I spent a couple of hours today trying to figure out a way to make more money via the Amazon associates program. While I’m still working on that, one thing that did strike me is the number of VHF/UHF transceivers from China that are now available via Amazon. They include:
- LEIXEN LX VV-898 Dual Band VHF/UHF 136-174/400-470MHz 10W Two Way Radio Mobile Transceiver Amateur Ham Radio
- AnyTone Dual Band Transceiver VHF/UHF AT-5888UV Two Way Amateur Radio
- Juentai JT-6188 Dual Band VHF/UHF 136-174/400-480MHz VHF 25Watt UHF 20Watts Dual Band Two Way Radios Mobile Transceiver
- Tokmate TD8900 Portable Dual Band Transceiver VHF/UHF 136-174/400-480MHz VHF 25Watt UHF 20Watt Mobile Transceiver
- SainSonic GT-890 Mini Dual Band Car Radio, VHF/UHF 136-174/400-480MHz 25W/20W Mobile Transeiver
- TYT TH-9800 Quad Band Transceiver 10M/6M/2M/70cm VHF/UHF Two Way and Amateur Radio
- QYT KT-8900 Dual Band VHF/UHF 136-174/400-480MHz VHF 25Watt UHF 20Watts Dual Band Two Way Radios Mobile Transceiver
- Zastone KT8900 Dual Band Transceiver VHF/UHF 20W MINI Moblie radio
- HYS TC-8900R 50Watt mobile Vehicle transceiver Ham two way radio with Cross Band Repeat
- HYS Tc-mauv11 Vhf/uhf Dual Band Mobile Ham Radio Transceiver Air – Band Receiving Mobile Car Radio with USB Programming Cable
- HYS Tc-9900 Hf/vhf/uhf Car Mobile Radio Transceiver/ham Two Way Radio Cross Band Repeat
- LUITON LT-580 UHF Mobile Radio 45watts 400-490Mhz with Free Programming Cable Long Distance Car FM Transceiver (Black)
That’s just from the first two pages of results when I searched for “amateur radio vhf transceiver.” I haven’t used any of these radios, but some of them look pretty interesting. They are very small, for one thing.
Also, I left out the radios from the Big Three (Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood). The reason for this is that the Amazon prices were in nearly every case higher than the price for which you could purchase the radio from Gigaparts or DX Engineering. I didn’t feel it was right to get you to buy the radio via Amazon, when you could get it for less from the mainstream ham radio suppliers.
I’d love to hear from you if you’ve purchased and used any of these radios. Please leave a comment here about how well the radio performs and whether you like it or not.
Stan Broadway says
When my wife got her tech, we of course ‘needed’ a mobile rig for her van. She was not interested in dropping another $400. So I took a look across the Amazon pages. Many of these tiny radios are operating at reduced power, but the QYT caught my attention: 25 watts, dual band with the usual boatload of excessive features, and tiny! For $89 I purchased one. I wouldn’t ask my worst enemy to manually program this- but the cable and software made that as easy as any other radio. What I found was the rig is solid! It has good, hot audio and the speaker output is loud. It an be argued that this radio is comparable to the ‘big three’, with the caveat that if it breaks, one simply throws it away. I wouldn’t hesitate to offer this up as a great first-time, enter-the-hobby radio.
Fred Becchetti-W8ZLK says
One issue is import duty if ordered/shipped from China
Dave, N8SBE says
Another issue is that trying to get one repaired results in a trial of patience. Even if sold locally by a retailer, TYT, for instance, can only be repaired if shipped back to China. And of the units I know locally, a number of them had infancy failures, and had to be shipped back.
Randy, N1NEZ says
Being a new ham with just a Technician license, I decided to go with the TYT TH-9800 Quad Band Transceiver 10M/6M/2M/70cm VHF/UHF. The main reason was cost. The second reason was that it has all 4 bands that a technician licensee can use. It also has a separating face plate so that the transceiver can be installed in the trunk (extended cable included). I chose to buy it from a local shop rather than Amazon as I knew they would help me if things went wrong. So far it has worked out pretty well. I haven’t gotten any complaints from others on audio quality. It’s not to difficult to program manually (YouTube is your friend) and there are several programs including CHIRP and a corresponding cable (watch out for counterfeits) that make it simple to program repeaters. On the downside, 10M is FM only which is very limiting. The main issue I have encountered is a high frequency ‘whine’ when it is put in single receiver mode. It appears to be a bug that several people are experiencing but the workaround is easy (don’t go in single receiver mode). Overall, I’m satisfied with my purchase.
