BKR 9000 Reviews

[aglowgibbon]

Overall I like my BKR9000.

I do have to get use to the smaller display from the 5000. A lot of my cloned stuff has to be re typed.

The hero armor is cool but as others said time will tell. If it becomes a problem I’m sure BK will fix it.

The top emergency button is almost too good. It’s a real pain to press but I guess it will prevent accidental use.

I’m not sure if others notice this but my audio rattles pretty bad when up high. Even connected to an RSM. I have not played with the AGC yet to see if that helps.

You can build a KVL Hirose adaptor using the program chungus

Not too many gripes. I like it a lot FPP is really nice on it.

What is the "Program Chungus"? I've seen some videos about modifying programming cables to load keys. I plan on doing that once mine comes in.

 

[EMT_20]

What is the "Program Chungus"? I've seen some videos about modifying programming cables to load keys. I plan on doing that once mine comes in.

It is the BKR0710, PC Programming Cable, USB for BKR Series Radios. They are not that hard to modify. I believe there is a thread on here on how to do it with the pinout for the cable. I did it to one of mine but I have not tried to load any keys yet. Make sure you buy the correct size hirose connector for the Key Loader.

 

[gtaman]

If anyone has the correct part number for the right size Hirose connector that would be awesome.

I have an early version of the program adaptor from a BKR5000. Hopefully it can be modified easily.

 

[natedawg1604]

So I just had a few brief comments on the BKR9000. My SAR team purchased several earlier this year, overall they are working well. The biggest gripe from several folks is battery life. The battery seems to last about 12 hours (when scanning a few TG's on a trunked system), and there is currently no option for a higher capacity battery. And, it's a fairly expensive battery. BK advertises it as "Super High Capacity", which it is absolutely NOT. (My XTS and APX radios all run high capacity batteries which last much longer than 12 hours, if you aren't used to doing this it may not matter as much to you). One would hope BK will provide more battery options sooner than later.

I've also heard several reports that it goes out of range in a few fringe coverage areas (P25 sites), when an APX 6000 sitting nearby still functions. Granted, this happens pretty rarely. (I'd be very curious to hear comparative coverage reports from others using it on their regional or state P25 systems).

I do love the fact that the BKR software has a "firewall" between the core trunking features and everything else. Basically, you don't need a system key to change any menu/button settings or modify the conventional side. You only need a system key to modify the actual table of talkgroups, and the core trunking parameters. I've also gotten great feedback about the command zone feature; the ability for each user to build their own zone of both trunking TG's and conventional channels is really awesome. I've also gotten great reports on audio quality, the internal speaker is phenomenal.

I do hope BK steps up their game on offering more accessories, such as RSM's with channel control. In fact, I still prefer my ancient XTS 5000 over the BKR because my XTS has a Commander II speaker Mic with a channel knob, as well as a higher capacity battery that lasts about 2 days. I am little surprised BK didn't design fully functional RSM's from the outset, given the XTS series and Commander II speaker mic have been around for 20+ years, to say nothing of the APX products that came afterwords.

In fairness to BK, they did include voice announcements which we utilize, and that feature does work well. My biggest hope is that BK offers more battery options and more accessories, sooner than later. I suppose only time will tell...

 

[Project25_MASTR]

So I just had a few brief comments on the BKR9000. My SAR team purchased several earlier this year, overall they are working well. The biggest gripe from several folks is battery life. The battery seems to last about 12 hours (when scanning a few TG's on a trunked system), and there is currently no option for a higher capacity battery. And, it's a fairly expensive battery. BK advertises it as "Super High Capacity", which it is absolutely NOT. (My XTS and APX radios all run high capacity batteries which last much longer than 12 hours, if you aren't used to doing this it may not matter as much to you). One would hope BK will provide more battery options sooner than later.

I've also heard several reports that it goes out of range in a few fringe coverage areas (P25 sites), when an APX 6000 sitting nearby still functions. Granted, this happens pretty rarely. (I'd be very curious to hear comparative coverage reports from others using it on their regional or state P25 systems).

I do love the fact that the BKR software has a "firewall" between the core trunking features and everything else. Basically, you don't need a system key to change any menu/button settings or modify the conventional side. You only need a system key to modify the actual table of talkgroups, and the core trunking parameters. I've also gotten great feedback about the command zone feature; the ability for each user to build their own zone of both trunking TG's and conventional channels is really awesome. I've also gotten great reports on audio quality, the internal speaker is phenomenal.

I do hope BK steps up their game on offering more accessories, such as RSM's with channel control. In fact, I still prefer my ancient XTS 5000 over the BKR because my XTS has a Commander II speaker Mic with a channel knob, as well as a higher capacity battery that lasts about 2 days. I am little surprised BK didn't design fully functional RSM's from the outset, given the XTS series and Commander II speaker mic have been around for 20+ years, to say nothing of the APX products that came afterwords.

