How does Wouxun compare to Motorola, Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, Alinco, or Anytone, Powerwerx and TYT?

[CyborgAlienWRYG738]

8 hours ago, Sshannon said:

Lately it seems like a few people are asking loosely worded questions and then snapping at people who give a knowledgeable answer. 
My ignore list has gained another. 

If that's the way you feel I came across, it's not my intent.

[back4more70]

14 hours ago, Sshannon said:

Lately it seems like a few people are asking loosely worded questions and then snapping at people who give a knowledgeable answer. 
My ignore list has gained another. 

Mine too!

[Lscott]

The problem with people asking for opinions is where they get good advise then go out and buy the cheapest P.O.S. on the market. Makes one wonder why they bothered to ask.

[CyborgAlienWRYG738]

6 hours ago, back4more70 said:

Mine too!

Good riddance one less holier than thou I have to put up with

[WRQC527]

All these back-and-forth ignore wars remind me of that old classic by Motley Crue. "Don't go away mad, just go away".

[hjmichael]

all this batter aside, just spend the big bucks and go Mil Spec, we've beat the heck out of them and the sometimes work

[WRYZ926]

I retired from the Army and can tell you that there is absolutely no piece of equipment that is GI Proof. GI's will mess up a steel ball inside a padded room with a rubber mallet.

And remember that Mil Spec is a minimum set of standards that equipment has to meet which is usually produced by the lowest bidder.

[WRQC626]

On 12/5/2023 at 7:19 AM, Lscott said:

The problem with people asking for opinions is where they get good advise then go out and buy the cheapest P.O.S. on the market. Makes one wonder why they bothered to ask.

Those are who I affectionately refer to as "Askholes"

[WRVR303]

I have two Motorola mobile radios I bought brand new in the mid-late 1990's, and they still perform flawlessly on both transmit & receive.  But, one is only 8 channels, while the other is 16, and GMRS has more channels than that. The biggest issue with them is that it takes someone with a DOS computer and the OEM software to program them. Yes, DOS. Not something new fangled like Windows 95, lol. It want to say they cost in the $500-$700 range back then, when gas and diesel were barely $2 a gallon.

I also have a Wouxon KG 1000+ in my RV, and a KG 935+ HT. They are very easy to program, have tons of features*, and I find both the Tx and Rx quality to be excellent. Now, as to whether they will still work in 2048, that remains to be seen. I'm 62 so that may be moot.

Here on the NGGMRS network, the Kenwood TK-8180 is highly respected, and a lot of members run them.

*The Motorolas have only 4 features--Tx, Rx, volume and squelch, lol.

[WSAA635]

On 1/1/2024 at 9:10 PM, WRYZ926 said:

I retired from the Army and can tell you that there is absolutely no piece of equipment that is GI Proof. GI's will mess up a steel ball inside a padded room with a rubber mallet.

And remember that Mil Spec is a minimum set of standards that equipment has to meet which is usually produced by the lowest bidder.

That reminds me of a saying we have in the South.

"Some folks could break a crowbar in a sandbox."

I've watched a lot of Randy's vids on YouTube and Wouxun seems to be a pretty solid radio for the most part. At least I'm convinced enough that my "Good" radio will be a Wouxun.

P.S.

I'm also 62. LOL

[WRUW493]

I cannot comment on the quality of these radios or cost or longevity. But I did look up the specs on the one SOC chip (transceiver chip that may or may not be used in the above mentioned CCR radios) It's spec (to be believed or not) sensitivity was -123dBm in 20KHz BW for 12dB SINAD. That translates into about a 3dB noise figure. That is quite good considering there is likely very little loss between the chip and the antenna. And the adjacent channel and blocking performance spec was decent, maybe a real super-het receiver can beat it on those. So I'm wondering if anyone has any actual receiver measurements (on test equipment) that they can share in this regard?

 

[marcspaz]

 

I went through my logs and only have data on two radios.  My FTM-300DR and my MXT500.  I know I tested a BTech/Baofeng, but can't find the data and don't have a radio to test right now.  I tested using guidance per TIA-603, measuring the 12 dB SINAD reference sensitivity at 60% of the rated system deviation for the test signal.

 

My FTM-300DR, which is a super-het, @ 462.725 MHz was/is -121 dBm or 0.2 uV.  My MXT500, which is a direct conversion receiver, was -123.6 dBm or 0.14 uV.

 

This is pretty important for people to be aware of.  Just because superheterodyne receivers are known to be better technology than direct conversion receiver technology, that doesn't necessarily mean any given super-het radio will hear better than any other given direct conversion receiver.  Brand and build quality matter.  Midland is an icon in two-way radio and should not be dismissed as a player.

 

Also, I did not measure my Moto's, but I can 100% tell you that while running both radios in my Jeep at the same time, I lost count of the number of times my Moto could here a signal well enough for a 100% copy, that my Yaesu couldn't hear at all.  One of my friend is going to tune my Moto transmitter output power for me.  I can ask him to run a 12 dB SINAD for my while its on the analyzer and share that info.

[WRUW493]

On 1/20/2024 at 10:56 PM, marcspaz said:

 

I went through my logs and only have data on two radios.  My FTM-300DR and my MXT500.  I know I tested a BTech/Baofeng, but can't find the data and don't have a radio to test right now.  I tested using guidance per TIA-603, measuring the 12 dB SINAD reference sensitivity at 60% of the rated system deviation for the test signal.