Dan KB6NU says
What’s the name of the local shop? We can give them a plug.
Randy, N1NEZ says
Adams Electronics Company in Wixom, MI. Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adams-Electronics-Company/136085429774148. The owner, Scott Adams, is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and is really knowledgeable on ham radio technology.
KD0TLS Todd says
“The second reason was that it has all 4 bands that a technician licensee can use.”
That’s an FM-only rig. Techs aren’t allowed in the portion of the 10M band designated for FM.
j says
juentai 6188….
for $100, great radio. as hard to program as the baofeng’s. it has good xmission, but, reception in a high RF city is a little painful as it has pretty bad rejection and it really likes to auto compensate for close signals and pretend they are on frequency…. so it ends up being a tad deaf and picks up many more spurious signals than, say, a yaesu 897/857. technically you are not supposed to xmit on FRS/GMRS frequencies with this unit even though it is able to do so.
John M says
I purchased a Baofeng UV5R V2 Dual Band HT from Amazon for $50.00 including shipping as I was getting back into the hobby after many years of being inactive. This radio and from I read about the other Chinese imports are a nightmare to program from the front panel. I usually have to refer back to a saved YouTube video if I haven’t done it in awhile. My thoughts are for the money they are throwaways once they break or develop problems. There is little to no manufacturer support hence that’s why they are so cheap. How Ham radios I bought back in the 1980’s are easier to program from the front panel than these things in 2015 is beyond me? My guess these are bastardized commercial radios and were not really meant to be front panel programmed. I’m not talking about a complex entry here, repeater output, the split and the PL or DPL tone. I’m currently in the market for a dual band mobile and will probably go with one of the big 3 from Japan. I shouldn’t need to bring a laptop and programming cables with me if I go on a road trip just to program my mobile radio. It comes down to you get what you pay for. I hear people squawk about the high price of the Japanese gear and I don’t own stock in these companies. There’s product engineering, marketing, and an estimated units sold worldwide to the amateur community that goes into the equation on pricing. I wouldn’t doubt there’s some patent infringement, minimal to no product support going on with the Chinese radios. My 2 cents.
Steve B. says
So I just passed the Tech exam and waiting for the license. Dipped my toe in the water to hear what is going on locally with a UV-5R. Have the radio (waiting for the cable) and can manually tune it, but wonder if there is some way to manually program the channels until I get the cable? The manual is silent on this. Thanks.
Dan KB6NU says
Yes, there is, but it’s a nightmare. Just Google “Baofeng programming,” and you’ll find someone who’s written some instructions.
Rich says
Honestly they are not that hard to program, a quick google or youtube search will show you how to program them in short time.
With a Jpole mounted to my roof my UV5R easily gets +20 miles with great audio.
Donald says
Anything Uv-5r, go to miklor.con
Mike K4ISR says
For so long hamateurs have been in this “if it breaks fix it” mentality, which is understandable when they’re paying $300 to $1000+ for each radio/component. Yet now there are these new lines of cheaper chinese models that could be described as “disposable” models since repairs to them may cost as much as a new replacement. Where $400 gets you a model that lasts for a decade or longer, even if you replace these cheaper $100 chinese models every 3-4 years, that same $400 would bring you to the 12-16 year mark. Of course many of these Chinese models can, have and may last as long as the Big 3 brand models saving you even more money.
There are even newer updated versions of the above models sold by BaofengTech who worked with the manufacturers, programmers, and even the crew that created Chirp, to fix many of the bugs and problems from the other models, then released them under their name. Look up the Btech UV-2501 and UV-5001.
Joe KM4NHN says
I have a Juentai JT-6188 that I bought off Amazon. Nice little radio with a few minor bugs. I have gotten great audio reports from it. It will pick up interference from time to time. I give it a 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Chuck KB8SNT says
I have a pair of Baofeng UV-5Ra HTs, one for me and the other for my Tech class wife, KB8TJM. I also have a TYT TH-9800. We own two Yaesu FT-1D HTs and my first rig was a Yaesu VX-7R. A CERT group we work with has 12 Baofeng GT-3 radios.
