409 Shop Provides Comms for Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon

Lots of radios...

Tariffs

Via the CS7000 Yahoo Group:

"Today the US government starts charging a 25% import duty for radios from China. Almost all the DMR radios are made in China. We will honor the pre tariff price as long as we have stock of radios we bought before we have to pay extra for the radios. That applies to the CS580, CS800D, CS750, CS800, and CS801. The AnyTone price is set by AnyTone and they have not indicated how the tariff is going to affect the price. I would expert the AnyTone MAP to go beyond the $169 so now would be a good time to get one from us before we are forced to raise our price.

Jerry Wanger KK6LFS
Connect Systems Inc."

Thieve.co: Makes AliExpress Look Hi-End

As if it wasn't tempting enough to by random, cheap stuff from China:

officially addicted to this website curating the best aliexpress products https://t.co/EiMb2XSWz5 pic.twitter.com/FzU0a5otsp

— juan (@juanbuis) May 10, 2017

WLN KD-C1: CHIRP

The WLN KD-C1 is supported by CHIRP.

409Shop "Interesting Electronics"

Everything you need for your bench/lab and then some - but not in time for Christmas because of shipping.

Happy Singles Day

In honor of Singles Day, buy a Chinese radio from Amazon.

First Language

We joke about a warning on an HT charger that can cook meat, manuals that are indecipherable, and instructions that aren't super helpful, but when 30% of the population can't speak the national language, it does not bode well for the mastery of a second. (I know one may not really have anything to do with the other, but it still strikes me as interesting.)

Via Slashdot

Best Chinese Dual-Band HT

Hans says with 100% absolute certainty that the answer to the question, "What's the best Chinese dual-band HT?" is:

It depends.

Tactical Helmets

Since I have an account at at AliExpress, I get e-mails with suggestions of things I might also like. For example, this tactical helmet ($41) for operators operating in operations on a tight budget.

Bunnie Interview on CSDN.net

Makers, fixers, open-source hardware, technology and more... some quotes below from Bunnie's interview with "CSDN.net, which stands for 'China Software Developer Network', or more colloquially, “Programmer Magazine.'"

It all starts with radio... of course, that is how I read it...

"In 1960, for all practical purposes there was only hardware, and it was all open. When you bought a transistor radio, it had its schematic printed in the back. If it broke, you had to fix it yourself. It was popular to buy kits to make your own radios."

Of course, you might break a few things along the way to becoming a magician...

"The Maker movement, I think, is less about developing products, and more about developing people. It’s about helping people realize that technology is something man-made, and because of this, every person has the power to control it: it just takes some knowledge. There is no magic in technology. Another way to look at it is, we can all be magicians with a little training."

And the company shouldn't have to meet any warranty obligations if a user breaks the hardware...

"I believe users should “own” their hardware, and “owning” means having the right to modify, change, etc. including root access rights. If the company has a concern about users being unsafe, then it’s easy enough to include an “opt-out” where users can simply select an electronic waiver form, and give up their support and warranty right to gain access to their own machine. Most people who care to root their machine are already smarter than the phone support they would be calling inside the company, so anyways it’s not a problem."

Knives at AliExpress

I had seen the knives available via AliExpress, but didn't give much thought to them. PDB ordered one and cranked out this review. No surprises - an OK knife for not a lot of dough. I have the Ontario RAT1 that he mentions as a slightly more expensive alternative and I like it a lot. In fact, it shows up in the profile pic I use.

Root Cause

Maybe we didn't break my radio after all...


Via:

ham_lv China Air-Freight Handlers at Guangzhou Airport - No Care Policy?: youtu.be/tPzRPga6uDg via @youtubeFri, Jun 21 11:17:16 from Tweet Button

Name: YL3AIM

Location: KO26BX

Web: http://t.co/WeraAbUXKL

Bio: Latvian Amateur Radio Station

Following: 979 Followers: 461 Updates: 112

Lots of Radios

I've posted about a lot of radios...


AnyTone
AT-5888UV / AT-588UV

Baofeng
BF-F9
BF-F8
F-11
UV-3R
UV-5R
UV-B5

Baojie
BJ-UV55

Chierda
CD-UV55

Hong Litong
HL-UV8R

Hora
HR-76D

HYS
TC-UV55

INTEK
HR-2040

Kirisun

KYD
NC-5H
NC-UV90A
UV-5H

MYT
MYT-Q1
MYT-Q2

Nanfone
NF-369

NKT
NKT-R3
NKT-R5

Puxing
PX-888K

Quansheng
TG-K4AT(UV)
TG-Q5 (Lucky Stone)
TG-UV2

Ronson
UV-8R

Shi Ying
SR-31

SMP
SMP698

TYT
TH-9000
TH-9800
TH-F8
TH-UVF1
TH-UV3R
TH-UVF9

Vero Telecom
UV-E5
UV-X5
VR-2200

Waccom
WUV-6R

Wouxun
KG-UVD1P
KG-UV920R / KG-UV920P
KG-UV6D
KG-UV2D

Import Communications: QRP HF Radios

Ed of Import Communications is branching out and will be offering some low power/QRP HF radios:

"I will soon be the US distributor for a small Chinese company that will produce two models of HF QRP radios. One model is ready now, with samples on the way. It is 5 watts, 0.1-30 MHz, SSB/CW with built-in keyer and is compatible with Ham Radio Deluxe. The other model will be available in May and is 0-20 watts with built in antenna tuner."

