TIDRADIO Ham Radio Wireless Programmer Adapter APP and PC Program for Baofeng UV-5R and Multiple Models No Driver Issues Instead of Program Cable

UPDATE: 30 Jun 2022 - The Odmaster app repeater function works and returns repeaters based on the distance filter you set. When I scrolled thru the list, the app pauses slightly and I thought I reached the end of the list. Had I continued swiping, the list of repeaters would have continued to scroll.TIDRadio Wireless Bluetooth Programmer (New Version)For full disclosure, TIDRadio provided me this device. My review is my honest opinion of the Programmer.The TIDRadio Wireless Programmer Adapter allows you to program their supported HT without using a PC.The New Version Programmer that I’m reviewing comes with a USB-C cable charging to connect to the device’s USB-C charging port. I already own the Original version and it has a mini USB port instead of a USB-C port. The New version has a blue LED and the Original version has a green LED. Other than these differences, I can’t tell if there are any functional differences.The rest of the review is about the New Version Programmer and the Odmaster app.Pairing between the New Version Programmer and my iPhone was seamless. Make sure bluetooth is activated on your smartphone. Start the Odmaster app and connect the Programmer to your phone. Press the power button on the Programmer. You won’t need to touch the Programmer again until you have completed the programming process. At that point, just remove the Programmer from your HT.This device is most useful when you are traveling and want to program a repeater in your HT. You won’t need a computer to access a list of repeaters around you.The remainder of this review is about the Odmaster app.Searching repeaters near you is very helpful with a single click. Adding a repeater is very simple by selecting a channel and assigning it to your HT.The filter of repeater does not seem to be functional since the default of 100 miles radius only returns what is in my county regardless of the distance filter setting. When I set the filter distance to 1000+ miles, I still only get the repeaters in my county.To program your HT, you have to select and program each channel one at a time. While this is useable, I think it missed the target for me.A feature that was missing that I would like to have in the Odmaster app is for it to show a complete list of channels and the associated frequencies and channel name in list form. Without this feature, I feel like I’m programming my HT half blind.In conclusion, this device is very useful to program your HT without a computer. For me, I would use this device with my HT when traveling so that I can quickly program local repeaters in my HT. Not being able to display a complete list of already programmed channels on my HT is a big miss for me but it is not a deal breaker. My purchase of the Original version was well worth the very affordable cost. The New Version provided to me by Tidradio functions equally well.

My Scenario - I've a programming cable that connects the radio (via the K1 plug) with the desktop (via the usb port). This cable works great with the open-source CHIRP software (essentially a spreadsheet interface with all available channels attributes) for programming channels in bulk. Great but I cannot bring this programming method along when I'm venturing outside! When I'm out offroading with a group of friends, there are times whereby we need to program a channel (not already programmed as one of our preset channels) and I won't have my desktop with me. While I can program a channel within the radio itself, it is a cumbersome and frustrating experience doing that on a number keypad - it's just plain unproductive!Here is where this Bluetooth Wireless Programmer Adapter comes to my rescue.Solved - All I need is this TIDRADIO Wireless Programmer Adapter, my Baofeng radio, my mobile phone, and the Odmaster App (it's free via Google Play Store). Now, I can easily program in the wild without my computer and the programming cable! From my uploaded pictures, the first image shows the sequence of the programming and I'll share some troubleshooting steps too.1. Select 'Connect Bluetooth' > this prompts the software (Odmaster App) to discover this wireless adapter. Choose the 'TIDRADIO KIT' when it appears and slide the radio button to the right to select it. Now if you don't see any device displayed on this screen, there are couple of things that can help troubleshoot.- Ensure the adapter is snugly plugged into the radio, you should not see any visible part of the 2 connecting pins.- Ensure both the radio and adapter is switched ON. The adapter should have a blue light when it's ON.- On your phone, ensure 'TIDRADIO KIT' is displayed under 'Available devices'. DO NOT pair via your phone bluetooth screen. If it is showing up under 'Paired devices', you'll want to unpair it.- If all the above are correct and yet you don't see it showing up in Odmaster App, turn ON 'Airplane mode' on your phone. This will disconnect all communication interface on your phone and help resolve any software conflict. Then turn ON 'Airplane mode' again. Resetting your phone will work too.2. 'Select Model' for your radio > simply choose your radio's brand and its model number. If you have UV-82HP, just choose UV-82. The programming attributes are the same.3. Next select the 'Read' > this will import all your programming configurations from your radio to your phone.4. The second picture shows how a downloaded channel looks like (under Channel) and some limited radio settings (under Function). This Odmaster App is not a full featured substitute of the CHIRP desktop software, but it is adequate to get you going when outside.5. When you're done programming, simply select the 'Write' button to upload everything back to your radio.Wish List - The Odmaster App is written against older versions of google code. This causes security alerts on my phone; flagging the App can be used to overwrite system settings and compromise my phone. As such, I uninstalled the App after each use. Last I checked, they are working (with google) to update the outdated code.Note:- The claimed battery life is 1 day standby. Not an issue since the supplied USB-C (becoming ubiquitous) cable is easily charged in the car. I've not been able to drain the battery flat yet even after several reads and writes.- I've wasted almost an hour trying to troubleshoot why the wireless adapter was not discoverable in the app (related to the above troubleshooting step). I can only suspect it is related to the outdated app code in the Odmaster App.Regardless of the flaws for the App, this Bluetooth Wireless Programmer Adapter is worthy of 5 stars for solving my outdoor programming headaches. Once connected, the configurations sync flawlessly between the radio and phone.

Duel frequency, easy use and installation

This does everything it claims to do. I used it once and that was more than I wanted to use it. The App sucks. It is slow and painful to work from your on your phone. This unit is better at making small scale changes rather than large scale frequency loads. Because it had an app in the playstore I bought a Chromebook to make generating frequency loads more easily. Nope. The Chromebook told me to EFF off. The app is not compatible with the Chrome OS,.only tje Android OS. So this is really a freaking Google issue. Buy it for your bag just in case but use CHIRP and your programming cable for everything else.

I wasn’t very sure about this to start with, but the app is pretty easy to use and it allowed me to do some things with my UV 5R that I wasn’t able to do before. This is perfect for somebody who has no knowledge of how to program the radios, it allowed me to simply upload the Local repeater frequencies to the radio to whatever desired channel I wanted so if you’re not very good with your radio just go ahead and get these. It works on iPhone doesn’t really seem to have any bugs and there is also a community online.