Hand held UHF - Wouxun

[ScottW]

I'm about to buy a cheap handheld UHF radio, mainly for group contact when offroad.

The Wouxun (http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=104056) seems to have gotten a good wrap in some of the old threads in here. Has anyone updated theirs to the new 80 channel frequencies?

I know nothing about these things, but I'm fairly cluey on a computer so should be able to program it without too much trouble.

Anything I've missed?

[Fluids]

I have one. Excellent little handheld. Can easily be programmed to the new 80ch UHF frequncies (using PC). The link you posted is the unit I purchased (136-174/420-520Mhz).

I bought the radio plus ...
a spare 1700mah battery 1 x WOUXUN 1700mah Battery for WOUXUN - 409Shopwww.409shop.com ?????? KG-UVD1 UV-3R VX-8R VX-3R VX-7R VX-170 KG-699E KG-669 KG-689 PX-777 PX-888 FT-897 FT-857 VX-177 VXA-300 KG-679 VEV-3288S V-1000 TG-UV FT-817ND FT-60R FT-897 FT-857 VX-7 (http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=103361)
dual charger dock Wouxun Dual Slot Desktop Charger KG-669 KG-679 KG-699E RC32 - 409Shopwww.409shop.com ?????? KG-UVD1 UV-3R VX-8R VX-3R VX-7R VX-170 KG-699E KG-669 KG-689 PX-777 PX-888 FT-897 FT-857 VX-177 VXA-300 KG-679 VEV-3288S V-1000 TG-UV FT-817ND FT- (http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=103885)
radio cover Case for WOUXUN KG-699E KG-UVD1P - 409Shopwww.409shop.com ?????? KG-UVD1 UV-3R VX-8R VX-3R VX-7R VX-170 KG-699E KG-669 KG-689 PX-777 PX-888 FT-897 FT-857 VX-177 VXA-300 KG-679 VEV-3288S V-1000 TG-UV FT-817ND FT-60R FT-897 FT-857 VX-7R VX- (http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=103981)
spare antenna 1pc x WOUXUN antenna Dual Band 136-174 / 400-480Mhz 5-193 - 409Shopwww.409shop.com ?????? KG-UVD1 UV-3R VX-8R VX-3R VX-7R VX-170 KG-699E KG-669 KG-689 PX-777 PX-888 FT-897 FT-857 VX-177 VXA-300 KG-679 VEV-3288S V-1000 TG-UV FT-817ND FT-60 (http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=103984)
programming cable Prog Cable for KENWOOD LINTON PUXING WEIERWEI LINTON - 409Shopwww.409shop.com ?????? KG-UVD1 UV-3R VX-8R VX-3R VX-7R VX-170 KG-699E KG-669 KG-689 PX-777 PX-888 FT-897 FT-857 VX-177 VXA-300 KG-679 VEV-3288S V-1000 TG-UV FT-817ND FT-60R FT- (http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=103756)
and speaker mic Rainproof Mic Speaker for KENWOOD - 409Shopwww.409shop.com ?????? KG-UVD1 UV-3R VX-8R VX-3R VX-7R VX-170 KG-699E KG-669 KG-689 PX-777 PX-888 FT-897 FT-857 VX-177 VXA-300 KG-679 VEV-3288S V-1000 TG-UV FT-817ND FT-60R FT-897 FT-857 VX-7R VX (http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=103759)

... all for well under $200AUD delivered. Couldn't be happier, and it works a treat!

Even if you just get the radio with it's included accessories, for $110US delivered it far more radio than you can get here in Oz for the dollars, and it gets an excellent wrap on the amatuer radio forums.

Do it ! :)

[d@rk51d3]

Agreed. Awesome radio.

Love it even more after reading about all the problems people are having trying to update their $400 - $600 units.

Have not bothered updating to the new 80 channels yet, but is a piece of cake to do with the programming cable and software app available on the net.
Just like filling in a spreadsheet.

