Wouxun KG-UV920R: Relationships

I e-mailed a US dealer and asked if they would be selling the updated KG-UV920P. They replied that they would not sell the KG-UV920P if it was the best radio in the world. And they included the following to emphasize their point:

Being low cost and having a good product are important if you want to be a successful company, but they aren't the only things. Wouxun should want their re-sellers being evangelists for their products.

Chinese Radios - The Center Part II

A commenter on yesterday's post about which Chinese manufacturer is really making all these radios pointed me to this link at Kightradio. (He is the one offering the TYT TH-UV3 for sale.) There are multiple updates on the page:

03/19/12 "The TYT TH-UV3 Dual Band HT is on the way to me now. I will update everyone as soon as I receive them."

So he could have the TYT TH-UV3 any day now. We do live in interesting times.

02/20/2012 "Baofeng UVD-5R Dual Band 4 watt HT was just released for sale in China. This is a nice little Dual Band rig but as of now, the menuis only in Chinese. This is howthe first UV-3R started out and then they made the english menu later. I would like to note that this radio looks exactly like the TYT F8 Radios. In talking with TYT I found out this is a COPY and not a radio made by TYT and sold to Baofeng. TYT has a patent on the case so we will see what TYT does about this later. So if you buy one of these on the internet, BEWARE, its menu is ONLY IN CHINESE and hard to figure out. I have one to test and I am having the menu translated and I will update you later on this.

Dual Band mobiles are not anywhere close to being released. I would not look for them at Dayton this year. Maybe if we are lucky, a few months after Dayton but this is just my personal guess with info I hear in talking with the MFG's every few days."

We know that are now versions of the UV-5R that do Chinese only, Chinese & English, and English only. And he has been told that Baofeng is ripping off TYT's case. More interesting is his claim that the dual band mobiles (KG-UV920R anyone?) won't be available for a few more months.

No Date "We attended the Hong Kong Electronics Fair and the Canton Export Fair Oct 15,2011

We will be updating the site in a few days with all the New Goodies we found at the show. Lots of exciting things in the works so be sure to check back with us and get updated.

We are in China now so if you have any special radios you would like us to purchase for you, contact us and we will be glad to purchase for you.

Call 405-227-9980 (Our time is opposite the USA time so when its 11 am in the US, its 11 pm in China) Please call late evening your time to reach us.

We can get you the latest versions of Wouxun,TYT, Baofeng and others at Hong Kong Prices."

Pretty cool that he offers to ferry radios back from China. Shipping and wire transfers can make a good deal go bad very quickly.

11/11/2011 "Wouxun is going to raise the price effective now of the KG-UVD1p & UVD3 about $22.00 This is because of dealer requests to add 2.5 steps to those models. Its seems more like a move on Wouxun's part to increase the retail price like they have been wanting to do for sometime. They also increased the min wholesale order to 500 units. This is going to put the Wouxun HT's in a higher price class and TYT and others will have the advantage. Hong Kong will have a much lower price and attract more customers. As far as the Dual Band mobile, I would not look for it anytime soon and when it does come out, I am anxious to see the price. Wouxun is not aware of other companies working on Dual Band Radios because they pay little attention to their competition."

Build your brand and demand higher prices. It is the American way!

Wouxun KG-UV920R: eBay

Steve pointed out that the KG-UV920R is available on eBay for a mere $389.80. The listing says more than 10 available. You can add a warranty for $53.99.

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Digital Insanity Images

So I just posted about a summary of the Chinese mobiles, but I wanted to point out one link to Locura Digital (Digital Insanity) and their images of the KG-UV920R.

I've said it before, if they don't hurry, we'll all be buying Baofeng mobiles!

Wouxun KG-UV920R: 409Shop

Thanks again to Steve! He sent me the link to the 409Shop listing for the KG-UV920R. 409Shop is selling it for $375.

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Supply and Demand

Based on this post, the KG-UV920R may be coming out in July, but it sounds like long odds for getting one. I'm on the waiting list for one, but some of the recent Baofeng experiences with buggy initial versions has me gun shy. I don't recall any significant problems with the early Wouxuns, but I wasn't on the bleeding edge with them. And, of course, there is always the hope of something even better on the horizon - TH-9800.

Wouxun KG-UV920R: FCC ID

The KG-UV920R is now in the FCC database.

