"Some of the TYT MD-9600 owners reported an issue loading channels into their radio using the programming software. The software was reporting that the data was being written successfully, but some or all channels were not accessible on the radio.
To address this issue, TYT released an updated firmware version (3.28) and an updated version of the programming software (1.18)."
On 31 May, Nate comments that Radio-Mart lists the TH-UVF9 as a tri-band radio. The link from Radio-Mart to a brochure shows the radio as a dual band. (I had not posted about this earlier as I could not find the time to review all my notes and surf to the end of the TYT internet to reconcile all this information.) Radio-Mart says they have 494 of the tri-banders available for $111 USD for pre-order and that delivery will be in three weeks. (Three weeks from when?) There is also a note that "the display is LCD and not dot matrix."
That first post mentioned that the TH-UV3R would do 144/440 and 220. The 220 comment brought on a question and then a couple of replies about making the radio tri-band.
"Bryan, it is in tht tyt programing. Open up the program, read from your radio then go to setup then in the dropdown menu click on model info. You will get a popup box with 4 frequency ranges. The 3rd box has 245 to 246mhz init already but is unchecked. Check the box beside it and change the frequency to your band plan. Be aware this will clear any entries you have already programmed. So be prepared to re-enter your frequencies.
I wrote a lot about the TYT TH-9800 in this post last May. In July, Ed was being told that it would be available in October. Dale had thought October as well, but then pushed his date to November.
"Apparently the 9800 was shown at Dayton, but it hasn't been put into production yet and probably won't be. At least that's the latest word from a dealer that is a TYT distributor."
So more vaporware or just delayed like some other Chinese radios?
144/220/440 Tri Band VHF/UHF Handheld Transceiver
This radio doesn’t have cross band function
Feature:
1. 144/220/440 Tri band, dual display, dual standby
2. 100% Brand New & Special Edition!
3. 128 channels to store
4. FM radio receiver and 25 channels
5. Channel spacing selectable (25/12.5 KHz)
6. Hand free VOX function
7. CTCSS/DCS encoding and decoding
8. Low battery alarm
9. Emergency Alarm
10. Shift repeater function
11. ANI function
12. DTMF function
13. Reverse frequency function
14. Tri-color background light selectable
15. English and Chinese prompt
16. MSK
17. 1750 Tone
18. PC software programmable
19. Channel scan function
20. Busy channel lock-out (BCL)
21. Monitor function
22. Time-out timer (TOT)
Frequency range
VHF:136~174MHz up to 7 Watts
VHF:220~260MHz up to 10 Watts
UHF:400~520MHz up to 7 Watts Frequency Stability
±2.5PPm Operating voltage
DC 7.2V (Rechargeable Li-ion battery) Channel NO.
128 Antenna impedance
50 ohm Mode of operation
Simplex or semi-duplex Battery capacity
3600mAh Color
Black Dimension(Exclude antenna)
13x6x3.5cm Weight
291g
Transmitter Output power
<=10w, >=5W Modulation mode
F3E Maximum deviation
<5khz p="" z="">Adjacent Ch. power
<=-65dB/ <=-60dB Spurious radiation
<7 p="">Pre-emphasis characteristics
6dB Current
<=2.8A(10W),<=1.8A(5W) CTCSS/DCS deviation
0.55KHz±20.15KHz, 0.4KHz±20.1KHz Intermediation sensitivity
8~12mV Intermediation distortion
<5 p="">
We wondered about a tri-bander from TYT with the TH-UVF9. And, as is often the case, I don't see the TH-UV8000SE on the TYT site (but they do have the TH-UV8000D.
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.
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.
"This radio appears to be a replica of an HT that TYT is preparing to
market. TYT is testing it now. The only visible difference is that the
TYT does not have a flashlight (at least at this time it doesn't).
This
radio has 43 menu options, but beware of buying one of these unless you
speak Chinese. The ones for sale in Guangzhou only speak Chinese and
they say English versions are not available yet. So inquire what
language it speaks before ordering."
The 409Shop product page does list the manual as being in English. As with many new products, earlier adopters may be in for a quirks.
"Compared to other dual band amateur mobiles such as the Wouxun KG-UV920P-A, the TYT Th-7800 appears to be a simple radio. In some ways it seems oddly reminiscent of a mobile Yaesu, and when we showed it at several local hamfests, hams who give it a first look agreed. This may be due, at least in part, to a chassis with rounded edges and the orange backlit detachable display. While it isn't outwardly flashy, there seems to be a lot of functionality packed inside.
The TH-7800 is, indeed, a dual band mobile two way radio. Like many other amateur mobiles in its class, it transmits on the 2 meter VHF (136-174MHz) and 70cm UHF (400-480MHz) bands. With 40 watts on UHF and 50 watts on VHF, the 7800 seems to have the TX on these two bands adequately covered.
Reception is a bit broader. it receives wide band AM and FM on 108-180MHz, 134-174MHz and 350-520MHz. It supports 800 memory channels (809 to be more precise, according to the manual) and allows settings to be configured independently for each individual channel."
