Railfan Technology > Wouxun KG-UV9PX portable amateur radio railfan review

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I might be reviewing another radio in a few months.  That review is coming a bit earlier than I had planned.  This review is for the Wouxun KG-UV9PX portable dual-band analog radio.  There are several similar variants of this radio sold—this variant, however, is only available from BetterSafeRadio.com.  The KG-UV9PX is marketed as a “SHTF” analog amateur radio.  It has 999 memory channels with a full suite of public/private analog channels, including the 97 “original” AAR VHF voice channels preprogrammed into the radio.  The UHF train telemetry channels are not programmed into the radio as delivered.  The radio programming can be modified with the free software downloadable from the Better Safe Radio website.  Note here:  the KG-UV9PX uses a dual-prong “Kenwood-type” programming cable, however, that cable must be the red Wouxun programming cable, which is not included with the radio but can be purchased from Better Safe Radio.  The radio package (radio, battery, charger, etc.) is priced at about $170 as I write this, subject to change, of course.  The programming cable is about $15.
 
I bought the KG-UV9PX to replace my now slowly dying Wouxun KG-UV6X that I have used for both railfanning and amateur radio use for a number of years.  Now, I have previously glowingly praised the Quansheng UV-K5(8) radio as being an excellent railfan radio for the very reasonable price of around $30 or so.  The KG-UV9PX has more features and slightly better performance than the UV-K5(8), but, for those who only use a radio for railfanning, is the KG-UV9PX worth about $150 more than the UV-K5(8)?  Probably not.  That said, for those who want to use a radio for railfanning AND other purposes, the KG-UV9PX is worth a hard look.
 
The KG-UV9PX is not a “new” radio—it has been on the market for a few years.  I suspect that it may even be “sunsetted” for a newer model at some point.  Still, the KG-UV9PX is a very decent performing radio, with just a couple of things that I don’t like about it—things that most every Chinese radios do that are basic design flaws.  More about those in a minute, but here are the things that I really like about the KG-UV9PX.  While not large, the KG-UV9PX feels solidly built—almost to commercial-grade radio quality.  The radio has exceptionally good weak signal reception in both the VHF and UHF bands.  The KG-UV9PX is a heterodyne radio, so it is pretty impervious to RF interference.  In a side-by-side tabletop comparison with the Quansheng, the KG-UV9PX has VHF performance as good or better than the Quansheng, and it beats the Quansheng in UHF performance.  The KG-UV9PX has very good audio clarity, however, its audio volume is not loud, even at full volume.  Its audio volume is about the same as the Uniden Bearcat BC-125AT, which is to say that it is not great.  The Quansheng actually is a louder radio than the KG-UV9PX. 

The KG-UV9PX has one feature that really puts it above many other radios.  It has a full dual-receiver.  In other words, it will simultaneously receive on both its “A” and “B” receiver and both the A and B receiver can also be simultaneously scanned.  For example, I set my KG-UV9PX to scan the selected VHF band railroad voice channels on the A receiver and scan the UHF train telemetry channels on the B receiver, and you can hear transmissions on both receivers concurrently.  Very, very handy out in the field.  Now, unfortunately, it is the scan function that has a big shared deficiency with the keypad lock function—one that is common with many Chines radios (the Quansheng UV-K5(8) being an exception):  the keypad cannot be locked when the radio is in scan mode.  This also means that an inadvertent key press can knock the radio out of scan mode potentially without the user knowing it.  I have mentioned that deficiency to Mark at Better Safe Radio and I believe he has related it to Wouxun.  Another deficiency that the KG-UV9PX shares with nearly all “non-scanner” radios (aside from some commercial radios) is relatively slow scan speeds.  That, and the somewhat weak audio volume are the main “downers” with the KG-UV9PX.  Finally, about the KG-UV9PX, one of the very good things about it is the excellent customer service from Better Safe Radio.  Many Chinese radios have poor to non-existent U.S. customer support, Better Safe Radio is one of those happy exceptions.  So, there you have have it about the KG-UV9PX.
 
I will briefly make a note here about another radio that I tested recently.  Heartbreakingly, it is not on my recommended list, which is a shame.  It is the BTech BF-F8HP Pro sold by BaoFeng Tech, a South Dakota company.  BaoFeng Tech is a great company, and their customer service is superb.  They sell BaoFeng radios modified and built to BaoFeng Tech’s specifications.  The BF-F8HP Pro is a radio that I want to love.  There is much that I really like about it.  But, the deal killer is that its weak signal sensitivity is just not competitive.  I tried probably a dozen different antennas, and BaoFeng Tech even exchanged the radio that I bought with a replacement, but the replacement performed no better than the first one.  The BF-F8HP Pro, for whatever reason, is also notorious for missing transmissions when in scan mode.  Apparently, its circuitry is just not up to the task of offering adequate weak signal reception.  That’s too bad because BaoFeng Tech is a good company.
 
Oh, and to answer the potential question:  I buy the radios that I test and review—I receive no compensation for making the reviews that I post here.  As always, I will try to answer any questions.
 

WW, thanks for your comprehensive and insightful radio info.  I always find your posts very informative.

 

Just a note--as I've continued to test the KG-UV9PX, I like it more and more, except for one very disappointing feature.  Its display can be nearly impossible to read in sunlight.  The display color can be changed, which helps a little bit, and the display can be programmed to be on bright continually.  If the latter is not done, though,  the display will go to the dim setting after a user set amount of time.  If the display goes to the dim setting, it is dark in sunlight.   In this one regard, the radio is one of the worst that I've tested.  Its redemption is its excellent reception--the KG-UV9PX has better weak signal reception than nearly all of the scanners or amateur portable radios that I've tested, and that is saying something.  As I write this I'm side-by-side comparing it against my Kenwood NX-200 commercial VHF portable, one of my "benchmark" radios for performance.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/25 15:53 by WW.

So your Kenwood NX-200 is still the "gold standard?"

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL

The NX-200 and Icom IC-F3161DT are my "gold standards" for VHF reception in a portable radio.  Both, like many commercial portable radios, are highly configurable via their programming software--features and parameters that are often not configurable in amateur radios, etc.  The "failing" of the NX-200 and the IC-F3161DT is that they are VHF-only radios.  For dual-band VHF-UHF analog portable radios, one pretty much has to look at either amateur portable radios or the Chinese offerings.  The Wouxun KG-UV9PX is far from a perfect radio in some of its features and characteristics, as I have noted, but its VHF analog performance is very, very close to the performance of the Kenwood and Icom portables, and it performs equally as well on UHF as it does on VHF.  Now, if one "wants it all", the EF Johnson (JVC Kenwood)  VP8000 public service portable radio will do VHF, UHF, and 800 mHz, along with having analog, NXDN, and P25 capability, with stellar overall performance.  BUT, it is not very readily available to the general public and costs, the last that I checked, in the neighborhood of $6K-$9K--yes, you read that correctly.  I have seen one of these at a Kenwood dealer that I know, but have not personally tested it nor used it.  Needless to say, one could purchase two very good Kenwood or Icom NXDN-capable portable radios--one VHF and one UHF--for a fraction of what that one radio would cost.  And, of course, the Uniden BCD-160DN portable scanner will receive both VHF and UHF analog and NXDN for around $250-$300, but it's not going to have very good weak signal reception on analog.  My BCD-160DN spends most of its time hibernating in the radio drawer with the batteries removed from it. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/25 08:08 by WW.

Thanks. I will be in touch with questions about my NX-200 privately, so as to avoid thread drift.

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL