Cheap radios (Chinese) reviews?

[ThomasMcKean]

FWIW I have a Wouxun radio and I like it. It maybe one of the more reputable Chinese radios out there. The other Chinese radios I have seen and heard good reviews on are Baofeng, TYT and a few FDC and Puxing. Baofeng has come out with a new model UV 5R (some one mentioned it above) that's suppose to be a real solid built radio and able to do a full 5 watts. One US retailer is suppose to start selling them soon for $65.
TYT radios are reported to work well but every one on the net says the shell feels like cheap plastic. They say the same thing about the Baofeng UV 3Rs (2 watt models) also. TYT has some mobile radios available that have been getting some good reviews FWIW.
My next radio(s) will be the new Baofeng UV 5R and the TYT mobile.

I can confirm the UV-5R is a great radio. I love mine!

 

[RANGERFM]

Two Way Radios what you need to know.

Hi there as I believe you are american I have tried a fair few of the china radios and mostly so long as you can re program them no problems. In Austrlia and new zealand we operate on a different set of frequencies in the uhf band which is a pain but programable so long as you know the program to use on the disk they give you. Buy the way I just found out after throwing two to the bin . I wil get back to you soon in regards to what I use but just going to check to see that they can be set to USA then I will post back. I have tested two and Keruier K6 is okay { See e-bay} . I have also tested a 16 channel JYT.
I only use 16 channel due to the fact I am not going to plug around punching numbers when all I want is 'Talk to Mates', 'Talk to emergency service', and talk to the bloke at the pub getting me a carton of Beer. No mobile. Buy the way Hand Held Radios to not get 38 miles not unless you are on top of a pymarid with nothing around you for miles and even then the curvature of the earth trees etc,etc won't give it to you. Maybe 6 miles and a lucky 10 mile . small atenna . Any way I will Get back with info shortly

 

[RANGERFM]

Second post re two way radio hand held

I have just tested the Radios Hand Held . They work on you american channels . Now it is up to you to know the limits of power allowed in your country but I have at least set you a bit straight on what is what . Any help just email damordpaul@yahoo.com.au

 

[dksac2]

Spelling may be off, but the Puxang 777 radios work great, the Woxen's seem to need the hole for the mike drilled wider, it takes about 15 minutes to take it apart and I know there are a couple others.
Most will need a license to be legal, but at 4 or 5 watts will transmit way further than any bubble pack radios plus you can put any of the PL codes in them for repeater use. I'm not sure if these radios are legal though.

The bubble packs are doing good if 2 watts make it to the antenna.
For fiftty to one hundred, the handhelds work great.

Other choice have the commercial radios re programed, they work fantastic. A 25 or 50 watt base radio with a high gain antenna at 20 feet will get you some pretty good distance depending on the area you are in.

Do check to see if they are legal, that I could not answer. I know quite a few who use them. Me, I'll stick with 2M/70CM.


John

 

[Tracker]

Spelling may be off, but the Puxang 777 radios work great, the Woxen's seem to need the hole for the mike drilled wider, it takes about 15 minutes to take it apart and I know there are a couple others.
Most will need a license to be legal, but at 4 or 5 watts will transmit way further than any bubble pack radios plus you can put any of the PL codes in them for repeater use. I'm not sure if these radios are legal though.

The bubble packs are doing good if 2 watts make it to the antenna.
For fiftty to one hundred, the handhelds work great.

Other choice have the commercial radios re programed, they work fantastic. A 25 or 50 watt base radio with a high gain antenna at 20 feet will get you some pretty good distance depending on the area you are in.

Do check to see if they are legal, that I could not answer. I know quite a few who use them. Me, I'll stick with 2M/70CM.

John

What frequencies do the bubble pack radios transmit on?

 

[gewecke]

What frequencies do the bubble pack radios transmit on?

Gmrs/ Frs frequencies.

73,
n9zas

 

[Tracker]

Gmrs/ Frs frequencies.

73,
n9zas

Which are....?

 

[gewecke]

Which are....?

Are you yanking my chain...or are you serious?

462.550 - 462.725mhz. and 467.5625 - 467.7125 mhz.


73,
n9zas

 

[Tracker]

Are you yanking my chain...or are you serious?

462.550 - 462.725mhz. and 467.5625 - 467.7125 mhz.


73,
n9zas

SandQ

 

[nonperson]

Which are....?

General Mobile Radio Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[nonperson]

Spelling may be off, but the Puxang 777 radios work great, the Woxen's seem to need the hole for the mike drilled wider, it takes about 15 minutes to take it apart and I know there are a couple others.
Most will need a license to be legal, but at 4 or 5 watts will transmit way further than any bubble pack radios plus you can put any of the PL codes in them for repeater use. I'm not sure if these radios are legal though.

The bubble packs are doing good if 2 watts make it to the antenna.
For fiftty to one hundred, the handhelds work great.

Other choice have the commercial radios re programed, they work fantastic. A 25 or 50 watt base radio with a high gain antenna at 20 feet will get you some pretty good distance depending on the area you are in.

