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Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:09 pm
by VK2AOH
Anyone had anything to do with one of these ? Good bad or indifferent ? Nothing about repeater offsets, guess it would be a matter of programming all the channels in.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AU-Mobile-Tr ... 1635212950

Any comments appreciated.

Re: Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:27 pm
by VK5ZLR
The radio is probably OK for the price, no doubt there is a way of setting the repeater offsets.

However the seller has had 315 Negative Feedback comments in the last month alone.......

Re: Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:53 pm
by VK2CSW
It looks like a QYT KT8900 (or a variant of it)

I have no experience of it but I am sure the interwebs are full of reviews.

'coz I'm a helpful guy, here's one:
http://www.brickolore.com/2015/05/qyt-k ... obile.html

and a "manual":
http://www.miklor.com/KT8900/

Re: Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:11 pm
by VK2AOH
Thanks for the replies so far and have been doing a bit more research as well. Seems repeater programming can be a bit finicky, there may be issues with the programming software and different versions of windows. Instructions are in Chinglese and have had an encounter with those.

Seems the seller is a general wholesaler of goods from all sorts of household and automotive stuff and get the impression this radio is an unbranded jobber dumped into the selling basket in the hope of making a sale.

The sellers feedback is not particulary good as well.

So think it might be something to steer clear of for the moment.

Thanks again for the comments.

Re: Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 8:56 pm
by VK4CZ
I have one 'almost new in box' that I used for a few weeks in the 'daily drive' sitting in the cupboard.

It performed just 'OK' in the shack when tested on the Diamond dual band @ 20m AGL fed with LDF4-50. But in the mobile (with just a short dual band) the sensitivity and selectivity as I commuted into the city each day proved to be less than ideal.

I wouldn't recommend one for mobile use, but would sell it for $50+p.h if you wanted to try it from a shack.

Re: Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:38 am
by VK2AOH
Thanks for the offer and the performance mentioned is pretty much what I expected. One of the uses I would have would be in a mobile and often in fringe type coverage areas as I usually frequent country areas.

Think I will keep an eye out for a second hand known brand name radio or something similar.

It would be nice to invest in a new multi bander but with the lack of activity on 2M/70cm around my area makes the expenditure hard to justify.

Re: Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:31 pm
by VK3VFO
Hi All ,
I have used these radios and the filtering in the radios are nearly non existent , I would look for a brand name radio .
Nick
VK3VFO

Re: Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 4:29 pm
by VK2AOH
Thanks, will save my pennies for something better. :D

Re: Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 10:01 am
by VK6ZFG
Hi

I have a QTY 8900R. This is the upgraded version where they have added a fan to cool the unit. I would avoid the older QTY 8900 with no fan. It is a very small radio so heat sinking is minimal. The QTY 8900R has a speaker socket as well as a separate programming socket but the QTY 8900 only has a programming socket.

They claim 25/20 watt output but while it can produce around this power it is only because the internal power level control is wound fully up. Low power on the unit is about half the level of high power. It probably should be marketed more something like a 15/10 watt radio.

It does work but I have found the channel change sometimes goes in the opposite direction to that intended. Seems to be related to how fast you try to change channels.

Have not tried it in a high RF environment so unable to comment on this at this stage.

There may be other issues with it but it has not yet received much use.

It is a cheap radio if you need a second one for occasional use (my application in second car). It is not one I would recommend as the main radio for serious use.

Re: Ebay 2M radio

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 10:27 am
by VK2AOH
Thanks Igor for your comments and have made the decision to get a known brand name radio despite the expense and lack of activity on 2 metres. Better to get something that works reliably to my mind.

Cheers, Nick