He sent a subsequent update and said the 20 watt radio will begin sales in June.

It is shaping up to be an interesting summer with some new offerings from the Chinese manufacturers.

Nate's Open Letter to TYT

My post about the TYT TH-9800 got Nate thinking and the result is the following open letter from him to TYT.

If TYT will take an advice from me (Nate)... 

It is no secret that Chinese radio manufacturers like following the lead of other successful brands for a good reason, they sell.

The problem is that instead of bringing new ideas (or even good old proven ideas) they start playing with different packages and name labels which just add to the consumer's confusion, and doesn't generate more sales (writing "Hot 2013" in-front of last year's product doesn't really do anything).

I think TYT/Baofeng/others should "re-create" a very successful radio series Kenwood had in the 1990's, the Kenwood TM-642 / TM-742 / TM-842 / TM-942.

Today's technology should be able to cut down costs, and since TYT don't currently have any Dual band mobile radios, it wouldn't compete with other products they are already deeply invested in (which is probably why Kenwood stopped making them).

Creating a radio as a platform has many advantages, such as quick design phase, simple to manufacture, test, repair, and certify which saves the manufacturer money and lets the buyer get what they need (think how successful was the IBM compatible PC and how it shaped forever the computers we use today).

Radio as a platform means that the manufacturer will spend the time designing the radio itself, as a unit with a CPU, display, buttons, memory banks, software, speakers, RF, data and microphone jacks and expansion slots for modules , and than produce simple modules that will answer the demand from ham radio operators, and commercial entities world wide.

Modules: Each module should contain the specific RF parts for the band it is designed for such as Frequency generators, Mixers, Filters, and Power amplifiers.

There are at-least 9 Amateur bands that should be made: 10m, 6m, 4m, 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, 33cm 23cm and 13cm.

Some of these bands can be used for commercial needs as well, if the software allows locking the radio to specific memory channels, and of-course if there is a need for a different band, all they need to do is create the appropriate module.

I'm going to concentrate in the question: Why can Chinese manufacturers count on revenue from selling modular/platform radios to ham radio operators world-wide?

1. Both in the Americas (1.25m and 33cm) and Europe (4m) these old/new bands are gaining a lot of popularity, while there is very little equipment for these bands being sold today, whoever is going to fill up the gap is going to win this game.

2. A lot of hams around the world can enjoy the universal bands of 23cm and 13cm, that the only reason why these aren't popular is that there is virtually no radios for it in a decent price.

3. There are no new triple band radios being made today, and if you look in eBay for any of these old Kenwood triple band radios, you'll see they still bring a very pretty penny (a lot of money) even after 20 years!!!

4. It will be very hard for hams to resist buying one radio to get into one more band, if they have their traditional 2m/70cm in it too, for example 2m/1.25m/70cm in the US and 4m/2m/70cm in Europe, and new hams looking for their first radio would want to get one too.

5. Buying more than one: I think that if there will be such a wide availability of all these bands, some hams will buy a second or even a third radio. Some hams will buy them for redundancy, some because they are collectors (these hams will probably buy all the module options), also a lot of hams put these mobiles in their cars, and since these will have the ability to have unique bands (bands they can't access on the their base station) , they will want to get at-least one more for the home too, and let's not forget these repeater owners that will get them just to extend the capability of their multi-band repeaters. 

6. Increasing sales and Accessories: these radios will require tri-band antennas for different band options, duplexers, and triplexers, this will add the manufacturers more revenue.

7. Innovation sells: look how much time and effort consumers put down talking about crappy poorly designed radios, in blogs, and in forums, even non shows, if there was an option to buy a triple band radios, people would most definitely buy them.

FCC IDs for Chinese Manufacturers

Here is a list in case anyone wants to look up some of our favorite Chinese manufacturers on the FCC site.

In the box labeled "Grantee Code," enter the three characters below.

Anytone: T4K

Baofeng: ZP5
Kirisun: Q5E

KYD: VO6 

Puxing: AUJ 

TYT: X24

Vero Telecom: ZVM
Wouxun: WVT

Leave the second box blank and click the "Search" button.

Not Just Radios

NutnFancy looks at some Chinese (CTS XM-18 - $85 USD and Inron MY803 - $17 USD) knockoffs of some high-end knives.



Bonus - KnifeRating.com  (via Maddened Fowl)

Merry Christmas

Chinese Radio Reference

I'm losing track. I'm gonna build a reference list. I'm not sure of the format, but I thought I would link to the manufacturer's website, maybe get pricing, link to my posts about that radio, and then any notes about what made that radio special. Maybe a list like this...

TYT

HT

TH-UVF1

Kight Radio $109.95

409 Shop $105.00

My Posts

TH-UVF9

Kight Radio $69.95

409 Shop $68.50

My Posts

Radio-Mart tried to make this a tri-bander

TH-UV3R

Kight Radio $59.95

Import Comm $64.95

409 Shop $51.00

My Posts

Moleculeo's favorite

TH-F8

Kight Radio $89.95

409 Shop $63.00

My Posts

Sex Sells! Sex Sells Ham Radios?

It's not just Baofeng... it is all the Chinese radio manufacturers.