Great review, I ordered mine on Amazon and received it in one day. Cost: Under 70 bucks, shipping and tax included. Installed it in my 2018 Grand Cherokee. Installation was a breeze. Seems to interface very well with CHIRP. The manual leaves much to be desired but after spending an hour watching various RU-vid videos, I was able to figure out how to program repeaters into it. I'm using a Diamond K400SNMO antenna mount with a paired diamond antenna. No issues hitting local repeaters (local defined so far as 40 miles or less). I have not done any actual talking on the radio because I'm waiting for my FCC license to publish in their database; so far now I've only been able to program and listen. But all in all, I think this is a fantastic little radio for the price. Perfect for a beginner like me. One note: After watching numerous videos, I've learned there is another version of this radio: KT8900D; and there are lots of negative reviews with regard to software issues on the "D" version, so beware. Thanks for this video, its one of the better technical performance reviews I've see for this radio.
And also, it has an FM radio, which gives additional entertainment feature to the value. I myself only used it on low power, just to avoid overheating, but with the cooling fan, that shouldn't be an issue either, as long as the transmissions are not too long. Overall a definite winner in my book as well!
@@28ebdh3udnav - YES, but it is ILLEGAL, since this is a HAM radio and NOT certified for Frs/Gmrs service. Howerer, there is a brand new Gmrs certified 50 Watt mobile radio from BTech you can use LEGALLY! Link: amzn.to/2MGDgGf
@@mrgclips did you notice that when scrolling through channels it is not consistent. I think I got a knock off and trying to figure out if I can solve my issue by buying a genuine one
The power for transmitting dropped fast because the default setting is 60 seconds. We could set this up to 600 seconds. Just find the configuration called TOT and set the parameter.
Great informative video , re the power drop on these boards the finals get pretty warm as you know and with such a tiny fan/lack of heat sink size i'd be reluctant for a QSO on 25w for long , for what they are and versatility they are great for days out, battery pack and a wire antenna etc , when i weigh up the pro's and cons and price i can see why old, 20- 25 yr aged 2mtr and dual band sets, old Yaesu's/ Kenwood/Trios are selling so well again with nodes a way of life now.... thx for the upload
When you've been around electronics for long enough, you'll rapidly realise such variations aren't uncommon. As they say, there are standards, "standards" (common practise but not industry or market engineering standards carved in stone) and sometimes you get some strangeness that's a result of maximising through minimal use of components - so in some ways, when you see stereo jacks used, where centre & middle are used as SIG/gnd pairing for TG (meaning bi-directional data mode for programming, could even be i2C style) and say tip+shell as Audio/Gnd - one some equipment (can't think of a specific example as I write this), depending on whether the radio is in programming mode or TxCR mode, the spkr jack gets used as a stereo audio Jack with a each of dual receivers piping each Rx output to tip/shell & middle/shell respectively and in programming/data mode, uses the entire 4 pins (being compatible with wired handsfree phone headsets) as an i2C interface as opposed to the usual three wire serial txd/rxd/gnd. I recall one such set (obscure pro/military item) that used RS485 over a stereo jack for programming and TG, so used A/B signalling standard as it was designed to be remotely controlled (using CAT type command sequences) or switched to pure TG where you effectively sent and received TG using a teleprinter and the TxCR was remote mounted at antenna site. So like I say, there's standards, "standards", convenient exploiting of potential using minimal components and sometimes just some unusual pragmatic thinking that looks plain weird but makes perfect sense in self context or application. If I sat down and listed every such variation I've come across, hell it'd virtually be a content source for a YT channel in it's own right and I'd still miss a few oddities out. Nothing is set in stone, so expect variation in everything - I can recall one such variation being due to a circuit diagram typo discovered after prototyping was finished and the manufacturer just let it be - and sold a suitable propriety cable rather than correct the design (two seconds work as the final PCB hadn't been finalized at that point). Weirdness and variation and typos are the bread and butter of electronics these days.