[RangieBit]

Yep,

What they all said. One great little radio and as easy as ... to program.

Not as discerning a signal on transmit as say an Icom or Vertex. That is, it transmits a little more either side of the nominated frequency (still within tolerance) than the more "professional" units. For the money though it's a really good unit.

Love it even more given that I have to take my other handheld ($au450+) into a dealer just to get it programmed not to beep when you press a key!!:mad:

Do it.

Iain

[ScottW]

Cool. I might order one and a usb cable. 409 seems the cheapest place to buy too.

[steveG]

Dragging up an older thread here, but one of these seems to be a good fit as I'm looking for a cheap/powerful handheld as a backup radio and when away from the vehicle.

Those who have them - are they still going OK?

Are they fairly easy to use once they are all programmed up, ie could I give it to SWMBO and tell her to set it to Channel 20 without having to give her an A4 page of instructions?

Steve

[FFR]

Those who have them - are they still going OK?

Are they fairly easy to use once they are all programmed up

Steve


Yes, mine is going really well, and I know amateurs who are using it in a daily basis.

The only weak point (for me) was the battery... but I had the same problem with icom, yaesu, kenwood and kyodo handies. The difference is that a new battery from wouxun, or a "battery eliminator" to connect it to the cigarette lighter cost almost nothing (compared with the "good" brands).

I modified mine a bit... to have a much clearer and strong transmitted audio, with the same antenna power (and consumption). Nobody can notice that I'm using a cheap radio. I'm delighted with it. Frequency accuracy is as bad as the "good radios", so is OK for amateur or CB users.

A bit cumbersome to operate manually... but once you program your channels, is beginners-proof. It has both narrow and wide filters, so you can program old as well as new channels/bandwidths in the radio for CB.

Invest a few bucks in a better antenna. The tiny one that comes with the radio is not very efficient, especially if you plan to use it in VHF band. UHF is OK as it is.

cheers,

Carlos

[FFR]

BTW,

There is another brand... BAOFENG, they are under the 50 AUD mark, but I can not confirm that it covers the UHF-CB band.

[FFR]

OK,

Just a couple of days in the market. It is the new baofeng, it covers the CB band (the old one didn't):

UV-5R - YouTube

BAOFENG UV-5R Dual Band UHF/VHF Radio - 409Shopwww.409shop.com (http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=107033)

It is really new, the video from 409shop has three days only. No other videos about this radio on youtube.

[steveG]

Thanks Carlos.
Any more details on the better antenna? Is it just a different Wouxun accessory, or do you mean to buy a decent antenna of another brand and fit it?

Steve

[FFR]

Thanks Carlos.
Any more details on the better antenna? Is it just a different Wouxun accessory, or do you mean to buy a decent antenna of another brand and fit it?

Steve

Hi Steve,

It is an aftermarket antenna, cheap, longer, and it helps when the antenna you were originally using was too short for the operational frequency. The antenna that comes with the radio is fair performer for UHF band, although it is a poor performer in VHF. The lower the frequency, the larger the antenna.

My suggestion is that you can start using the radio with its stock antenna and, in case you feel you need better coverage, then you can buy something better. Don't be very worried about the antennas. It is my fault, I work with radios as a job, so I'm always obsessed with performances...:cool:

[ScottW]

I'm actually just sitting down now to program mine. Yes, I'm a procrastinator...

I'll let you know how hard it it.

Edit.

Very easy. Just make sure you download the latest software and drivers from their website. Mine wouldn't talk to the computer until I installed the drivers. Oh, and it helps if you turn the radio on too.

[steveG]

Received mine this morning.
Had a minor issue connecting to it via the USB programming cable, as Windows had assigned COM15 to the device, but I wasn't able to select that port in the software as it was greyed out.

Ended up manually setting the port to COM2 on my PC, followed by a reset of all the COM port numbers in the registry (set HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\COM Name Arbiter to 0000), then rebooted.
Probably a more gentle way to do it, but it worked for me.

