Railfan Technology > Wouxun KG-UV6D railfan use review.

I bought a cheapie ham radio dual band handie-talkie, optional speaker-mike and optional AA alkaline battery holder from the good
folk at Universal Radio for about $190 including shipping.

For the specific ham radio purpose for which the unit was purchased, it works as intended. As a railfan radio, I would not advise
buying one.

The included programming software / USB dongle is primitive, counter-intuitive and clumsy. Those accustomed to the smooth and logical operation of RT Systems' software are in for a rough time.

It is possible to program the unit from the keyboard which is even worse than the poorly-designed software....just awful!

The manual and programming software can be confusing as sometimes they do not use the customary terms for radio functions.
With the myriad ham radio functions, most of which are of no use to railfans and some of which can disable the receiver for
hearing AAR radio transmissions, enabling and disabling these functions can be a source of frustration.

There are no "banks" where selected frequencies can be stored. For example, if you wish to only scan the 3 AAR channels at a favoured train watching location, you have to "unselect" the remaining 196 memories the first time and then selectively select and
unselect AAR channels for other locations.

The radio's selectivity and sensitivity are inferior compared to my Yaesu handie-talkie.

Be Well,

Tim Colbert K3HX

Celebrating 50 years in Amateur Radio.

I have a UV-5RA and it has similar problems. The only thing I have of this
manufacture that is worth the money is the all band antenna and
it has a strange connector. Thanks for posting Tim, I thought I was too
"nit picking" but you confirmed my feeling.....Swede..NA7SL...Albany,Or.
Only 31 Years in Amateur Radio...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/14 10:08 by GN_X838.

Good review, Tim! Thanks for taking the time to check it out and post the results.

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

Thanks for the excellent short review also. If you guys don't know Tim, take my word for it, he knows what he's talking about.

I have the Boafeng UV-5. Likewise, no banks. The receiver seems to be OK, pretty sensitive but have not used it in a crowded environment so I don't know how it handles intermod. The manual is awful. Only about 16 pages. The manual for the VX-170 is over 100 pages. It mentions what each function does but doesn't tell you how to 1.) punch in a frequency, 2.) select xmit shift*, 3.) select CCTSS*, 4.) select a memory channel and then put them all together to program a memory. You can't overwrite a memory, you have to remove the programming for that memory and then enter all of the new new info. The antenna connector is some version of the SMA type but it is a male where everything else I've seen has a female. Their software wouldn't run on my laptop so I can't say anything else about how good or bad it was. I tried to load it 3 times with 3 failures. The RT Systems software runs fine. If you get the RT Systems software, get the cable at the same time. The cable that came with my radio wouldn't work either. One other thing that I don't like is that it will transmit OUTSIDE OF AMATEUR FREQUENCIES. That means you can transmit on railroad frequencies. Other brands have those frequencies blocked. Words to the wise, "If you don't have the license, don't press the Push to Talk button.

Bottom line, The Baofeng radio is OK, the receiver is sensitive but the manual is pretty bad and the antenna connector is not all that common.

* indicates these functions would be important to hams when programming to transmit.

John

I found out it was too hard to go from repeater to repeater. If I turn it on I
use it for a monitor on the local RR dispatcher. Other wise I use my
RS-82, which I have programed by hand.It also has sections I can use ,for ham,
Airport, and Fire/Police. much more versitel....Swede...NA7SL...Albany,Or.

9/8/2014 I needed an antenna for my scanner, so I bought an adapter an used
the Wouxun antenna as a replacement. It seems to work fine, So far. I had the
antenna and decide to just try it......Swede.........Albany,Or.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/14 13:26 by GN_X838.

Thanks for the review, was curious how these radios would perform for the low price. Guess they have some way to go performance-wise.

Borrowed a repurposed Bendix-King fire dept. handheld programmed for RR freqs from a friend, it actually works quite well. A cheap way to go narrowband before things go digital someday.

Rick Somers, KK6EL

Anything out of China is bound to be less than what is expected. Probably why I bought my 1st Yaesu and stuck with that brand ever since. But I see a lot of new hams buying the Chinese radios and listening to them complain after figuring out their money would have been better spent on a Yaesu or a Kenwood.

73

I recently purchased a FT-250 Yaesu and found it a nightmare to program and I refuse to buy separate software to try and program...I just bought a FT-252 and this radio seems to be simpler design and easier to program, but
they still recommend software for it...My question- does anyone make a simple HT to save several freqs and just hit scan and it works as it should? Thanks for the review K3HX.

Paul, NC8T
Canton, OH

I have the KG-UV6D V2 and use it for commercial and ham use plus railfanning . It's comparable to my Kenwood TH-F6 but like all Chinese radios you must program it via computer. Using the menu is easy once you get it figured out. The V2 model has the 2.5 spacing.
NC6A

I was having problems with my old radio shack so I went and bought there new RS-649 , it is compatible with the new narrow bands
and I can program all the RR freqs. in less than 15 minuets. I put the Wouxun antenna on it and its working fine so far. I used it in
Wenatchee,Wa. and it seem to be as sensitive as my old RS-82.....Swede...NA7SL...Albany,Or.