I can understand why people don’t like programming the Baofeng but I don’t think it’s as hard as all that, in my humble opinion. Anyway, I program them the FT-1D’s and the TH-9800 using CHIRP so they’re all as easy as the others to set up.
I am a huge fan of the Baofeng radios. Once, during a training exercise, my wife and I heard signals that the Kenwoods, Icoms and Yaesus were missing. The calls were important too. The TYT in my car is fantastic. The signal reports have been outstanding especially the AF level and clarity. I hear a lot of hams ripping on the Baofeng but I worked with ten hams on a CERT that have all had excellent results in circumstances were public service radios were less than effective.
David KG7ZMX says
Tested up through General Class in November 2015 and bought a Baofend 8 watt handheld. I have since bought and borrowed a couple of HF rigs but that is another story. The Baofeng is used to check into the local nets and when the wind is right and the repeaters are hot I can check into the nets in the middle of the state. Like others have commented I use Chirp to program it. I like is well enough that I have ordered a Sain Sonic 890 to put in my car. I will have to let you know how it goes. I have only heard one issue, other than DOA, and that is a spike 430’s somewhere. $92 from Amazon. We shall see.
thomas m says
Cheap and disposable is the new day. Like smart phones….who would want to keep one if the new improved version is coming around in a few months. Leave it to the Chinese to come up with some good toys for us. Heck, smart phones may some day have ham rigs built into them !!! Not long ago the old timers used to mock these radios.
KF7BYE says
There are already smartphones with dual-band radio transceivers built in. For an example, take a look at http://en.runbo.net/.
KM4UKY says
And theyre 20 Grand!
Mark says
You don’t list it, but I have a Black Box UHF mobile radio that I use for Ham.. The radio is Part 90 certified. I assume this is a Chinese radio, though I do not have the manual handy. Works fine in 70 cm band. As a hypothetical, one could use it for GMRS. Part 90 requirements are the same as those for GMRS, except Part 90 radios have to do narrow band (and maybe a few other things) and GMRS does not. There are no Part 95 mobiles being made that I know of. So you would be taking your chances, but would be in technical compliance. I have been running this radio mobile for years with no trouble.
I have a about six Baofengs, some with minor bugs, but in years I use, I have not had a failure. Really nice to have an HT that it doesn’t really matter if it gets lost or destroyed. I think they are legal for MURS, so that is nice should one want to go to license-by-rule for talking to family and friends. Check around, but I read the rules and can’t see why not, just program for the right power and deviation. The receiver is sensitive on these HTs, but picks up what sounds like intermod around my neighborhood. I assume that the transmitter is dirty, but I don’t know that. I have heard many on repeaters and they sound fine.
My ICOMs and Yaesus are much better radios than the Baofengs. They receive better and are easier to operate and I assume the transmitters are better. They also cost five times as much.
Dod says
NO definitely NOT! I have LEARNED…when is comes to RADIOS… Amazon is synonymous with “Doesn’t Work RIGHT out of the Box!” Every and I mean EVERY time I’ve ordered from them It has HAD to be returned, Wrong Item , Item Doesn’t work, Mismatched Parts.. its a RUNNING joke around our area. NOPE anywhere but Amazon! The Chinese KNOW they have a DUMP for all their CRAP!
KM4UKY says
I have several of these radios. I had a Luiton LT-580 go bad a year after I bought it. I googled Luiton repair and emailed the contact shown. The man was in China. He gave me a return authorization and their address of their warehouse in California. As soon as they received the radio (no box or accessories) they sent me a tracking number and I got the new radio in 3 days with all the paperwork and accessories. Good company to deal with.
Terrrence MacArthur says
I was looking for an inexpensive 5W dual band handheld oin Amazon, and I found an interesting little handheld, apparently fairly new on the market; a Luiton LT 25W dual band, for $129.99. 25 Watts output, a 12.6v, 4000 mAh, Lithium Ion battery, 5W, 10W, and 25W output settings. Usual features, like scanning, user defined keys, auto power off, and time out timer. Intelligent fan cooling. Sounded pretty good.
