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And... I just bought one. It's under the threshold for impulse buy to fuel the hobby. Hopefully it doesn't sit in the box for too long, I would love to hack awa
by geerlingguy 3y ago
And... I just bought one. It's under the threshold for impulse buy to fuel the hobby. Hopefully it doesn't sit in the box for too long, I would love to hack away at it and see what else it can do.
I would love more manufacturers to open up the firmware on devices like these. Leave default safeguards in place from the factory, but allow tinkering.
Cheap, hackable stuff helps get new people interested in radio, especially if it can be managed using tools people might already be familiar with like WebSerial.
- AnarchismIsCool 3y agoPeople stress about the safeguards too much. If you run around trying to jam gps, airband, or cellular you'll get your pp slapped pretty hard. If you go off and experiment with random other stuff without making too much noise, literally nobody cares.
- dogleash 3y agoyea, it's possible to loose perspective on how much people can just go out and do in life, and how after-the-fact most of the systems that prevent it are. It seems like there is a predisposition to that perspective shift for people who spend all day working on little boxes that are the one area of society where relentless permissions and control are ruthlessly and untiringly micromanaged to high heaven. There's a lot of fatalism that after the fact remedies are impossible if something was done with a computer, even when the actions in question are performed by known parties that comply with legal bounds.
- wkat4242 3y agoIt's not just about getting caught. Many of us hams try to cause as little interference to others as a matter of honour and pride in our hobby.
- kps 3y agoI just ordered one too, just because of the hackability. (I will likely never transmit with it, since I already have a radio with a better radio.)
- transcriptase 3y agoFor you and anyone else, make sure you order a programming cable. The baofeng one works for the UV-K5. And when you go to use it, be aware that you’re going to have to press it into the radio far harder than you think. It will make a loud click the first time, and save you hours of troubleshooting!
- geerlingguy 3y agoHeh, good to know! I guess they're using ports that are just a bit too tight from the factory.
- crote 3y agoBit of a shame it requires a proprietary programming cable via the audio ports. The UV-K5 already has a USB-C port for charging, would've been neat if they just added an internal USB-to-serial chip.
- throwaway81523 3y agoThat same cable works for lots of different radios, so it's not too annoying. You can make one yourself: https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_Technical.php#progcable https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_Technical.php#progcable
- MuffinFlavored 3y agoCould you share any ideas on what to do with this radio (receiving or transmitting) given its hackability? It reminds me of having a RaspberryPi or a ESP32/Arduino with nothing to code for?
- throwaway81523 3y agoThe manufacturer didn't open up the firmware for THIS radio either. They made the radio reflashable so that they could release new binary blobs as requirements changed. Then people reverse engineered the firmware that came with the radio, and began writing new stuff. It's more like Rockbox than an actual open radio.
- egberts1 3y agoSee how high the sampling rate can go over USB.