Just got myself one delivered today! Do you need to have it powered on to program it? I know that's a stupid question, but I wasn't sure. I have a power supply coming for it tomorrow!
What kind of 7 amp battery can you use? If I got something like this, I would want it to be a backpack or camping type rig. :) ETA: Could the power drop be because of the battery your using? For the price, even a 20w/15w is still not bad. :P
I hope some one gets back to me on this. I have had my KT-8900 for some years now. I was going thru some manuals and ran across the KT-8900 manual. Well looking thru it to see if there was any thing I could use that I was not. WELL, on page 4 at the bottom it says..Frequency Range Setting, under that it says you can add a third Band 224 270. via a password and pc. Has anyone done this? A TRI band KT-8900 say what.
Recently purchased this transceiver. Where can I get the "CHIRP" software you mentioned? Whats the chance you still have and can share the setup file you used to program this unit.
FREE Download: trac.chirp.danplanet.com/chirp_daily/LATEST/ - You need to program it, but it's very easy! You can download the basic channels like FRS/GMRS, MURS into it from Chirp, then add a couple of simplex frequencies, then search the web for your local repeaters as well as official bands (cops/firefighters/ems) and you're ready to go. Meanwhile you get familiar with your unit and start enjoying it.
Hi, I just bought one. Before it gets here in a week or so, I want to program some Aussie channels. Can someone send me a read from radio CHIRP export file? Thanks in advance.
Imo the Kenwood tm 281a is a great bang for the buck vhf transceiver. I'm Leary about these "Chinese" radios . Kenwood has a great reputation and the 281a is built like a tank.. and simple to program. I'd have confidence that it will last many many years
The Kenwood TM281a ( amzn.to/2SDSAD0 ) costs 2 X more and offers ONLY VHF! This little QYT KT8900 ( amzn.to/2SGdd1q ) radio is VHF/UHF, 2 X the service for HALF the price! The choice is pretty obvious of 99% of starter amateur radio operators. 😉
@@mrgclips . I agree with you that it offers much more features. However I'm a believer that you get what you pay for. Features don't mean anything If the unit burns out after warranty is over . Ive learned that if something is too good to be true , it usually is . And if it is true for a really cheap price it's usually built really cheaply . The people who built this radio are obviously making profit at this price point . Imagine the real cost of the internal hardware. Probably dirty cheap . You can't expect quality at that point
Yes, they are cheap, but not because they are junk! Over there they don't pay huge moneys to shareholders, don't spend millions on advertising, don't pay millions to high-management, don't pay union salaries to workers and THAT'S where the savings are coming from! Or you believe that Kenwood, Icom, Motorola and the rest cost much more to make? NO! They just CHARGE a LOT more for the same, because they MUST pay out all the above mentioned from the profit! The "big names" are better, no doubt, but are also MASSIVELY overpriced! Like when Apple made their iPhone-s in China for some $80 and sold it in the States for $800 or something?! Well, for one, I'm NOT willing to fill up some greedy shareholder's pocket with my money for an overpriced rip-off scheme-product and go cheapo instead.
The adapter is a PL-259 Male on the end that goes into the radio, the other end is a BNC Female. These type of adapters are available with SMA connection as well, however, we use BNC on our antenna with various adapters, so we can connect all of our radios (SMA Male/Female or BNC) with one standard connection to our antenna.
How did you Pre-make the programming information before it arrived/ You made a list of the information that you needed & then programmed it into the radio or you made an electronic file? Thanks.
Obviously we had to create the data file for the radio, but it was very easy, since we just had to copy/paste most of the data from other radio's programming files, then make some customizations and that was it. And yes, when we were done, we have saved the final data file for future reference and use, should we need it again.
I noticed that your video said that you have FRS/GMRS in your CHIRP list. Is it legal to transmit on those frequencies on this radio? On the portable HTs I have it isn't. (unless it's an emergency)
HAM operators program Frs/Gmrs and Murs as well into their radios to monitor, but these HAM radios are NOT service licensed units, so transmission is prohibited on them, unless it's justified emergency.
