Specific dual-watch question

[shepditch]

Hi,
So I am looking at a small portable specific for military re-enactment and airsoft events. I have narrowed the choices down to three radios:

Baofeng UV-5R
Puxing PX-888k
Wouxun UVD1P

My question is specific to the dual-watch feature on all three radios. It appears from what I can find online that the UV-5R's version will priority scan two channels, stopping when it finds traffic on one channel. The transmit frequency then appears to switch to the channel that last had traffic. I would prefer that the TX frequency not follow to the most recent RX frequency.

What I am looking for is a radio that will monitor channels A & B but will lock the transmit frequency to channel A. More specifically, I want to monitor command channel but lock transmissions to the squad channel unless I manually switch over.

Can anyone confirm the specifics for these three radios as to how they perform this dual-watch function? Which of these radios is for me?

Thanks in advance,
Steve

 

[Tweekerbob]

Menu item 34 for the uv5-r can be set to what you want...sort of. You will probably get shot "manually" switching over. The reason being you must disengage the DW function all together to operate on the "other" channel.

 

[box23]

The PX-888K will do what you want.

When you put it in dual watch, by pressing and holding "Enter", the top line becomes the "A" channel and the bottom the "B" channel. You can toggle between A and B by pushing "Enter" to select which one to transmit on.

Remember this is dual watch and not dual receive. The radio only has one receiver. It will scan between the two selected frequencies and stop when it finds traffic on either one.

The transmit selection is manual only and will not automatically change on you.

 

[brndnstffrd]

The wouxun is dual watch and you set which one to transmit on by using the A/B button to switch between the top and bottom lines on the display. It will pick up whichever one recieves a signal first, but the transmit stays on whichever one you chose. Its nice in that all you have to do is press one button to switch between the 2, also the button is seperated from the others so that it is easy to do without looking at it. Also i prefer that one over the other 2 because i find it slightly more rugged. I cant even count the times that it has been dropped and the only wear it shows is a white mark on the belt clip from the paint that it scratched off of a wall.

 

[mkewman]

To echo what brndnstffrd said- The wouxun will do what you want, just press the A/B button to switch then transmit.

 

[shepditch]

Thanks for the info. I had suspected as much and was hoping I was wrong about the Baofeng. As is usually the case, you get what you pay for. I have heard many good things about the Wouxun anyway so that makes the decision pretty easy.

Thanks again,
Steve

 

[Tweekerbob]

I'm certainly not going to defend a $45 radio, but after more playing around with them, I found that if both frequencies were in different bands then you could easily switch between both channels in DW mode by pressing the BAND button as opposed to the A/B button (which is inoperable in DW mode). FWIW

 

[shepditch]

It does seem odd that the A/B button is non functional in DW - again, possibly due the the $45 nature of "you get what you pay for". While I'm essentially settled on the Wouxun, I have read good things about the more user-friendly setup in the Quansheng tg-uv2. Seeing as I'm one of those wacky fringe Mac guys, the programming cable and software don't do me much good and I'll likely be pressing buttons and twiddling knobs for a while.

The A/B function in DW seems like it's the ideal setup for what I want to do. Listen on both, transmit on one, change TX frequency if I want to switch over - dedicated button to do so. While it's not mil-spec, anyone at large airsoft fields at big events should want their radio to do this.

Thanks again for the help,
Steve

 

[outdrdude]

My uv5r allows me to switch between channels while in dual watch. I can force it to only transmit on the channel I want or hit the A/B button and transmit on the other. Maybe I have the newer version. I love this thing.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[nbccsa]

Yep, Outdrdude, mine works like that too. Firmware ver 251. For what the OP asked, just set it to transmit using A or B in menu 34 and you're all set. The A/B button only works if you set menu 34 to OFF (meaning transmit on channel that has focus), but that all makes sense to me if you want both dual watch receive on and one particular channel for transmit. If you want to change it, it takes 5 sec to reset the option in menu.

 

[shepditch]

My uv5r allows me to switch between channels while in dual watch. I can force it to only transmit on the channel I want or hit the A/B button and transmit on the other. Maybe I have the newer version. I love this thing.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

So are you using menu item #34 to lock the TX frequency to A or B and then using the A/B button to switch TX frequencies on the fly? My understanding was that the A/B button wouldn't function that way in DW but I don't have a radio in my hand to test that. Are the A/B frequencies in the same band or in different bands when you're doing this?
<edit> sorry nbccsa - didn't see your reply when I wrote the above. Here's hoping my UV-5R comes with that firmware since I'm a Mac guy and I'm not sure I'll be able to interface with the radios, though I did get a cable to try...

Thanks for the info. Ironically I had forgotten about an old bid I had placed on a UV-5R when I purchased a UVD1P over the weekend and now both radios are in transit to me. I'll be able to play with them a bit and it's likely that the one I like slightly less will be in the classifieds soon. If the UV-5R functions as you say then I'll likely move the UVD1P since it's twice the price.

Steve

 

[outdrdude]

Ok so I stand momentarily corrected. In dual band mode.... If I use menu 34 and set it to A...exit menu....then press the channel switch button it automatically goes back to A without letting me transmit on B. However I found a work around quick trick. Select B and almost simultaneously push the ptt button. You will now be tx'ing on B. When you let up it reverts back to A. Both A and B are the same band. Hope this helps and sorry for the confusion but it can be done.

Jess

 

[outdrdude]

Also check out the yahoo group on the uv5r. Super source of information! I think you'll be happy. Mine meets all my needs then some. If you have more questions please ask. It's much easier to program thru the chirp software! Some things are better said over phone so if you need it let me know thru PM.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[nbccsa]

Firmware is built in, not updateable by software. The cable and software is not needed to do the above, although you can set some options like menu 34 in the program as well. I prefer the Baofeng software over Chirp, but Chirp has very vocal advocates. In the Baofeng program menu 34 setting has a wierd name "TX under BDR star".

 

[outdrdude]

I stand momentarily corrected. If I set menu #34 to A....exit out of the menu then try to use the A/B to switch to B and tx it won't. It automatically reverts to A. However I found a quick work around trick. Press the channel switch button to select the B side while almost simultaneously pressing the ptt. button. You will tx'ing on the B side until you let up. It will then revert to A. Hope that makes sense. It can be done.

 

[outdrdude]

And yes this is while in DW mode. Both A and B are same bands...

 

[Tweekerbob]

If both "Command" and "Squad" happen to be in the same band, then here is the workaround:

Program Command as memory channel 1
Program Squad as memory channel 2

In Memory Recall mode, have Channel 1 on top, Channel 2 on bottom.

In VFO mode plug in Squad freq on top, Command freq on bottom (opposite of MR mode).

The VFO/MR button is active during DW mode. Set menu 34 to A and operate in VFO mode to talk to the squadron. If it becomes necessary to talk on Command, just hit the orange VFO/MR button. Hit the same button when you are done to return to talking on the Squad freq.

This sounds complicated but is rather simple; you are just flip flopping the frequencies with the push of the VFO/MR button. The transmit frequency is whichever is on top. Great, now I found myself defending a $45 radio