How to Program a BF-F8HP Pro — Step by Step

It shares a name with the old BF-F8HP and almost nothing else. Colour screen, three bands, and a menu built as named sections you walk into rather than a flat list of numbers you count through.

This page covers: Baofeng BF-F8HP Pro. One model, so nothing here has to be translated from a near relative — every step below was written for exactly this radio.

Nothing you learned on a UV-5R or the original BF-F8HP carries over

This matters more here than anywhere else in this app, because the two radios share most of a name. The 2024 BF-F8HP Pro is not a revision of the BF-F8HP — it is a different radio with a different processor, a colour screen and a completely different menu. There is no menu 25 and no menu 26 on it. Typing a UV-5R menu number into this radio does not set the offset, it picks a section. If somebody hands you a Baofeng cheat sheet, check which radio it was written for before you follow it.

The menu is a set of rooms, not a numbered list

On a UV-5R every setting is a number between 0 and 40 and you type it. On this radio there are six sections — Zone, Scan, Radio Setting, GPS, Program Channel and Radio Info — and the setting you want lives inside one of them under its own name. The number you type after MENU chooses the SECTION, not the setting. Two of those six are where almost everything lives: Radio Setting for anything about the radio, and Program Channel for anything about the frequency in front of you. Learn which of the two a job belongs to and the rest is reading.

This radio has no digital mode

The BF-F8HP Pro is analog FM only. The C4FM pages on this site — callsign registration, digital mode selection, DG-ID — describe Yaesu's System Fusion radios, so those tasks are not listed here as gaps waiting to be filled. Nothing on this page needs them.

It transmits on three bands, and the middle one is the point

Baofeng gives transmit coverage as 144 to 148, 222 to 225 and 420 to 450 MHz. That middle range is 1.25 meters — a band most handhelds ignore entirely, and the main reason to own this radio rather than a cheaper dual-bander. Receive is much wider and includes the FM broadcast band and the aircraft band, but receiving somewhere is not permission to transmit there, and the radio will happily let you try.

What you can do on this radio

Rather do this on your phone, standing at the radio?

The app walks you through the same steps one at a time, on a screen sized for a phone.

Open Radio Rosetta

Save a repeater to a memory channel on a BF-F8HP Pro

Build the whole thing in frequency mode first, then save it in one move at the end. Unlike the old Baofengs, this radio works the transmit frequency out for itself from the offset and direction — there is no second save to forget.

Have these to hand before you start

  • The repeater's output frequency — the one it transmits on, and the one you listen to.
  • Its offset: how far away, and in which direction, it listens.
  • Its tone, if it uses one. Most do.
  • An empty channel number to put it in. The radio holds a hundred per zone.
  1. Press V/M until the display shows a frequency rather than a channel number.V/MThe screen should show: A frequency, with no channel number beside it.This is VFO mode. It is also the only mode where the Program Channel section offers you Offset and Direction — in channel mode those two items are not in the list at all.
  2. Type the repeater's output frequency straight in on the keypad.type 146.940The screen should show: Your frequency, digit by digit.
  3. MENU, then 5 for Program Channel, arrow down to Direction, and choose Plus or Minus to match the repeater.MENU›5›▲▼ Direction›MENU›▲▼ Plus or Minus›MENUThe screen should show: Direction, then None, Plus or Minus.None means simplex — transmit and receive on the same frequency. Plus means the repeater listens above where it talks, Minus below.
  4. Still in Program Channel, go to Offset and enter how far away the repeater listens — usually 0.600 MHz on 2 meters and 5.000 MHz on 70 centimeters.▲▼ Offset›MENU›type 0.600›MENUThe screen should show: Offset, then the amount.Watch out. Direction and Offset are two separate settings and both have to be right. Setting the amount without the direction leaves you transmitting on top of the repeater's own output, which sounds like nothing happening.
  5. Go to Tx CTCSS and pick the repeater's tone.▲▼ Tx CTCSS›MENU›▲▼ your tone›MENUThe screen should show: Tx CTCSS, then a number like 100.0.That is the sub-audible tone that tells the repeater you are allowed in. You will never hear it, and without it most repeaters simply ignore you.
  6. Now arrow to Channel Memory, press MENU, choose an empty channel number, and press MENU to save.▲▼ Channel Memory›MENU›type 015›MENUThe screen should show: Channel Memory, then the channel number.That one save stores the whole arrangement — receive frequency, transmit frequency, direction, offset and tone — into the channel.
  7. Press EXIT to come out of the menu, then V/M to switch to channel mode and find your repeater on the number you chose.EXIT›V/MThe screen should show: The channel number, and the frequency you programmed.