Never having heard of Luiton, I did what research I could, which was limited because not many others had ever heard of them either. I did find someone who’d tested the frequency accuracy, which tested dead on, and the power output, which varied from above 20W to an actual 25W, depending on whether you were using VHF or UHF.
It looks like Luiton started out making sort of clones of the cheap Baofengs, then progressed to their own designs, including an improved antenna, and those who had anything to say about them did seem to like them. Given that the main drawback of a handheld, in my opinion, is transmitting range, due to low output power, 25W from a handheld, less than $130 was pretty attractive. Unfortunately, since it wasn’t on the main ad page, I missed the fact that it’s a simplex, not duplex, transciever until after I’d already ordered one. I was going to cancel the order, but then I thought, hey, nothing should prevent me from transmitting with 25 Watts, which should give me some nice range, then listening to the repeater on a $30 Baofeng that’s set to the repeater’s freq. So I didn’t cancel. It ought to get here in a day or two, and we’ll see.
How many of you are old enough to remember when a “made in Japan” label meant the thing was automatically considered junk? That was the case into the 1960s and even the early 1970s. Now “made in Japan” electronics means quality merchandise (like ICOM). And there was a fairly lengthy period when that “junk” assumption just wasn’t accurate, but it stayed around much longer than it should have. I think the Chinese are going through the same process that Japan did.
I believe that the main problem with Chinese electronics as a whole, including amateur radios, is quality control. Their basic designs are fine, the materials usually aren’t inadequate, and they usually do what the maker claims. But. QC. The main reason Chinese electronics are so cheap, other than the state support that Chinese makers of export products get, is cheap labor. So sometimes things don’t get put together as well as they should. And, in most cases, the companies do not have strict enough quality control to catch enough of the problem units before they’re shipped. So it can be a crap shoot. You might get something nice, you might get something that has problems. But in most cases, from what I’ve seen, the problem units aren’t numerous enough to require staying away from them, considering the amount of money you save. At worst, if you get a dud, you can return it. And, again giving the savings, it’s worth the possibility of having to go through the aggravation of a return. And the other problem is service. Chinese electronics usually have to go back to China for repair, so if something does break you’ll be without it longer than you would with, say, a Kenwood. But, again, you need to weigh the cost of a Kenwood against the convenience of quick repairs if they’re needed.
In my opinion, even given the possibility of getting a bad unit or having to wait longer for any future repairs, Chinese amateur radio gear is worth buying.
Stan says
May I ad a Correction, The Tech Class can only Operate 3 bands of the Quad Band Radios.The Tech Class Can not get up to 29.6Mhz. The FCC does not Permit FM below 29.5Mhz. The Tech Class may only Operate USB and CW and on the lower part of the band they may operate some of the Digital modes.
Stan K6RMR
Dan KB6NU says
Good point. Thanks.
chuck. says
so what, if the guy gets his general hes all set, at least he’ll have the rig to do it. if he got a good deal for all 4 bands i say why not. i’m sure he’s done his research on what bands he allowed. just like the rest of us. i bought one that carried all 4 bands . i just didn’t use the restricted bands until i passed my general. now I can. it should get him enthused to upgrade his license. I know it’s hell not to use the bands when you have them. hey bro. if you’re happy upgrade and use them all.
Terry W0TRJ says
Mini Pro QYT KT-7900D Quad Band 25W VHF 136-174MHz 220-260 MHz 20W UHF 400-480MHz 350-390MHz.
Not much info/reviews on this radio that I could find on the net about any problems this radio could have, I took a chance and got one for $100 on Ebay.
Just received the radio on 30 Dec 2016, I did some testing and found some firmware bugs
1. Automatic back light (ABR) Back light will not go off even after changing the setting in
the setup menu.
2. Automatic power off (APO) not working even after changing menu setting.
This is only some of the problems I found with it right now and I only been testing it for
about 2 Hrs.
I’m pretty sure the firmware in these radios cannot be updated, the microcontroller is an OTP type. (One Time Programmable) Once ‘flash’ programmed at the factory, it cannot be changed.
The radio I have does TX on 350-390MHz and I read on the net that it only RX on 350-390MHz – it will receive and transmits on the other 3 Bands.
