How to program a GMRS radio with CHIRP

Before you start

What you need

Three things: a radio CHIRP supports, the right cable for that radio, and CHIRP-next itself. Do not skip ahead — most failed programming sessions are decided here, before CHIRP even opens.

The cable — and the one pitfall that stops most people

You also need a USB programming cable made for your radio's accessory socket. This is where sessions die, so be plain about it:

• Cheap cables with counterfeit Prolific chips fail on modern Windows. The cable plugs in, Windows rejects or drops the driver, and CHIRP never sees a working COM port — or sees one that errors as soon as a transfer starts. It looks like a CHIRP fault. It is not.
• A cable that works looks boring. You plug it in, one new COM port appears in CHIRP's port list, and it stays there. If the port appears and vanishes, or Device Manager shows a driver warning against it, fix the driver or replace the cable before you touch anything else.
• The safe route: buy the radio maker's own cable, or a cable sold as using a genuine chip, and install the driver the cable maker supplies — even if Windows offers its own. Where a driver detail differs between cable makers, follow the instructions that came with your cable rather than a generic download.

The procedure

Program GMRS radio CHIRP, step by step

Nine steps, in order. Steps 1–4 are setup and the safety net. Steps 5–7 are the actual programming. Steps 8–9 prove it worked.

1. Install CHIRP-next

   Download CHIRP-next from the official CHIRP site and install it. Use CHIRP-next, not the older legacy build — legacy CHIRP is no longer updated and misses newer radios.

2. Install the cable driver

   Install the driver for your programming cable before you plug anything in and before you open CHIRP. If Windows flags a Prolific driver error, the cable likely uses a counterfeit chip — install the driver supplied by the cable maker or switch to a known-good cable.

3. Connect the radio

   With the radio powered off, push the programming plug firmly into the accessory socket until it fully seats, plug the USB end into the computer, then switch the radio on with the volume up. A half-seated plug is the single most common cause of a failed read — these plugs often need a firmer push than feels right.

4. Read from the radio and save a backup

   In CHIRP, choose Radio → Download From Radio, pick the COM port, make and model, and let the clone finish. Save that untouched file as your backup image before you change anything. If a later write goes wrong, this file is how you put the radio back exactly as it was.

5. Set the columns

   Work across the CHIRP grid: Frequency, Name, Tone Mode, Tone, Duplex, Offset and Power. Simplex channels have Duplex set to none. Repeater channels have Duplex set to + and Offset set to 5.000000. The full column guide is in the table below the channel chart.

6. Program the 30 GMRS channels

   Enter simplex channels 1–22 and repeater channels 15R–22R — 30 channel positions in all: 22 main channels shared with FRS, plus 8 repeater inputs. Channels 8–14 are low-power 0.5 W handheld-only channels. Handhelds run up to 5 W, and mobile, base and repeater stations can run up to 50 W on channels 15–22 where the radio is built and certified for it.

7. Set repeater tones

   Set the transmit tone each repeater requires. For channel 20 travel use, set CTCSS 141.3 Hz — channel 20 is 462.675 MHz, the unofficial travel and emergency channel; the FCC has never designated an official GMRS emergency channel. Leave the receive tone off at first. And be clear on this: tones filter what you hear — they are not privacy. Anyone on the channel without a tone set can still hear everything you say, and GMRS has no encryption.

8. Write to the radio

   Save a copy of your edited file on the computer, then choose Radio → Upload To Radio, confirm the port and model, and let the write finish without unplugging anything. Then read the radio back into CHIRP to check the channels actually landed — that read-back is your proof, covered again in troubleshooting below.

9. Test on simplex first

   Test on simplex channel 16 or channel 20 with a second radio nearby before you test a repeater. Channel 16 is the widely used trail channel. If simplex works and the repeater does not, the problem is the tone or the offset — not the radio.

See the 30-channel chart ↓

No computer?

Programming a repeater by hand: Baofeng UV-5G Plus

No cable, no computer, one repeater to add — the keypad can do it. The path below is the one documented for the UV-5G Plus. Two honest warnings first: menu labels and key sequences can vary by firmware, so if a label on your radio reads slightly differently, follow the label's meaning rather than this page word for word; and the store process is a two-step sequence that catches everyone out the first time.

The repeater settings you are entering

• Frequency: tune to the repeater's output — for channel 20, 462.675.
• Transmit tone: menu T-CTCS set to 141.3 for the channel 20 travel tone, or the tone your repeater publishes.
• Offset: offset direction + (often labelled SFT-D) and offset amount 005.000 (often labelled OFFSET).
• Receive tone: leave R-CTCS off until you have heard the repeater open. A receive tone set too early is the classic reason a correctly programmed radio stays silent.

The fiddly part: storing it

On this family of radios, storing is two steps, not one. You set everything in frequency (VFO) mode first, then use the memory-store menu to write it to a channel — and on many firmware versions you must store once for the receive side and repeat the store for the transmit side to carry the tone and offset with it. If you store once and the repeater does not open, that second store is the first thing to check. Because the exact key sequence varies by firmware, treat any single key-by-key list — including simplified versions of this one — with caution, and verify the result: switch to the stored channel, confirm the display shows the + shift and tone indicators, and test it.

By-hand programming is fine for one or two channels. For all 30, with tones, CHIRP is faster, readable at a glance, and saveable — which is why this guide leads with it.

Straight answers

CHIRP or the manufacturer's CPS?

You will find this argument in every GMRS forum, so here it is plainly. CPS is the manufacturer's own customer programming software for a specific radio. Some manufacturers support CPS better than CHIRP, some owners trust the official tool more, and for a few radios CPS exposes settings CHIRP does not. Those are fair points, and if your radio's maker actively maintains CPS for your model, it is a legitimate choice.

CHIRP is community software — free, written and maintained by volunteers, and not endorsed by the radio makers. Its counter-argument is practical: one program, one file format and one set of skills covers almost every radio a household is likely to own, including the UV-5G Plus and GM-30 used here, and copy-pasting a channel list between radios takes seconds. This guide uses CHIRP because it is free and covers the most radios. Whichever you choose, the discipline is the same: read first, save a backup, change one thing at a time.

The legal note: programming is not permission to transmit

CHIRP will happily program any compatible radio, licensed or not. The license is separate: you need the $35 FCC license to transmit on GMRS. It lasts 10 years, there is no exam, and the fee has been $35 since 19 April 2022 — guides still quoting $70 are out of date. Listening needs no license; transmitting does. One individual license can also authorize qualifying immediate family members under FCC rules. The full walkthrough is the GMRS license guide.

Certification matters too. The Baofeng UV-5R is widely used for GMRS but is NOT FCC Part 95 certified for it. The UV-5G Plus is the certified GMRS model — if you are buying a radio to program with this guide, buy the certified one. Two more rules worth knowing before you transmit: GMRS repeaters may not be linked over the internet (47 CFR 95.1733(a)(8) and 95.1749), and there is no encryption on GMRS — treat everything you say as public.

Get the $35 license — the 5-step guide →

Questions

CHIRP programming FAQ