Arter the reboot I was able to connect to the radio and load the frequency file that Fluids provided in the "Wouxun Frequency File" thread.

Loading the file is a 30sec task once you've got the computer and radio talking.

Steve

[FFR]

So, which model did you order ? the new one ?

I don't need it at all but, you know, it looks nice ...


Carlos

[steveG]

So, which model did you order ? the new one ?

I don't need it at all but, you know, it looks nice ...


Carlos

Not the new one, just the older KG-UVD1P.
Plenty more funtionality than I need - I just wanted a decent handheld UHF for out of cab comms and as a backup in case my main radio dies.

Steve

[FFR]

I have this at home, there is an easy mod to improve the transmitted audio (well, you have to void the warranty opening the radio, removing a couple of capacitors and adjusting a potentiometer).

Are you good with electronics ?

[steveG]

I have this at home, there is an easy mod to improve the transmitted audio (well, you have to void the warranty opening the radio, removing a couple of capacitors and adjusting a potentiometer).

Are you good with electronics ?

Hmmm - define "good with electronics".
I've built valve guitar amps from scratch, and assembled a few kitsets over the years so I know which end of a soldering iron to pick up, but never done any surface mount work (which I'm guessing is what the capacitors are). If removing them means make sure they aren't in the circuit then it shouldn't be a problem :twisted::twisted:

Definitely interested if you can give me the details.

Steve

[FFR]

Hi,

Details on the mod I made to mine can be found here:

www.muntronde.nl/wouxun.pdf (http://www.muntronde.nl/wouxun.pdf)

It removes a couple of capacitors which are acting as low pass filters, and then increases the gain of the audio mic line a bit. Nothing complex, or excessive.

There is another mod I found on youtube, but implies the removal of a clipping diode and transistor... you might suffer over-deviation doing so (your modulation is so wide that you put too much energy over the adjacent channels, creating interferences)

Play with the radio, and think about the mod if and only if you consider that your transmitted audio is low. There are thousands of radios out there without any mod at all.

Carlos

[d@rk51d3]

Play with the radio, and think about the mod if and only if you consider that your transmitted audio is low. There are thousands of radios out there without any mod at all.

Carlos

Good advice.

I initially felt that the transmitted audio was a tad low, but after using the radio for a few days, It's really not that bad.

[steveG]

Thanks Carlos.
Will definitely see how it goes first, but good to know that such mods exist rather than just putting up with something.

Steve

[Chookie]

Howdy, Thanks to your advice, I also recently purchased a KG-UVD1P with the USB programming cable - My Windows 7 PC was having all sorts of trouble accepting the driver for the USB Serial interface cable (Prolific Technologies Chipset) that was downloaded from the Wouxun website - kept coming up with a Code 10 error. Anyway, after a bit of digging around, this is a very common problem which I have been able to fix using this driver sourced from this site

Akosta Innovations » Blog Archive » Problems with Prolific driver – Solution. (http://www.akosta.dk/2010/12/problems-with-prolific-driver-solution/)

I hope this saves you from the headaches I was getting!!

[McNasty]

Thanks to all of you for such detailed info. I was debating getting a handheld unit and after reading all of the above I have pulled the trigger on the OP recommended wouxon with a USB cable. Any feedback on how long shop409's gear takes to get here(Mel)?

[FFR]

from my experience, 5 days if you buy in a Hong Kong based shop, or 15 if it is in the inland china (to SYD)

Carlos

[adonuff]

Hi I have the wouxem KG-UVD1P and very happy initially, It seems to have lost a bit on the recieve & transmit?? I am hoping someone out there has sucessfully set up all of the functions correctly in the available software.
I would like to know about Offsets, step frequencys etc. Any info would appreciated

[RangieBit]

G'day Andrew,

Sounds like you are still happy with the Wouxun but .....

One of the first things is to check that the battery is holding charge. If your initial voltage in the battery is down and you have all the battery save features enabled then the unit will respond accordingly by reducing power on transmit and sensitivity on receive. Which can make the unit seem like its losing its edge.

