Wouxun KG-UV980P impressions

[dosw]

I picked up a Wouxun KG-UV980P, like new in box, on ebay, and thought I'd give some of my impressions now that I've used it a few days.

 

The KG-UV980P is a quad band amateur radio, featuring 10m, 6m, 2m, and 70cm bands. It will also receive in the CB range, airband, and with proper CHIRP configuration, MURS, Marine VHF, and GMRS. The KG-UV980P is the amateur radio version of the well known (in these circles) of the KG-1000G GMRS radio.

The KG-UV980P will transmit with 10w in the 10m and 6m bands. And it is advertised as 50w in the 2m band VHF band, and 40w in the 70cm UHF band. In testing with a dummy load, my unit comes in at a little over 10w in the 10m and 6m bands, about 46w in the 2m VHF band, and around 43-45w in the 70cm UHF band. So its marketing may be slightly overstating the VHF power, and understating the UHF power. However, it doesn't matter. For practical purposes, it's an ample mobile and base station radio in the UHF and 2m VHF bands.

First obvious question: Will it work for me, a person reading posts on a GMRS website? And the answer is that through some simple configuration adjustments of the band ranges in CHIRP, yes, this will work for you. You might also ask if it will work for those people who prefer more of a Smokey and the Bandit radio band, the answer is sort of, with caveats. And some might ask if it will work for them on a band that has five VHF channels numbered 1-3,Green,Blue. The answer is somewhat, with a caveat.

The caveats: On the smokey and the bandit band the radio can listen in AM mode, but I think only transmit in FM, and the power to L or M. But at "M" you're putting out about 2.6w in the 11m band, whereas this band is FCC restricted to 4w maximum for AM and FM transmission. But at "H" power, you're way over the limit, at 10w, so don't do that.  In other words, if you're buying this for the Superbowl band, it's not ideal; only FM, and wrong power levels. As for the 5-channel VHF band starting with the letter M, there is no power setting that brings you down to compliance, as the lowest setting is a little over 5w in the 144+ VHF band, and the M band is limited to 2w. So if you're buying this for the M band you're making a mistake; it cannot meet the technical limitations required for that band. The final caveat is this radio is an amateur radio, not type approved for bands that require type approved equipment. If you have your amateur license, it's useful. If not, radios specific to your license make more sense.

 

About our on-topic band: Low power will comply with the technical restrictions of channels 1-7 -- narrow band or wide. Medium and High power will comply with the technical restrictions of channels 15-22 and the repeater inputs -- narrow band or wide. The radio's lowest power setting in UHF is about 5w, and it's a mobile radio, so, like all mobile radios, it will not meet the restrictions for channels 8-14, which must transmit below a half watt.

 

The radio: it's two in one. This radio has two radios inside. It has two volume knobs. Its display has a left side and a right side, each of which corresponds to one of the radios. It literally can play both sides at the same time. It can function as a full-duplex repeater, and as a full-duplex cross-band repeater. It can receive and transmit at the same time, in repeater mode. Some radios have a left and right side, but only one radio on the inside. Those radios achieve this trick by rapidly shifting the one internal radio to listen on the channel set on the left, and then on the channel set on the right. This is how the RA87 works. This is how the UV-5G or UV-5G Plus work. But the Wouxun KG-UV980P doesn't need such a trick; it has two transceivers in it. This is a really nice feature for some people.

The mic: It's well balanced, and weighted. My RA87 mic feels like it's mostly air -- like a hollow chocolate bunny. The KG-UV980P mic feels like a MaBell desk phone from the 80s. It feels nice. Its keypad works well, and has all the features you would want on it (better so than the faceplate even). There is a speaker in the mic handset, and there are two speakers on the base unit. There is a volume control on the mic, a monitor button, menu button, band selection, direct frequency input, and a lot more. It's a good mic, and from what people who have heard my voice over this radio say, it sounds awesome.

The speakers: With a speaker in the mic, and two speakers on the base unit, it sounds good and offers nice options for listening. There are also two external speaker outputs. Remember, it has two radios in it. And this is why. I've  used the radio indoors, and in my super quiet 2014 F150. In those environments, the speakers are plenty loud. I have not tried it out in my old Bronco with a 5.8L v8, 3" exhaust, every rattle known to man, and a thin shell of a roof. I suspect that just like my RA87, which is mounted in the Bronco, its speaker will be almost adequate unless I'm at highway speeds. However, the fact that it has a mic speaker may help in noisy environments.