That's very strange! What I would try is to upload an earlier data file and see if it accepts that with all the previously added frequencies, and then try to add more above the current limit. If not, then I would suspect some sort of hardware (firmware) issue and would try to contact the manufacturer for help. Good luck!
That's incorrect! The radio draws no more than 2.7 Amps and the battery can provide 10 Amp continuous power with up to 30 Amp max temporary power. Also, we've hooked it up to a regulated power supply (This one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-61JXtprsYbE.html) and the SAME happened. So the radio's maximum power output may be indeed 25W, but ONLY for a VERY short period of time.
@@timhaupt5270 Noting that where BNC is rated for VHF/UHF, SO-239 (the actual socket legacy standard socket, PL259 is the matching plug used on the antenna lead/patch lead side) isn't rated above 30 MHz as it's intended for 30mhz or lower where traditionally (where it was a military standard) RG58 or RG8 cable was used as an unbalanced feed to unbalanced antenna types. BNC, whilst an unbalanced feeder socket standard, is rated as an fairly impedence stable connector - noting it's used heavily on workshop test gear as the one of two predominantly used probe and feed and interconnect connection types along with 'banana' plugs/sockets. I believe BP's aren't impedance stable if memory serves right, but it's again a legacy but common test probe connect standard. So, you find SO-239 used where you'd used PL-259 used on connecting leads on legacy standard and many mobile radios - where BNC and SMA were more commonly found on HH gear or man pack/transportable field gear (but in serious circles, you find on transportables, N or TNC standard socket/plug standards used where there are QR and threaded types much as where the case of SO-239 (threaded) and both threaded and QR pl-259 used on leads as suits. Mind you, whoever thought QR pl-259's was a sound idea was crazier than I am.
How long does the battery last , can i use this as portable repeater sence it has over 20 watts i could use an interface or relay to douplex with a other radio and use as a base station repeater.i was thinking of getting rt97 revetis portable repeater but it is only 10 watt and the price is over my head
With the right portable battery, you have many options to setup a portable repeater system. Personally speaking, I would chose a simple cross-band repeater solution, because it doesn't require all the official authorization and operational hassles that full repeaters do. Then just pick your favorite radio, either handheld or a mobile unit, and there you go, a great cross-band repeater in 5 minutes that can increase your range many times over!
The programming cable I have must have an issue.My laptop and a friends laptop don’t see it and both have Windows 7 and his Windows 8 laptop sees it just fine? After messing with it for over an entire day we finally got it programmed with Chirp once that laptop could see the cable.It makes no sense that the other two laptops could not find it.I’m sure it’s just another quality product from China.🤪😉
I don't recall any password for the QYT-KT8900 using CHIRP, but if you use something else, then you probably won't need a Password if the field is empty. Be advised that if you "hack" the original frequency range, you may be able to listen on a wider range, but since the operational frequencies are hardware controlled, you will probably damage your radio if you try to transmit on "out-of-range" frequencies.
We've run quite a few tests on this new version WITH the cooling fan and did not experience overheating with short bursts of transmissions. If used as an active transmitter, then obviously the power should be set to low in order to avoid burnouts, but that is true for ALL radios, even high-end brand units. So in the end, especially for a new ham on a budget, we can honestly recommend this radio with reasonable expectations on performance.
mrgclips My ICOM 2820H says in the manual that it cuts back to 5 watts when it overheats to protect the radio.That’s from 50 watts and it cost me over $600 when I purchased it New with the D-STAR Board.
A lot of the ones I'm seeing now do not have the cooling fan on them you can see where it mounted but they didn't put it on . I don't think I would trust one of these w/o some kind of fan on it .
