Inexpensive radios like the Baofeng UV-5R are super handy and popular in the outdoors. I compiled a list of channels from a bunch of sources to program these radios that is especially useful for recreation and travel in British Columbia.

Requirements

  • Baofeng radio, I use the UV-82HP
  • USB to headphone/mic jack programming cable, these are easily available online
  • CHIRP program

Instructions

  1. Download the CHIRP program and my config file here.
  2. Plug in your radio with the programming cable and power it on.
  3. Download the current configuration from the radio. In CHIRP, select Radio ⯈ Download from radio… and follow the steps. In my case, the Port is “Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port”, the vendor is “Baofeng”, and the model is “UV-82HP”. For some programming cables under Windows 11, the steps here must be followed to revert to the older Prolific driver.
  4. At this point, make a backup of your current configuration using File ⯈ Save As…
  5. Load my config file into CHIRP with File ⯈ Open…, which should result in the table of channel parameters shown below.
  6. Make any modification to the channels and settings by using the respective tabs in CHIRP.
  7. When finished, upload to the radio with Radio ⯈ Upload to radio…
Left: CHIRP with the config file loaded. Right: Channel reference label stuck on battery.

Channel Listing

The config file currently contains the following channels. I have not tested all of them. Many of these channels require an amateur radio licence to transmit on, please use responsibly! This is available as a spreadsheet also containing a helpful label you can place on the radio as shown above. Happy adventures!

Channel index Name Category Details
1-14 FRS General purpose General purpose family radio service channels used to communicate with other radios (e.g. BCA link, Rocky Talkie).
15-22 GMRS General purpose The additional 8 higher-power GMRS channels.
23-28 BC Link General purpose Duplicates of several FRS and GMRS channels that correspond to channels ‘A’ through ‘F’ of the BCA Link radios.
29-30 LP Travel LP channels generally used for logging operations.
31-35 MURS General purpose USA multi-use radio service public channels (currently not approved in Canada).
36-40 LADD Industry Commonly used trucking channels in BC.
41-75 RR Travel Resource road callout channels for BC forest service road travel.
76-80 LD Travel Resource road loading channels.
81-82 SAR Emergency Search and rescue for BC and Canada.
83-87 WX Weather RX-only weather channels for Canada.
88-97 Various Industry Logging channels used in the Kootenays.
98-113 REP Repeater Commonly used BC repeater channels.
114-123 MAR Marine Backup of common marine VHF channels (Ch. 114, 116, and 121 are emergency!).
124 4WDABC General purpose 4 Wheel Drive association of BC
125-127 WBSP Industry RX-only Whistler Blackcomb Ski Patrol