Chinese radio features

[n0csw]

Hey Everyone...I had a couple of questions regarding the chinese two way radios such as wouxun, baofeng, etc. I'm looking for a radio that has 2/5 tone encoding, a voice (who knows what) scrambler, and possibly mdc, and other commercial features...

I'm a bit confused as to the origins of these radios. They all seem to be similar, leading me to beleive they are coming from one or just a couple of select manufacturing facilities.

i'm trying to gathers some more information before I buy a couple to test out, I want to get 5 loaded with features so I can examine them all.

i have heard good and bad, WYPFIWYG as always, but it'd be nice to see how these units do on the service monitor. All and all, i'd like to see how these features interact with my moto and vertex gear.

if anyone can point me to the right direction, or let me know where exactly I can find more resources on these radios (beside google, of course, there is a ridiculous amount clutter regarding this topic).

 

[rapidcharger]

It's also hard to find an accurate list of actual features those radios have. Some say they're do 2 tone or 5 tone but the way to set that up is so cumbersome and convoluted it's not worth the trouble.

If you want to play around with a wide variety of signaling formats and have a radio that performs good at a price that won't break the bank, look at Icom commercial line. I have quite a few icoms. They do 2 tone, 5 tone (multiple standard formats of 5 tone plus you can customize the tones, make hi/lo warble evac tones, single tones etc), MDC, BIIS, DTMF... enough there to keep you busy for a while.

I started out looking for the cheap chinese radios for decoding tones (Lisheng/Yshon) and ended up buying multiple mint condition digital capable Icoms for less than what one of those would cost. Granted I was looking at mobiles.

 

[n0csw]

You hit the nail on the head with it being hard, my interest got sparked when someone came by with a TYT TH-F8 that was decoding fire paging.

I have a bunch of commercial gear here that are capable of 2/5 tone, mdc, etc. I also have a bunch of encoders/decoders for various types of signalling; this week I ordered 6 radios from different "manufacturers" that are all capable of various types of signalling. It's going to be interesting to see how they keep up with the real deal.

 

[Hoseman292]

The BEST Two-Tone Transceivers

The best I have owned / operated radios I've owned were

Anytone 3318-UV-E
Awesome small pager sized handheld transceiver with wideband receive including VHF AM aircraft band.
2 tone decoder has not falsed and has proven as reliable as a Minitor tone and voice pager.
Easily programmable with factory PC software and a PC cable.


Tri-Band - Transmits on three bands
Full Duplex - Receives two signals at the same time / Transmit and Receive at the same time
Cross-band repeater function
AM Aircraft Band - Receive AM transmissions 118 - 136 MHz
Shortwave Band - Receive AM transmissions 2.3 - 30 MHz**
Longwave Band - Receive AM transmissions 520 - 1710 kHz**
FM Broadcast Band - Receive FM transmissions 64 - 108 MHz
2-Tone & 5-Tone & MSK encode and decode
Pager Function - radio will function as 2-Tone pager
FHSS - Selects random TX and RX frequency for stealth transmissions
TX on sub-band while main band continues to scan
Price: $190

Puxing PX-888D (Not K) The PX-888K has a 5 tone decoder (U.K.)

Recent RS-689 Tri-Band 136-174MHz / 350-400MHz / 400-470MHz
** Some falsing

TYT TH-F8: Flaky. Pages okay with a communications service monitor but fails to page with local
fire department. Possibly a timing issue.
** Be aware some online dealers advertise "OPTIONAL 2 tone encode / decode." Not all transceivers are equipped with the factory module. Confirm that your purchase does have the optional module installed.
Affordable. Less than $60 USD.

TYT TH-UVF8: Decoder operates well. Reliable. Less than $60 USD

TYT TH-9000 compact 60 watt mobile transceiver
2 tone encoder / decoder very reliable. Can be programmed to decode two pair of tones total. A-B, C-D programming.

Sainsonic RST-599 capable of two-tone encode / decode paging. Poorly written software. Software could use a primer or user manual for an explanation of abbreviations.

Veasu UV-8DR sturdy handheld built on a similar rugged chassis of the Yaesu VX-8D.
Tri-Band 136-174/240-260/400-520 MHz
Software has a configuration area for two tone paging entry. Could not verify if the decoder was present
Software will not accept tones below 400 Hz. (ex.For a cap code of Q301. Entering 321.7 Hz. in tone A: position will auto default to 400 Hz in factory PC software). Very affordable @ $58 USD.

 

[teufler]

Asking for a scrambler and the other features.,I have found no chinese radios with the tones features and scrambler. Scrambler or tone but not both. The Juentai uv8dr, $62.00 as the 8 scrambler options, . The Antytone Temn8r has the tone flexibility. Recently worked with some older Kenwoods, tk2312 and a 7160..They have all the features that you desire. Scramble, 2 tone, 5 tone, banks or zones as they call them.Both cover 136-174 vhf. Not dual bands