Just Ordered a Cheap Chinese Dual Bander

[n2ize]

I just ordered a dirt cheap dual band handheld. Cost me under $50 I mainly ordered it out of curiocity, I want to test the performance of one of these el-cheapos compared to something like my Yaesu handheld. Plus since my current Yaesu is a monobander I figured having UHF is not a bad idea. So far what I heard about the radio from others is that it performs okay...once you replace the dummy load mounted on top of it with a real antenna. The instructions are in hard to understand Chinglish and programming from the keypad is next to impossible so I ordered the add on interface cable. It tends to have low audio according to some reports but that is corrected with a mic. All in all I have been curious about these cheapo's for a while so I figured I'll give one a shot. Also at that price if it gets lost or stolen it's no great loss so if it performs at all it might be good for places where you generally might not want to take a more expensive radio. Should have it in a few weeks depending on how fast Hong Kong post and Customs is running. Generally anything Chinese is slow this time of year.

[n0iu]

Generally anything Chinese is slow this time of year.

Not true! I ordered a DBV-T dongle from an eBay seller in China so I could try out the Virtual Radar system as described in the January 2014 edition of QST. (It is way cool, btw!). I ordered the dongle on December 24 (which is probably the worst time to order anything online) and it showed up on January 3rd... which was sooner than the promised delivery date!

But as far as the radio goes...

I bought a Wouxun KG-UV3D for the same reason. The last 2m HT I bought was a Radio Shack HTX-202 back in 1992 and I thought it was time for a new one. How does it play? Meh! It is what it is. But now I have the perfect radio for my TEOTWAWKI kit. Or is that my SHTF box? Or is it my ARES "go bag"?

But in addition to being a dual band radio, I can also use it as a (very basic) analog scanner. It can also receive broadcast (also analog) FM stations. And get this... it also has a built-in flashlight!!! (That is if you consider a small LED poking through the top of the case to be a flashlight) But hey, it is bright enough for me to find my 6 D-cell Maglite®.

And yes, you do need to program it through your computer. Dump whatever program it comes with and download Chirp. http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home

Good ruck, er luck!

[W3WN]

I just ordered a dirt cheap dual band handheld. Cost me under $50 I mainly ordered it out of curiocity, I want to test the performance of one of these el-cheapos compared to something like my Yaesu handheld. Plus since my current Yaesu is a monobander I figured having UHF is not a bad idea. So far what I heard about the radio from others is that it performs okay...once you replace the dummy load mounted on top of it with a real antenna. The instructions are in hard to understand Chinglish and programming from the keypad is next to impossible so I ordered the add on interface cable. It tends to have low audio according to some reports but that is corrected with a mic. All in all I have been curious about these cheapo's for a while so I figured I'll give one a shot. Also at that price if it gets lost or stolen it's no great loss so if it performs at all it might be good for places where you generally might not want to take a more expensive radio. Should have it in a few weeks depending on how fast Hong Kong post and Customs is running. Generally anything Chinese is slow this time of year.That sounds suspiciously like you've ordered a Baofeng UV-5R, or some flavor thereof.

IF that is the case...
(1) Get the replacement antenna. The stock antenna is a dummy load and will only serve to frustrate you.
(2) The manual is slightly better than classing "Renglish" translations. Slightly
(3) The rig will be easier to program via software than via the keyboard. Sad but true.
(4) If you get the USB-to-radio programming cable, make certain you get the right USB driver for your computer & operating system.
(5) The official software, to put it mildly, sucks. Download CHIRP. Piece of cake, once we had the right driver for the USB cable.

I'm planning on doing a little newsletter article on the UV-5's for next month. It's virtually a "disposable" rig, which, for what I want to do, is perfect.

And it won't hurt that it has FM commercial broadcast capability. If I get hassled about having the rig on me when I walk into the ballpark, I can "prove" that I'm only using it to listen to the radio announcers.

[n2ize]

Not true! I ordered a DBV-T dongle from an eBay seller in China so I could try out the Virtual Radar system as described in the January 2014 edition of QST. (It is way cool, btw!). I ordered the dongle on December 24 (which is probably the worst time to order anything online) and it showed up on January 3rd... which was sooner than the promised delivery date!

Well I ordered through Amazon since my orchestra gets rewarded from amazon everytime I link to Amazon through their website. They gave me a tentative sate the item will be shipped as Jan 13 - 15th but a approxmate delivery date of Feb 6 - 25th,. In fact the interface cable is expected to get here before the radio.

But as far as the radio goes...



I bought a Wouxun KG-UV3D for the same reason. The last 2m HT I bought was a Radio Shack HTX-202 back in 1992 and I thought it was time for a new one. How does it play? Meh! It is what it is. But now I have the perfect radio for my TEOTWAWKI kit. Or is that my SHTF box? Or is it my ARES "go bag"?

