@2:25 Ham operator here. And no not complaint at all. You are wonderfull doing showing what are the risks on doing this . Teaching people about this ham or non ham is wonderfull..!! Keep up the great work mate. Radio is wonderfull... Loving your videos !
@@VTX-Liveyou are missing the whole point here. this is a bit teaching about harmonic and such.... you should know that this is also good to show to people who are not really aware about this. All of us started at point 0.
a few of us are working on hardware mods to match the firmware. the filters will be switched by spare gpio to give a better low pass or resonance at 28mhz as that is the only fm compatible hf band for non type approved amateur gear. if thereis space, filters could also allow 6m band at reasonable power, but i am working on the 28mhz 5w mod.
It's worth noting, for anyone who is after one, that the UV-K5, UV-K5(8) and UV-K6 are all the same guts, just in a variety of similar cases, and different backlight colours. The UV-K5 plus, in addition, is a hateful thing with a jarring blue backlight and no USB-C charging. UV-K6 is my preferred favourite.
Fine, but you have to first ask yourself why they went to the trouble of putting the extra tab on there. Were they doing it just to be shitty or would there have been an important safety concern? @@TomR459
I am 55, and I have always wanted to learn all about how to use these radios since I was a child. I just stumbled into this channel and sub'd, hoping to learn as much as I can from this community!
"Modern radio" is a lot more than just radio and it's pretty cheap to get into. There's a whole invisible world of transmissions from car alarms to smart meters and all kinds of data. SDR's are cheap and the more you learn the more you can listen to. 2 SDR units and some free software and you can be listening to trunked comms in your area.
one simply put a base / mobile unit in a house or vehicle, ran some 50 ohm coaxial cable out to a 6ft tuned whip or any groundplane roof mounted pole, and started chatting by pressing the mic switch, then letting it go in the hopesof hearing someone... All very basic, sort of like typing Q&A's in places like this, where goodness knows who will answer. ?
I've had a handful of those 'illega' CB radios. Small list - Cobra 2000 with extra channels, Golden Eagle with extra channels, Trinidad with extra channels, Yaesu FT-101e (i know not illegal but I used it on CB), 5k linear amp with a set of Moonraker 4 beams. Miss talking skip and CB's in general. Great video, thank you!
You have to do what you must for off grid communications. The very first thing to go down in a widespread emergency is electricity. Cellular is always the second. Not to mention, while cellular is up, you can be bumped for VIPs right in the middle of your conversation, even if it is an emergency. Cellular is 100% dependent on a subscription. CB, amateur radio, GMRS, FRS, MURS, pirate radio, foreign radio service radios like Australian UHF CB, LPR433, PMR466, are dependent on a battery, and antenna, only. Thus, do not interrupt air traffic, stay off first responder frequencies, and collect all the other radios you can. 73 de KBX-1339.
5 kW? LOL If your splatter box you call a "linear amp" had this power on HF, and if it had 100% efficiency, it would take 45 Amps on your power outlet. But, no amp has 100% efficiency. In fact RF amps are rarely over 50 or 60% percent efficiency. If we consider 50% efficiency (50% of the input energy is converted into RF energy), 5 kW RF would need *90 AMPS* from your 110V outlet. This is sufficient to call bullshit on your claim.
@@superpieton It would have to be a 220 volt outlet and could make a 4400 watt, sweep tube, amplifier. But, I hate sweep tubes. They are sloppy and do not last very long. I once knew an amateur radio operator that was very proud of his sweep tube amplifier. Granted, he really should have been proud of it since most amateur radio operators would not know how to make one. But it was so messy. The harmonics were quite beautiful in his CRT spectrum analyzer. He was the one that got me interested in the radio hobby. It was interesting to hear him make contacts with Japan from Alberta. He told me that his amplifier was messy on the air, but did the job. He used a very narrow banded antenna tuner to help reduce the mess. But, it seemed what he did worked. He just had to watch the spectrum analyzer and adjust the homemade tuner a lot. It had four knobs to get the antenna tuned and the notch at the right frequency. He must have bought tubes for that amplifier about once a year, or a little more. He showed me how to make manual tuners, solid state amplifiers, power supplies, antennas, oscillators, and how to use test equipment. Though, not an amateur radio operator, I make lots of extra untaxed side money making these items, modifying radios from other services to work on amateur radio and to other services, installing antennas on towers, setting up volunteer fire brigade stations, and much more. I am still a hobbyist. I just never got licensed due to the hassle of finding a place to test. If I try rather hard, I can make a solid state splatter amplifier, even if the radio is clean. I am glad there are not much calls for them. I have only made one. He wanted the most messy amplifier. I made it for him. He was thrilled. I guess he thought harmonics causing lots of bleed over means extra power on the frequency you are using. It is actually the opposite.