The old bodies didn't have the fan, nor the 3.5mm audio jack, so make sure you get the new body! Also, in case of high usage, turn the power to low, otherwise this tiny little thing may quickly overheat even with the fan. It wasn't designed as a 'work-horse', but for light to medium load it will do an excellent job. At least our copy worked fine and fulfilled all of our basic expectations, especially for the price.
Yeah it's cheap...but whatayawant for $69 ?? It's worth the risk and Kenwood/Yaesu/Icom are NOT happy with these prices. They need to be more competitive.
Obviously the transmitting antenna should be placed to the higher point, making sure the two have plenty of space between them both horizontally as well as vertically.
@@mrgclips Precisely, if you look back at commercial LMR gear, using UK standards as a reference, most VHF hi-band TxCR units used 20/25W as a standard, where 50W was used on long range gear or stuff used where there was minimal or no commercial repeater coverage so high power gear was used at base and mobiles. Likewise, UHF predominantly used a lower power (around 15 watts output) where 25W and very rarely 50W was used on gear where again it was simple very long range base to mobile use. VHF lo-band (or which much surplus gear from this sector got repurposed as 4M and (with further mods, on some examples, 6M) gear by hams. Most vhf-low gear was about 10W on mobiles and probably 25 on bases. You see, it's not about power - it's about signal loss/propagation over distance that defines power usage and best type of antenna and variation according to installation applied use. At 4M, SIG loss was lower over distance and less predominantly LOS dependent (although it's still LOS focused for efficiency) so lower power and erp could be got away with. Likewise at UHF, which was used as a more 'local operations' territory or range via repeater use, you had typically lower power/erp used but for different reasons to lo-band VHF. So notably, you typically saw 1/4 verticals used predominantly, and 5/8th used where longer range where used and rated power output gear choice used according to how the setup was used vs range-focused maximum puff thinking. Keep in mind that most commercial LMR systems ended up in service over 20+ years, you'd be hard pushed to dispute the thinking that prevailed. I mean, I use 5/6W output on a 3 element collinear for base use on 2m/70cms (depends on what's connected) for NBFM and that's clean for 30 miles (so, for reference, can hit many low erp analogue gateways with FQ or near FQ reception and high SQ/AQ performance), so it's as much about application and how it's used and how much provision you need to compensate for poor or psuedo technical LOS range at VHF/UHF that defines power and erp and antenna choice to be effective. Note I live in a valley, three sides with high hill terrain with a single low altitude path and a few mid altitude direct paths to adjacent areas. Using a moderate tactical antenna (108 cm), and no more than 5W, allows for much flexibility on 2m/70cms on HH without getting crazy on FM and doubled range easily on narrow band mode DV such as DN on YSF. So sheer grunt/power isn't the be all and end of the story by a few NWT distances at least.
I have same radio but i do not received a cable . Do you have a diagram of the cable or you can tell me how is made . I tried with standard cables but the CHIPR saying that the radio do not go in clone mode! 73 TNX
No diagram, but with a little online search you can find retailers who sell all sorts of compatible cables for a variety of radios. That's how we've got it too.
TNX for answering , yes i tried to find like you wrote , Exectly i waiting a delivery of the CP 2102 usb to ttl device to try with him because i found very nice procedure how to program. TNX 73
With this radio can you load up chirp and restrict its upper and lower frequency limit so it can only TX on HAM bands even if you type something higher in on the keypad?
Yes, it is chirp compatible, but has its own software as well, which you can use to limit the frequency range. However, then you won't be able to use it as a 'scanner' for other services, which is fun and part of being a HAM as well.
mrgclips yeah I have been able to program it with chirp but I was wondering if you can limit its upper and lower frequency to stop it transmitting outside of the the HAM band. I wasn’t able to do it in chirp, I haven’t tried the standard software.
I just checked it on both, and you are right! The frequency range is set and can NOT be overwritten in either software. I was a bit confused about it because many others allow it, but here the values are blocked by the software. So, I guess, in VFO mode you need to check which frequency you enter before starting to transmit in order to avoid accidental violations.
