Wouxun KG-Q10H vs. Yaesu VX-6R

[Webslinger]

Trying to decide on a pair of either one of these HT's for EmComms (EDC, Get-home bags). The KG-Q10H has lots of bells and whistles, not to mention the quad-band capabilities, BUT is that really a plus in this instance? I've seen a few comments on the Internet that a 6m band on an HT is not really that great. Something about not being able to put a real antenna on the HT that does well with the 6m band. Nevertheless, I do like the 2m, 70cm and 1.25m capabilities. The dual channel receive and transmit functions are great. Unsure if the KG-Q10H works with RT Systems programming. On my KG-935G Plus, the Wouxun CPS leaves a lot to be desired compared to the RT Systems CPS I use for my Yaesu FT-60R. GPS location is cool, as is IP rating. But I bet the scanning function on the KG-Q10H speedwise is slow compared to the VX-6R.

The Yaesu VX-6R has been around a long time, a testimony to it's quality and durability. It receives multiple bands that I don't think the KG-Q10H is able to. The 1.25m band power output is 1.5 watts, but I think I saw somewhere the KG-Q10H is not a full 5 watts on the same band. Something like 2.5 watts. And, when it comes to Ham radio, I'm not as confident in Wouxun (Chinese) as I am in Yaesu (Japanese).

Again, these HT's would be stowed in Bug-out/Get-home-EDC bags for EmComms.

Thoughts?

[WRYZ926]

3 hours ago, WSCX426 said:

Did you unlock you Q-10H?  If so, how?

Here is how to unlock the KG-Q10H: How to unlock Wouxun KG-Q10H

This unlock will not work with the KG-Q10G that I know of. The Q10G firmware, like most GMRS certified radios, is locked down.

I won't get into whether one should or should not unlock their radios to transmit out of band. That is a personal decision and that horse has been beat to death. 

[BoxCar]

Personally, I have both the Yaesu ft-4xr and the FT-65. Both a great radios and I'll carry one with me when I go out. I also  have Baofengs, TYTs, and Pofungs from the Chinesebside but It's the Yaesus I would rely on for emcomm.

[Lscott]

6 hours ago, Webslinger said:

I've seen a few comments on the Internet that a 6m band on an HT is not really that great.

That's mostly true. An effective antenna needs to be at least a 1/4 wavelength long so on 6M that would be around 57 inches long at mid band. The short helical antennas used on the radios are so inefficient that most of your power is wasted. It's the same story with those old "full power" 11M CB radio HT's. The range on them was poor.

The only thing that comes close to a useful 1/4 wave antenna on an HT is on the UHF band, Ham 70cm or GMRS. On those bands a 1/4 wave antenna is only about 6 inches long, about what the usual HT antenna size is on an UHF HT.

The antennas for 2M and 1.25M on an HT are also inefficient, but nowhere as bad as 6M. 

One other point. The 6M band usually doesn't see much activity unless there is a band opening. And when it does it's typically on sideband where you'll find most of the people.

Some people claim that propagation on 1.25M is better than on 2M. I'm guessing it's due to a sort of a compromise between 2M VHF and 70CM UHF. Activity on the band ranges from nil to active depending on location. Not many people have equipment for 1.25M as it is.

If you're into Ham digital voice modes there are currently only three radios I know of that can do a digital voice mode on 2M, 1.25M and 70cm bands. Two are Kenwood, TH-D74A and the TH-D75A, which only does D-Star. The other is the Anytone D578 series, which does DMR.

[WRWE456]

Have you seen any of Scott KS6DAY video reviews? I like his stuff. He views radios from a emcomm perspective. Has reviewed the KG-935G

and calls it the best GMRS radio on the market. And has a series of videos on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MmuHqzbXqc

He is starting the review process of the KG-Q10H. Should be out in a week or so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4sVca1MK48 

He has also done a series of videos on the VX-6 not sure about the VX-6R version you can search his channel.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-mKibwkODI&list=PLkoi40PWhXbtpeJ0Am_Uq49eJIqMgjPp4

[WRHS218]

I have owned several VX-6Rs and VX-7R and they are both great little radios. I still have one VX-6R. The VX-6R makes a great e-comm radio, in my opinion, because of the size and waterproof rating. I think most tri-band and quad band radios are a compromise at best mostly due to the antennas. When I carried the VX-6R into the back country I would bring two single band antennas tuned to the range I expected to use. My biggest problem with the VX-6R is the older I get the smaller the buttons seem to be so the feature I liked most, the small size, has now become a problem for me.

