Wouxun KG-UVD1P (KG-UVD2 & KG-UVD3) Review

Introduction

The Wouxun dual band, VHF/UHF amateur radio is a new entry into the world of small handheld amateur radios. For many years, the market has been dominated by the big players such as Yeasu, Alinco, Icom, Kenwood and Standard. With the recent rise of high quality electronics coming out of Chinese factories, the amateur Radio world is about to be turned upside down. The Wouxun radio is one of the pioneers in the coming wave of high-quality, low-cost ham radios out of China.  A little bit f web research indicates that the Wouxun radio is also being sold under the brand names of TYT, Midland, Navcom, Dynascan and Albrecht .

Features

One of the most surprising aspects of the Wouxun dual band radio is the extremely rich feature set for the low price point.  Here is a brief listing of the features:

  • Amateur bands for multi-country use.  The bands can be programmed via simple to use software and a special USB programming cable.
    • 136-174 & 216-280 (RX & TX)
    • 136-174 & 350-470 (RX & TX)
    • 136-174 & 400-480 (RX & TX)
    • 136-174 & 420-520 (RX & TX)
    • 136-174 & 430-440 (RX & TX)
    • 136-174 & 222-225 (RX & TX)
    • 66-88 & 136-174 (RX & TX)
    • 66-88 & 400-480 (RX & TX)
    • FM broadcast 76-108 (RX only)
  • High/Low power setting per channel
    • VHF: 5W / 1W
    • UHF: 4W / 1W
  • Dual VFO with the following modes:
    • VHF/UHF
    • VHF/VHF
    • UHF/UHF
    • VHF/FM
    • UHF/FM
  • DTMF encoding
  • CTCSS encoding and scanning
  • DCS encoding and scanning
  • 1750Hz burst tone
  • VOX (Voice operated squelch)
  • SOS
    • This is an interesting feature…  If you enable it in the menu, the radio will send out an SOS emergency signal.
  • Flashlight
    • This is one of the best features of the radio and I have used it more times than I can count!  Pressing a side button illuminates a very bright white LED light at the top of the radio.  This is very useful for finding gear at night!
  • Voice menu response
    • This feature is a little odd, but cool too.  When enabled, the radio talks back to you in what I am assuming is a very cute Asian lady’s voice.  🙂
  • Wide and Narrow band modulation supports 25 Khz and 12.5 Khz
  • Variable step frequency steps: 5Khz, 6.25Khz, 10Khz, 12.5Khz, 25Khz, 50Khz, 100Khz
  • Digital FM Radio
  • 6 character alpha-numeric channel naming
  • Low battery voltage voice prompt
  • Busy channel lockout
  • Transmit overtime voice prompt
  • Roger beep
  • Multi VFO scanning
  • Customizable power up display message
  • IP55 “waterproof”
    • IP stands for Ingress Protection and is a measure of debris and water proofing.
    • IP55 is actually quite good for a little radio like this!
    • See the wikipedia article for details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code
  • Status LED’s
    • Transmit: Red
    • Receive: Green
  • Stopwatch
    • Another strange little feature, but it is very useful!

Accessories

Standard accessories packaged with the radio include:

  • Dual-Band FM Radio
  • Dual-band whip antenna
  • Smart charger with 120/240 volt AC cord and 12 volt DC input jack
  • Lanyard
  • 1700mah lithium-ion battery
  • Belt clip
  • Operating manual

In addition to the standard accessories, you can also purchase the following items:

  • 12 volt DC battery eliminator with car adapter
  • Car smart charger adapter
  • Programming software & USB programming cable
  • Radio cloning cable
  • Headset microphone
  • Speaker/Mic
  • Leather case
  • Antenna adapters (BNC & SL16)
  • Extra battery packs
    • 1700mah
    • 1300mah
    • AA clam-shell

Unboxing

The radio comes shipped in a very sturdy carton which ensures the safety of the rig.  The internal packaging protects the radio and accessories from damage very well which means that if the box is undamaged, it is very unlikely that your radio was damaged in transit.

The manual is small and too the point.  It is one of the better “engrish” manual translations and despite being a little funny to read, it is pretty god for the most part.  The documentation does a very good job describing how to navigate the menu system.

Initial impressions

Wow.  Can I say that again?  Wow!  Upon removing the radio from its packaging, I was immediately taken with the solid heft of the unit.  Remember, it’s not that big.  Also, it’s not that heavy eaither…it just feels “solid”.

Working a repeater

Communicating with other hams via a repeater is quite easy to setup with this radio.  For immediate connections, you can use directly enter the repeater frequency, shift direction, frequency offset and CTCSS (PL) tone from the keypad via the menu system.  If you want to have pre-programmed repeaters in the radio with channels and names, you have to program the radio via the software.

more to come (7/29/2011)…

Quality

Overall impression is that the radio is very solid.  The receive section is very sensitive, although the antenna seems to be a bit on the average side.

more to come (7/29/2011)…

Usability

With it’s small size, great LCD and keypad backlight and the talking chinese lady to enable hands free operation, this radio is extremely usable.

more to come (7/29/2011)…

Programming

Programming the radio requires a windows PC, USB programming cable, drivers and programming software.  All of which are quite easy to use.

more to come (7/29/2011)…

Where to buy

One of the best places to buy ham radio gear is at Amazon.com.  That may be a little surprising, but the reason for this is because you get the full support of the Amazon customer service if you have a problem.

Here is a direct link to the radio and several other models that you might be interested in:

 

References

  • An excellent reference by N9EWO: http://n9ewo.angelfire.com/kguvd1p.html
  • Programming software: http://www.kc8unj.com/kguv.html
  • USB programmer drivers: http://www.wouxun.us/category.php?category_id=50

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