Wouxun KG-935H vs. Yaesu FT-60R

[sallen07]

The Alinco is also a chip on a radio. I got one cheap, & programmed it with a code plug from a CCR. No dual conversion receive, but it works pretty good. For $100, I’m not complaining.

It's not so much SOC vs Superhet. It's what was mentioned earlier ... most SOC radios have poor (or no) filtering, so they are easily overloaded.

Just because a radio is SOC (like this Alinco) doesn't mean it's not a good radio.

@308guru, sounds like you've already made up your mind, but I'm going to cast another vote for the FT-60. I do not own that particular Wouxun model, but I've owned others, and have not been impressed. In particular, I have one of their other GMRS radios since it was so highly regarded (in some circles) and asked for it as a gift. I should have asked for a $25 Radioddity GM30 instead.

And YES, I do own an FT-60. It was my first ham radio. No fancy display or features but a very solid performer.

 

[rf_patriot200]

I’ve been thinking of getting an FT-60 for quite some time now. Not exactly sure why I haven’t done that yet, I think it’s the feeling that I would be buying something antiquated. Yes, I understand they are highly regarded. Every time I pick up my current UV-5R I’m ready to click “buy now”.

I just noticed the new Wouxun KG-935H which seems to check all the boxes. The GMRS version of it has been out for a few years and seems to be well liked. The Ham version was just released.

It’s made in China which sucks, especially compared to the Japan COO for the FT-60. I have plenty of things that are made in China that don’t suck though.

The KG-945H does have “dual receive” which is a feature I do like.

Anyway, does anyone have thoughts on the new KG-945H either by itself or as compared to the FT-60R?

Thanks.

I saw the reviews and the specs of the 935H. Seems too good for a CCR. I noticed in Accessories on the buytwowayradios.com site, there's even a Optional 3200 mah battery as well. The FT 60 is a favorite among Yaesu fans, but 1. it's not dual receive. 2. Smaller battery capacity. 3. Only 5 watts. 4. No 222mhz. band. 5. Not frequency agile for Gmrs. 6. Aircraft reception is a plus. Most of the YouTube chatter is primarily about the 935G which is Gmrs only. Do I want one ? Maybe ...

 

[rf_patriot200]

Let me add, not all Chinese radio are garbage. Good ones like the Anytone 878/Alinco DJ-G5, exist- but they aren't $29.

The TID H-8 is Built like a Brick and performs as well as the FT60 too. No out of band spurs, and Does give the FT60 a run for it's money ... for a CCR.

 

[308guru]

I was wondering if anyone claiming the FT-60 has better filtering, higher quality parts, etc. than this particular Woxun, or other Chinese radios, has ever taken one apart to compare components and circuitry, and build? Is it possible that people enjoy perpetuating the “CCR’s suck” mentality and don’t actually have firsthand experience with particular items they are making claims about?

I agree, my UV-5R does pretty much suck all around, but that’s not what were talking about here. I’ve asked for a comparison of two radios of a similar price point, neither being cheap. I’m not sure why people instantly label the Woxun as “CCR” and dismiss it? I’m not hung up on this particular model as my next step in radios, but dismissing without experience seems to be common practice in this hobby.

Perhaps one of the experts here would be willing to pull an FT-60 and a comparable CCR apart and show the rest of us what the significant differences are.

 

[W4AXW]

I was wondering if anyone claiming the FT-60 has better filtering, higher quality parts, etc. than this particular Woxun, or other Chinese radios, has ever taken one apart to compare components and circuitry, and build? Is it possible that people enjoy perpetuating the “CCR’s suck” mentality and don’t actually have firsthand experience with particular items they are making claims about?

I agree, my UV-5R does pretty much suck all around, but that’s not what were talking about here. I’ve asked for a comparison of two radios of a similar price point, neither being cheap. I’m not sure why people instantly label the Woxun as “CCR” and dismiss it? I’m not hung up on this particular model as my next step in radios, but dismissing without experience seems to be common practice in this hobby.

Perhaps one of the experts here would be willing to pull an FT-60 and a comparable CCR apart and show the rest of us what the significant differences are.

No idea why you made your initial post since you seem to be all in on buying the Chinesium, despite the opinions of some experienced, knowledgeable and helpful radio folks here. You came here looking for opinions, but don't want to hear them?? If you don't want to know, don't ask, just go buy the New and Sparkly.

 

[308guru]

No idea why you made your initial post since you seem to be all in on buying the Chinesium, despite the opinions of some experienced, knowledgeable and helpful radio folks here. You came here looking for opinions, but don't want to hear them?? If you don't want to know, don't ask, just go buy the New and Sparkly.

Nope, not true. I asked for a comparison between two radios. The response so far seems to be "Chinese radios suck" rather than some true first hand experience with both.

