Hand held UHF - Wouxun

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Originally Posted by 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

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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:

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.

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

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

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


Carlos

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Originally Posted by FFR

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

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


Carlos

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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

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 ?

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Originally Posted by 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 ?

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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

Hi,

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

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FFR

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

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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.

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