If you are thinking on buying one you should wait till factory flashes the microcontroller with some better bug free firmware and this could take a year or more if they even keep making them.
I got good TX audio reports on 2 meters and the radio has very loud audio output when
turned up.
I rate it a 5 out of a 10 – 10 being the best. TX high power output lower then stated in specification -My Radio show 14 Watt high and 6 watts low on VHF 2 meters band.
I have a Baofeng UV_5R with firmware ver: BFB297 and I have not found any bugs in
the radio firmware, but the radio had been upgrade many times from the factory before
the firmware was fixed.
Maybe I could just have a bad radio from the factory – Radio Ser#1610233558
Date on the factory box 2016-12-9.
I have version 2 hand mic and not sure it will last for 2 months, I hope longer.
in the box I received a Chinese users manual, but you can download the english manual
at this web link below!
http://chirp.danplanet.com/issues/4269
Ken says
So far I’ve had some very good experiences with purchases of Chinese radios. I have bought a resold a lot of different radios.
A Wouxun KG-UV920P-A (SainSonic), I bought from a Amazon seller that had a TX failure – after 8 months. I contacted the seller asking about how I could get warranty. After several email exchanges I was surprised with an email saying “We ship you new radio, you keep old one”. A couple more emails exchanged when they told me the way they were shipping could not go to a P.O. Box. The next day after giving them my house address I received a message from DHL that the package was shipped. Four days later I had a brand new radio shipped direct from China, all at no cost to me.
Recently I had a problem with a purchase from eBay. Two Baofeng UV-5R and programming cable.. Both radios though still usable had problems and the programing cable didn’t. I’ve bought over 20 or these HTs from various sellers with no problems before. I contacted the seller. First response was could I get them repaired locally, they would pay if reasonable. I replied that this was not possible and labor costs would exceed the cost of the radios. A couple of days later they emailed that they would reship the whole order. The next day they sent me a tracking number that verified the shipment by ePacket (mail tracked via local post office).
Something I feel that are important.. When communicating with the sellers, be polite and business like. Some of the people that I know who have had bad experiences cause some of their own problems. Calling the seller names, accusing them of being ripoff artists, dumping their junk on you is not likely going to get you favorable results. I treat them with respect and work with them on the problem. So far it has worked well..
73.. Ken – VE5KC
Kevin Campbell says
I have owned 7 Baofend radios: 1 UV5R, 2 FS-FH8P 2016 Anniversary Edition HT, 1 2501/220 mobile, and 2 betech 5001 mobile radios. The 2501 is a second-generation radio. It works great. The roofing filter aren’t very good, but it works all 3 bands. It outputs 40 W on 2m, 35 W on 440 MHz, and 25 watts on 220 MHz. Plus, it transmits above 500 MHz and below 130 MHz, which it’s not supposed to do . The UV5R and UV3R work well, too.
My luck with the Betech 5001 was not so good. Four units just quit working. No output. I even replaced the power amplifiers, but still nothing. Now, I have and SDR scanner. In my opinion stay away from the 5001 third generation radios. They’re just crap.
I ordered the TTY TH9800 which is the Yaesu clone. I also have an Anytone 5555n. This is an awesome radio. It’s well-built and covers the 11m and 10m SSB bands and the 10m, 6m, 2m, and 440 MHz FM bands. Yes, my car is a porcupine.
Matthieu Dugas says
I didn’t had much good experience so far with the chineese radio. The whole cheap thing is bugging me. Here is why : it is cheap because it doesn’t meet our needs and is often illegal. Let me explain why it is my thinking so far.
I’ve bought, two weeks ago, two radios from China. They are the QYT KT-7900D , which is a tri-bander radio (for ham use) but really advertised as a quad band radio because it can transmit on 350 Mhz ( which is illegal to use ).
Anyway, I did hooked up that radio to my base antenna to compare the receive of this radio with my usual base radio. Yes it is true, my base radio is probably a bit more advanced technology but it is an old FT-857D (Yaesu). It was TERRIBLE as a receiver.