I don't own, nor have I been able to fondle the KG-Q10H. I have multiple Wouxun GMRS radios and one of their HAM 2m/70cm HTs. I like them a lot and trust them, but again, I don't have the Q10H. I would think the GPS function would be a plus for me and my wife, being able to have a location function. My wife isn't and has no desire to be a HAM and the complexity of the Q10H or G would be an issue for her (and me). She will use a GMRS radio but wants me to set it up and then lock the keypad for her.

I suppose a big part of the choice of which radio to have for e-comms would be who would be using them. In a situation where you have to depend on radio communication the stress level is probably going to be a factor anyway. So handing any HT to someone who is not accustomed to using them and trying to have them change bands or even frequencies may be problematic. I try to follow the KISS method when I can.

 

 

[Webslinger]

2 hours ago, WRWE456 said:

Have you seen any of Scott KS6DAY video reviews? I like his stuff. He views radios from a emcomm perspective. Has reviewed the KG-935G

and calls it the best GMRS radio on the market. And has a series of videos on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MmuHqzbXqc

He is starting the review process of the KG-Q10H. Should be out in a week or so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4sVca1MK48 

He has also done a series of videos on the VX-6 not sure about the VX-6R version you can search his channel.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-mKibwkODI&list=PLkoi40PWhXbtpeJ0Am_Uq49eJIqMgjPp4

I have watched his operator series on the VX-6R; a big part of the reason that HT is my preference, BUT then I came across the KG-Q10H unexpectedly and it peaked my interest. If I had to make the decision today, I would buy the VX-6R, but the KG-Q10H has me hesitating. I may wait until KS6DAY posts his video reviews of the Q10H, then decide. Thanks for that heads up.

[Webslinger]

1 hour ago, WRHS218 said:

I have owned several VX-6Rs and VX-7R and they are both great little radios. I still have one VX-6R. The VX-6R makes a great e-comm radio, in my opinion, because of the size and waterproof rating. I think most tri-band and quad band radios are a compromise at best mostly due to the antennas. When I carried the VX-6R into the back country I would bring two single band antennas tuned to the range I expected to use. My biggest problem with the VX-6R is the older I get the smaller the buttons seem to be so the feature I liked most, the small size, has now become a problem for me.

I don't own, nor have I been able to fondle the KG-Q10H. I have multiple Wouxun GMRS radios and one of their HAM 2m/70cm HTs. I like them a lot and trust them, but again, I don't have the Q10H. I would think the GPS function would be a plus for me and my wife, being able to have a location function. My wife isn't and has no desire to be a HAM and the complexity of the Q10H or G would be an issue for her (and me). She will use a GMRS radio but wants me to set it up and then lock the keypad for her.

I suppose a big part of the choice of which radio to have for e-comms would be who would be using them. In a situation where you have to depend on radio communication the stress level is probably going to be a factor anyway. So handing any HT to someone who is not accustomed to using them and trying to have them change bands or even frequencies may be problematic. I try to follow the KISS method when I can.

 

 

I appreciate your insight. Similar situation for me in that my wife likes the GMRS HT's (KG-935G Plus) that we have been learning on. One of the benefits of the KG-Q10H is that the display screen is very similar to the KG-935G Plus, so it's something she is already accustomed to. The VX-6R would be an additional learning curve. She is planning to take the Technician's exam this summer, just so we can add the Ham radio to the quiver of EmComms, but if given a choice, she would stick with GMRS all day. I 100% agree with the KISS method (for and me). We do practice 2-3 times per week on the KG-935G Plus for certain features of the HT, but I would not ask her to learn every aspect of that radio. Just the few things needed to communicate simply in those stressful situations.

 

 

[WRYZ926]

The thing about the Wouxun's version of GPS is that it only works with Wouxun radios. The Baofeng/B-Tech radios are the same, they only work with Baofeng/B-Tech radios. They are not compatible with other brands.

I have a Wouxun KG-Q10H and it works well on 2m and 70cm. I have not had a chance to test it on 1.25m or 6m yet. AS mentioned, any 6m antenna for hand held radios is  a compromise due to the short length. Plus 6m is called the magic band for a reason, it is not open all of the time like other bands are. And most people use single side band of digital mode on 6m. There aren't a lot of 6m repeaters on the FM portion. Activity on the 1.25m band will depend on your location. It is more active in some regions and hardly used in other regions.

