Kit needed for Wouxun KG-UV950P base station

[OwlHoot]

On a whim, but with the vague aim of getting into Ham Radio, I bought a WOUXUN KG-UV950P 50 Watt Quad-Band CB Radio:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J67F0YO/

Although I think it is intended for use as a mobile radio, I'd prefer to set it up as a base station if that is feasible. But looking into the bewilderingly vast variety of antennae and power supplies, I'm at a loss to know what extra equipment is needed for this, besides the basic requirement for an antenna and a power supply (50W I think).

I saw a vast all singing all dancing antenna for sale at £7000 (about $10,000 !), but that is way over my budget. So I was thinking an antenna up to, say, £200 (or roughly $300). But possibly this would need extra adapters and a cable.

So if some kind soul could recommend a "shopping list" of everything reasonably needed for a complete novice like me to get started with this radio model, that would be very much appreciated.

I plan to attend a ham radio course soon. But in the meantime, I think in the UK the legal CB radio is confined to the 26-29.995MHz band (although the KG-UV950P also supports several other bands).

Also, I'd like to use this radio as a transceiver rather than just a scanner.

Thanks in anticipation!

P.S. I did try a few searches on this forum, but didn't find any specific info I need, as summarised above.

 

[FKimble]

PS: Check the manual for power requirement on transmit. Approx double it and buy a power supply with that output rating in Amps not watts.
Antenna: for transmitting, figure out which band/frequencies you will be using. Get an antenna designed for this band or freq range. For receiving only get a scanner antenna listed for the bands avail on the radio. A dual band 'ham' antenna would be suitable for most of the 136-174 and 4xx band. A little tuning may be needed for best performance.
CB: use a proper CB antenna.

Frank KK4YTM

 

[K4EET]

OwlHoot,

For the power supply, the specifications in the manual (https://www.buytwowayradios.com/products/.../Wouxun/KG-UV950P-Manual.pdf) state 13.8 Volts Direct Current (VDC) +/-15% so you need a good 12 VDC power supply like an Astron. For the current rating, the manual does not give the maximum current draw of the radio. Instead, it references a 15 Amp fuse and a 20 Amp source.

NOTE: Without knowing the actual current draw of the transmitter when keyed, one cannot determine if the reference for a 20 Amp 12 VDC source is an intermittent duty or continuous duty specification for the power supply. Similar transceivers draw between 10 and 15 Amps at 13.8 VDC so one can say that a 20 Amp rating is for INTERMITTENT duty (90% Standby / 5% Receive / 5% Transmit). A 30 Amp or 35 Amp rating of the power supply would be better and allow for continuous duty cycle up to the specification of the transceiver itself.

Personally, if it were me, I would purchase an Astron power supply rated 30 Amps or 35 Amps at 13.8 VDC. That would give you plenty of "headroom" for however you might operate.

Then there is the question of a linear or switching power supply. I personally always go with a linear supply because I have experienced "radio frequency (RF) noise" problems with switching type power supplies.

Bottom line? The power supply that I would personally recommend is an Astron RS-35A with a street price in the States of about USD $180.

Others will have different opinions, especially about switching supplies. You will just have to decide for yourself if the potential for RF noise issues is worth the reduced cost for the power supply.

Cheers! Dave K4EET

 

[K4EET]

OwlHoot,

For the antenna, you will have a harder time finding an Antenna that will accept transmissions of 50 Watts at 2 Meters (146 MHz), 40 Watts at 70 Centimeters (440 MHz) and unspecified power ratings at 10/11 Meters (28 MHz) and 6 Meters (52 MHz). If you cannot find a single Antenna for all four bands on transmit (and receive covers 6 bands up to 985 MHz), you might have to resort to an Antenna Switch and manually switch between multiple antennas depending on the band of transmission.

So I need to ask, what band(s) do you really expect to Transmit AND Receive on?

If multiple bands, you may need a good Antenna Switch for up to four (4) Antennas like an Alpha Delta Model Delta-4B (https://www.alphadeltaradio.com/pdf/Delta%204%20Switches3.pdf) which could handle a Citizens Band (CB) Antenna, a 6 Meter Antenna, a VHF/UHF Antenna and even a Wide-Band Scanner Antenna if you wanted.

Now with the Antenna(s), you will also need Coax to connect things together. I'll save that for another post since it also has some trade-offs to make.

Finally, and I forgot to mention this in my first post, Welcome to Radio Reference!

Cheers! Dave K4EET