 

My FTM-300DR, which is a super-het, @ 462.725 MHz was/is -121 dBm or 0.2 uV.  My MXT500, which is a direct conversion receiver, was -123.6 dBm or 0.14 uV.

 

This is pretty important for people to be aware of.  Just because superheterodyne receivers are known to be better technology than direct conversion receiver technology, that doesn't necessarily mean any given super-het radio will hear better than any other given direct conversion receiver.  Brand and build quality matter.  Midland is an icon in two-way radio and should not be dismissed as a player.

 

Also, I did not measure my Moto's, but I can 100% tell you that while running both radios in my Jeep at the same time, I lost count of the number of times my Moto could here a signal well enough for a 100% copy, that my Yaesu couldn't hear at all.  One of my friend is going to tune my Moto transmitter output power for me.  I can ask him to run a 12 dB SINAD for my while its on the analyzer and share that info.

Direct conversion receivers suffer from rather poor "image", "spurious" and "blocking". All are measures of how well the receiver rejects off-channel signals.

SuperHet receivers suffer from rather narrow RF tuning range with good sensitivity. 

If you want broadband coverage for good Ham band, GMRS, Public Service and NOAA reception, then go Direct conversion. 

If you want the best you can get (assuming it's well designed) for GMRS only, then go SuperHet. 

IMHO.

 

[WRUW493]

On 1/20/2024 at 10:56 PM, marcspaz said:

 

I went through my logs and only have data on two radios.  My FTM-300DR and my MXT500.  I know I tested a BTech/Baofeng, but can't find the data and don't have a radio to test right now.  I tested using guidance per TIA-603, measuring the 12 dB SINAD reference sensitivity at 60% of the rated system deviation for the test signal.

 

My FTM-300DR, which is a super-het, @ 462.725 MHz was/is -121 dBm or 0.2 uV.  My MXT500, which is a direct conversion receiver, was -123.6 dBm or 0.14 uV.

 

This is pretty important for people to be aware of.  Just because superheterodyne receivers are known to be better technology than direct conversion receiver technology, that doesn't necessarily mean any given super-het radio will hear better than any other given direct conversion receiver.  Brand and build quality matter.  Midland is an icon in two-way radio and should not be dismissed as a player.

 

Also, I did not measure my Moto's, but I can 100% tell you that while running both radios in my Jeep at the same time, I lost count of the number of times my Moto could here a signal well enough for a 100% copy, that my Yaesu couldn't hear at all.  One of my friend is going to tune my Moto transmitter output power for me.  I can ask him to run a 12 dB SINAD for my while its on the analyzer and share that info.

I'd be interested to see what sensitivity your Mot radio shows. Which model is it anyways?

 

[marcspaz]

1 hour ago, WRUW493 said:

I'd be interested to see what sensitivity your Mot radio shows. Which model is it anyways?

 

 

I should. I'll have to slate some time for it when I'm done traveling. 

It's an XTL5000. I have 3 of them. Two UHF and one VHF. All 110w units. I run the w7 heads because I love the old-school look and feel.

[WRYZ926]

I want to give a little update on my TYT TH-7800 and Wouxun KG-1000G after a couple of months of running my Yaesu FTDX10 HF radio at the same time as using the other radios.

The TYT TH-7800 picks up quite a bit of interference from the FTDX when transmitting on digital modes and talking on the TH-7800 at the same time. Depending on the frequencies/bands, the interference is anything from a slight buzz to sounding like I am doubling with someone.

The Wouxun KG-1000G does not suffer from any of the interference issues caused by my FTDX.

I wanted to mention it for those that have their amateur and GMRS licenses and want to run digital modes on a HF radio while talking on a UHF/VHF radio at the same time.

[MarkInTampa]

I tend to think of how Wouxun compares to the others is how you want to use the radio. For a program and forget it's hard to beat a Motorola or other commercial radios but for the most part they don't do what a KG-1000g does nor were they designed to. Things like tone scan, program from the radio itself, listen to VHF, dual VFO/Scan or airband and such that a KG-1000 does do.

I got a KG-1000g+ the week they came out and to me is was an attempt of Wouxun to clone or emulate a Yaesu/Icom style Ham radio for the GMRS market, not a commercial style radio and they did a fair job at it. It missed a few things that a Yaesu FTM series or Icom ID series have but may not be important to you. The Yaesu and Icom both have two button access to drop a channel from scan for 5 minutes and the Wouxun doesn't. A feature I like if there is a bunch of garbage on one frequency when scanning. The Wouxun scan speed also sucked - at least 75% slower than my Icom or Yaesu but did work fine. Again, not a issue if you are only scanning a few frequencies but it was definitely noticeable. The digital volume was also a bit annoying on the KG-1000, at the lowest volume setting of 1 when used as a base station the volume could be heard in the other room (annoying the wife) so had to use the speaker in the mic at night. In a mobile situation I doubt you would ever notice. My Icom and Yaesu doesn't have that issue.

I sold off my KG-1000g+ after getting my ham license and it's now on its third owner. The second sold it off after getting something different as well. I lost maybe $25 after original purchase and the second owner sold it for the same he paid me for it. So at least it holds it's value.