Showing posts sorted by relevance for query kg-uv920r. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query kg-uv920r. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday, December 21, 2012

Wouxun KG-UV920R: $280

moleculo The Wouxun KG-UV920R VHF/UHF mobile is now available at universal radio for $280. Wouxun must have backed off their stupid high price #hamrFri, Dec 21 17:23:56 from TweetDeck

Friday, September 14, 2012

Wouxun KG-UV920R: FCC ID

The KG-UV920R is now in the FCC database.

FCC ID: WVTWOUXUN09


Monday, September 3, 2012

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Import Communications May Not Sell the KG-UV920R

ImportCommunications.com:
"Due to the disappointing performance and excessive costs of the sample models,we are unsure if we will carry this Wouxun model in the future."

Monday, August 6, 2012

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.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

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

Thursday, October 20, 2011

KG-UV920R: Rumors Again

I'm feeling better and am a little feisty, so I figure I might as well stir things up again. (And to really point fingers, it was Moleculo on the WorldWideDX forum that brought it up.)

A Chinese company has 668 KG-UV920R units for sale for $315 USD.

Good luck with that. If you like that deal, then I have a bridge or two you might want to buy. But seriously, $315 would be disappointingly high.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

KG-UV920R: CheapHam.com

CheapHam.com says they will have a new version of the KG-UV920R on (or around) Monday, Oct 29. (The link says 26th, but text on the page says 29th.) This version will have 2.5K steps. I wonder if there will be other improvements. And, oh, they are pricing it at $289 USD.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

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.

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.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

TYT TH-9800: Dual/Quad Band Mobile

I'm finally getting around to doing a real post about the TYT TH-9800.

First, I do not see it listed on the TYT website.

The KC2RA site posted some info about the TH-9800 when they did the review of Chinese mobiles.

Kight Radio does have it listed, but labels the radio as a dual band mobile. It hints at a surprise and suggests reviewing the spec sheet where the frequency ranges are 28.000 - 29.700, 50.000 - 54.000, 144.000 - 148.000, 430.000 - 450.000. Also, on the 25 MAY 2012 update from Kight Radio, they report the TH-9800 will also have "AM Reecieve on the Aircraft band."

Andrews Communications Systems has the TH-9800 listed on their site with an expected price of less than $499 AUD/$485 USD. Given a price in that ballpark and the quad band capabilities, this would not appear to be a direct competitor to the KG-UV920R. This picture on the Andrews site doesn't look anything like the others below.

This post on the TYT-USA Yahoo Group mentions a unit at Dayton. Martyn (K4TEC) gives a little more detail:
"Re the Quad Band mobile transceiver, this is still under development, a dummy rig was seen at Dayton, Sam (from TYT China) let one float around, this will be an exciting rig and a good price but it is not going to be available until very late in the year if at all this year."
From the 21 MAY 2012 update, Kight Radio also talks about a unit that they had, but it was the dual band. They do specifically mention that the TH-9800 should ship in October. Image from Kight Radio:

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.

For what might be the single band versions of these radios, there is already Type 90 acceptance by the FCC (ID: X24-MOBILE-V). Again back to the pictures, nothing matches so I don't know what to expect. This is the picture that is linked to the TH-9800VHF documents on the FCC site.
I've copied the features list from Sparky's blog here. He mentions a price of $375 - $450 USD and says it will be available "Winter 2012." I'm not sure of his source, so I am leaning towards Kight's price and date, since he talks about going to China and seeing the various manufacturers and sellers.

Features:

  • Outstanding 0.2uV sensitivity across 10m/6m/2m/70cm bands
  • Brilliant crossmodulation, intermodulation rejection and strong signal performance – similar to commercial radios!
  • Commercial quality and commercial performance, too!
  • 256 memory channels
  • DTMF mic included!
  • Digital FM broadcast band radio
  • High/low output power levels
  • Reverse frequency selection
  • Dual (V/U) squelch set levels
  • Dual repeater offsets selectable
  • Multi-function scanning
  • Repeater offset selectable
  • Keypad lock function
  • Channel name editing
  • CTCSS/DCS encode/decode
  • Dual Band/Dual Receive: (Full Duplex)
  • Cross Band Repeat
  • TX Power: 5-50 Watts
  • Memories: 256
  • Antenna Connection: Two SO (UHF)


For the quad-bander, two antenna connections makes a lot more sense.

Given the lessons of the KG-UV920R, I'm not going to hold my breath for this one either.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Ed Drops A Bomb!

Wow! Wow. Just wow. I got the following e-mail from Ed:

Dear Customer,
Here is the latest news on Chinese dual-band mobile radios.
Wouxun Dual Band Mobile  -  KG-UV920R
On June 21 I was informed that Wouxun would supply a small number of these radios to selected dealers (max of 10).  At that time they also quoted a dealer costs that I thought was outrageous.  The dealer costs was almost what I have always considered the retail price would be.  In an email I told them sternly that with any dealer markup at all, the radio would not sell in the US and I would decline to purchase samples.
Wouxun response was that when full production began, the dealer costs would be lower.  Since I've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars building a market for this company over the past few years, I decided I would not let others bring this radio to market before I did.  I reluctantly placed an order for 10 radios, figuring I would sell them at costs, to get them to market.
After my order was shipped, Wouxun informed me that these sample radios must NOT be sold for less than $320-$330.  They went on to say "If we found you or your dealer's end price was lower this range without our permission in advance, then we will stop supplying this model to you."
For the past two years, I've repeatedly told Wouxun that this radio must sell for no more than $250-$275 for it to be competitive with the big three Japanese companies.  It appears this advice has fallen on deaf ears.
These pre-production radios lack some of the features the full-production radios will have.  These will not be FCC Certified for Part 90 use.  They will have narrow band capability but will not have the 2.5 kHz tuning step required for Part 90 radios beginning in 2013.  The frequency range will be RX:136-174 & 350-480 and TX: 136-174 & 400-480.  They did not indicate if any wide-band receive, such as 118 MHz AM, would be available on these pre-production models.
Although these radios may lack some of the bells and whistles we've expected, I imagine they will still be good dual band radios for the ham market.  BUT, I still don't feel they are worth $325.
Wouxun says I can't sell these for less than $325.  They did not say that I can not include a FREE HT with the purchase.  (Rest assured, they will raise holy crap about it, but I'm used to that)  So here's my plan.  I will place the limited number I have on sale for $350 and include a free KG-UV2D HT in the deal.  I'll profit nothing at this but we'll see what happens.
Anytone Dual Band Mobile  -  AT-588UV
For the past two years, I have consulted with Anytone as they developed their dual band mobile radio.  Anytone send a non-working model of the radio for me to show at the Dayton Hamvention (Wouxun would not send anything).  Anytone is now sending a working model (for free!) and says full production will begin in early August.  Anytone has quoted a price that lets me know this radio will retail in the $250-$275 range.  It will be Part 90 Certified and will have some wide-band receive ranges, including AM aircraft.  I look forward to working with this company and expect their mobile to be a big seller.
TYT Quad Band Mobile  -  TH-9800
This radio covers 10 meters, 6 meters, 2 meters and 440 (only FM mode).  TYT sent a semi-working model for me to show at Dayton.  It would light up with menus working and etc.  Those who played with the display said it is a clone of the Yaesu FT-8900.  I have a close contact at TYT and am told they are working hard to get this radio into production in October.
Conclusion
I will continue to do my best to bring quality made Chinese radios to the US market and will only send these emails when necessary.
This particular email is going to about 5,000 people so please don't expect a quick response if you send me a question.
Regards,
Ed Griffin
Wouxun.US  &  Import Communications
www.wouxun.us
www.importcommunications.com

My shooting from the hip response... Ed is fed up enough with Wouxun that he is will to stress the relationship, but he's not done that without a Plan B (name change to Import Communications, Baofeng, Anytone, TYT). It also makes me think that Wouxun may have done us a great service by leading the way, but they may price themselves out of the low cost market - then they will be competing with the big boys on performance and quality. I'm sure the message board will be hopping tonight. I'm going to bed, but there will be interesting reading in the morning I am sure! I'm gonna have to read up on the AT-588UV, too.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Wouxun KG-UV920R: KG-UV920P

Hans follows up his day one review of the KG-UV920P with some more information in Part II. He adds some pictures and a wish-list for furthur improvements, but closes with the following comments:
"The strongest point of the Wouxun KG-UV920P is the quality of the receiver. On the frequencies that matter this receiver does what it’s supposed to do. And it better be good – we lost all those RX bands we originally drooled over."
And
"Wouxun finally competes with the big three."

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

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.

Monday, December 3, 2012

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.

Monday, August 13, 2012

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.


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

KYD NC-UV90A: Dual Band Mobile

Oh boy. Another one... KYD (Kydera) NC-UV90A. I am guessing Hans pulled his information from some of the Alibaba pages. He says it is expected next month. I do not see anything about it on the KYD site. (You can go to http://cnkyd.cn/en/ or http://www.century-comm.com/en.)



At least they started with "A," so we can increment in a predictable pattern as they release bug fixes - unlike the KG-UV920R and its successor the KG-UV920P! And maybe they won't have to toss in an extra 8 like the Anytone AT-5888UV. Could this even mean the Chinese are learning lessons about putting out a quality unit the first time?

I had posted about some KYD HTs in the past, but they never seemed to gain much traction. In fact, I see that the Yahoo Group for those radios no longer exists. They do have some radios listed on the FCC site (FFC ID: VO6).

Thursday, July 26, 2012

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

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Wouxun Dayton Surprise

As I reported earlier, Ed from wouxun.us said he would have a surprise at Dayton. He said it would not be the KG-UV920R, but I was hoping for new hardware of some sort... instead, Dayton attendees could pick up a KG-UVD1P for $85! Price of $85 confirmed here. Amazing.

Friday, March 23, 2012

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!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

HYS TC-UV55: Notes from Ed

YAWKG-UV920R* gripe session on the Wouxun Yahoo Group included a link to this radio on eBay. This radio being the HYS TC-UV55 that has been written about here and here.

The interesting part was when Ed Greany - the other very helpful Ed on the Yahoo Group - had this to say:
"I can speak to this subject. I have a prototype of that radio that I was considering carrying it as a mobile alternative with the Wouxun HT. It is NOT certified and the company wasn't interested in spending the money to certify it. I guess it runs about $5000 according to them. I don't know. I still have the new unit in a box. It replicates the Kenwood TM471 radio. I even did a price survey for them and they asked me for a recommendation on the button layout for the front of the radio. My price answer was between $199 and $250. Perhaps they settled on $239 - not sure.
I stopped negotiations when he said he was best friends with the owner of Wouxun. I didn't want Wouxun to think I was going behind their backs while I am their dealer.
It's unfortunate this is not legal in the U.S. It is a great radio as far as I can tell without resulting in my prototype becoming a "used" radio."
*Yet Another Wouxun KG-UV920R

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Wouxun KG-UV920R: Price

Matt posted about an update from EdTo 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.