CHINESE RADIO THREAD

Likes, dislikes and general feedback radio reference thread. Chinese radios are great for cheap performance. These are not Japanese radio replacements.

All Chinese radios are not created equal. They can all be categorized by performance wrt other Chinese radios and Japanese radios.

Chinese radio feedback issues...
* Scan slowly. How slowly do they scan?
* Have crappy stock antennas. No need to mention that.
* Antenna SMA connector gender. All Japanese radios I have seen have a female connector. Chinese radios have either male or female.
* Display readability. Some are great. Others are not so good.
* Ease of programming w/o software.
* Ease of programming with software.
* Intermod rejection.
* Have or do not have FM radio broadcast receive capability.
* Squelch performance.
* # of channels.
* Alphanumerics?
* High and low power outputs
* Band(s)
* Chargers. Voltage and type.
* Belt Clip performance.
* General Appearance.
* Anything unique to your model.   

The concept behind getting a Chinese radio is to spend very little money. If we have to buy them all to find the one that works best for us then that defeats the purpose. May as well buy a Japanese radio that we know will be good and be done with it.

Well, okay.  Right off the top, the model # has the letter "U" indicating UHF, but this model has no UHF capability.  

SMA connector is female.  



The LED readout is inverse so it is difficult to read in ambient light without the internal lamp being on.  This is not really good.


Also, when I am receiving strong signals, there is a ticking sound in the audio.  At first I thought it was the repeater I was listening to but I noticed the same random ticking on other signals.  This is the only Chinese radio I have with this issue.

It scans 126 channels in a minute and 12 seconds.

I need the software to program this thing.  There is an "F9" program that works with this.  Meh.  It works.  I am nowhere near saavy enough to remember how to do the keyboard programming on this.  It is very quirky.  I rely on the software programming.

Intermod rejection is not great, but i have seen worse.

This has FM broadcast receive.

I have received good reports on the audio quality.  On long keydowns I do notice some warmth.  I am glad it is not higher power.  It is supposed to be 4 watts and that is good.

Squelch performance is preferable over Japanese radios.  When a good signal shuts down, there is practically no hiss tail at the end.  It is just quiet.

Manual is on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.460739410627230.108144.345196775514828&type=3

2x128 channels.

I have the 220 version.  There is a more popular 440 version (2m & 440)

There are alpha numerics.  It works well.

Advertisements claim there is a high-mid-low power, but mine only shows high and low.  4W / 0.5W.

The receiver has multiple bandwidths.  It autoswitches between bandwidths when a signal is received starting low and going higher until it decides what it wants to do.  Sounds like three bandwidths.  This seems unique.

Semi-duplex receive.  If you are receiving a signal on A, it won't check for B until A is quiet.  Also, there is no way to know what channel you are receiving by looking at the readout.  I have to change channels on the selected frequency to see if the signal goes away or not.  If it does not then I know I am receiving the unselected frequency.

1 x 7.4V 1600mah Li-ion Battery.  This is good.  I hate NiMH batteries.

Stock charger is a 8.5V 0.6A charger that plugs into the side of the radio.  I don't see where there is a drop in option for this one.

Fair receive audio quality.  

I don't use belt clips.  

Overall, the radio looks attractive for a Chinese radio.  It has a "FUN" button rather than a "FUNC" button which is amusing.  

I got this one a few years ago when it was about $80 shipped.  Now they are about $112 shipped on fleabay.  I would not recommend anyone buying this one.  I would assume there are better options out there.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-220mhz-Version-Baofeng-UV5RS-Dual-Band-136-174-219-230-MHz-FM-Ham-Radio-UV5R-/171273042305?pt=2_Way_Radios_FRS&hash=item27e0ab3981

This is one solid WYSIWYG radio.  No alpha numerics and a breeze to program from the keypad.  My big beef with this one is that it has Ni-MH and not Li-ion (6V, 1.2Ah).  The FD-160A is very similar except for 136 to 174MHz.  I have had to replace a battery pack on this one after 3 years.


Mine scans 56 channels in 15 seconds.

Squelch action is typical.  Not great.  

Not real cheap and only a monobander.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/FDC-FD-460A-UHF-400-470MHz-FM-Transceiver-2-Way-Radio-/320668291796?pt=US_Ham_Radio_Transceivers&hash=item4aa951d2d4

Frequency only goes up to 470 which is a bummer if your local police you want to monitor is on 470.xxx as is mine.

The antenna connector is SMA male.  

Programming cable is not compatible with most other radios.

Not a big issue to me.  Very simple to program from the front end.

Intermod not a big issue.

NO FM Broadcast receive.  No duplex receive.  These are very basic radios.

Uses drop in charger.  Quirky as there is a guide along the radio side that needs to slide properly into the charger.  It is not real easy to drop in.

5W/1W power levels.

Audio T/R is good.

99 programmable channels.

Not a lot to say about these radios.  I like them overall.  I have a UHF and a VHF version.  If you want a mono bander that you can easily operate from the keypad, this is the one.  Menu is easy to operate. Durable. Feels good to hold.