I still have my 1979 Yaesu FT-101 that has the CB crystals in it that I used to run on the CB band back in the 80's. 100 Watts AM, 150Watts SSB! It probably needs the capacitors replaced by now!😲😲
You get military handhelds that transmit from 26 MHz to 520 MHz. SDR can give you the ability to do from 1 MHz to 1200 MHz. You just need a linear amplifier to follow.
huge difference between military radios and this piece of junk. The front end on this thing is like a barn door, someone can sneeze two blocks away and desens the front end of the radio.
@@dannelson8556who would do that anyway? Radio communication is based on a fundamental flaw of being easy to sniff since it’s a wide broadcast. Military radios and their techniques of possibly processing information to further enhance security has been studied and analysed for decades now, with the conclusions publicly released. Long story short if anyone was trying to capture information from ANY RF comms they would exploit the physical principles of the signal itself giving higher compatibility, not a specific frontend interface of a niché manufacturer.
@@Mikeowd Digital over Analog is quite effective and when targeting is a concern, tiny repeaters with out-of-band comms take care of that issue. Do you think militaries just quit using radio?!
I have one of those. Its surprisingly well built. That USB charging is a game changer as well. I installed the S-meter mod on mine and that was about it. I think you hit the nail on the head about someone developing this radio further and i am excited to see what comes of it.
@@Enonymouse_they have phone cases that mate with the phone using micro USB or usb-c, and the phone case has a wireless charging coil built in. This is for phones that don't support wireless charging.nit obviously adds bulk in both thickness, and length, but something similar might be able to add wireless charging to this radio since it has a USB port! I feel like you could take a reputable wireless charging case, tear it apart, and fit the components onto a 3d printed case for this radio. Maybe even go all in and throw some 18650 cells into the shell, so the wireless charger goes into the 18650 cells, and the 18650 cells are like a battery booster for the radio's battery
@cyleleghorn246 I think you're onto some good ideas! What would be awesome is if there is a way to set the display up with the handset so it could be used in the field without any power other than what you bring with you. Possibly even a separate power pack so you could bring some extra 18650. Or make a separate power pack with some switch's power output to be able to boost the handset when needed. To power the display screen component when needed or use both when needed. Do you think that's possible?
@@JuggaloNY I'm not sure what the radio's voltage is that it would need to be boosted to, but they have adjustable DC to DC converters (buck converters) that take an input voltage and can convert it to any output voltage between a certain range. So on ming be able to be fed by 3v-9v, and have an output of 5v-24v. They are sold rated on the amps they're capable of outputting. However if you want to build it yourself, once you have more than a few features I think it would be easier to just make 2 devices. One 3d printed case that adds wireless charging capabilities to the radio (with or without extra batteries in the case), and then another separate battery pack with ten or more 18650 cells, fancy USB qc 3.0 plus ports for fast charging devices, and an adjustable buck converter on the other side that has a barrel jack for the output, for which you'd make your own adapter wire to plug into your mystery radio to power the display. Having 10+ cells in the battery pack and buck converter as a separate device just means more power, but specifically more power anywhere, not just for that radio. Charge anything with USB or custom barrel jack or Anderson powerpole adapters. If you pick good 18650 cells and get a good USB charging circuit, you can make a really good battery bank for less than most on the market, but you need to factor in the cost of tools you don't have, like a spot welder for connecting the batteries
The problem I found with some radios like a Yaesu and the handful of Baefengs was that their receive ability was pretty good but their ability to transmit well enough to be heard by nearby repeaters was actually very poor.