The faceplate: The radio's faceplate is removable, and can be mounted separately from the base unit. It comes with a short connector for mounting the face plate on the base unit, and it comes with a long connecting cord, as well as a dash mount to allow the faceplate to be located a few feet away from the base unit.

CHIRP: This unit can be programmed with Wouxun's kooky Windows software, or it can be programmed very easily from CHIRP. You will need to purchase a data cable, as it doesn't come with one. The cable is not expensive. With CHIRP you can program its 999 channels, set the band limits, set many other options, and even allocate channels to ten different scan groups, of user-defined size. This allows you to set it to scan only 2m repeaters, or only GMRS, or whatever other scan groups you can imagine that fall within its band capabilities. On my Linux laptop, the cable required no additional drivers; just download and install CHIRP, which I already had, plug in the cable, download the code plug from the radio, modify it, and upload it back to the radio.

Modes: The "left side" radio supports AM and FM. The "right side" is FM only. Despite supporting 10m, it doesn't have SSB. It also doesn't have any digital modes.

Transmit bands: 10m(&11m), 6m, 2m(+...), 70cm(65cm). 

Receive bands: 11m, 10m, 6m, VHF from 144-179, UHF from 420-470, plus airband (123), and 33cm.

 Heat: I don't talk nearly as much as I type, so I haven't really gotten it hot. It has a fan, and the fan can be set to always on, on while keyed up, or on when it reaches a certain temperature or is keyed up. Heat dissipation doesn't seem to be a problem. I keyed it up for 90 seconds into a 50w dummy load at high power, and it got warm enough to feel the warmth, but not hot. Nevertheless, dash-mounting the radio and then rag chewing in southern Arizona may not be a great plan. If you're going to dash mount it, dash mount the faceplate, and put the base unit somewhere shady in the vehicle, with sufficient ventilation.

Programming: The menu is not too difficult to understand, but it's sure easier using CHIRP to get the radio configured, and then to just rely on the menu system for a little tweaking here and there. That goes for programming channels, too. Just do it in CHIRP, upload, done.

Overall quality impressions: The radio is hefty, solid, has nice sound, close-enough power, good venting, great features, and great mounting options.

Antenna choices: The closest I have to an antenna that will cover this radio's capabilities is a Comet CA2X4SR-NMO. I don't have a General class license, so I don't spend time in the 10m band. And nobody uses 6m in my area, from what I can tell. The CA2X4SR-NMO covers the 2m, 70cm, and closely adjacent bands nicely, so that's what I use.

 

Odds and ends: Independently configurable Tx and Rx tones, compander, over-temp detection, high/low power input detection, scan groups, CTCSS and DCS scanning/detection, and very important to some, a roger beep. Very important to others, the roger beep can be disabled. DTMF, call groups, lots of features you'll never use.

Should you consider this radio? Well, it depends. It's not cheap, at about $380-$400. There are far cheaper ham radios out there, and far cheaper GMRS radios. You might even find less expensive quad-band radios. But the build quality and sound quality are pretty darn good.

If you are only GMRS licensed, get the KG-1000G Plus. It's the same radio but type approved for, and configured for GMRS. You'll be very happy with that radio. If you're a CB person, no, get a proper CB because it will have the appropriate power levels available, and will be type approved. If you're a MURS person, no, get the KG-1000M radio (which is serious overkill -- so really get an inexpensive MURS radio). If you're an amateur who operates in the SSB portions of the 10m band, get a proper HF radio so you can also enjoy 12m, 15m, 17m, 20m, and 40m.

 

But if you're like me -- rather addicted to nice equipment, enjoying both amateur and GMRS, needing flexible installation options, and appreciating the features this radio offers, it's a pretty decent choice.

 

 

[Socalgmrs]

Wow. Thats a load of useless info. 

[OffRoaderX]

Thanks for this! I am sure a lot of people considering one of these will find it helpful.

