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Railfan Technology > A brief review of the new Wouxun KG-UV9DX portable radioDate: 07/04/25 08:55 A brief review of the new Wouxun KG-UV9DX portable radio Author: WW Wait a minute, didn't you just review the Wouxun KG-UV9DX portable dual-band analog radio? Nope, the review I did fairly recently was for the Wouxun KG-UV9PX portable dual-band analog radio. So, what is the difference between these two radio models? Candidly, there are very few, however there are two differences that may make the Wouxun KG-UV9DX radio a better choice for railfans. First, as least for now, the KG-UV9DX is a bit less expensive than the KG-UV9PX. Second, the KG-UV9DX at least partially cures a major deficiency of the KG-UV9PX--on the KG-UV9DX, the screen is much brighter and can be more readily read in bright sunlight. It's still not great in this regard, but is significantly better than the KG-UVPX. The reason that the KG-UV9DX is cheaper than the KG-UV9PX is that it has lower (5 watt) transmit power than the KG-UV9PX, which, frankly, will be a non-issue for most railfans. The KG-UV9DX uses the same programming cable and CHIRP software as the KG-UV9PX. With the exception of the differences that I have described, the two radios perform nearly identically in every other regard. So, one can assume that my review of the KG-UV9PX will apply to the KG-UV9DX. Frankly, if I had known that the KG-UV9DX was on the horizon, I would have purchased it instead of the KG-UV9PX. One of my biggest complaints that remains about both radios is that their audio output is just not as loud as I would prefer. I should note as a matter of record that I'm functionally deaf in one ear, so I may be more concerned about radio audio output than other users. To repeat, both radios can be sourced only from BetterSafeRadio.com.
In one other note about a possible future review coming down the pike. After a 20 year hiatus of buying a Japanese brand portable amateur radio, I will shortly be testing a sort of railfan favorite portable radio, the Yaesu FT-65r dual band portable. A short explanation of why I have had a 20 year hiatus from acquiring a Japanese brand portable amateur radio--with just a couple of exceptions (one being the Alinco DJ-50XT, essentially a re-branded Chinese radio), Japanese radio manufacturers have doggedly retained a minimum 5 kHz channel step in their radios, which means the radios will not tune to any of the analog "splinter" AAR channels that were created by narrow-banding back in 2013. That has not changed, but my predictions about railroad use of those analog splinter channels has. I now believe that it is highly unlikely that those splinter channels will see any widespread use by the railroads for analog radio communications--rendering the need for railfans to monitor them on an analog radio largely moot. Where those splinter channels will likely see some use is in the NXDN realm, where they can not be decoded by any analog-only radio. My curiosity about the FT-65r centers on how well it will compete with these Wouxun (and other Chinese radios) in signal reception on the 97 AAR "regular" analog channels. One other note: the Yaesu FT-65r has been manufactured in both Japan and China--I'm curious to see where the radio that I'm getting was sourced. I hope to post a review of the FT-65r in about 3-4 weeks. |