WSHT525

I'm in your camp. I have very little desire to collect names from around the world like Pokemon, just isn't my thing. That and the cost of entry into HF is more than I'm willing to spend. I got my General ticket for the challenge more than the added privileges. 2m\70cm\1.25m are very active in my area and I do get a small thrill when I can key up a repeater 50-60 miles away with an HT running through an amp in the car. I've got 3 mobiles, 9 HTs, and still have less invested than a used HF rig would set me back. If I really want to reach out around the world, I can do that on TG 91. Yes, I know that many consider that cheating, then again, I really don't care :). They can enjoy the hobby their way, I'll do mine.

You do know this is a beta radio, correct? It is a hot mess. Unless you like testing out unfinished products (some of us do), return it and get something that is more finished. It uses a different chipset than the standard H3. They should have picked a different model designation, it is only loosely related to the original H3. What firmware are you using? This apparently was corrected in FW 1.19 but would not surprise me if it broke in a later FW. Each release has broken something. The latest as of 4/21/2025 is 1.23 which was released 4/18/2025 and the 7th update in a month.

You can use the USB cable or K1. If you have a K1 cable, use it, though make sure it is seated fully, the K1 ports on most CCRs are either too loose or too tight. If you don't, go through that drawer you have of USB-C cables and find a good one, ones that come with tablets and\or phones should work. The one with the radio is not a good one. It works for some, not for others, but programming via USB is an option. The data cables for me that consistently work are the ones from my iPad, iPhone, or Samsung tablets.

1) it is still beta and buggy. That is to be expected being a beta product and I'll give them credit (big credit) for fast turnaround on updates, though each update breaks something else. 35 years in IT, I also expect that. Sometimes menu button works, other times it thinks it is the UP button. 2) Receive audio is weak. 3) Tx power is on par with other CCRs for GMRS, not quite what they state in the real world, but none of them do. This is a ham radio as well, 220 Tx is 0.1w. One tenth of a watt. 4) Options that could easily go on one of the PTTs are not available to map to it, you have to go into the menus. 5) Bluetooth ok with their app, but nothing else. Big miss, though apparently they are working on a BT speaker\mic for it. BT disconnects randomly. 6) Belt clip attached to the battery, not the case and there's no other external screws so no easy option for a counterpoise. 7) Ejecting the battery feels like it will break something every time, inserting again is like inserting a USB cable. Try. Fail. Try. Fail. Try again a third time the same exact way and it will click in. It is affordable and that carries a lot of weight, especially for the casual user or someone that just wants a small radio to talk to their buddies on the trail. As a RADIO radio, it isn't awesome. It isn't bad like a blister pack from Walmart with Spiderman on it, but up against similarly priced radios, it is at best, average once they get the bugs worked out. The H3 I've heard good things about (I don't own one), the Plus is not the same radio.

Fix was released today. It works. Still not an awesome radio but at least it isn't a paperweight.

It is a different anima, even Chirp treats it as one. Very much like the difference between the Baofeng 5RH vs 5RH Pro vs 5RH Pro Max. They look almost identical but they are not. the Pro is not an upgraded version of the 5RH, that is the Pro Max. The Pro has different hardware, this is apparent to me with the Pro having an ASCII handshake vs Binary for almost all their other models.

All I know - I only have the H3 Plus (beta) - is this is for the FW released today for that specific model, FW 1.19.

Correct. Usually. That is not the case with this update. After failing, you cannot get into DFU mode (PTT+1+Power). The keypad lights up and nothing happens. The expected behavior would include the two LEDs on the top turning green. No joy. 100% of the 21 people I know (there's an FB group for this beta radio) have the identical result. It fails with a checksum error about 75% in. It attempts a repair 4 times, then it gives a fatal error. And fatal is accurate at this time.

Firmware 1.19 is bricking radios. So far 100% of people applying the new FW have a dead unit. If you have one, do NOT do the FW to 1.19. TID is aware of the issue. No resolution has been communicated yet.

Tram 1711 on my Outback. SWR is 1.02 in the middle of the VHF band, no higher than 1.22 at either edge. A bit higher (1.3-1.4) in the UHV range but still acceptable. Rx and Tx range is acceptable considering vertical location and length of antenna (40-50 miles with 5-9 signal reports at 40w VHF and 25W UHF.

Here you go (yes, that is a man’s hand in my picture but I’m a small man)

That photo is inaccurate, that or the hand belongs to an 8yo. I am a small person (5'2", 135lbs). It is definitely not that big. In the pic it looks bigger than a UV5R (I have two of those) and this is significantly smaller than that. Here is mine, hopefully this gives a decent size reference. The speaker mic is a mini, just a fraction over 1" wide. I'll take a pic with it in my hand (or with something that will give good size reference) tomorrow if that helps.

I can see that. I use Car Play to avoid that but not everyone has it or wants to pair their phone to their car (my wife is one of them).

You can pair with a speaker and it works, but anything with a mic no joy unless it is your phone. I still cannot see the benefit of answering my phone on my radio since if the radio is in range of my phone, I can just use the phone? It is dumb. Seems to me that they could make this a full-functioning TNC and corner the cheap market, at least on the ham side where you can do digital modes. Agreed on Chirp, not only is it a much better application and interface, I've found that some of the settings won't stick if I use ODMaster (such as channel display and dual watch) but will if I use Chirp. Since all my radios except one (5RH Pro GPS) are compatible with Chirp, I have basically one file that I can use for all my ham radios and one for GMRS radios. Honestly, this radio wasn't worth buying in my case as far as being a good addition to my collection, I have several others that work as well if not better that don't have the bugs and quirks this one does. It is small and light, I'll give it that, but that can be a con as well as a pro. At least if it does an Alice Cooper and goes under my wheels, I won't shed a tear. Then again, that fits for most of my radios as they were purchased with that possibility in mind .

Wild. I got my GMRS license for local comms when out and about off road and camping (formerly had ZJ\YJ, AMC Eagle, and Ram, now in the Subie ranks along with a lifted & modified '79 Bus) where the people I'd occasionally go out with had no desire to get their Technician ticket, but more importantly, avoid the hams rag chewing on simplex when I'm trying to find out if i need to cut left or right on the trail to avoid dragging on a rock. Want to talk to people in your area while away on vacation just for the sake of talking to them?? Your vacations must suck. If it is something important, a phone is vastly more timely. If low priority, that's what email is for. If it just to socialize, then why are you on vacation? Then again, I've got my General ticket and I refuse to pay the cost of entry to do HF and have zero desire to collect contacts like Pokemon. 34 years in IT has given me my fill of talking to strangers around the world yet is that side of me that enjoys the technical challenges of trying different modes and seeing what I can do for as little $ as possible. The name of the horse is "Bob." As in Microsoft Bob. A solution to a non-problem.