FCC ID: WVTWOUXUN09

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Reselling on eBay

Someone is selling their unused (new except for opening the box) KG-UV920R. There are four bids at the moment with the current bid of $102.50 - reserve not met. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Chinese Mobiles

Here is a great overview of the current/future (can you say KG-UV920R?) Chinese mobiles. There is info on the following radios:

Wouxun KG-UV920R
Vero VR-6600
Baojie BJ-UV55
TYT TH-9800
Qixiang Science & Technology AT-588UV

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Problems and Delays

From Kight Radio:

"Wouxun has released limited quantities of their new Dual Band mobile to dealers. All dealers are limited to 10 units at this time because the mobile is not if full production yet. They did release some of the dual band mobile to the Chinese market to test and and Chinese wholesalers reported problems with them and they were returned to Wouxun and were told it would be abother 30 days before the problem is fixed ( this was on 6/2 ) The new radios will not have 2.5 steps and they will not be FCC certified. The sample dealers are being shipped by Wouxun on July 9th so it will be July 13 or 14 before they show up at the dealers. I would watch ebay close, I am sure one will be found there within a few days"

As predicted they are showing up on eBay as David and someone on the Yahoo Group noticed, but the listing has already been pulled.

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Problems

Posted on Kight Radio last night:

"7/19

The Wouxun Dual band Mobile is out but its got problems. The Cross Band repeat is not setup correctly. It will repeat but will not transmit on the offset needed to access repeaters. The way they have it setup is worthless to the ham. This radio should not have been released. This shows that Wouxun did not have this radio checked ahead of time by USA Hams. The new radio is worthless the way it operates. Looks like Anytone or TYT will be the mobile to buy. Wouxun also tried to fix the price on the Dual band Mobile to be $325 - $350 which is way too high for the Chinese Radio."

It is one thing to be priced high. It is another thing to be priced high AND not work well. So Anytone, TYT, or the BAOJIE BJ-UV55 are looking like the better options. Nate sent me stuff on the BJ-UV55. I need to dig on that one and the Anytone. Anyone got some more hours in the day they can spare?

Wouxun KG-UV920R: KG-UV920P

Hans got the new sample and his first tests for the version P (KG-UV920P) has got him excited - no problems with second or third harmonics on 2M or 440 and the rotary encoder problems are gone.

It is such a shame that these things start out so bad. I think the marketing teams get too far a head of engineering and manufacturing.

Kight Radio - Post Dayton Updates

More updates from Kight Radio posted on 21 May 2012:

"We are back from a long trip to Dayton. We have the TYT Dual Band Mobile now (This was displayed at Dayton Hamvention) I will be taking pictures of it in the morning and then its going back to TYT in China. Thank you TYT for letting us have this to show at Dayton. (TYT was happy to supply the Dual band Mobile, Wouxun was not interested in having theirs on display ???)"

I'm not sure which specific model he is referring to when he says the "TYT Dual Band Mobile." I thought the TH-9000 was a single band radio. The TYT TH-9800 is supposed to be the quad band mobile. He mentions it below. I need to finish my post about the TH-9800. I spent a few minutes looking and didn't see the dual-band pictures on his site either.

I thought there might be some news from Ed about the Wouxun KG-UV920R - I was predicting that he would have a demo unit. Based on the current chatter (here and here), no response from Ed (to his credit he is usually really good about engaging with the on-line community), and comments like the above, maybe we should be looking at TYT or Vero for the amazing value in mobile rigs.

"We also had the New TYT Th-UVF9 4 watt HT. Ed and I both have one and testing it now. This will be available within a couple weeks. I will post detailed pictures of it on this site in the morning. I will also post the New Specs for the TYT mobile too on the catalog page. They added AM receive coverage for the Air Band. This F9 HT does have the dot matrix readout."

Air band. Cool. Dot matrix readout. Also cool. I don't see the pictures and specs on the catalog page. Maybe I need some glasses or more coffee.

"TYT DUAL BAND MOBILE expected to ship in October. This is the mobile to watch for ... its actually a Quad Band Mobile covering 10, 6, 144 and 440. The other Chinese mobiles are only 144 and 440. Those of you that have waited for the Wouxun mobile should wait for the TYT first before buying one."

Earlier in the month, Nate pointed out in the comments that there could be some photoshop action going on in the TYT TH-9800 Dual/Quad band - a Yaesu FT-8800R screen? It doesn't mean the radio is fake by any stretch as I can image the marketing designer grabbing something convenient to complete the image. At least there is hard date for availability - October.

I'll keep looking and see if he posts any additional information.

Wouxun KG-UV920R: July

So in addition to the stirring of the pot on June 12, this old thread got going again, too.

Thanks to Christopher for pointing out the update on Ed's site:

.......June 15, 2012   Update......

Wouxun has informed me that the mobile radio will be available in July.

Ed also posted to the Yahoo group saying it would be out in July, but no pricing yet.

I just checked the Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) page and there are no new listings for Wouxun (WVT). This doesn't mean a lot - we've see radios (UV-5R) hit the street long before they get blessed by the FCC.