As a transmitter, all was good. Good voice transmit, good power out. However, should any transceiver be built as such the receiver can’t reach the coverage of the transmitter? To me it’s illegal and doesn’t serve the purpose of a hamradio transceiver. If you’re on a Repeater pair, if the repeater hear you, you should be able to hear it back within the capability of the transmitter! That radio (QYT KT-7900D), in my opinion, shouldn’t be allowed to transmit more than 2 watts output.
As the comparison’s results, all signals from S8 or lower on my FT-857D couldn’t be heard on the QYT KT-7900D. At S9, the signal was noisy … and then S9+ it started going over the noise.
I did test another radio I had home ; a Baofeng UV-5R. The results are as following ; the TX voice isn’t as good. The TX power is limited to 5 Watts. The receiver is more sensitive than the QYT KT-7900D and almost par to my Yaesu, but the Yaesu radio still win that battle. However, given the fact the Baofeng UV-5R is a 5Watts radio, it does receive where it can transmit.
I haven’t put any analyser on any of those radios .. so I don’t know what kind of spectrum garbage come out from those radios. To me, the most important thing is to have a radio that can receive as well as it can transmit… otherwise, there is no point of using those chineese radios.
I’m gonna test the Anytone AT-5888UV in the next couple days.
Thanks,
73 de VE9MDB
Jason Woodson says
Screw Baofeng and any other cheap knock-off radios. I’m not against China made things but I am against low quality el-cheapo radios that don’t last and/or can provide a clean signal therefore causing noise for the channel. Every radio should be FCC compliant or severe fines for using those radios should exist and I mean very serious fines lines like 10,000 dollars and higher. I don’t like things being sold that will end up in the trash/landfill a year later. I strongly encourage buying at least a mid quality radio that will last for 5-10 years so I would go with Tera, Wouxun for mid-grade quality china made radios or the wonderful super well made Yeasu radios that are mostly US made. Like many have said “garbage in, garbage out” and I agree with the statement and fits perfectly with how I feel about garbage el-cheapo radios.
Lastly, Midland are now making decent higher powered mobile/base units so check out the MXT115 and MXT400
Austin says
I’ve got about a dozen UV-5R around my house, vehicles, and offices, at any given time, in different flavors. I’ve had most of them for over 4-6 years and they work great. No failures except for the one I took apart to cerakote, and ended up foolishly melting the case.
I keep a bunch of them around and give them away to friends and family who are new HAMs or interested in getting them; as well as to friends who spend time off-roading or camping off-grid and might have occasion to need to send out a ‘mayday’.
I also program them to the frequencies used at my work, and use them instead of carrying around the 5-pound brick that is the piece of $#!T Motorola CP200 that everybody else is stuck with. I get 3 times the battery life everybody else does, it weighs a fraction of the CP200, and is also MUCH smaller.
They’ve lasted fine. They hold up, sound great, and I’ve bought probably 20-30 radios over the last 6-7, years, and for what I’ve spent on them, I couldn’t have bought two of those Motorola CP200 pieces of garbage. I originally bought them as knock-around ‘beater’ radios, and ended up discovering that they’re superior in just about every way to the CP200, which costs more than 10x as much.
Have you actually USED the Baofengs? Because it sounds to me like you’re talking out your @$$…
Robert Miller says
Well, for those of us that aren’t made of money to where we can give away and or horde $30 radios, we need to buy quality instead of quantity. For most of us, a radio isn’t a consumable, it’s a long term investment.
Greg Horine, N9PBD says
I know this question is several years old, but it still shows up prominently in search engine queries on Chinese ham radios. I thought I would add my two cents to the discussion, just to keep things honest. David, KD8TWG, has a good posting on his site from 2015 (https://kd8twg.net/2015/10/17/a-quick-and-unscientific-spectral-analysis-of-two-baofeng-radios/) that references a very good article in QST magazine from November 2015, titled “ARRL Laboratory Handheld Transceiver Testing.” Spectral purity is probably the primary reason for you to not purchase a cheap Chinese radio for use in the USA. There are clear regulations on spurious transmissions, and these inexpensive radios, in the majority, fail to meet them. Read for yourself, and decide if you want to be that guy.