Yeah thats a bit of a pain Isn't it. I actually don't know if i'm allowed to use the radio here in VK. I don't think I'm allowed to use a radio that can transmit out of band. If i were able to lock it by thinning the bands it would have been ok. Bummer. Thanks for checking for me. I haven't been able to get the stock software to connect, only chirp. 73's
You sound like a very responsible operator, so I seriously doubt you would make such a mistake. With experience and knowledge, you will memorize all the UHF/VHF bands you are allowed to use and won't use anything you're not supposed to. Just be mindful of your permitted frequencies and you'll be fine.
NOT, if you're using HAM radio of any sort! For HAM, you MUST possess a valid amateur radio license in order to transmit, but you can listen and monitor at your own privacy. Give it some time, study, go and take the test and be done with it!
La verdad no entiendo por que no sacan como programar en español se lo agradecería o sea manual de funciones en español yo tengo una y no puedo programar una kt 7900d .
Yes! That is why so easy to do it! You just Copy/Paste the data from another data file you already have (if you're a ham) and be done with it in minutes!
I don't have that, but I've found a link on Amazon. Check it out if it works or not: s3.amazonaws.com/usbdriver/QYT+KT-8900D+Program+Software.rar - If it doesn't work, try CHIRP, maybe they've updated it to include this model as well.
Frequencies are "allocated" according to usage type and purpose by the FCC (Federal Communication Commission) and the ARRL (American Radio Relay League). So it's not about which one is the best frequency on UHF, but what the PURPOSE of usage is! For example; Simplex (radio to radio) is dedicated on certain frequencies, but Repeater channels (input / output) are dedicated to yet a completely different block. You need to familiarize yourself with the different frequency allocations BEFORE start transmitting and transmit ONLY on the frequencies that are assigned to the particular transmission TYPE (phone/CW/data/Simplex/Repeater/etc).
Absolutely not. The Leixen vv-898e has a better receiver and filter and is much cleaner on a spectrum analyzer. -49db 3rd harmonic and .02mv -13DB sinad. That's excellent for receive.
Range always depends on the terrain. On open fields with minimum blockage you can reach 30-50 Miles, BUT, in a city with lots of building, cars, radio towers, etc-etc, the range can be as little as 1-5 miles. However, if you have the antenna high up on top of a building, then your range will increase drastically.
I have the same radio. It works fine, until yesterday. The backlighting feature stopped working.... no more blue, purple any more. What is left is just orange, and only for transmit, not even for receive. I am not sure whether I got a lemon, or these china radios are basically pieces of junk.
They are pretty unpredictable and unreliable as a "workhorse", but can be very good for a beginner HAM with limited budget. The light situation is inconvenient, but not vital for the operation of the radio, so as long as the unit works, just keep using it. It's perfect for an inexpensive vehicle radio or a back-pack unit, but you are right, they are not exactly "top-notch" quality and the price reflects that very well.
Exactly why I am keeping it. It serves the communication purpose. I am used to the old radios which did not have the feature of backlighting even. This is all I can afford. I get what I paid for. However, on the reliability thing, I have this radio for almost four months now, and I say, it has not failed me on reaching out to my contacts, though I work on UHF mainly. Can you suggest a mobile unit of higher power, in this price range? I was looking at the Pofung PF9500. Thanks.
The actual 'range' ALWAYS depends on the particular area and location, as well as the placements of the transmitting and receiving antennas. If you live in a huge city with tall buildings blocking the way, then obviously you won't get much distance out of your radio. Out in the open your range increases dramatically. If your antenna is up high on top of a building or flag-pole, then you get even farther, and if you use a directional (yagi) antenna and transmitting from a high elevation, then you can reach well over a 100 miles. But still, you must remember that this is a short range VHF/UHF radio, and as such, was made for short distance but high quality communication. For long range communication you need an HF radio, and for worldwide contacts you need to use CW (Morse Code).