KG-UV920R: The Latest

So the Wouxun web page at Andrews Communications Systems in Australia has everyone stirred up again because of these lines:

"Due Jan/Feb., 2012"
"Compare to TM-D710A!"
"Lee operated a sample KG-UV920R at the October, 2011, Hong Kong fair. Yes, this transceiver does exist, hi!"

So Ed laid hands on one a few months ago and now Lee has, too.

The next tidbit is that we should compare it to the Kenwood D710A, so others began speculating about APRS or packet modes.

Lastly, Ed chimed in about the features and date:

As Andy Griffith said, "don't over expect". No APRS and no packet with the
920R. The radio is supposed to be finished in December. Don't look to purchase
one that's certified until February or March from what I was told.
Regards,
Ed
www.Wouxun.US

I think I am repeating myself, but time will tell.

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

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Price

Matt posted about an update from Ed. To quote a great philosopher... "Ruh roh, Shaggy!" So supply may not be as big of a problem as I thought given the information I highlighted in red below.

....June 30, 2012   Update......

Wouxun has released a limited number of the mobile radio to dealers.
These samples are not FCC Certified yet and do not have
the required 2.5 kHz tuning step required for 2013 regulations.
BUT THE RADIO DOES NOW EXIST.

The samples are
TX: 136-174 & 400-480 MHz
RX: 136-174 & 350-480 MHz
I DO NOT KNOW what the final productions models will cover

If no major problems are found with these samples,
hopefully full production will begin in July.

The costs of these samples are higher than I expected but
hopefully the costs will come down when the radio goes into full production.

Update @7:10 June 30, 2012... Ed also had this to say:

"All I know for sure is what's in my post. The production radios will certainly have the 2.5 step. Your guess is as good as mine as to upgrading. Despite numerous requests, China still continues to use one-shot chips, so I wouldn't get my hopes up."

So don't look for anything else at the moment.

Wouxun KG-UV920R: eBay

The auction ended with a winning bid of $306. Not much of a deal since Ed sold his 10 for $325 (including a free KG-UV2D HT). I can only assume that scarcity is keeping the price high at this point.

Baojie BJ-UV55/HYS TC-UV55

Given the luke-warm reception of the Wouxun KG-UV920R, everyone is looking at some alternatives. Following is a essentially a guest post by Nate as he reviews the HYS TC-UV55 (Baojie BJ-UV55) by watching a video review by Andre Silva of Brazil. These mobile radios were first mentioned in his earlier Mega List guest post. I've done some editing, so assume any mistakes are mine. (Already updated as I've made plenty of mistakes! Hopefully, they are fixed now.)

Many thanks to Nate for the in-depth review!

Here is basically a "second hand" review as the video is not in English and Nate could not understand what he was saying. Basically, he watched the display and compared the specs listed in the catalog page.

This video consists of two parts. It is probably not a complete overview of all the features and menus of the HYS TC-UV55 - some key features weren't even showed. (He was using the pause buttons to check out all the settings, etc). The unit sells for about 2/3 of what they want for the KG-UV920 on AliExpress. Actually, the video is about the HYS TC-UV55 (which is essentially the same radio as the Baojie BJ-UV55 based on the specs and this video).

Part 1 Highlights

- Unique way to enter frequencies, the MHz button actually allow you to change digit by digit, most radios will just allow 1 MHz steps, and then you have to scroll up or down up to 500KHz .
- 36 Menu items (00-35).
- Offset steps - 10 KHz. Same digit by digit entry Offset Frequency (can be set between 0 and 69.9875 MHz in Frequency Mode).
- To switch between VFO and Memory Channel mode, he turned off the radio, held the MENU button while turning the radio on again. This seems odd, but I don't understand what he says. There could be a more conventional way to switch between VFO and Memory Channel. Here is a video from Thailand showing the Baojie BJ-UV88 HT radio and the guy demoing the radio did the same on the HT.
- The display can do VV VU - U+V,U+U,V+V,V+U dual band working mode can be selected arbitrarily Dual Frequency standby in any band.
- The button to the left of the MENU button, is the SCAN button.
- BDR function? TX-AB function?



Part 2 Highlights

- The display backlight can be turned off.
- Separate Tone Squelch or Digital Code Squelch can be set for TX and RX.
- The video gets cut at the end, but no Part 3...




