Showing posts with label KT8900. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KT8900. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 Brickolore Top 10 Links

Looking at my Google Analytics data, the top 10 visited links in 2015 were:

10. QYT KT8900: Software
Both this post and number four on the list suggest a real desire for a good quality, but inexpensive mobile. They made the list despite only getting posted in May of 2015.
9. Baofeng UV-5R: Schematics
The UV-5R remains popular and hams like to tinker/fix things.
8. Brick O'Lore: Ham Radio Page
I'm surprised that this got so many hits as I don't maintain it - looks like I should do some updates.
7. Baofeng UV-5R: Software v2
Again, software posts seem to be popular. And everyone that got a UV-5R wanted to check out the the new version of the software.
6. Brick O'Lore: The Radios Page
I'm glad this gets some hits as I try to keep it updated as a quick reference - I would like to expand it by keeping track of lowest prices and other miscellaneous data.
5. Baofeng UV-B5: Best Kept Secret
The UV-B5 still seems to be a sleeper.
4. QYT KT8900: Dual Band Mobile
I think the Baofeng Tech UV-5001 and Baofeng Tech UV-2501 mobile radios would have been more popular posts than the KT8900 - except they weren't released until November.
3. Brick O'Lore: Baofeng (UV-3R) Page
The little clone of the Yaesu VX-3R, the UV-3R, really got folks interested in the Chinese radios. I can't believe it still gets so many hits.
2. Baofeng UV-5R: Extreme Receive Modification
And hams would love to get something for nothing!
1. Brick O'Lore (main web page)
This tells me that lots of people visit my blog the old fashioned way - by going straight to the root domain.
Here's to an interesting 2016. May it be everyone's best year yet!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

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.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Baofeng Tech: New Mobile Radios

I'm late to the party as usual these days, so I'll keep apologizing, but continue to work under the "better late than never philosophy."

Baofeng Tech announced two new mobile radios more than a week ago:
"We're excited to unveil the UV-2501 and UV-5001 Dual Band Mobile Radios. We have spent the last several months refining our first mobile radio release. The UV-2501 is a Mini Mobile VHF/UHF radio capable of 25 Watts Output. The UV-5001 is a full-size Mobile VHF/UHF radio capable of 50 Watts Output.
These may look similar in appearance to other radios, but we have re-built our mobiles from the ground up with a new menu system, audio and bug fixes, exclusive enhancements, and much more - with insight and improvements given to us from amateurs nationwide."


The similar radios are the JT-6188 and KT8900 that I've posted about. I like the naming of these - I'm a simple man, so UHF-VHF-50 Watt, version 01 makes sense to me for the UV-5001.

Monday, June 22, 2015

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.

Friday, June 12, 2015

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.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

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.











Wednesday, May 27, 2015

QYT KT8900: Software

You may download the software here. (Thanks to John for the link.)

After installing the software, it defaults to something besides English. Go to the second to last set of questions marks and click it. You can then select "English" from the drop down.


Channels



Options

Tones



Tuesday, May 26, 2015

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.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

QYT KT8900: Dual Band Mobile

I get the marketing e-mails from 409Shop and the QYT KT8900 dual-band mobile caught my eye - just because the price was less than $100.



Frequency Range: VHF:136-174MHz  UHF:400-480MHz
Number of Channel: 200
Channel Spacing: 25KHz 20K 12.5
Phase lock step: 5KHz、6.25 KHz、10 KHz、12.5 KHz、15 KHz、25 KHz
Working Voltage: 13.8V DC±15%
Squelch way: CTCSS/DCS/5Tone/2Tone/DTMF
Frequency Stability: ±2.5ppm
Operating Temperature: -20~+60
Dimension(W x H x D): 98(W) x 35(H) x 118(D)mm
Weight: 408g

Receiver
Sensitivity
Broadband: ≤ 0.25μV
Narrow band: ≤ 0.35μV

Transmitter
Output power: 25W/20W(VHF/UHF)