Quansheng HT  adding CW

Above we see a picture of a Quansheng UV-K5 handheld rig. The term UV-K5 refers to the case style and not the internal circuitry. Other case styles can be the UV-K6 or UV5R Plus (not to be confused with the Baofeng UV5 which is a totally different rig !)

And they come in three sub-types. Version 1/2/3's which denotes what MCU / controller is used to hold the firmware. V1's  have no identifiers. V2's have a sticker under the battery or are laser engraved and only sold briefly. V3's also include a sticker or laser engraved marking. This page deals ONLY with V1 models and the PTT as a key or an external straight key.

ADDING CW MODE.

Firstly identify your radio version and make sure that it's a V1.

Download some firmware called IJV  this one and save it to yor disk, unzip to get the .bin file.

Using a web browser that supports SERIAL USB (MS Edge / Chrome / Chromium / later Firefox versions from about mid 2026) navigate to this website (or any other site that offers Quansheng V1 flashing). Or this one which will also allow your calibration file to be saved just in case anything goes wrong. (Always ensure that you have selected the correct version family before ever pushing that flash button !)

Connect the programming cable to the PC USB first.

Select the saved IJV firmware on the web browser flasher (the .bin file).

Switch on Quansheng rig whilst holding PTT (Screen will be blank).

Insert the programming cable into the speaker mic socket (don't use older Baofeng cables as they don't mate properly).

Now flash the .bin file to the rig, that takes about 40 seconds.

Reboot rig and do a full reset from the main menu.

Now the hard and long bits. Enter the secret menu using swtich on but holding PTT+Upper function key,that the one just below the PTT.

Navigate to the menu's where it says DUALRX and turn it off.

Navigate to TxpCal - Calibration of power levels. We must select a power level H/M/L from VFO mode and using the TxpCal(68) option assign the desired power level, repeating the process for each level. We must assign the levels for both UHF-H/M/L and VHF-H/M/L by selecting a frequency within the UHF or VHF range and performing the configuration. In channel mode each channel can have specific power values assigned. Use a suitable power meter for this.

SqlGli -   Glitch threshold, must be performed on every squelch setting for both VHF and UHF. Try 14.

SqlNoi - Noise threshold same as above,  try value 75.

SqlRss  Signal strength threshold, start with -124dbm and use 1db increments for each squelch setting.

EVERY ENTRY IS ONLY WRITTEN WITH A CORRECT MENU EXIT. THIS WILL DRIVE YOU CRAZY.

Some hours later you will have completed this. Verify every step or you will not be amused. Why did we do this ? On a virgin rig the manufacturer STILL supplies the rigs with incorrect settings and we have to fix this.

Flash the NR7Y firmware .bin file  from here to the rig using the same browser flashing tool.

Hooray, we're now finished.

Switch the rig on and we get a familiar screen but the rig has CW menu's added.

The NR7Y firmware as seen above offers an uncomplicated and straight forward access to the normal basic FM features of the rig as well as being able to operate the CW mode. The V1.2 version of the firmware uses traditional s-meter values (no false noise floor readings). Full break in is provided.  There is no broadcast FM receiver in this firmware.  However the receiver is opened up for AM/FM/CW/SSB use from 18-1300Mhz.

Above - two calibration menus available via the "secret menu", the battery voltage calibration and the frequency calbration (if needed). And don't forget to set the mic gain so that you have good FM audio. Here's a short demo of the rig on CW using the basic PTT key.  As usual, you perform every that is described here at your own peril ! Normally there's no problems but I have had a few instances when things have got a little corrupt. Usually writing a good calibration file to the EEPROM is the answer, or flashing a firmware with some preset values like F4HWN (v1) or EGZUMER 0.22 in order to easily get some values in, and then reuploading the NR7Y firmware does the trick. (Just saying).

Below - Apart from using the rigs own PTT as a key it is also possble to use an external straight key.  It involves hacking a cable by removing part of the 2.5mm plug. This looks like it would deliberatly not engage with the internal speaker connector, thus allowing all audio including the CW sidetone to appear through the internal speaker.  It works perfectly. There are no modifications to perform to the rig or special cables to make. I used a small handheld Dremel cutting disk to remove the unwanted part of the 2.5mm plug.

As a bonus, the microphone still works and audio is still sent via the rigs internal speaker,but the loudspeaker part of the microphone is redundant.