[WRYZ926]

Thank you for taking the time to do a review. I'm sure it will be helpful for those considering the KG-U980P

I have only used Wouxun GMRS certified mobile radios and they work well and are easy to program. I do have the quad band KG-Q10H hand held that covers 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, 6m out of the box. It is unlock able to work on MURS and GMRS. It works well and is the hand held I use most.

[SteveShannon]

Nice review, entertaining and informative.  I apologize if I missed it (and I did go back and reread it), but does it have a single SO239 or one for each transceiver?

[dosw]

13 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Nice review, entertaining and informative.  I apologize if I missed it (and I did go back and reread it), but does it have a single SO239 or one for each transceiver?

Single. So if you are going to crossband with it I imagine you would feed an inexpensive diplexer. I don't know how successful crossband repeater mode would be with a single dual band antenna. Seems like that would be rather hard to test without a posse of people who can hit the repeater and listen while you tinker with settings.

Another thing to mention: I'm not sure if this is standard, but the power cable on mine came with Anderson connectors on the end. It could be the previous owner installed them. But fortunately my PSU has an Anderson port, and I've installed one under the hood in my truck, as well.

[WRYZ926]

You do not need a diplexer or dual antennas on radios that have only one antenna connection and have cross band repeat functions. I use cross band repeat quite often on dual band radios. Just set Side A to the 2M frequency, usually a repeater, and then set Side B to a 70cm frequency that you want to use on your HT. Then go into the radio's menu and turn cross band repeat on.

 

[dosw]

2 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

You do not need a diplexer or dual antennas on radios that have only one antenna connection and have cross band repeat functions. I use cross band repeat quite often on dual band radios. Just set Side A to the 2M frequency, usually a repeater, and then set Side B to a 70cm frequency that you want to use on your HT. Then go into the radio's menu and turn cross band repeat on.

 

Good info. Thanks. I may have to give it a try next time I'm in less congested RF-space.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, dosw said:

Single. So if you are going to crossband with it I imagine you would feed an inexpensive diplexer. I don't know how successful crossband repeater mode would be with a single dual band antenna. Seems like that would be rather hard to test without a posse of people who can hit the repeater and listen while you tinker with settings.

Another thing to mention: I'm not sure if this is standard, but the power cable on mine came with Anderson connectors on the end. It could be the previous owner installed them. But fortunately my PSU has an Anderson port, and I've installed one under the hood in my truck, as well.

I wasn’t thinking about cross banding as much as having a dedicated antenna connection for the 10 meter antenna.

[dosw]

Just now, SteveShannon said:

I wasn’t thinking about cross banding as much as having a dedicated antenna connection for the 10 meter antenna.

Yeah, for that you'd either need one of those crazy looking antennas that supports quad bands (they often have a short vertical half-way up the main vertical, standing off about an inch), or a diplexer. I see the Diamond MX62M that has a 1.6MHz-56MHz branch, and a 76MHz-470MHz branch. That would be almost perfect. Then for antennas you would need a 2m/70cm, and a 10m/6m. 

[WRYZ926]

Diplexers work when using a single antenna with a radio with dual antenna connectors. The Icom IC-9700 is just on example. It has two coax connectors, one for VHF and one for UHF. Most guys will run a single dual band antenna to the radio using a diplexer.

Or as Steve was asking, one can use a diplexer to connect two antennas to a single coax connector on the radio. 

We actually use dual band repeater antennas for our 2m and 70cm repeaters and a single hardline into the building. Then it goes through a diplexer to the two repeaters. That setup has been working great for years now.

[dosw]

11 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

Diplexers work when using a single antenna with a radio with dual antenna connectors. The Icom IC-9700 is just on example. It has two coax connectors, one for VHF and one for UHF. Most guys will run a single dual band antenna to the radio using a diplexer.

Or as Steve was asking, one can use a diplexer to connect two antennas to a single coax connector on the radio. 

We actually use dual band repeater antennas for our 2m and 70cm repeaters and a single hardline into the building. Then it goes through a diplexer to the two repeaters. That setup has been working great for years now.

