Chinese radio ``UV-K5'' may be ``the easiest to hack mobile device ever''
The handy radio ' UV-K5 ' released in 2023 by
UV-K5 | Amateur walkie talkie - Quansheng Electronics Co., Ltd.
http://en.qsfj.com/products/3002
The Most Hackable Handheld Ham Radio Yet - IEEE Spectrum
According to Mr. Cass, the handy radio market had been in a stagnation mood for a long time, but in 2012, the Chinese manufacturer Baofeng released a product called ``UV-5R'' and opened up a hole. Until then, devices were cheap and priced a little more than $100 (about 15,000 yen), but the 'UV-5R' was priced at just $25 (about 3,800 yen) to $34 (about 5,100 yen). ).
Approximately 10 years later, Quansheng's UV-K5 has brought attention to the market.
According to Cass, both the UV-5R and UV-K5 have excellent performance as radios, and the major technical difference is that the UV-5R's firmware is written in read-only memory, whereas the UV-5R's firmware is written in read-only memory. , UV-K5's firmware is written in ordinary flash memory and can be rewritten via a USB programming cable.
And this design difference allows the UV-K5 to improve far beyond the standard features offered by the manufacturer. Cass speculates that the reason for the firmware to be rewritable was for Quansheng to fix software bugs or respond to regulatory changes.
However, even though it is rewritable, the capacity of the flash memory is 64KB, and the official firmware occupies most of it, so wireless enthusiasts are able to create their own patches in the form of firmware patches that are less than 3KB. It seems that the code is added.
Among the codes that can be added in this way are mods that add a graphical spectrum analyzer, mods that adjust the bandwidth, mods that automatically tune to detected peaks, mods that specify frequencies to ignore, and even mods that allow UV- There is also a mod that allows K5s to exchange text messages with each other.
Mr. hosmatt, one of the groups doing the modification, developed a web-based tool to create writing files, so the modification itself is very easy to do.
UVMOD
https://whosmatt.github.io/uvmod/
Of course, the fact that firmware can be freely rewritten can lead to misuse. For example, Quansheng blocks transmission in aviation-related bands to prevent illegal and dangerous interference, but it seems that this block can be lifted.
Cass says the UV-K5 represents a future in which new features can be added to radios like adding smartphone apps, and he hopes manufacturers embrace that future.
In addition, Quansheng's UV-K5 does not have a handling page on Amazon.co.jp, and Amazon.com is also out of stock/arrival undecided.
By the way, in Japan, it is considered a violation of the Radio Law if the default settings are used, so there are many cases where users in Japan rewrite the firmware to make it a receiver-only device.
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in Hardware, Posted by logc_nt