Worth knowing if you have come from a UV-5R: that radio makes you save twice, once for receive and once for transmit, and the missed second save is the classic reason a Baofeng hears a repeater perfectly and never keys it. This radio does not work that way. One save is the whole job. While you are here, give the channel a name — it is the next page along, and a screen that says W5XYZ beats one that says 015.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the transmit tone (CTCSS / PL) on a BF-F8HP Pro

One setting, in the Program Channel section, and it is the single most common reason a radio that seems fine cannot open a repeater.

Have these to hand before you start

  • The tone the repeater expects, in Hz — 100.0 and 103.5 are common. Your local repeater list will have it.
  1. Press MENU, then 5 for Program Channel.MENU›5The screen should show: The Program Channel list.Everything about the frequency in front of you lives in this section — tones, power, bandwidth, offset.
  2. Arrow down to Tx CTCSS, press MENU, scroll to the tone the repeater wants, then MENU to save and EXIT to leave.▲▼ Tx CTCSS›MENU›▲▼ your tone›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Tx CTCSS, then a number like 100.0.Watch out. Tx CTCSS and Tx DCS are different settings sitting near each other in the same list. CTCSS is a tone and is what almost every repeater in the United States uses; DCS is a digital code and is not interchangeable with it. Setting the wrong one gets you nowhere and looks identical from the outside.

If you are programming a channel rather than working in frequency mode, do this before you save it to a memory — the tone is stored as part of the channel, not as a setting for the whole radio. And if the repeater still will not answer, check that you have set the TRANSMIT tone and not the receive one; the receive tone does nothing to help you get in and quite a lot to stop you hearing anything.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the receive tone on a BF-F8HP Pro

The receive tone is the opposite job to the transmit tone: instead of getting you into a repeater, it keeps other people's signals out of your speaker. Most of the time you do not want it.

  1. MENU, 5 for Program Channel, arrow to Rx CTCSS and press MENU.MENU›5›▲▼ Rx CTCSS›MENUThe screen should show: Rx CTCSS, then a tone or Off.
  2. Choose the tone you want to require, or set it Off to hear everything, then MENU and EXIT.▲▼ your tone, or Off›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Rx CTCSS, then your choice.With a receive tone set, the speaker stays shut unless the incoming signal carries that exact tone. It is genuinely useful on a busy shared simplex frequency and a nuisance almost everywhere else.

This is the setting behind most reports of a radio that has gone deaf. If yours has stopped hearing a repeater it used to hear, come here first and set it Off — the repeater may simply have stopped sending a tone back, which is a change at their end that looks like a fault at yours.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the offset direction and amount on a BF-F8HP Pro

Two settings that only make sense together, and they only appear in the menu while the radio is in frequency mode.

Have these to hand before you start

  • Which way the repeater listens — up or down from its output — and by how much.
  1. Press V/M until you are looking at a frequency rather than a channel number.V/MThe screen should show: A frequency, no channel number.Watch out. This is the part that wastes people's time. Offset and Direction are not missing from the Program Channel list when you cannot find them — they are simply not shown while the radio is in channel mode. Switch to frequency mode and both appear.
  2. MENU, 5, then Direction — None for simplex, Plus if the repeater listens above its output, Minus if below.MENU›5›▲▼ Direction›MENU›▲▼ None, Plus or Minus›MENUThe screen should show: Direction, then your choice.Direction is the half that decides whether you land on the repeater's input at all. The amount only matters once the direction is right.
  3. Then Offset, and enter the distance — the usual figures are 0.600 MHz on 2 meters and 5.000 MHz on 70 centimeters.▲▼ Offset›MENU›type 0.600›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Offset, then the amount you entered.Standard offsets cover almost every repeater you will meet. The odd ones are listed as such wherever you found the repeater.

A quick way to check your work without bothering anybody: tap the asterisk key to reverse the radio, and the display should jump to the repeater's input frequency. If it shows something that is not 600 kHz or 5 MHz away from where you started, one of these two settings is wrong. Tap it again to go back.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Set the squelch on a BF-F8HP Pro

Squelch is how loud a signal has to be before the speaker opens. Too low and you listen to static all day; too high and you miss the people you are waiting for.