Thanks mate, yes they struck gold by using that chip in a fairly decent piece of hardware. The question is what is their next move. If they are clever they will embrace the communities efforts on the firmware and come up with a hardware design that truly embraces the full capabilities of the BK4819 and the third party software. Hope you are all good mate.👍🏼
I have been waiting for more than 20 years for a radio with a firmware that can be modified by the user! So "our" guys were not willing to give us such a thing, the chinese finally did. Now go on this way! A community will develop software much faster than a company. Next model -> more memory for software extensions please! Then bring out a shortwave transceiver. Just good & capable hardware required, software can be very basic, the enthusiasts will do the rest.
Why not just get rid of amateur radio altogether? Oh wait, that's already happened. There was a time when amateur radio operators actually built their own radios. Now you go take a simple test (that is if you want to be legal, many don't even bother) go get a $30 communist radio, and start cluttering up what used to be the amateur bands with your rf trash. Amateur radio has gone the way of CB radio, and that is sad. Of course I guess it had to happen. Trash technology has made real amateur radio obsolete. I got my technician license back in 1987, and bought a $400+ (in 1987) Kenwood TH-215 2 meter only HT. Then I had to wait a really long time until they did away with the code to get my general. I immediately bought a brand new Icom 718, which got packed up and put in the closet a few months later. I found a beautiful Yaesu FT-DX 560 tube radio that didn't work, and spent months rebuilding it. THAT is what I got into amateur radio for. To actually learn about and work on radios, not to buy some new computerized junk, hook it all up, and start talking. Amateur radio is no longer amateur. It's just like commercial radio. You can't work on today's radios. I have lost interest in amateur radio, and went back to 11 meters, where I started. I got an older SSB 11 meter radio, built a nice clean 100 watt tube amp for it, built an antenna, and have been having more fun than I ever had on amateur radio.
@@geraldscott4302that’s all fine. But even today most people don’t have $400 or £ even in today’s money to splosh on a new hobby they aren’t sure they will stick at. And buying a 400 what ever currency radio isn’t building it is it? In the uk the first level license hasn’t allowed people to build (that changed recently I think)…and I imagine that was to stop people building junk that interferes with the spectrum. These cheap radios are a gate way drug to the hobby.
@@geraldscott4302gatekeeping much? Most people can’t justify 400 even in today’s money on a hobby they don’t know they will like. These are a gateway dr#g into the hobby. Why is it ok to enter the hobby buying an expensive radio rather than building your own as seems to be the case with you?
@@RabbitStu-M7UTS You no longer need to spend $400. The prices of new, name brand amateur radio equipment has come way down since the late '80s. There is also the option of buying used. I can now find a perfectly good, much newer, used equivalent of what I paid $400 for back then for under $100 today. Of course it is a LOT easier to get an amateur license today than it was back then, and when you got it, you had a real feeling of accomplishment. And you were proud of your equipment. I still remember on my first 2 meter contacts, everybody asked me what kind of radio I was using, and I was happy to tell them. It would have been absolutely humiliating to have to tell them it was some communist Chinese POS.
one of the things about being a cable installer in the day was having the spectrum meter analyzer that tuned into EVERY audio band, and a butt phone with alligator clips.
I haven't operated radio for years, was A and B class license at 14 and 15 years respectively, 43 now. But remember being involved with some cutting edge stuff back then, copper tube wave guide for Microwave frequency transmission and some first satellite packet radio. It's come along way and glad that the door was opened to the interested. Love the look of this, always had soft spot for hand held with power ✌️
Got a old boafang which I received after my mate passed away 10 years ago just use it as a fm radio for work still going strong with every day use! We where into Cb back in the 90s had a few nice setups tbf met my missus on channel 19 our son is now 24 couple of grandkids too! 👍🏻👍🏻 I also had and old uniden if I remember correctly which was programmable it did 0-30 mhz once set up clever stuff back then! 👍🏻
*UPDATE! TRY THE IJV FIRMWARE. It will TX a very clean DSB and CW signal on the 2/70 bands. It also has a very nice user interface. 73. Original post: In the frequency scanner/spectrum mode, after pressing PTT to lock the frequency in, If you select SSB, And then toggle to the DEV setting and lower this to around 200 or 300, It will actually TX a reasonably good sounding double sideband signal. You can not only listen to SSB but you can talk there too! Amazing. (I did this test on 2m where I am licenced, and where the radio is reasonably clean (on VHF).