But in addition to being a dual band radio, I can also use it as a (very basic) analog scanner. It can also receive broadcast (also analog) FM stations. And get this... it also has a built-in flashlight!!! (That is if you consider a small LED poking through the top of the case to be a flashlight) But hey, it is bright enough for me to find my 6 D-cell Maglite®.

And yes, you do need to program it through your computer. Dump whatever program it comes with and download Chirp. http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home

Good ruck, er luck!
Yeah, it can come in handy as a portable scanner for VHF/UHF since a lot of stuff around here has moved up to UHF. Hopefully it will work as a 2 way device as well. VHF/UHF isn't my favorite bands, I am a HF type guy but it's still good to have the access. It couldn;t be any worst than my old Yaesu FT-470 dual bander (1990) which was a great radio when it worked but which was also very problematic. I already checked out "chirp" and I'll have it downloaded and installed in a matter of minutes. Thanks for the linque.

[kb2vxa]

Re WN:
"If I get hassled about having the rig on me when I walk into the ballpark, I can "prove" that I'm only using it to listen to the radio announcers."

You're a sneaky little bugger after my own heart. Hopefully a local FM station has the game on or you'll end up like the broadcast engineer in another thread calibrating to WWV when it wasn't on the air. (;->)

[W3WN]

Re WN:
"If I get hassled about having the rig on me when I walk into the ballpark, I can "prove" that I'm only using it to listen to the radio announcers."

You're a sneaky little bugger after my own heart. Hopefully a local FM station has the game on or you'll end up like the broadcast engineer in another thread calibrating to WWV when it wasn't on the air. (;->)"The Fan" KDKA FM 93.7.

And... damn straight I am. What else did you expect? After all, I was born by the GSP exit in Irvington...

[n2ize]

That sounds suspiciously like you've ordered a Baofeng UV-5R, or some flavor thereof.

IF that is the case...
(1) Get the replacement antenna. The stock antenna is a dummy load and will only serve to frustrate you.
(2) The manual is slightly better than classing "Renglish" translations. Slightly
(3) The rig will be easier to program via software than via the keyboard. Sad but true.
(4) If you get the USB-to-radio programming cable, make certain you get the right USB driver for your computer & operating system.
(5) The official software, to put it mildly, sucks. Download CHIRP. Piece of cake, once we had the right driver for the USB cable.

I'm planning on doing a little newsletter article on the UV-5's for next month. It's virtually a "disposable" rig, which, for what I want to do, is perfect.

And it won't hurt that it has FM commercial broadcast capability. If I get hassled about having the rig on me when I walk into the ballpark, I can "prove" that I'm only using it to listen to the radio announcers.

So far the UV-5R may be more disposable than I even expected. I received it today and charged the battery and I am already thinking of disposing it. For starters I can;t get it to accept any VHF frequency above 145.9999. If I try and enter any frequency from 146.000 on upward the radio simply cancels the operation. Seems it can only will only accept frequencies between 144.000 - 145.999. Similar restrictions on UHF. Weird. I have the programming cable,. Maybe I'll try to see if I can program it and things will work out differently. . If that is as far as it can tune then the radio is more or less useless to me. Most of my best repeaters are on 146-147. What good is a radio that can only operate on the lower end of VHF and UHF ?

[NQ6U]

Operator error, RTFM. My UV-5R works fine on the high end of the 2m band.

[n2ize]

Operator error, RTFM. My UV-5R works fine on the high end of the 2m band.

This one doesn't. I cannot enter any frequency of 146 or above. I put it in frequency mode, carefully followed the instructions, made sure I was in the right band, etc. and when i try and enter any frequency of 146 or above the radio says...CANCEL... upon entering the last digit and reverts back to it's original frequency. I have heard about radios with restricted coverage but never restricted ham coverage. Perhaps this radio was meant for some country like Saudi Arabia..I am getting ready to throw this thing as far as I can pitch it. Ah well, it is a handy FM broadcast receiver...

I guess all I can do is try "chirp" and see if I can load the freq.s vie the computer. If that doesn't work I might have to try and do some kind of firmware hack. In the meantime I'll stick with my good ol' Yaesu.

If anyone has any suggestions I am all ears. Can't find any reference to this problem on Google. matter of fact most people with UV-5R's brag abut it's frequency coverage. Mine doesn't even cover the ham bands.

[kb2vxa]

Not a thread hijack as if you'd allow it. (;->)

Re WN:
"After all, I was born by the GSP exit in Irvington."
Right up the hill on Chancellor Ave. is Irvington General Hospital where I'd park the mobile on Park Pl. between the hospital and the school enjoying the view from the highest point in the area yapping away. One night a rent a cop came out giving me hell for "suspicious behavior" threatening to call the cops. For legally parking on a public street? Now go back in the cafeteria and have some more coffee and donuts, just don't drink the Kool Aid. Now he doesn't like me very much... DILLIGAF?