Misc Notes
- A lot of similarities to the Baofeng UV-5R (The menu system is actually the same as the Baojie BJ-UV88 handy talkie).
-The Menu button is used to enter the item/save the change.
-The display shows a used memory channel the same way the Baofeng UV-5R does: CH-001 - used channel 1, 002 - empty memory channel 2.
-Like with the Baofeng UV-5R, programing a channel for the second time, the second frequency will become the TX frequency, the first will be the RX frequency, the display will show +-

MENU ITEMS - Default - Options
00 SQL - 5
01 BAND - UHF0 / VHF
02 TX-AB - OFF / A / B
03 BDR - OFF
04 TXP - LOW / HIGH - TX power (VHF 45W/UHF 35W)
05 TOT - 60 (Transmit Over Timer)
06 STEP - 10.00K - Channel Step(5K, 6.25K, 10K, 12.5K, 25K)
07 WN - WIDE - (Wide:25kHz ,Narrow: 12.5kHz)
08 R-DCS - OFF
09 R-CTCSS - OFF
10 T-DCS - OFF
11 T-CTCSS - OFF
12 ABR - ON
13 BEEP - ON / OFF
14 ANI-SW - ON
15 OPTSIG - OFF
16 SPMUTE - QT - Multi-kind mute modes(QT/AND/OR)
17 ANI-ID - 80808 - ANI code display(caller ID)
18 RING-T - 5 - Ring alert function
19 DTMFST - DT+ANI
20 S-CODE - 1
21 SC-REV - TO - 3 kinds of scan mode(TO/CO/SE)
22 PTT-ID - OFF - PTT-ID Function(BOT/EOT/BOTH)
23 PTT-LT - 5
24 MDF-A - FREQ
25 MDF-B - FREQ
26 BCL - OFF (Busy channel lockout)
27 AUTOLK - OFF
28 SFT-D OFF / - / + - Shift direction
29 OFFSET - Offset frequency 10KHz steps
30 MEMCH - Store VFO frequency into memory channel, second store will be for a separate TX frequency
31 DELCH - Delete memory channel.
32 WT-LED - PINK
33 RX-LED - BLUE
34 TX-LED - RED
35 RESET - ALL

LED back-light options: OFF / PINK / RED / BLUE


Links

HYS TC-UV55
QUANZHOU TRUEST COMMUNICATION CO. ,LIMITED
Catalog Page
Alibaba Listing

(Notice in older pictures the FM button was the power button).
Note how in some places the model number appear as TC-VU55 (instead of TC-UV55), even on the company's own website, on the radio in the picture the model printed is TC-UV55, and in the catalog it says: "Dual Band In-vehicle Radio TC-VU55"

Quanzhou Truest Comm Co. has a similar radio, the HYS TC-UV66, but with a knob instead of the frequency up/down buttons. The HYS TC-UV66 catalog page says: "Dual Band In-vehicle Radio TC-UV66," one line below: "Model No.︰TC-VU66," and in the picture it says: TC-UV66 - anyway, I think that the TC-UV66 is not in mass production yet. (You see it only in Alibaba, not AliExpress )

HYS TC-UV55 - Pricing
Price on AliExpress: $239.90 to $244.21
At the official QUANZHOU TRUEST COMMUNICATION CO LTD AliExpress store it is $242
Price for quantity or dealers: $100 - $200

Baojie BJ-UV55 - Pricing
Radiomart.biz - $219
Radiomart.biz - $239 - w/US B programming cable
There are currently five offers on Ebay - from $299.62 to $329.99 all free shipping.
Price on AliExpress: $207.86 to $237
At the official Quanzhou Baojie Electronic Co.,Ltd AliExpress store it is $207.86
Price for quantity or dealers: $100 - $189

Anytone AT-5888UV: PD0AC Review

I noticed that Dale sold out of the radios in three hours this week. I saw this morning that Ed has more of the rigs for sale and then I saw the review from Hans. Please go to his site to read the entire review.

First, Ed reports these changes:

- Updated Microphone -- Added a built-in speaker in mic's front & a switch to defeat the Channel Up/Down button (which was easy to accidently hit). This switch was also supposed to lock all buttons on the mic, but not sure about that yet.
- Bracket for mounting detachable control head.
- Updated Firmware -- Several menu functions have been added. See the owner's manual for all functions.
- FCC Part 90 Certified -- ID # T4K-5888UV

The first item may address one of the concerns in Hans' review regarding the buttons, but I don't think it would change his conclusion:

"If I may be blunt: many flaws are impossible to live with. If I transmit, I want to be heard. If I listen, I don’t want to be annoyed by noise, distortion and high pitched tones."

He even goes on to recommend the Wouxun at this point:

"If I would like to own a Chinese mobile radio, I’d rather put my money in an improved version of the Wouxun KG-UV920R."

I think this reminds us, as it certainly is not news, that the Chinese process for design and manufacturing is to roll out models as quickly as possible, let the early adopters identify problems, and then fix the problems in subsequent releases.