A good fully charged battery should show 8V or higher on first turn on. If your battery shows less than this immediately after charge then its on its way to that great big charger in the sky. Likewise if you don't use the radio often then it will be slowly draining the battery while it sits around. Recommendation there is to leave the fully charged battery off the radio when you're not using it for a while. Discharge rate is way slower when not attached to anything. The radio has a non-volatile memory for the programming so, unless you don't turn the unit on for a few years, this will remain.

These are merely hypotheses on my part though most modern radio technology is sometimes too clever for its own good with all the energy conservation features.

As to things like offsets - these are exactly what they say they are - frequency offsets (for duplex operation). They can be up to a 60MHz separation from memory. It is not much use to you if you are using your radio as a UHF CB handheld as the offsets there are set into the channel frequency allocations although for the duplex channels it is a consistent gap.

Some commercial applications and Amateur Radio operators use the offsets to space out the transmit and receive frequencies by a consistent amount (Whatever the offset has been preset to).

For both types of operator there is no requirement to know the transmit/receive combination as it is always the same separation regardless of the base frequency. The transmit or receive frequency can be the higher of the two. As an example, if you were to set the offset to 2MHz and you set the receive frequency to 468MHz then your transmit frequency becomes 470MHz. If you change to 468.75MHz, then your transmit then becomes 470.75MHz, and so on. You can even program the radio so that these can be swapped with a single button press. That is (using the above example) 468.75MHz becomes your transmit frequency and 470.75MHz your receive frequency. This is sometimes referred to as reverse duplex.

As to step frequencies, the radio has a number of frequency steps (or separations) ranging from 6.25KHz to 25KHz. The old 40 channel UHF CB channel plan used 25KHz channel steps, the new 80 channel (actually only 78) uses the same band start and finish frequencies but uses 12.5KHz channel steps.

Have a look at the sticky with the frequency allocations for the UHF CB band and that should become clearer.

Unlike some the manual for the KG-UVD1P is actually quite good and readable though I guess you have to know a little of the background to what you're reading on more than a few occasions.

Hope this helps some. Feel free to ask about anything else that puzzles you about the unit.

Cheers,
Iain

[adonuff]

Thanks Rangiebit
I am using it as a UHF and have all the 78 channles as per an earlier post about the Wouxem on here.
I will check out the battery saving option first, I am assuming from what your saying that I do not need to program any offset's just the frequencys?? What do I do with the SFT-D option ? Should it be OFF,Plus shift or Minus Shift??
I must admit to playing around a bit and may have changed something that was best left alone? The other possibility is a damaged ariel, wondering is there a way to check ?

Thanks for your help will charge it up fully and go from there

[RangieBit]

Hello again,

The SFT-D option should be set to OFF as you have already programmed in both Transmit and Receive frequencies (assuming you used the table from those earlier posts).

The battery save setting on receive should still be OK. The other thing to watch is what you have the squelch set to. If you have it set too aggressively then you'll need somebody standing next to you and transmitting to open the squelch. Find an unoccupied frequency, or at least one that seems to have nothing but white noise. Then play around with the squelch settings until you find one that just manages to kill the white noise. You should be able to tinker with the settings via the keypad initially and then once you have a setting that works you can program it in to all of the channels via the programming lead.

As to checking for correct output power then this needs to be checked using a suitable power meter. Either one that can take the signal direct or determine it from a radiated signal. These are not necessarily expensive bits of kit but they don't tend to be in everyone's cupboard. If you're friends with a competent radio tech then they may be able to check this quickly for you. Otherwise if you think you may have damaged the antenna then its a cheap thing to replace. No harm in having a spare if this isn't the problem.

Cheers,
Iain

[adonuff]

Thanks Again RangiBit

Think I have everything right now, Just need to take it on a trip to make sure. Hope its fixed, it's a great little radio when it's working properly.