"OOPS! We have Just received a full mismarked shipment of radios from the factory. We ordered MD-380G which is a MD380 with a GPS installed. What came in was a radio labeled MD380G. But it has no GPS. So we are blowing out these brand new mis marked radios. This is just a normal TYT MD-380 UHF Version that is marked as a MD-380G. This radio does not have a GPS installed. Quantities are limited and once they are gone, they are gone."
Ed from Import Communications provided some more specifics along with the timeline as he sees it:
"My samples for the TH-9800 will ship early April and mass production will begin in May. I'm not sure if they will be ready for sale by Dayton, but I will at least have one on display... I had one on display last year.
And the coverage for the TH-9800 are as follows
HF: RX/26-33MHz;TX/26-33MHz
VHF: RX/47-54MHz;TX/47-54MHz (Optional)
VHF: RX/66-88MHz;TX/66-88MHz (Optional)
VHF: RX/108-135MHz
VHF: RX/136-180MHz;TX/136-176MHz
UHF: RX/320-399.995MHz;TX/350MHz-390MHz
UHF: RX/400-512MHz;TX/400MHz-470MHz or 440MHz-512MHz
UHF: RX/750-950MHz
I have not verified the "optional" VHF ranges but I'm guessing there will be different versions for different countries."
"Details are still sketchy, but TYT has released a few specs on this new handheld. Key features of the TYT MD-2017:
Dual band
Dual display
Dual standby
Complies with ETSI TS 102 360-1, -2, -3
Uses Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
Compatible with MotoTRBO Tier 1 and II
GPS capable
Lone worker function
Encryption function
Analog and Digital Modes
SIngle Call, Group Call and All Call
Remote Kill/Stun/Activate
IP67 Waterproof.
Firmware upgradeable
Rumour has it the MD-2017 could arrive sometime in March 20-17. However, no official release date has been set. For the latest updates on this new radio, Keep checking in at Buy Two Way Radiossubscribeto our blog!"
"Anthony Roque, Sales Manager here at Buy Two Way Radios and co-host of The Two Way Radio Show, received a very positive update last night from TYT. Our demo unit of the much anticipated MD-9600 will be shipping out very soon!!"
And:
"With this announcement, TYT also confirmed a couple of changes from the initial announcement. The biggest and most exciting change is that the MD-9600 will be a dual band (UHF/VHF) radio instead of a separate version for each band."
A quick review on the TYT Yahoo Group... looks like all these Chinese radios are going to be available in colors and I am slightly disappointed it doesn't have the reverse display.
"Noteworthy is the size of the unit is almost identical to the Baofeng UV-3R radios just a little thicker (side by side photos of the Wouxun KG-UVD1, Baofeng UV-5R, TYT and the Baofeng unit). Another photo of the back of the box seems to indicate 4 colors are available. Unlike the brochure photos the display is the standard lcd (not the reverse image as pictured in the ad)."
"We here at Radio Mart no longer carry ANY Chinese radios
The reason is very simple,, as we were the first to introduce this rig in to the country we enjoyed excellent sales for some time, then with eBay and Amazon came falling prices to below even our landed cost.
10 to 15 calls a day every single day and night asking for help from users who had not purchased the rig from our company gets a little old,,, so it’s no skin off my nose that I no longer carry the TH-9800
Support from TYT,, good luck with that and support from whoever you purchased it from through Amazon or eBay,, good luck with that too.
IF USA hams had supported a USA company then this would be an exceptional radio for the money however this never happened,, shame really.
I set up this self help group to cover any of the consumers who purchased this radio elsewhere so they could at least get some support of sorts.
Thank you to all those hams who have been very patent and helpful to those in need of assistance.
I will be keeping this help group open for now as it is part of my contribution to the hobby but PLEASE DO NOT CALL me asking for help when you went elsewhere and purchased this radio.
Hans compares the TYT TH-F8 and Baofeng UV-5R batteries. The batteries appear to be the same except for a slight weight difference and some cosmetic molding. And despite the different rated capacities, he suspects they may be identical internally. He's going to do some more looking, but if that is true then the TYT battery is a much better deal at $4 less than the Baofeng. Looks like the Baofeng brand is beginning to be worth something.
"I would like to make something clear. Someone is posting on groups that the TH-9800 at Dayton was a dummy non working model. This is not true. The TH-9800 at Dayton was a fully operating unit and it was plugged in at Dayton so people could play with it. This sale person is posting that it is a Dual Band mobile and not a Quad Band mobile. That is also not true. The unit is Quad Band however on the sales information, TYT calls it a Dual Band. I have talked with them many times about them calling it Dual Band and telling them they should call it a Quad Band but they just do not understand. I then put alot of thought to that and I have backed off in trying them to change it to Quad Band. If they realized it as a Quad Band and different then the others that will come out, that might cause them to raise the starting price so I have backed off with hopes of a lower starting price. On the catalog page of the TH-9800 on this site, I posted actual pictures of the TH-9800 I had just before returning to TYT."
"I wanted to inform you on the progress of the TYT radio. Part of the
delay is the original design did not have DTMF tone capability. This is
something I informed TYT was really needed. They had to manufacture a
totally new circuit board to add this, but they did it. The radios are
being assembled right now and the shipment will be made by the end of
April. I'll be the first US dealer with this radio and I'm pretty
excited about it.
When the TH-UV3R stock arrives, you will receive another email letting you know it's available to order.