@@superpieton hello sad ham. That's funny... Where did I say that I did this test out of band? I actually did this test on 144MHz where I am licenced. The radio is fairly clean on VHF. Not good on UHF and absolutely awful everywhere else. But my use is 2 m SSB. So I'll carry on and enjoy the radio for what it is. 73
more like AM but still neat. I tried mine on 432.1 Too bad there's no way to get rid of the carrier. THAT would be outstanding to have a VHF sideband portable. There seems to be limited info on the Beken chip. I would not try the "sideband" transmit anywhere but 2m and 70 cm bands where the PA's are good.
Brilliant video Andy and a great little inexpensive radio to experiment with. I am unsure why some are fussing as this is what amateur radio is all about, obviously most know this is always going to splatter where it was designed to TX but for RX there’s no harm in my book.
I am already hearing the oldtimers charging their pace makers and Mobility scooters. 😒 Probably they are most mad that there is no morse option in it too.
I had some do gooder threaten to report me to ofcom last week for using my little boafeng on PMR 446 saying baofengs are not legal on PMR as they don't have fixed antennas and that they transmit more than the legal permitted power of 0.5 watts lol
@@mrlardster i am a licenced ham but i am also a hobby radio enthusiast. as long as i don't get interference and if i do and give you tips to solve it you do them i don't care. i am not a cop. and it's not my job to police. it's my hobby that i like for others also to enjoy. and that enjoying part is the only thing i care about. those oldies think they rule the airwaves while ruining the hobby by gatekeeping and just being difficult. nobody needs morse anymore or soldering with everything being smd. they would do better to start using computers with their hobby and 3d printers. but that is just my 2 cents.
@@raunchyNO yeah no worries my mate and good for you too 🙂🙂 and the more people who enjoy the hobby the merrier eh, but yeah there'll probably always be some do gooder on the airwaves who wants everyone on there to do everything by the book won't there, just take no notice and laugh at them I say, I certainly did when that do gooder threatened to report me last week, just hope people like him don't put others off taking up the hobby 🙂🙂
Got mine! 34 bucks plus tax. I have a couple bofeng's and some older 2 meter hand helds, problem is, I am the only HAM in my town, I can only talk to myself and I don't need a radio for that. I am studying for my General ticket so I can go HF and find some one to visit with. The 2 meter was great back when I used to go south for the Winter, we used to settle in a little town in western Arizona, we could piss into California from the campground and the 2 meter band was going strong down there, in fact we were picking up some cats who thought it was CB or something out of Havasu city.
Had a couple of these a few months still boxed upYou've sparked my interest in them now seeing the open source boffins have ironed out the nuisances. Great video and nice to see the SA hooked up to it. 👍
This reminds me of when me and my cousins opened my grandpas birthday present secretly to see what it is, and it was a ham radio. So we got it and found a literal news channel, and started talking on it. It was the funniest thing i have ever seen in my life! 😂
Nice tech, but a problem with your transmit test connected to the tinysa ultra. 40db is not nearly enough attenuation. Although it takes you under the sa's max it is still too much power for that sensitive instrument. I use 80-100db of attenuation, transmit 1 watt, and get very clean signals. Try it. Those harmonics might look more reasonable...
Looks like the tinysa had configurable input attenuation too (not sure if used here) which could knock another 31dB of the signal for a total of 71dB of attenuation.
@@ttttonyyyy I do not use it. Better to put whatever you need on externally. Why? Because you can't use the built-in attenuation and the LNA at the same time and with the right amount of external attenuation, the LNA is magical!
