Wednesday, March 11, 2015

TERMN-8R and KG-UVD1P

I picked up my first Chinese radio, the Wouxun KG-UVD1P in 2010 for $107. Getting a TERMN-8R for $138.89 in 2015 seems like a pretty good deal in comparison. I'm curious to know what others think.

6 comments:

  1. Getting a top-notch Chinese radio for less than $100 is better. If you look at the quality of the Baofeng UV-B5 for $35 or less, it seems that it should be possible. If the TERMN-8R had a viable cross-band repeat function (unlike the KG-UVD8 which effectively ruined the radio), then it might be worth breaking the $100 mark.

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  2. That's what I get for commenting early... Hans has published a review and says it has x-band. Not sure yet if there are any problems akin to what the Wouxun KG-UV8D had. His review is glowing, but it doesn't seem to have some of the deeper performance evaluations as of this time. If everything pans out, then this might be a Chinese radio that deserves the price.. I just wish it wasn't so gastly ugly.

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    1. The review in question... https://hamgear.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/review-anytone-termn-8r/ and splitting hairs a bit, but it was written by John (K3NXU) who is now posting on Hans' site.

      I actually like the looks of it. I'm a fan of just about anything orange.

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    2. Basic measurements have been added, but the story ain't over yet. There are some issues with x-band repeat capable hand helds. Stay tuned.

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  3. It looks to me like the radio is a better deal than the Wouxun KG-UVD1P that I bought a few years ago as well. I would have paid the additional money to get it instead.

    It seems to fit well for someone who wants something more than a throwaway Baofeng, but doesn't want to spend the $$$ on something with digital (fusion, dstar, dmr) or built in APRS, etc. Or if they want to talk to GMRS/MURS channels.

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  4. I would think it was worth the price, if I could be sure that I could operate it. If this radio is usable by blind operators, it will be by accident. I've made the same suggestions for adding unobtrusive navigation cues and operating by those of us who can't read the screens to all the Chinese manufacturers, even suggestions that don't involve voice tagging of menus and channels. My suggestions would have very minimal impact on light-dependent users. I've been met by deafening silence, or "Well, the Japanese companies don't, so we won't bother either", or "Those are interesting suggestions, we'll file them somewhere". Or the slightly more hopeful "We may do something in a future update". To be clear, Wouxun, Baofeng, and Puxing have done pretty well, although I can still think of improvements. Anyone seems to be completely unresponsive, which is a shame, because they seem to get over all very positive reviews for performance and general user satisfaction. If I were to buy one, I'd have to get my hands on one first to see if I can actually navigate the thing or not. Sadly, a reading of the manual suggests I'd run into significant problems.

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