Tag: radio

Posted on

Review – Wouxun KG-UV3D

P1020215.JPG This is a review of the newest radio in my collection, the Wouxun KG-UV3D. This radio is sold exclusively by Powerwerx in the US. I purchased this radio as both an Amateur HT and for business use.

Overall: At first glance, this handheld looks like any other dual-bander amateur HT. It has a two-line display for showing frequencies in the A and B banks. It has backlit keys, and a red “MENU” button in contrast to the black keypad. The top has two knobs, one as a rotary encoder dial for selection and one for volume/power. Pretty standard when compared to my Yaesu FT-60R.

Audio: Initial reports have been of good audio quality. The speaker is exceptionally loud. Not a bad thing for a handheld. I can have the volume near halfway and that is plenty loud for indoor use. I will be testing it with a clip mic and be using it in a loud environment later on.

Battery Life: Not sure yet. It is powered by a 1700 mAh Li-Ion battery. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not. I’m used to the NiMH and NiCd batteries found on my FT-60R and business-class Kenwood. The initial charge on the battery allowed for a cumulative 45 seconds on high power, which was nice. The rapid charger apparently filled the battery intelligently, as after 10 minutes in the charger it reports full. We’ll see how full “full” really is.

Programming: Just get the programming cable! The software is free from Wouxun/Powerwerx site. I tried doing some minor changes on the menu system, and it clearly was overly complicated. Everything I’ve read online said to just bite the bullet and get the cable and software. I’m glad I did! I was able to get the radio out, plug the cable in, and after some “unlocking” (which I’ll talk about below) it took the programming just fine. The software is a bit clunky, but it does work.

Band Coverage: This guy is best for transmitting, not necessarily for scanning. The scanner is slow, and the band coverage is really just VHF/UHF. There’s no 800 MHz listening, or in-between bands like with the FT-60R. As far as TX, you can obtain software to legally open this guy up to other bands, obviously if you are licensed to transmit in those bands/frequencies. I am covered under a license for a business band UHF frequency, and unlocked my radio to transmit on this frequency. So far it has had good signal and audio reports.

Now, the cons:

  • 128 Channels – kind of small compared to other HTs with 500 or 1000
  • Programming software, as I said, is clunky. Very clunky.
  • Don’t yet know how smart the charger is. Seems to check the battery level before charging.
  • No external DC jack – charger only

I will be adding on to this review as I own the radio. This is just a nice starting point.

[pe2-gallery album=”aHR0cDovL3BpY2FzYXdlYi5nb29nbGUuY29tL2RhdGEvZmVlZC9iYXNlL3VzZXIvbHVyY2g4OS9hbGJ1bWlkLzU1NjQ3OTE5MDQzNjA4OTY5OTM/YWx0PXJzcyZhbXA7aGw9ZW5fVVMma2luZD1waG90bw==”]

Posted on

The Wonderful World of Amateur Radio

So this past weekend the Red River Radio Amateurs had their annual Hamfest. After many suggestions that I take the test and get my FCC license, I studied up and headed out there. I had no idea what to expect, so I brought along a friend to keep me company. When I got there, a gentlemen from the National Weather Service was giving a presentation on WSR-88D (basically, Doppler Radar). That was the first sign that I was in the right place. As we walked through the doors to the flea market area, we knew we were in the right place. Rows of tables lined with radio equipment, computers, electronics parts, and odd stuff that just looked cool. We walked around, finding some interesting items. There was a low-voltage tester that looked about 50-60 years old. It was in a solid metal case, and just looked really cool. We also found an old Commodore 64 (we think…) for sale for $25. But the best would probably be a couple of VHF radios for near $100. Had I gotten my license, I would have gotten a radio there and called it good. Unfortunately, the testing was late in the event, and so most of the good stuff was gone by the time I was license-bound.

ft11rI did successfully get my Technician class license. I’m going to be studying up for the General class exam so that I can have access to the lower frequency bands (the ones that go farther distances, like Italy and Spain). Right now I have access to most everything in the 50Mhz+ bands, and am cutting my teeth on VHF (2 meter). I was fortunate to find a gentleman in Fargo that was willing to sell his old handheld to me for a great price. It is a Yaesu FT-11R 2m handheld with a load of features. I also received an offer for a mobile VHF unit, but it was more expensive, and I knew that the handheld would work out of the box with no power concerns (Mobiles need a power supply, like a car, or a bench supply. I have no bench supplies, and I’d like to use it outside the car.) I’m concerned that the handheld’s battery is not very good, but I’m still playing with it and seeing if I can power it without a battery (like…from a car).

All in all, I’m having a great time. I’m meeting new people (unfortunately I haven’t gotten to put faces to call signs yet) and learning a lot about this quite huge world of Amateur Radio.