I get it, the FT-60 is highly regarded and it's likely I may wind up with one. The empty rhetoric is less than helpful in making an educated decision though. You're wrong on another account as well; I do want to hear opinions, they just have to be meaningful.

You're here spending your time posting; What's your experience with the Wouxun KG-935H?

 

[rf_patriot200]

I was wondering if anyone claiming the FT-60 has better filtering, higher quality parts, etc. than this particular Woxun, or other Chinese radios, has ever taken one apart to compare components and circuitry, and build? Is it possible that people enjoy perpetuating the “CCR’s suck” mentality and don’t actually have firsthand experience with particular items they are making claims about?

I agree, my UV-5R does pretty much suck all around, but that’s not what were talking about here. I’ve asked for a comparison of two radios of a similar price point, neither being cheap. I’m not sure why people instantly label the Woxun as “CCR” and dismiss it? I’m not hung up on this particular model as my next step in radios, but dismissing without experience seems to be common practice in this hobby.

Perhaps one of the experts here would be willing to pull an FT-60 and a comparable CCR apart and show the rest of us what the significant differences are.

I think there Are images somewhere, of a FT60 Disassembled down to the board level. It might have been Rigpix. I'd love to put a FT60 next to my H-8 or a 935H and listen to the differences. How's that saying go? Proof is in the pudding ?

 

[rf_patriot200]

No idea why you made your initial post since you seem to be all in on buying the Chinesium, despite the opinions of some experienced, knowledgeable and helpful radio folks here. You came here looking for opinions, but don't want to hear them?? If you don't want to know, don't ask, just go buy the New and Sparkly.

Bring on the opinions, We're all ears ! Everybody has one, right ?

 

[mmckenna]

I have my dad's old FT-60, and I'm not disassembling it. Sentimental value at this point.
And I'm certainly not going to buy a CCR just so I can take it apart to prove a point. There's plenty of photos on the internet regarding this.


I 'inherited' a radio site at work that was made up of low end, barely commercial grade repeaters and Baofeng UV5R's. I got called in because the ham that set up this system couldn't get it to work correctly. One of the first things I did was start replacing the CCR's with proper radios, and their experience improved a lot. I took a couple of the CCR's and put them on a service monitor. Performance was all over the place. Some were way under-deviating, some were over deviating, frequencies were out of whack by quite a bit.
I've seen enough on a $45,000 calibrated service monitor to convince me that those radios were steaming piles of excrement and not worth my time. Customer experience backed that up.

You'll find plenty of glowing reviews for the CCR's on line, absolutely. But you need to ask yourself what experience those owners have, and what radio are they comparing them to. You'll find a lot of the people that sing the praises of the CCR's have never owned anything else.

 

[rf_patriot200]

I have my dad's old FT-60, and I'm not disassembling it. Sentimental value at this point.
And I'm certainly not going to buy a CCR just so I can take it apart to prove a point. There's plenty of photos on the internet regarding this.


I 'inherited' a radio site at work that was made up of low end, barely commercial grade repeaters and Baofeng UV5R's. I got called in because the ham that set up this system couldn't get it to work correctly. One of the first things I did was start replacing the CCR's with proper radios, and their experience improved a lot. I took a couple of the CCR's and put them on a service monitor. Performance was all over the place. Some were way under-deviating, some were over deviating, frequencies were out of whack by quite a bit.
I've seen enough on a $45,000 calibrated service monitor to convince me that those radios were steaming piles of excrement and not worth my time. Customer experience backed that up.

You'll find plenty of glowing reviews for the CCR's on line, absolutely. But you need to ask yourself what experience those owners have, and what radio are they comparing them to. You'll find a lot of the people that sing the praises of the CCR's have never owned anything else.

I'm not singing praises for ANY CCR's but a Few of them do stand out against the rest. The FT60 is a Fine talkie from back in the day, but even that's lacking a lot of useful features. I have commercial gear as well, but still like to see the more eco friendly stuff that hits our shores before it hits our trash bins and parts boxes.

 

[N4KVE]

In any product, there’s quality, & there’s garbage. I’m in the gun business, & their garbage is called Hi-Point. Only the credit challenged buy them, but they do work. I have a friend who worked many years for Motorola in NYC. He has the Anytone 878. At first he loved all the features, but as time went on, it’s wearing him down, & now admits he hates it. So much so, that he bought a Moto 7550, & reluctantly admits while it doesn’t have half the ham features his 878 has, it’s a far superior radio. Most people who like CCR’s are the people who get a woody speaking to someone across the world through their hot spots like that’s an accomplishment.

 

[k6cpo]

I was wondering if anyone claiming the FT-60 has better filtering, higher quality parts, etc. than this particular Woxun, or other Chinese radios, has ever taken one apart to compare components and circuitry, and build? Is it possible that people enjoy perpetuating the “CCR’s suck” mentality and don’t actually have firsthand experience with particular items they are making claims about?