  1. MENU, then 3 for Radio Setting, then Squelch.MENU›3›▲▼ Squelch›MENUThe screen should show: Squelch, then Off or a level.Radio Setting is the section for anything that belongs to the radio rather than to a particular frequency, and squelch is one of those.
  2. Choose Off, or a level from 1 to 5, then MENU and EXIT.▲▼ Off, or Level 1 to Level 5›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Squelch, then your setting.Watch out. Off does not mean quiet — it means the speaker never closes, so you hear hiss constantly. It is the setting you want while hunting for a very weak station and the last one you want in the car.

Level 1 or 2 suits most people: quiet when nothing is happening, still open enough to catch a weak signal. If you are trying to hear somebody right at the edge, hold the SK2 side key to open the squelch for as long as you hold it, rather than changing the setting and forgetting to put it back.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Change the transmit power on a BF-F8HP Pro

There are two ways to do this, and the quick one is worth learning first because you will use it far more often than the menu.

  1. Hold the 3 key. Each hold moves the radio to the next power level.hold 3The screen should show: The power indicator changes between high, medium and low.This is the shortcut, and it works without leaving the frequency you are on.
  2. The long way is MENU, 5 for Program Channel, then Transmit Power.MENU›5›▲▼ Transmit Power›MENU›▲▼ High, Medium or Low›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Transmit Power, then High, Medium or Low.Set it here when you are building a channel, because the level is stored as part of that channel rather than as a setting for the whole radio.

Low is usually plenty for a repeater you can hear well, and it makes a real difference to how long the battery lasts. Save high power for the repeater at the edge of your range and for simplex, where every watt is doing something. And remember that power is stored per channel — a channel programmed on low stays on low when you come back to it, whatever the last channel was set to.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Listen on the repeater's input on a BF-F8HP Pro

Reverse swaps your transmit and receive frequencies, so you hear the repeater's input instead of its output. It is how you find out whether the person you are talking to is close enough to reach directly.

  1. Tap the asterisk key once.*The screen should show: The frequency jumps by the offset — up or down, depending on your direction setting.You are now listening where the repeater listens. If you can still hear the other station clearly, the two of you can talk simplex and leave the repeater free.
  2. Tap it again to go back to normal.*The screen should show: Your original frequency returns.Watch out. Do not leave it on. While reverse is active you are transmitting on the repeater's output frequency, which is the one thing on the band guaranteed to annoy everybody at once.

The same key does something else entirely when you hold it rather than tap it: two seconds locks the keypad. It is a short press for reverse and a long press for lock, and that is worth knowing before you find yourself locked out mid-conversation. Reverse is also the fastest way to check a repeater channel you have just programmed — the frequency it jumps to should be exactly the offset away.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Name a memory channel on a BF-F8HP Pro

This radio will name a channel from the keypad, and it gives you twelve characters to do it in — enough for a callsign and where the repeater is, rather than a cryptic four-letter guess.

  1. Press V/M until you are in channel mode, then arrow to the channel you want to name.V/M›▲▼ the channelThe screen should show: The channel number and its frequency.Watch out. Channel Name only exists in the Program Channel list while the radio is in channel mode. In frequency mode it is not there at all — there is no channel yet to name.
  2. MENU, 5 for Program Channel, then Channel Name.MENU›5›▲▼ Channel Name›MENUThe screen should show: The current name, or a blank waiting for one.
  3. Enter the name — letters, numbers and symbols are all allowed, up to twelve characters — then MENU to save and EXIT to leave.type W5XYZ›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Your name in place of the old one.Twelve characters is generous by handheld standards. Something like W5XYZ DWTN reads at a glance in a way that 015 never will.

If the name does not appear on the display afterwards, the radio is showing you the frequency instead. Hold the 2 key to cycle what the channel line shows — name, frequency or channel number — or set it per channel under CH. Display Mode in the same Program Channel list.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Delete a memory channel on a BF-F8HP Pro

Clearing out a channel you got wrong, or one for a repeater that has gone off the air.

  1. MENU, 5 for Program Channel, then arrow to the bottom of the list for Channel Delete.MENU›5›▲▼ Channel Delete›MENUThe screen should show: A list of channels.
  2. Choose the channel, press MENU to confirm, then EXIT.▲▼ the channel to delete›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: The channel, then confirmation that it is gone.Watch out. Read the number twice before you confirm. There is no undo, and the channel you are deleting is the one shown here, not the one you were listening to.

