QTY KT-8900R

[TheOldHObbit]

Having played around with my Christmas gifts (x2 Baofeng 5r5s) and received great help and advice from other posters on here, I have recently acquired a reasonably cheap mobile 2mtr 70cm radio. I went against my usual trend and bought this off a well known bidding site and waited for its arrival so I could have a play with my first mobile set.

To be honest, for a chinese cheapo radio, I was pleasantly surprised although I have nothing other than the HT to compare it against. Like the Baofengs I struggled a little with the manual programming, but with the help of youtube and some practice I managed to sort it out. Tonight I have managed to work out the software programming which again is easy when you know how.

This little radio is 5" long, 4" wide and about 1.5" deep, so you can see it really is small. However it is also very good...... 200 channels, tri band, the RX is much more sensitive than the HT and the speaker, well its very loud and very clear. Its power output is 10w/25w of which I will only be allowed to use the LP side of it, but I look forward to getting it up and running just as soon as I can.

I have it in the car on the ciggie plug and it is so small I can wedge it between the central console and the passenger seat not problem. I store it in the glove box away from prying eyes and run it on a mag mount through a Diamond SG7500.

So far, for a cheap radio I am pleased with it and can only confirm that the reasonably positive reviews seem to stand up for themselves.

QTY KT 8900R by Britfan, on Flickr

[Briggs 2.0]

I've been dabbling in 2m/70cm a bit more recently, I put a similar unit in my car, a second hand FT8800 and I've quite enjoyed the chit-chat on the repeaters, but also been impressed at the range possible. There was a bit of a lift on recently and I've been picking up GB3WR Somerset as far apart as Honiton and Coleford in Glos. I was chatting with an M6 who has just passed foundation and he was in Cwmbran using a Boefeng on 5W.

Mrs B has a handie in her car but she never remembers to charge it up so I'm thinking of permanently fitting one of these KT-8900 in her car for emergencies. £50 on eBay, right? I suppose the alternative is from Martin lynch, the £60 Leixen VV-898, which at least comes with a returns policy. I think Wingfoot has one.

Briggs.

[metatron]

Looks nice, I've recently installed a second hand Yaesu FT-897D and buddipole on my everyday drive, but I've got a project Suzuki Jimny in pieces in my garage, would be nice to fit that in the dash as the stereo was ripped out by the previous owner.

[TheOldHObbit]

I think more and more people are looking at 2/70 as a means to communication. Especially as the like of the HT Baofengs go for around £30 and are fairly easy to use. I have not explored the possibilities of other repeaters other than my local ones, but hopefully once I have my Foundation the world is my oyster ..

The mobile (KT-8900R) is a super little thing and works very well. I have had a licenced operator use it locally and it seems to get out very well but nothing on distance. Once I can operate I will be programming in some fairly distant repeater and get up high to see how it works. I quite like the idea of sticking with 2/70 in the car just in case as that is what my comms plan includes with my HT's.

The one thing that I find quite strange is that there is no (unofficial) national calling channel on 2/70 (Simplex) instead of everyone scanning around trying to contact each other. I know PMR has a calling channel (ch8) and our little mobiles can be tuned to listen, but something more assured would be good. It would be nice to travel around different places on one calling frequency in the knowledge that someone is likely to be out there listening.

Anyway, good luck with your addition comms sets and I hope you see them as a great addition to your prepping kit.

[Hamradioop]

433.5000 MHz FM Calling channel:
145.5000 MHz FM Calling Channel.

VHF / UHF Band Plans http://www.wolverhamptonars.co.uk/?WHAP=2mbp

[TheOldHObbit]

433.5000 MHz FM Calling channel:
145.5000 MHz FM Calling Channel.

VHF / UHF Band Plans http://www.wolverhamptonars.co.uk/?WHAP=2mbp

To the rescue once again Got these tuned into my sets, thank you.

Oh just as an edit, the Wolverhampton site is very well designed. Really enjoyed looking through it.

[Hamradioop]

Glad I could Help

[Wulfshead]

I have the TYT th-9800 quad-bander as the main VHF/UHF radio in my shack, I also have a VV-989 as a backup for if the TYT blows.
When I first tried and worked stations with the VV-989 I was impressed, the only down-side is it is subject to picking up inter-nodal QRM.

Hamradioop,
Got the 20 call now and booked in for the M0 with C.A.R.S next January (I think lol), I'll mail you my new 20 call.

I picked up, via a club members down-sizing, a VERY reasonable Kenwood TS 430s, dedicated PSU & external speaker £150 the lot I also got a MFJ Deluxe Versa II ATU for Yule
Made a 20 meter dipole with an 8 turn air-choke balun and I am getting out very well with my 50 watts.
If I could just get the Italians in the Kilowatt club to shut it for a second I'd be hitting Kenny the Kangaroo lol. I get an average S5-S6 Rx from Melbourne.

Nice to see the forum still bubbling away,

Wulfshead