Bob Truitt WA4A says
Baofeng radios are just great! Remember stuff like the Knight Kit T-60, Heathkit Twoer and other similar vintage entry level ham and CB gear us old timers used? Those were inexpensive rigs and fun even though the performance left a lot to be desired! The new Baofeng radios are worlds better than those cheap rigs I had in the 60s. It’s great to find an inexpensive toy to experiment with. Don’t be so critical and just use em’ and enjoy. I’m retired and don’t have several hundred dollars to spend on ham radio any more!
73, DE WA4A
Bill says
Many of the tri-band Chinese radios offered on Amazon aren’t truly U.S. tri-band versions (the mfg. counts the 350MHz band as the third band, which isn’t legal here in the U.S.). BaofengTech does have a tri-band radio that works on 222MHz, but the LCD display only shows 2 of the 3 bands at once, so you get to pick which of the 3 bands you don’t want to listen to, plus several folks have commented about the spurs coming out of the BaofengTech radio (not good).
Finally, TYT (not QYT) has entered the mix with their latest TH-350 tri-band radio. It’s the first tri-band handheld radio I’ve seen from anybody that displays all 3 bands at once, plus it allows you to also listen (if you want) to 3 different frequencies on the same band.
Having the ability to monitor a local 1.25m repeater, plus my local 70cm repeater, AND my in town 70cm simplex channel is really handy, plus the display shows a handy arrow indicating which frequency was last active (and the arrow stays there until other traffic comes onto a different frequency). It’s not as cheap as a $30 throw-away BTech, but the build quality seems on par with several Japanese radios I own.
I got mine from my local AZ TYT dealer (RF Gear 2 Go) at a cheaper price than they sell the radio for on Amazon (because they are charged a 20% Amazon commission on in-store sales), but they also list it for sale (with a spare Li-Ion battery) on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GCZ5XTR if you feel safer buying it through Amazon.
So far, I’m really happy with it!
DANTE RIBADA W6DGR says
I was using my baofeng ht to listen to fm radio and a VHF midland commercial radio programed to amateur band radio while fishing. After 2 weeks of deciding to get this LEIXEN LX VV-898 Dual Band radio for my rec-boat. a couple of option came to mind.
1. dual band. 2. small enough to place next my marine radio. 3. using a j-pole inclosed in a 1.5 inch by 4 feet pbc pipe as an antenna no ground mount needed swr almost 1.3. 4. it has fm radio. well it is good for being in the water and fish for salmon and crabing. Combining two hobbies,
i think i’m good. i leave the expensive radios either at home station on in my car.
73 de Dante W6DGR
Robert Frampton says
I’ve had my general class for 4 years now. My first radio was a Baofeng UV-B5. Good recieve and audio. But a pain to program via the front panel like all the other Baofengs. It is supported by Chirp which is much easier.
My second HT was an Anytone. I’ve used the Anytone AT-3208uv HT for over a year now.
It is a dual band 200 channels and 5w vhf 4w uhf. I purchased it from Ed at Wouxun.US. It has performed flawlessly and being FCC Part 90 compliant is a plus as well. I use it every day at work on our company owned VHF narrow band repeater. Programming it via the front panel is not bad. The factory programming software works good. It is not currently supported by Chirp. I also purchased an Anytone At-778uvII dual band mobile 200 channel 25w from Amazon. Just like the HT it to has performed well. The receive is awesome although it can be overloaded by a very strong close signal. Audio reports are clean and loud without being overdriven. The manuals are just ok. They could be better. Would I purchase another Chinese transceiver? Yes of course I would.
73’s
KK6PDO
Jim Peisker AF5NP says
Major regrets buying a Tytera cross-band mobile rig. Worked for several months with light use. Suddenly people could not hear me. Transmit power OK but transmitted audio was very weak. Thought it was a bad mic so got a replacement. Same problem. If I scream into the mic people can just barely hear me. Apparently there is something wrong in the modulation circuit so that it barely deviates FM on both UHF and VHF. Tytera would repair but they require special shipping to China which costs nearly as much as a new radio! I’m never buying Tytera again as there are no USA repair facilities.
Tom Hybiske, K3GM says
I purchased a QYT KT-8900D in a weak moment last year at the Dayton Hamvention. First: At this moment, the transceiver does not have FCC Type Acceptance. That alone makes it illegal to sell in the US. But new regulations now male it illegal to even operate one. This is for good reason….