This radio can also be unlocked to transmit on MURS and GMRS too. I can say that the Q-10H does work well on GMRS with the 2m/70cm antenna attached.  have not had a chance to test MURS yet. I do pick up traffic on MURS but I haven't transmitted.

I have zero experiences with the Yaesu VX-6R so can't comment.

[WRHS218]

2 hours ago, Webslinger said:

I appreciate your insight. Similar situation for me in that my wife likes the GMRS HT's (KG-935G Plus) that we have been learning on. One of the benefits of the KG-Q10H is that the display screen is very similar to the KG-935G Plus, so it's something she is already accustomed to. The VX-6R would be an additional learning curve. She is planning to take the Technician's exam this summer, just so we can add the Ham radio to the quiver of EmComms, but if given a choice, she would stick with GMRS all day. I 100% agree with the KISS method (for and me). We do practice 2-3 times per week on the KG-935G Plus for certain features of the HT, but I would not ask her to learn every aspect of that radio. Just the few things needed to communicate simply in those stressful situations.

 

 

The 935G+ is my favorite radio. We also have a couple of S88Gs that we use our piece of the mountain. I don't think it is as good TX/RX as the 935G but the size and simplicity works for us. I carried one in my pocket this morning while I was plowing snow on this fine Spring morning.

[WRHS218]

2 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

I have a Wouxun KG-Q10H and it works well on 2m and 70cm.

Oh, I have been tempted...

[WRUU653]

4 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

The thing about the Wouxun's version of GPS is that it only works with Wouxun radios. The Baofeng/B-Tech radios are the same, they only work with Baofeng/B-Tech radios. They are not compatible with other brands.

I have a Wouxun KG-Q10H and it works well on 2m and 70cm. I have not had a chance to test it on 1.25m or 6m yet. AS mentioned, any 6m antenna for hand held radios is  a compromise due to the short length. Plus 6m is called the magic band for a reason, it is not open all of the time like other bands are. And most people use single side band of digital mode on 6m. There aren't a lot of 6m repeaters on the FM portion. Activity on the 1.25m band will depend on your location. It is more active in some regions and hardly used in other regions.

This radio can also be unlocked to transmit on MURS and GMRS too. I can say that the Q-10H does work well on GMRS with the 2m/70cm antenna attached.  have not had a chance to test MURS yet. I do pick up traffic on MURS but I haven't transmitted.

I have zero experiences with the Yaesu VX-6R so can't comment.

I agree with all you have said. I would add the Q10H takes a pretty good beating too. I have now added it to the radios I have dropped and it survived. It’s slow for scanning but I don’t use it for that. 

[WRYZ926]

I was playing with the cross band repeat function of my TYT TH-7800 that I am using as my base station. I was using the KG-Q10H on UHF to talk to the TYT which then connected to the local 2m repeater (21.5 miles away). I was getting excellent signal reports while using the KG-Q10H.

I still want to test 1.25m and 6m. I also want to test the KG-Q10H cross band repeater functions. So far I have been impressed with the radio. I find myself grabbing it or my KG-935G most of the time.

[WSCX426]

On 4/5/2024 at 11:56 AM, WRYZ926 said:

The thing about the Wouxun's version of GPS is that it only works with Wouxun radios. The Baofeng/B-Tech radios are the same, they only work with Baofeng/B-Tech radios. They are not compatible with other brands.

I have a Wouxun KG-Q10H and it works well on 2m and 70cm. I have not had a chance to test it on 1.25m or 6m yet. AS mentioned, any 6m antenna for hand held radios is  a compromise due to the short length. Plus 6m is called the magic band for a reason, it is not open all of the time like other bands are. And most people use single side band of digital mode on 6m. There aren't a lot of 6m repeaters on the FM portion. Activity on the 1.25m band will depend on your location. It is more active in some regions and hardly used in other regions.

This radio can also be unlocked to transmit on MURS and GMRS too. I can say that the Q-10H does work well on GMRS with the 2m/70cm antenna attached.  have not had a chance to test MURS yet. I do pick up traffic on MURS but I haven't transmitted.

I have zero experiences with the Yaesu VX-6R so can't comment.

Did you unlock you Q-10H?  If so, how?

[WSCX426]

19 hours ago, WRYZ926 said:

Here is how to unlock the KG-Q10H: How to unlock Wouxun KG-Q10H

This unlock will not work with the KG-Q10G that I know of. The Q10G firmware, like most GMRS certified radios, is locked down.

I won't get into whether one should or should not unlock their radios to transmit out of band. That is a personal decision and that horse has been beat to death. 

Thanks for the info.