Right, I've done one version of this on a sailboat; At first I considered putting one diplexer at the top of the mast, and one at the base, to allow a single LMR400 run up the mast to drive a dedicated marine VHF antenna, and a dedicated GMRS antenna. And then the one at the bottom to feed a dedicated Marine VHF radio, and dedicated GMRS radio. But then I ended up going with a broad band dual-band antenna at the top, eliminating the need for the top diplexer (and its associated signal loss), while still allowing two radios at the bottom. Inside a sailboat mast, space for coax is rather limited, and the weight of running two separate coax lines is also not desirable.

[WRYZ926]

6 minutes ago, dosw said:

Right, I've done one version of this on a sailboat; At first I considered putting one diplexer at the top of the mast, and one at the base, to allow a single LMR400 run up the mast to drive a dedicated marine VHF antenna, and a dedicated GMRS antenna. And then the one at the bottom to feed a dedicated Marine VHF radio, and dedicated GMRS radio. But then I ended up going with a broad band dual-band antenna at the top, eliminating the need for the top diplexer (and its associated signal loss), while still allowing two radios at the bottom. Inside a sailboat mast, space for coax is rather limited, and the weight of running two separate coax lines is also not desirable.

If you can find a single antenna that covers Marine VHF and GMRS then you would only need a single diplexer. It would be no different than how we have our 2m and 70cm repeaters setup.

[dosw]

13 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

If you can find a single antenna that covers Marine VHF and GMRS then you would only need a single diplexer. It would be no different than how we have our 2m and 70cm repeaters setup.

Right, and that's what I did. It was a little harder than I would have preferred because the masthead doesn't provide its own good ground plane, the forestay, backstay, and upper shrouds can actually influence the apparent ground plane in weird ways, too. A mobile antenna such as the Comet CA2X4SR would have been broad-band enough, but not compatible with the wonky ground plane 30 feet up the mast. I ended up with a base-station broad band dual-band antenna that provided acceptable SWR from 2m through GMRS, including Marine VHF. I don't remember the model I went with, but at this point it works nicely. I prefer keeping a dedicated Marine VHF radio, as they offer marine-specific features not found in amateur radios. So that rig will always be a Marine VHF / GMRS dual radio setup.

[73blazer]

I've  had this radio for about 2 years  and it's a rock solid performer. Lots of compliments on how I sound from it.  Functions very well, puts out full advertised wattage. Easily unlocked for full TX range to match the RX range (murs,marine vhf, gmrs,CB and more) on it using chirp. I've had zero issues with this radio and it gets used quite a bit. Yeah the 10m band is kinda useless without sideband unless your doing CB on it. Very nice radio and for what it does, it's pretty cheap compared to the mainstream HAM mobiles.

My only complaint with it is the fan tends to make noise in cold weather. So you get in your truck and it's 10 degrees, the fan makes a bunch of racquet until the vehicle or radio warms up. The KG-1000G's do the same thing. The fan needs a redesign or different bearings or something. But it's never prevented it from working. The noise is short lived. That and I wish there was a setting like the 935H added over the UV8H to mute the secondary area while TX'ing on the main area.

[dosw]

48 minutes ago, 73blazer said:

I've  had this radio for about 2 years  and it's a rock solid performer. Lots of compliments on how I sound from it.  Functions very well, puts out full advertised wattage. Easily unlocked for full TX range to match the RX range (murs,marine vhf, gmrs,CB and more) on it using chirp. I've had zero issues with this radio and it gets used quite a bit. Yeah the 10m band is kinda useless without sideband unless your doing CB on it. Very nice radio and for what it does, it's pretty cheap compared to the mainstream HAM mobiles.

My only complaint with it is the fan tends to make noise in cold weather. So you get in your truck and it's 10 degrees, the fan makes a bunch of racquet until the vehicle or radio warms up. The KG-1000G's do the same thing. The fan needs a redesign or different bearings or something. But it's never prevented it from working. The noise is short lived. That and I wish there was a setting like the 935H added over the UV8H to mute the secondary area while TX'ing on the main area.

The fan appears to be a rather standard-sized commodity PCM fan. You could probably replace or upgrade it with one from Amazon.

With the TDR function on the 'C' key you can pretty quickly switch off the second band, but you're right, automatic muting as an option would be nice.

[WRXB215]

14 hours ago, Socalgmrs said:

Wow. Thats a load of useless info.

Stop being such a looser. I doubt you even read it.