Secondly: My personal transceiver will transmit on any frequency covered by the radio. It will transmit on police frequencies, fire frequencies, and even NOAA Weather Radio.
For the price I paid, operating it is not worth the possibility of causing interference on public service frequencies.
Robert says
I have two of the Juentai 6188’s. They perform very well. The first one I bought did’nt have an external speaker jack but the second one did. However, the receive on both are great. Transmit is also great.
Steve says
I’m a little late to the party, but I can honestly say I’ve bought my last cheap Chinese radio. I bought a Juentai JT-6188 Plus “mobile”. I really want to like it, but while it is supposed to put out 20 or 25 watts depending on the high/low setting, I’ve never seen more than about 18, and sometimes 10 or less, depending on the frequency, even with a 1:1 SWR. Different power output on different frequencies in the same band is definitely a problem. It has a big problem with adjacent channel rejection in the car, which makes it worthless while mobile. Too bad, because it is, after all, marketed and configured as a mobile radio. I put it in a go box, so at least I can use it for something. I would not take a chance on another off-brand Chinese radio, because as they say, the heartburn of poor quality lingers long after the sweet taste of low price. The Juentai is not my only cheap Chinese radio. I have three Baofengs that work just fine, and one Wouxun KG-UV8T that I won at a raffle. I’ll stay with my Yaesus, because even though most are made in China, they are at least engineered to work, and I’ve had zero problems with any of them. Chinese companies keep rebranding the same radios, so it’s roulette.
Jim PIper says
My greatest technological concern with Chinese rigs is the Chinese attention to or lack thereof to spectral purity. There are several videos on YouTube re and it seems the rigs are all over them map. I’ve owned a couple of model Baofengs (just don’t get caught baofenging in public!), including the UV-82. In one of the videos the engineer tested the UV-82 and its out-of-band spurs were ridiculously high.
So, buyer beware!
Brian K0BMP says
Im sort of late to the party here, but id like to ad my thoughts. I bought a radioddity qb25. The radio works well and while I haven’t checked any spectrum readings, it seems to get clear audio reports and good sound on receive. I had one issue with a single repeater i had programmed in my area where the weather station would pop in once in a while (i had it set to wide). I reprogrammed it for narrow and haven’t heard a peep since (only with this one specific frequency and it’s nowhere near the weather channels). It is tiny and fits well in my suv which has almost zero mounting options. So far it’s performed well for what I expected and the price point (under $80). I didnt expect it to be a high end radio and I think it was a good deal for a cheap radio. Unfortunately at this time I’m unable to buy a big three unit due to financial crunching. The radio actually is a 4 bander (one if which being in the relm of the United States military frequencies). I programmed that section all the way out so there is no easy chance of access and a “mistake”. I am frequently on 2m 70cm and 1.25. It fits what I wanted for my suv and for what i do when mobile. If you walk into these radios knowing they aren’t a high end unit, then i think you’ll do fine. If you expect it to produce the same results as a large brand that sells at a much higher price point then you will be disappointed. For me these type of radios are a cheap alternative to get into the hobby without making your kids go hungry (kinda one of the main points of the hobby is family right?). Thats my 2 cents, for what they’re worth.
Bob says
Arguing about the legality of using non-type approved radio transceivers on the amateur bands, to me, is as silly as arguing about the legality of driving an automobile with slick tires, no headlights or turn signals, without a catalytic converter and will go a hundred miles an hour over any legal speed limit on the race track!
Terry King says
Hi, I have an old (but was working 3 years ago) Kenwood TH-78A Dual band VHF-UHF) that I’d like to give away to some (probably young) person who doesn’t have much money… Any pointers please to
Regards, Terry King
…In The Woods in Vermont, USA
[email protected]
Sam Sumner says
>Arguing about the legality of using non-type approved radio transceivers on the amateur bands, to me, is as silly as arguing about the legality of driving an automobile with slick tires, no headlights or turn signals, without a catalytic converter and will go a hundred miles an hour over any legal speed limit on the race track!
Interestingly, this made no sense. Ham Radios DO NOT REQUIRE type acceptance… it is relegated to the licensee. If you are only going to use in on Amateur frequencies, you should be good. (Meeting the spectral / power / bandwidth requirements are up to you – the licensee!