In fairness to BK, they did include voice announcements which we utilize, and that feature does work well. My biggest hope is that BK offers more battery options and more accessories, sooner than later. I suppose only time will tell...

Motorola and EFJ are very similar in that you can't change data relevant to actual trunking information (band plans, talkgroup IDs, failsoft configuration, etc) without a system key.

I've got to get with my regional rep from BK. Apparently they recently did an evaluation on the 7/800 simulcast side and found the radios to perform as needed but in my experience, its the VHF side is where we've found some major deficiencies in subscribers. Some of which have led to some subscribers being approved for 7/800 operations while not being approved for VHF. Kenwood is one of the big perpetrators with that last statement…NX series are fine 7/800 but have a ton of roaming and tracking issues on VHF.

 

[aglowgibbon]

So I just had a few brief comments on the BKR9000. My SAR team purchased several earlier this year, overall they are working well. The biggest gripe from several folks is battery life. The battery seems to last about 12 hours (when scanning a few TG's on a trunked system), and there is currently no option for a higher capacity battery. And, it's a fairly expensive battery. BK advertises it as "Super High Capacity", which it is absolutely NOT. (My XTS and APX radios all run high capacity batteries which last much longer than 12 hours, if you aren't used to doing this it may not matter as much to you). One would hope BK will provide more battery options sooner than later.

I've also heard several reports that it goes out of range in a few fringe coverage areas (P25 sites), when an APX 6000 sitting nearby still functions. Granted, this happens pretty rarely. (I'd be very curious to hear comparative coverage reports from others using it on their regional or state P25 systems).

I do love the fact that the BKR software has a "firewall" between the core trunking features and everything else. Basically, you don't need a system key to change any menu/button settings or modify the conventional side. You only need a system key to modify the actual table of talkgroups, and the core trunking parameters. I've also gotten great feedback about the command zone feature; the ability for each user to build their own zone of both trunking TG's and conventional channels is really awesome. I've also gotten great reports on audio quality, the internal speaker is phenomenal.

I do hope BK steps up their game on offering more accessories, such as RSM's with channel control. In fact, I still prefer my ancient XTS 5000 over the BKR because my XTS has a Commander II speaker Mic with a channel knob, as well as a higher capacity battery that lasts about 2 days. I am little surprised BK didn't design fully functional RSM's from the outset, given the XTS series and Commander II speaker mic have been around for 20+ years, to say nothing of the APX products that came afterwords.

In fairness to BK, they did include voice announcements which we utilize, and that feature does work well. My biggest hope is that BK offers more battery options and more accessories, sooner than later. I suppose only time will tell...

Have you updated your batteries/chargers and radios to the latest firmware? That might help improve your battery life issues. I agree that the accessories need improving. Motorola wins in that game hands down.

 

[aglowgibbon]

It is the BKR0710, PC Programming Cable, USB for BKR Series Radios. They are not that hard to modify. I believe there is a thread on here on how to do it with the pinout for the cable. I did it to one of mine but I have not tried to load any keys yet. Make sure you buy the correct size hirose connector for the Key Loader.

Can you forward me that thread or the documentation? I haven't been able to find it yet.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Well, I got my demo BKR9000 from my BK rep to certify on the radio system. It's different. RES isn't bad, it reminds me of the EFJ 5x00 series PC Configure and to some extent Armada (because some of that layout was imported from Armada). So far I like radio but I haven't programmed it for trunking yet. Still building the template. If I like it, I'm going to see about getting cache of a dozen or so of them and maybe another dozen BKR5000s since an adjacent wildlife conservation agency uses those as well as TIFMAS and other wildland specific agencies.

 

[EMT_20]

Can you forward me that thread or the documentation? I haven't been able to find it yet.

Go to the KFDtool page on GitHub.com. That will get you started and headed in the right direction.

 

[code3cowboy]

So I just had a few brief comments on the BKR9000. My SAR team purchased several earlier this year, overall they are working well. The biggest gripe from several folks is battery life. The battery seems to last about 12 hours (when scanning a few TG's on a trunked system), and there is currently no option for a higher capacity battery. And, it's a fairly expensive battery. BK advertises it as "Super High Capacity", which it is absolutely NOT. (My XTS and APX radios all run high capacity batteries which last much longer than 12 hours, if you aren't used to doing this it may not matter as much to you). One would hope BK will provide more battery options sooner than later.

I've got two BKR9000's and need to echo the battery life complaint. The radios are otherwise about perfect.

 

[AF1UD]

I'm on the fence about buying one. I've had an XG-100P, and XL-200P but they're clunky and slow. From what I've seen here, even 12H isn't bad for battery life, but with the knobs/buttons being reportedly the same as the 5000's, and with the "textured rubber coating".

I can't help but wait and see as time goes on.