WRQC527 Posted October 30, 2023 Report Share Posted October 30, 2023 I thought I'd post this in case anyone is interested. Because you never know. I just got this radio a couple days ago. Measurements were made with a Diamond SX40C SWR/Power Meter into a dummy load. The radio is supported by CHIRP. These are my results, but in my experience, these radios are inconsistent. This radio is also marketed by QYT, and a GMRS version is sold by BTech. Programming was done with CHIRP and from the keypad. Anysecu has programming software but I have not used it. Output power (Anysecu rates it at 20-25 watts depending on the power setting.) 144-148 Mhz Low: 9 watts. Medium: 12 watts. High: 19 watts. 420-450 Mhz Low: 6-7 watts depending on frequency. Medium: 10-13 watts depending on frequency. High:14-19 watts depending on frequency. 462-467 Mhz (My radio didn’t need unlocking. I cannot speak for other variants. I only tested GMRS.) Low: 4-5 watts depending on frequency. Medium: 8 watts. High: 10-12 watts depending on frequency. Programming quirk #1: From the keypad, low, medium and high power settings are available. Using CHIRP, only low and high power are available. Programming quirk #2: Channels can be named with alphanumeric tags from CHIRP, but even though the option appears when programming from the keypad, only numbers can be selected. Programming repeaters and menu options from the keypad is very similar to the Baofeng UV-5R, but there's no voice prompts that I have found. Receive audio is decent, considering this is a speaker mic. Volume control is a little quirky, with multiple ways to adjust it. Transmit audio is a mixed bag. Most reports I get say it’s somewhat hollow and doesn’t have the fidelity of my Yaesu mobile, but it is reasonably clear and readable. Typical of a lot of these radios. The radio unit does get warm after a bit, especially on high power. Not hot, but definitely warm. As a result, I’m mostly running it on medium power. Overall, I won’t use this for my daily driver, more as a solution for my two vehicles that have no room for a dedicated mobile. I’m determined to improve the transmit audio. We’ll see how that goes. WRXB215 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRYB563 Posted December 13, 2023 Report Share Posted December 13, 2023 I'm thinking of getting this radio. How do you like it now that you've had it for a while? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRQC527 Posted December 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 hour ago, WRYB563 said: I'm thinking of getting this radio. How do you like it now that you've had it for a while? I'm not particularly impressed with it. It does work, but it has lousy filtering so it picks up noise when the car is moving. Also, the transmit audio sucked eggs until I drilled out the mic hole to almost 1/4". Even at that it's still somewhat low. It's an OK-enough backup radio for throwing in another car when I need it but I can't recommend it as a primary radio, especially since I had to mod it to make it audible. I wanted to like it, I like the form factor, and maybe there are some versions that work better. Just not this one. In fact, this radio is sort of the last straw between me and the cheap Chinese radios flooding the market. Except for my Baofeng UV5Rs. I'm still a fan of those. WRXB215 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WRYB563 Posted December 14, 2023 Report Share Posted December 14, 2023 Thanks, that's a great review. I think I'll pass on this one. Mike WRQC527 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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