Do check to see if they are legal, that I could not answer. I know quite a few who use them. Me, I'll stick with 2M/70CM.


John

The Wouxun and some of the Puxings are FCC Part 90 certified radios and makes them "legal" in the US on commercial / private, public safety and HAM bands. Though they can also do GMRS, FRS and MURS but are not authorized for use on those services as per the FCC rules. I have all the above programed into to my Wouxun.

 

[K5MPH]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Go with the MURS radios they are in the 150 MHz area and put out 2 Watts that should be good for your needs and you don't need a lic......

 

[gewecke]

SandQ

SandQ ????

Huh?


73,
n9zas

 

[nonperson]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Go with the MURS radios they are in the 150 MHz area and put out 2 Watts that should be good for your needs and you don't need a lic......

You can get the Dakota Alert radios that are FCC certified for MURS. But should he or she wake up one morning and decide to get a HAM license they would have to go buy more radios. Why not get one that can do both and grow with you. Besides after they learn all the neat features and realize the full potential of the radio they may want to get a HAM license.

 

[nonperson]

SandQ ????

Huh?


73,
n9zas

He may be trying to tell you thanks and go pound sand.

You do come off as a Richard Cranium sometimes.

 

[gewecke]

He may be trying to tell you thanks and go pound sand.

You do come off as a Richard Cranium sometimes.

Thanks, I get that a lot! :roll:


73,
n9zas

 

[david954]

First of all, I stand corrected on which service needs a license and which one does not. I have no personal knowledge of either of these services and they are easily confused with each other.

But... I still don't see why you are so insistent on getting "used" radios of unknown quality or condition from someone over the Internet when you can get brand new radios from Wal Mart or even Radio Shack (with a warranty!) that are well within your budget.

Also, I am confused by the term "semi-duplex". There is full duplex where each side can talk and listen simultaneously (like on a cell phone) and simplex (sometimes called half duplex) where you either talk or listen, but not both at the same time.

they are probably talking about cb uhf repeaters as we have in sydney aust.476.to 477mhz ie.semi duplex
and talk around ,simplex 40ch 8 repeaters new 80ch 12.5 khz

 

[QDP2012]

...Also, I am confused by the term "semi-duplex". There is full duplex where each side can talk and listen simultaneously (like on a cell phone) and simplex (sometimes called half duplex) where you either talk or listen, but not both at the same time.

Depending on jargon-use, the following three definitions could apply:

• Simplex (on same frequency, like CB):
  Radio 1 talks while Radio 2 listens on frequency A.
  Then Radio 2 talks while Radio 1 listens on frequency A.
  Only one-at-a-time, but on the same frequency.
  
  
• Semi-duplex or half-duplex (on split-frequencies):
  Radio 1 talks while Radio 2 listens on frequency A.
  Then Radio 2 talks while Radio 1 listens on frequency B.
  Different frequencies, but still one-at-a-time.
  
  
• Full-Duplex (on split-frequencies, like cell phone):
  Radio 1 and Radio 2 can talk and listen at the same time, with one direction on frequency A and the other direction on frequency B.
  Think of real-time dual-direction conversation like a phone call, on split frequencies.

Sometimes, Simplex and Semi-Duplex are referred to as Simplex because both units cannot behave like a phone call.

Hope this helps,

 

[quarterwave]

I bought a UV5R just to see what it was like. For $42...it's a radio, it is usable, but it's not what I call high quality.

The radio is quirky. Programming takes an open mind. And the audio is not wonderful.

For the money, I use it to scan, talk very little on my, and my company's channels, but it is worth having at that price.

I am a M snob, so I will trust my P1225 when I need something better.

 

[RadioGuy1951]

Something to consider is the antenna...

A commercial radio (such as a Motorola) in the MURS (150mhz band) and the GMRS (462~467 band) will also allow you to use an external antenna, and for occasional use a roof mount mobile mag mount antenna will do more for you than trying to pump a few watts through a "rubber ducky" on the radio inside a vehicle...

Depending on distance and terrain, IF you travel in reasonably grouped "packs" along a highway MURS should work just fine...

An advantage to being licensed to use a radio in the GMRS service is that in some locations REACT teams monitor & operate on a GMRS channel (usually 462.675mhz)...

No matter what band, get a roof mount antenna, an external speaker (amplified is preferable) and a speaker mic if the radio Is handheld.

If you want to use a mobile type radio you have more watts available...just make sure you're within the power and frequency limits specified for the radio band you're operating in...which should be set up by a licensed (& competent) radio shop...even with user programmable radios, if you don't know what you're doing it's possible to screw things up...

In some locations there are GMRS repeaters that will increase coverage...some repeaters are "open" & can be used by all persons, others are "closed" and you must have advance permission to use their repeater (just like Ham repeaters)...access is usually facilitated by the PL or DCS tones...

As mentioned by others, IF you intend to use radios more often, you might consider getting a no-code Tech amateur license, although EACH person using a ham radio MUST have a ham license...whereas on GMRS as long as 1 person in a family group has a license all persons in that group may operate a GMRS radio...