Deleting empties the channel rather than shuffling everything up, so the numbers after it do not move — channel 16 is still channel 16 after you delete 15. That is what you want if you have written your channel list down somewhere. If you only want a channel left out of scanning rather than erased, use Scan Add in the same list instead and keep the programming.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Turn off the roger beep on a BF-F8HP Pro

The roger tone is the chirp the radio sends at the end of your transmission. It ships on, and on the amateur bands it is the fastest way to sound like you have not read the manual.

  1. MENU, 3 for Radio Setting, then arrow down to Roger Tone.MENU›3›▲▼ Roger Tone›MENUThe screen should show: Roger Tone, then On or Off.
  2. Set it Off, press MENU, then EXIT.▲▼ Off›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Roger Tone, Off.Nobody on the other end needs a tone to know you have stopped talking, and on a busy repeater it is one more thing on the frequency.

Key Beep is a different setting a couple of lines away in the same list, and the two get confused constantly. The roger tone is what other people hear at the end of your transmission. The key beep is what you hear when you press a button, and nobody else can hear it at all. Turning off one does not touch the other.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Turn off the voice announcements on a BF-F8HP Pro

The voice that reads your menu choices out loud. Useful while you are learning the radio, wearing thin by the second day.

  1. MENU, 3 for Radio Setting, arrow to Voice Prompts, set it Off, then MENU and EXIT.MENU›3›▲▼ Voice Prompts›MENU›▲▼ Off›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Voice Prompts, Off.It is a straight on-or-off setting on this radio — there is no choice of language or volume to get lost in.

Worth leaving on for a while if the radio is new to you, because it names the section you have just walked into, which is exactly the thing a menu built out of named rooms makes hard to keep track of. Turn it off once you know your way around. If it is the beep on every keypress that is bothering you rather than the voice, that is Key Beep, two lines further down the same list.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Turn off dual watch on a BF-F8HP Pro

Dual watch is the radio listening to both displayed channels and answering on whichever one speaks first. It is also the reason a radio sometimes transmits somewhere you did not expect.

  1. MENU, 3 for Radio Setting, arrow to Dual Watch, set it Off, then MENU and EXIT.MENU›3›▲▼ Dual Watch›MENU›▲▼ Off›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Dual Watch, Off.With it off, the radio listens only to the line you have selected, and that is the line it transmits on. No surprises.

A useful signpost: switch Dual Watch off and a Single Watch setting appears in the list underneath it, which decides which of the two lines the radio pays attention to. That item is simply not shown while dual watch is on, so if you are hunting for it, this is why.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Lock the keypad on a BF-F8HP Pro

There are two locks on this radio — one you do yourself and one it does for you — and they use the same key.

  1. Hold the asterisk key for about two seconds to lock the keypad, and hold it again to unlock.hold *The screen should show: A lock indicator appears.Watch out. A short tap of this same key is Reverse, not lock. If your frequency has jumped by the offset instead of locking, you did not hold it long enough.
  2. For the automatic version, MENU, 3 for Radio Setting, then Auto Lock.MENU›3›▲▼ Auto Lock›MENU›▲▼ On or Off›MENU›EXITThe screen should show: Auto Lock, then On or Off.With Auto Lock on, the radio locks itself after eight seconds without a keypress. Holding the asterisk key for two seconds still unlocks it.

Eight seconds is quick, which is the point in a coat pocket and a nuisance on a desk. If the radio keeps locking while you are programming it, that setting is why — turn it off while you work and put it back afterwards.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

Factory reset on a BF-F8HP Pro

There are two resets here and they are not the same size of hammer. Choose deliberately.

Have these to hand before you start

  • A saved copy of your channels, if you have any worth keeping. Read them out of the radio with programming software before you touch this.
  1. MENU, 3 for Radio Setting, then arrow all the way to the bottom of the list for Reset.MENU›3›▲▼ Reset›MENUThe screen should show: Reset, then a choice of two.
  2. Choose Reset only VFO to put the settings back without touching your channels, or Reset All to return the whole radio to how it left the factory.▲▼ Reset only VFO, or Reset All›MENUThe screen should show: Your choice, then the radio restarting.Watch out. Reset All is the one that takes your channels with it. If you have spent an evening programming repeaters and you are only trying to undo one setting you cannot find, Reset only VFO is almost certainly what you want.

Reset is the right answer more often than people think on a radio this configurable — there are around thirty settings in Radio Setting alone, and one wrong one can look like a fault. But do it in the right order: read the channels out with programming software first, reset second, load them back third. Then the reset costs you nothing but the settings you meant to lose.

Taken from the manufacturer's own manual for this model.

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