ascertain at this $o$ent of 'riting, (ans P)0A* +1 'as the

first 'ho p"lished so$e res"lts of act"al $eas"re$ents on his Baofeng UV-!%&n a pri.ate co$$"nication 'ith (ans & pro$ised hi$ to $eas"re $y Baofeng UV-!%

&n this contri"tion $y res"lts are presented%

Measurement conditions and procedure/he Baofeng UV-! 'as p"t into d"al 'atch $ode, i%e% $en" ite$ /)! 'as set to 45%

Men" ite$ 6#5 'as set to 6&)7% 8elected V(F and U(F fre9"encies 'ere 1:%000 M(;, and

:32%000 M(; respecti.ely% A !ohde < 8ch'ar; 8M82 old, "t still going strong =- signal generator'as "sed as !F-so"rce% *alirated o"tp"t le.el acc"racy of the ! 1% dB, $ini$"$

signal le.el is -13 dB$ 0%03 ?V% /he Baofeng UV-! 'as connected to the signal generator, and thein@ected signal 'as .aried 'ith 1 dB steps%

/he 8M82 has a tone generator, "t & al'ays to "se the 9"ieting $ethod to $eas"re sensiti.ities of

FM-recei.ers% "ieting $aes it .ery easy to t"ne FM-recei.ers eca"se e%g% frontend coils can e

t'eaed to minimuma"dio $eter reading, ass"$ing that the &F and discri$inator are on fre9"ency%Altho"gh eing a topic of deate, in practice it appears that 20 dB 9"ieting e9"als

12 dB 8&5A) +e%g% 2%

6ith an open recei.er, i%e% s9"elch le.el 'as set to 0, & defined three statesC

a 'hen & co"ld hear a difference et'een no signal and signal 10 dB 9"ieting $eter reading is D3#10thof the noise le.el

c 20 dB 9"ieting $eter reading is 1#10 thof the noise le.el

For s9"elch le.els 1 E $en" ite$ 0 the in@ected signal 'as increased 'ith 1 dB steps "ntil thes9"elch opened within one second, and s"se9"ently decreased "ntil the s9"elch closed%

&n tale 1 neGt page the res"lts of $y $eas"re$ents are presented%

H1: M(; 20 dB 9"ieting 'as $eas"red at -12 dB$ 0%13 ?V, 'hile H:32 M(; this .al"e

a$o"nts -131 dB$ 0%0I ?V% H:32 M(; & reached the li$its of $y !F-generator%

/he perfor$ance of s9"elch le.els 1 E H1: M(; $eas"red e9"al, 'hile H:32 M(; s9"elch le.els

increase 'ith D1dB steps%

Altho"gh & dont 'ant to dra' concl"sions, & consider $y Baofeng UV-! recei.er .ery sensiti.e%

& did not $eas"re other para$eters lie strong signal eha.io"r etc%, so ho' the UV-! eha.es 'ithan eGternal antenna is perhaps for so$eody else to find o"tJ

8/10/2019 Baofeng UV-5R Receiver Sensitivity

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1:%000 M(; :32%000 M(; note

8"elchle.el

8open dB$

8close dB$

8open dB$

8close dB$

0 -132 ---- -13I ---- > 1 dB

0 -12 ---- -133 ---- D10 dB 9"ieting

0 -12 ---- -131 ---- D20 dB 9"ieting

1 -130 -133 -13 -13

2 -130 -133 -13: -13I

3 -130 -133 -13: -13

: -130 -133 -133 -13:

-130 -133 -132 -133

I -130 -133 -131 -132

-130 -133 -130 -131

K -12 -132 -12 -130

-12 -130 -12K -12

/ale 1% Baofeng UV-! recei.er sensiti.ity $eas"re$ents y PA3FYM

Addendum:

/he !F-o"tp"t of $y UV-! 'as $eas"red 'ith a (P-:32A po'er $eter in con@"nction 'ithcalirated atten"ators% Battery stat"sC f"lly charged i%e% green led on the charger%

Men" ite$ 2 /LP (&( N461: M(;C 3%:6 > 0$6 0%K6 > 0$6

:32 M(;C 3%I6 > 0$6 0%06 > 0$6

(ans +1 ased $e to $eas"re the fre9"ency acc"rary of $y Baofeng UV-! too, eca"se so$e peopleclai$ the UV-! eing off fre9"ency% & ass"$ed that the trans$it fre9"ency is an indicator for the

PNN acc"racy for oth !L and /L, as & did not open the UV-! to $eas"re the local oscillator

fre9"ency itself% Meas"re$ents 'ith a (P-32IA yes, niGie t"esO =- and a ho$ere' prescaler, incon@"nction 'ith a calirated r"idi"$ standard as ti$e ase, re.ealed the follo'ing res"lts

sa$ple ti$eC 10 sec, acc"racy 10 (;C

UV-! display fre9"ency1:%000 M(; 1:%000%0:0 M(; :0 (;

:32%000 M(; :31%%30 M(; - 0 (;

My UV-! fre9"ency acc"rary H1: and :32 M(; is far etter than 0% pp$, 'hich is .ery good%

References+1 httpC##ha$gear%'ordpress%co$

+2 httpC##'''%repeater-"ilder%co$#$eas"ring-sensiti.ity#$eas"ring-sensiti.ity%ht$l