Hey there community,
This is my first post on this website so please, excuse me if I am posting in the wrong forum section.
I recently bought 6 Baofeng walkie talkies. Their model is BF-T6. I bought them from banggood and after a long time of waiting, the package finally arrived. I unboxed all of them in order to test them and here’s the situation:
4 of them communicate with eachother and the other 2 also communicate with eachother. But the 2 won’t communicate with the other 4. I selected the same channels on all of them and I triple checked them so each one has the exact same options on it. But still no change.
In addition, the 2 will only go up to channel 8 while the other 4 will go up to 22. I assume maybe they are different versions? I am totally sure the model is the same though, I checked each device seperately, all of them are BF-T6.
So what do I do? Can I reprogram them so their frequencies match? If yes, how can I do that? Maybe change the CTCSS or the DCS channels? Is there anything else you can think of?
Thanks a lot in advance!
The Baofeng BF-T6 is an FRS or PMR radio that is designed in several versions, depending on what country it is shipped to. It appears you may have got two different versions.
This is no big deal, because you can still find a way for them to communicate with each other. The key is that both the channel FREQUENCY must match, plus the PL tone (CTCSS/DCS). Because they are intended for different countries, the channel numbers may not be the same for all of them.
Start with the simplest. Go into the menu of each and make sure that CTCSS or DCS tones are OFF. Then try them.
If they still don’t talk to each other, then the channel numbers may not match. You will need to go into the user manual of each one and find the table that lists the frequencies. Make sure you match the frequencies of each radio. They should work now.
If the manual does not provide that information, you will need to do this manually. Start with the 8-channel version and program to channel 1. Then, cycle the 22-channel version through every channel until you find the one that matches.
Let us know if this works for you.
If not, you may have to return some of them. Some may be FRS radios for Canada/U.S. and some may be PMR446 radios for use in Europe.
There are no frequencies on FRS that match the PMR446 frequencies. Use of a PMR446 radio in the US is illegal, since all these frequencies fall into the USA 70 cm amateur radio band. Use of an FRS radio in Europe is illegal, since the FRS frequencies fall in the European public safety band.
Now, did you make sure the channel/frequency and PL/CTCSS/DCS tones are identical?
If so, then check the back of the radio and/or the manual of each radio and see if it has a frequency specification on it. It should.
Now, my guess is that the 8 channel models are PMR446, which are only good in Europe.
I don’t know where you are at; but it seems you may be returning some of the radios for an exchange.