Baofeng UV-5R receiver sensitivity measurements

PA3FYM, April 2012

Introduction
Many people consider the Baofeng UV-! the s"ccessor of the s"prisingly pop"lar
UV-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 0d"al 'atch $ode0, i%e% $en" ite$ 1 2/)!3 'as set to 0450%
Men" ite$ 26#53 'as set to 06&)70% 8elected V(F and U(F fre9"encies 'ere 1:%000 M(;, and
:32%000 M(; respecti.ely% A !ohde < 8ch'ar; 8M82 2old, -"t still going strong =-3 signal generator
'as "sed as !F-so"rce% *ali-rated o"tp"t le.el acc"racy of the !<8 8M82 is > 1% dB, $ini$"$
signal le.el is -131 dB$ 20%03 ?V3% /he Baofeng UV-! 'as connected to the signal generator, and the
in@ected signal 'as .aried 'ith 1 dB steps%
/he 8M82 has a tone generator, -"t & al'ays to "se the 09"ieting0 $ethod to $eas"re sensiti.ities of
FM-recei.ers% A"ieting $aBes it .ery easy to t"ne FM-recei.ers -eca"se e%g% frontend coils can -e
t'eaBed to minimum a"dio $eter reading, ass"$ing that the &F and discri$inator are 0on fre9"ency0%
Altho"gh -eing a topic of de-ate, in practice it appears that 20 dB 9"ieting e9"als
12 dB 8&5A) +e%g% 2,%
6ith an 0open recei.er0, i%e% s9"elch le.el 'as set to 000, & defined three statesC
a3 'hen & co"ld hear a difference -et'een 0no signal0 and 0signal0
-3 10 dB 9"ieting 2$eter reading is D3#10
th
of the noise le.el3
c3 20 dB 9"ieting 2$eter reading is 1#10
th
of the noise le.el3
For s9"elch le.els 1 E F 2$en" ite$ 03 the in@ected signal 'as increased 'ith 1 dB steps "ntil the
s9"elch opened within one second, and s"-se9"ently decreased "ntil the s9"elch closed%
&n ta-le 1 2neGt page3 the res"lts of $y $eas"re$ents are presented%

H1: M(; 20 dB 9"ieting 'as $eas"red at -12 dB$ 20%13 ?V3, 'hile H:32 M(; this .al"e
a$o"nts -131 dB$ 20%0I ?V3% H:32 M(; & reached the li$its of $y !F-generator%
/he perfor$ance of s9"elch le.els 1 E 1 H1: M(; $eas"red e9"al, 'hile H:32 M(; s9"elch le.els
increase 'ith D1dB steps%
Altho"gh & don0t 'ant to dra' concl"sions, & consider $y Baofeng UV-! recei.er .ery sensiti.e%
& did not $eas"re other para$eters 2liBe strong signal -eha.io"r etc%3, so ho' the UV-! -eha.es 'ith
an eGternal antenna is perhaps for so$e-ody else to find o"tJ
1:%000 M(; :32%000 M(; note
8A"elch
le.el
8A
open 2dB$3
8A
close 2dB$3
8A
open 2dB$3
8A
close 2dB$3
0 -132 ---- -13I ---- > 1 dB
0 -12F ---- -133 ---- D10 dB 9"ieting
0 -12 ---- -131 ---- D20 dB 9"ieting
1 -130 -133 -13 -131
2 -130 -133 -13: -13I
3 -130 -133 -13: -13
: -130 -133 -133 -13:
-130 -133 -132 -133
I -130 -133 -131 -132
1 -130 -133 -130 -131
K -12F -132 -12F -130
F -12F -130 -12K -12F
/a-le 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 $eter in con@"nction 'ith
cali-rated atten"ators% Battery stat"sC 0f"lly charged0 2i%e% green led on the charger3%
Men" ite$ 2 2/LP3 0(&M(0 0N460
1: M(;C 3%:6 > 0$6 0%K6 > 0$6
:32 M(;C 3%I6 > 0$6 0%F06 > 0$6
(ans +1, asBed $e to $eas"re the fre9"ency acc"rary of $y Baofeng UV-! too, -eca"se so$e people
clai$ the UV-! -eing 0off fre9"ency0% & 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 2yes, niGie t"-esO =-3 and a ho$e-re' prescaler, in
con@"nction 'ith a cali-rated r"-idi"$ standard as ti$e -ase, re.ealed the follo'ing res"lts
2sa$ple ti$eC 10 sec, acc"racy 10 (;3C
UV-! display fre9"ency
1:%000 2M(;3 1:%000%0:0 M(; 2P :0 (;3
:32%000 2M(;3 :31%FFF%F30 M(; 2- 10 (;3
My UV-! fre9"ency acc"rary H1: and :32 M(; is 2far3 -etter than 0% pp$, '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