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Getting started

This page is a quick orientation guide for first-time users of the firmware. It does not replace the full documentation, but it should help you find the right page faster and avoid the most common mistakes.

First 5 minutes

If you only want to program a frequency, test the radio, and save it:

  1. Select the active VFO with F + 2 A/B.
  2. Switch that VFO to frequency mode with F + 3 VFO/MR.
  3. Enter a frequency with the keypad.
  4. Open the menu with M, choose Channels (or All), and adjust the basic items you need (Step, Power, tones, offset, bandwidth, Mode, TXLock).
  5. Save the setup with ChSave if you want to keep it as a memory channel.
  6. Switch back to channel mode with F + 3 VFO/MR when you want to browse saved channels.

If you need to view or control the radio from a browser, inspect RF activity, flash firmware, back up calibration, or upload a custom boot logo, use UV Studio. If you prefer programming memories from a computer, use the dedicated CHIRP driver provided with each firmware release. See Programming with CHIRP for the complete workflow.

If you already know the firmware, see Recent changes for the latest stable v6.1.0 changes and the earlier v6.0.0 highlights.

[!WARNING] Do not use Quansheng CPS. It overwrites custom settings.

Choose an edition

The latest stable v6.1.0 release has four official editions:

Edition Best for Additional capabilities
Fusion most users and everyday operation balanced reference feature set
FieldOps field and first-responder use RescueOps, resident FoxHunt, resident Beacon
Transfer copying data between radios AirCopy and resident Beam
Labs experimentation RescueOps, AirCopy, and installable overlay apps

FoxHunt and Beacon are independent applications since v6.0.0. In FieldOps they are resident; in Labs they are installed and launched separately as overlay apps.

For most users, start with Fusion and choose a specialized edition only when you need its additional capabilities. Multiboot lets you keep several editions and isolated configurations on the same radio.

Common tasks

Start scanning frequencies

  1. Switch a VFO to frequency mode.
  2. Set the starting frequency.
  3. Set the frequency step with menu Step.
  4. Long-press * SCAN.

For a limited scan range, load the lower and upper limits into the two VFOs, long-press 5 NOAA to enable ScnRng, then long-press * SCAN.

For the full scan behavior, scan lists, priority scan, and DCS / CTCSS scan, see Scanning.

Start scanning memory channels

  1. Switch to channel mode.
  2. Assign channels to a scan list with menu ScList, or by long-pressing 5 NOAA.
  3. Long-press * SCAN.

The current v6.1.0 firmware supports 24 scan lists, ALL, and a configurable MIX mode that scans several selected lists together.

See Scanning for the full scan-list behavior.

If you cannot transmit

Check these items first:

  1. Make sure Mode is FM and not AM or USB.
  2. Check whether the frequency is inside the selected F Lock plan.
  3. If the frequency is outside the selected band plan, check whether TXLock is set to OFF.
  4. Look for a small padlock next to the channel or VFO name.

If that still does not explain it, see Troubleshooting.

Save battery

The two main menus to know are:

See Radio operation for battery display, battery type, and calibration, and Radio operation for the detailed behavior of sleep mode.

Model differences

This firmware targets the UV-K1 and UV-K5 V3.

The most visible day-to-day difference in the documentation is navigation:

The hidden-menu option SetNav controls this navigation style.

Some screenshots and examples use UV-K5 terminology first, but the same feature usually exists on UV-K1 with the equivalent navigation keys.

Core concepts

These terms appear throughout the wiki:

Where to go next