I agree, my UV-5R does pretty much suck all around, but that’s not what were talking about here. I’ve asked for a comparison of two radios of a similar price point, neither being cheap. I’m not sure why people instantly label the Woxun as “CCR” and dismiss it? I’m not hung up on this particular model as my next step in radios, but dismissing without experience seems to be common practice in this hobby.

Perhaps one of the experts here would be willing to pull an FT-60 and a comparable CCR apart and show the rest of us what the significant differences are.

I think a lot of the "hatred" for Chinese radios comes from two sources.

1. Everybody is assuming ALL Chinese radios are like the $20 Baofengs.
2. Some people hate them just because they are Chinese.

Well, I'm old enough to remember a time when Japanese and Korean products were considered junk in this country. Now that's no longer the case. The Chinese are perfectly capable of producing a quality product if needed. Where do you think iPhones, iPads and Beats Headphones are made? I have two Yaesu HTs, an FT-270R and the aforementioned FT-60R, both of which were made in China. They are absolutely identical to the same radios made in Japan and the only way to tell the difference is take the battery off and look at the labels.

 

[mmckenna]

I think a lot of the "hatred" for Chinese radios comes from two sources.

1. Everybody is assuming ALL Chinese radios are like the $20 Baofengs.
2. Some people hate them just because they are Chinese.

Well, I'm old enough to remember a time when Japanese and Korean products were considered junk in this country. Now that's no longer the case. The Chinese are perfectly capable of producing a quality product if needed. Where do you think iPhones, iPads and Beats Headphones are made? I have two Yaesu HTs, an FT-270R and the aforementioned FT-60R, both of which were made in China. They are absolutely identical to the same radios made in Japan and the only way to tell the difference is take the battery off and look at the labels.

Yep. Difference is quality control.
I have a number of power tools from Milwaukee that were made in China. Most over 15 years old, all work just fine. Difference is Milwaukee requires the level of quality control, and I paid for that.

OP was asking in post #24 about Wouxon, and "other Chinese" radios. My input was limited to the UV5R which he mentioned later in the same post. I had actual hands on experience with those, and put them on a service monitor to confirm what my ears were telling me.

Chinese can absolutely make some good gear, if the consumer is willing to pay for it. There are some good Chinese radios.
UV5R isn't one of them, and there's a -LOT- of similar CCR's that are just as bad.

OP was asking for a recommendation regarding the KG-935 versus the FT-60. No matter what has been said, the FT-60 is still the radio I'd personally choose. No, it doesn't have all the features, but it's a proven good performer.

 

[rf_patriot200]

In any product, there’s quality, & there’s garbage. I’m in the gun business, & their garbage is called Hi-Point. Only the credit challenged buy them, but they do work. I have a friend who worked many years for Motorola in NYC. He has the Anytone 878. At first he loved all the features, but as time went on, it’s wearing him down, & now admits he hates it. So much so, that he bought a Moto 7550, & reluctantly admits while it doesn’t have half the ham features his 878 has, it’s a far superior radio. Most people who like CCR’s are the people who get a woody speaking to someone across the world through their hot spots like that’s an accomplishment.

That's funny. I have a Xpr 6550, but Still prefer my 878 !

 

[KF0NYL]

I have the KG-935G along with the KG-Q10H. And if the KG-935H is anything like the other two, then it is a good radio. They both outperform the Icom IC-T10 I have. I haven't had any issues with the 935G or Q10H.

The IC-T10 has a horrible front end that is susceptible to overload and interference where the Wouxun radios do not have this issue.

I can't compare the Wouxun radios to any Yaesu hand held since I don't own any Yeasu HT's.

I would not hesitate to recommend the Wouxun radios and I would buy them again if I ever needed a new radio.

 

[rf_patriot200]

I have the KG-935G along with the KG-Q10H. And if the KG-935H is anything like the other two, then it is a good radio. They both outperform the Icom IC-T10 I have. I haven't had any issues with the 935G or Q10H.

The IC-T10 has a horrible front end that is susceptible to overload and interference where the Wouxun radios do not have this issue.

I can't compare the Wouxun radios to any Yaesu hand held since I don't own any Yeasu HT's.

I would not hesitate to recommend the Wouxun radios and I would buy them again if I ever needed a new radio.

I've read from one of the guys at buytwowayradios.com that the 935H is a Enhanced version of the 935G with a few more bells plus the Band changes on a positive note.

 

[KF0NYL]

The 935H Plus is basically the amateur version of the GMRS only 935G Plus just like the Q10H is the amateur version of the Q10G.

And yes the 935H and Q10H can be unlocked while the 935G and Q10G cannot be unlocked.