Juentai JT-6188: External Speaker Jack Hack

Modify your JT-6188 to have an external speaker jack.

Baofeng Tech: UV-2501 and UV-5001 Miklor Reviews

John has been involved with the Baofeng Tech UV-2501 and Baofeng Tech UV-5001 development. He's got a review up that covers actual power output and the new features. He also talks about the issues that do not exist in the Baofeng Tech versions of the radios:

"Early first generation models of similar radios had two audio issues.
- When changing or returning to an Active Channel, there was no audio present until the PTT or EXIT button was pressed.
- During a channel scan, a loud tone was heard when stopping on an active channel, requiring a PTT reset. (or turning off the beep tone)."

He also does a comparison of the UV-2501 and the KT-8900/JT-6188.

QYT KT8900 Facebook Group

The QYT KT8900 (Juentai JT-6188) has a Facebook group.

QYT KT8900: Miklor Review

Some bad news (at least for now) for those of us that were interested in the QYT KT8900 / Juentai JT-6188...

John's review at Miklor lists the cons including some serious ones:

"The Audio issue is serious.
The inability to use the software on a Windows PC is disappointing.
No external Speaker jack. The port in rear is for programming cable only.
No 2.5 kHz steps (relatively minor compared to above)"

Specifically:

"- No Audio on an Active Channel
This one is a bit nasty.
When changing or returning to an Active Channel, no audio is present. You must press [EXIT], or press the PTT to open the squelch. If you are in the scan mode, it is possible the radio will stop on an active channel, but no audio will be heard.
This is also found in Section 3 at the Miklor FAQ.
- Humming Sound
Not major, but worth pointing out. When a signal is present and the audio is fully turned down, there is a humming / buzzing sound that comes through the speaker. When the volume is turned up, the sound is no longer noticeable. This is not a Power Source issue."

Read the whole review here.

Juentai JT-6188: Programming

John's got the step by step instructions for programming frequencies into the JT-6188/KT-8900. I wonder how much of the problem was related to this:

"All programming MUST be initially done in the Frequency Mode only. From there you have the option of assigning the entered data to a specific channel for later access in the Channel Mode if desired."

Juentai JT-6188: Price Increase at Amazon

The price of the Juentai JT-6188 has gone up to $115 at Amazon. You can still get QYT KT8900 for about $100 at the 409Shop. This reminds me of the VV-808 that had an introductory price that quickly went away. I hope the KT8900 stays at around $100.

QYT KT8900: Now in Red

Because we all know red puts out more power...

Juentai JT-6188: Unboxing

Juentai JT-6188 (aka QYT KT8900) unboxing video from Jason (KC5HWB) of Grapevine Amateur Radio.com:



He confirms no 2.5 steps. Also, power out is pretty consistent at about 20 watts for both 2m and 440.

Juentai JT-6188: AR-15.com Forum

I'm getting a lot of my info on the Juentai JT-6188 (aka QYT KT8900) from the posts on the AR-15 Ham Radio forum, so this is a note to acknowledge the work those guys are doing.

Thanks folks!

Juentai JT-6188: Manual

Here is the manual/quick start guide for the Juentai JT-6188 (aka QYT KT8900)... sorry, they are just image files.

QYT KT8900: First Review

This review of the KT8900 is a bit too stream of consciousness for me - making it hard to follow, but I've grepped that saving settings to memory is not working. He's got some pictures of the boards at the link along with a list of current issues in his radio. Hopefully others will get their KT8900/JT-6188 radios soon and we can see if they have the same problems.

Juentai JT-6188

I saw this post on AR-15.com about getting a Juentai JT-6188 (aka QYT KT8900). The interesting note was that the specs for the transceiver showed it as a tri-bander (2m, 220, 440) on the Amazon page. I say "showed" as the post has seen been changed. I suspect it is only a dual-band, but I'm always happy to get a bonus band.