BuyTwoWay came up with a CW solution for KG1000 Radios

[WRUE951]

Just got this emial today from BuyTwoWayRadios announcing a solution to adding a controller or Auto CW to the KG1000 radios.    

 

https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2025/06/two-new-products-to-auto-id-your-wouxun-kg-1000g-uv980p-repeater-systems.html?utm_source=E20250616-13&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=E20250616-13

[WRYZ926]

I received the same email. I want to do some more research to see if they will ID every 15 minutes 24/7 or if it can be set so that it only IDs every 15 minutes when there is actual traffic on the repeater,

[WRUE951]

30 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

I received the same email. I want to do some more research to see if they will ID every 15 minutes 24/7 or if it can be set so that it only IDs every 15 minutes when there is actual traffic on the repeater,

the break out board option will make it easier to implement a controller of your choice, so basicly you woiiuld be able to set up auto CW in any configuration you choose  

[WRYZ926]

This is true for those using two KG-1000G radios as repeaters.

[marcspaz]

I think it's great that they came up a solution, and as much as I love the KG-UV980P hardware platform, I would never use a KG-1000 nor a KG-UV980P as a full-time unattended repeater.  

1.) As good as they are, they are not designed for continuous duty cycles or 24/7 operation. 

2.) They may overheat or flat out fail with prolonged use. 

3.) The transmit/receive isolation is not as good as a proper repeater, leading to desense issues.  

4.) Audio quality and levels can be inconsistent.

5.) VOX or Carrier Operated Switching methods can introduce delays, distortions, and clipping.

6.) There is zero remote monitoring, diagnostics, or telemetry unless you engineer something yourself. 

7.) Paired mobiles are extremely inefficient with regard to power consumption.

 

The only time I ever have or ever would use paired radios as a repeater would be for temporary field use and as an emergency backup (maybe).  In an emergency, the FCC isn't going to ding anyone for not having the repeater ID on it's own, and for temporary field use the control operator is IDing the repeater every time they ID themselves... so an add-on device is really not needed.

[WRUE951]

12 minutes ago, marcspaz said:

As much as I love the KG-UV980P hardware platform, I would never use a KG-1000 nor a KG-UV980P as a full-time unattended repeater.  

1.) As good as they are, they are not designed for continuous duty cycles or 24/7 operation. 

2.) They may overheat or flat out fail with prolonged use. 

3.) The transmit/receive isolation is not as good as a proper repeater, leading to desense issues.  

4.) Audio quality and levels can be inconsistent.

5.) VOX or Carrier Operated Switching methods can introduce delays, distortions, and clipping. there is zero remote monitoring, diagnostics, or telemetry unless you engineer something yourself. 

6.) Paired mobiles are extremely inefficient with regard to power consumption.

 

The only time I ever have or ever would use paired radios as a repeater would be for temporary field use and as an emergency backup (maybe).  In an emergency, the FCC isn't going to ding anyone for not having the repeater ID on it's own, and for temporary field use the control operator is IDing the repeater every time they ID themselves... so an add-on device is really not needed.

I started out with a KG1000 repeater and never had issues other than desense  early on.   A couple times a year the repeater got pretty heavy use during nearby off roading events.    Yea, they do get hot, but they keep on ticking.  I use two Maxons for a portable repeater,  they never break a sweat and they are housed in a ventilated ammo can. Now my current Hytera Repeater can run 24/7 with no worries.  Amazingly, I paid not to much more for the Hytera radio then the two KG1000’s.  I think we all do this, we learn the hard way. 

[marcspaz]

@WRUE951  that sounds good.  I'm glad you've had good luck with them.  My experience isn't terrible, just not ideal results.  Since most of mine are EmComm related, I never really ran one for more than a few days at a time, and mostly left them off until I/we need to use them. 

 

I know what you mean about learning the hard way.  I struggled so much to avoid spending the money on a proper repeater that I probably spent 3 or 4 times more than if I just went for a regular repeater to start.  I finally built a full-blown potable repeater system... it can do 2m, 70cm, crossband or act as a base station.  It has a built-in 50 amp hr battery system and can run on solar or AC.  Retail, it is about $17k to build, but thankfully some stuff was donated and I was able to get great deals on a used repeater and commercial VHF duplexer, which cut the cost down to about 10% of new/retail.