Radios can be legally modified in America by hams. The only issues would be use out of band, or spurious emissions. The actual changes are perfectly legal.
Just got one of these using the link from OM0ET's link. just over £10 delivered in 5 days from china! Firmware upgraded as soon as i got it :P Great lil' receiver. but dirty on TX out of 2m/70cm. not a prob for me as its only being used as an RX unit. Hoping to grab a HackRF one H2 portapack in the new year too. Cheers andy!
@@andykirby Can you tell me a good pair of all-rounders you would recommend...I bought a pair of the baofeng ones you reviewed with the missus...just looking for an upgrade
@@mikeluxy nope. I guess it was too low a price to warrant the import duty. Although I guess it will be different when I buy my portapack and hackRF one though.
I remember modifying many radios to jump 640KHz to go out of the propagation laden USA SSB CB band and it did turn into a sub-culture back in the 70's & 80's haha! But this stuff is insane! It's a wonder we can even use ham radio any more with all of those harmonics and horrible distortion etc. from everything else. TX'ing with this in Canada would be enough to wear hand-cuffs I believe ;) There used to be import limitations i.e. certifications, but obviously with China that's completely gone.
Most HAM radios have wide TX mods. I have done several, Icom, Xiegu, and Yaesu being the easiest, clip and remove one diode. Good presentation, thanks! I love oddball radios such as this, I might give it a try.
Andy is the number 1 CB guy of all the radio amateurs. That's why I decide to pass my radio amateur licence. Way to go Andy if you want to lure the top tier cb crowd into radio amateurism.
@@ImproveConditions What? Radio isn't even light. It's EMF. I cant tell if you're stupid or just jealous. Go get licensed. Doesn't mean you have to stop using CB, just means you can legally do more so when CB band is closed you have like tons of others to pick from
The last thing ham radio needs is a bunch of CBers... I mean they're more than welcome as long as they leave their CB nonsense behind, but they're not they're bringing it with them. The ham bands are starting to sound like glorified CB with jammers and people playing music on repeaters and purposely interfering with people. Not to mention bringing junk radios into the hobby, The HF bands are starting to suffer from Chinese splatter boxes being hooked up to amplifiers because your average CB or has no clue what phase noise means or what impact it has on the bands. ham radio was a much better hobby when it was propagated primarily by engineers scientists and physicist. about the only place safe from the CB crowd in ham radio is 10 GHz and above, operating At those frequencies requires knowing what you're doing because there is no commercial appliances for the CBers to use.
The lure to those who are interested in radio should be that you get to LEGALLY exploit bands for various purposes that you couldn't touch or risk fines and jail for using if caught. 🤷♂
wow found this by accident, great video, and you are so so clever. Guess who's now wanting to find one of these on a famous website, and sure enough it exists, next day delivery lol. Now comes the hard bit, trying to make sure the wife doesnt find out ha ha. Great video as mentioned.
TBH - if I bought another i would not be buying it to focus on using it for transmitting. Would primarily be buying it as a spare radio for camping and hiking to listen to FM and Airband or local transmissions.
I can confirm to you that certain models of this radio can transmit on vhf air bands also after a specific change in the hidden menu. Needless to say it is illegal and land you in trouble.
There are times where listening is more important than talking so if the RX is truly open and able to get good signal the whole way, it would be a good investment.
There wasn't but since you wanted to show your ass and read into something that wasn't there, I'll clarify. When the AT&T bombing happened in Nashville a few years back, I was able to listen to the Ham network in TN and get more knowledge of what was going on. I had nothing to contribute to the conversation so I listened vs talked. Hopefully that clears up the subtext of my comment and now you can put away your Trump hating bullshit and try to have a reasonable conversation with some one. Absolutely ridiculous having to explain something that seemed pretty obvious. God gave people two ears and one mouth for a reason. Do I have to spell that out for you? Or are you gonna get on a God hating bandwagon as well.
@@johnroscoe2406 because, even though 2016 was nearly 8 years ago you still can't stop thinking about donal trunk. Is trunq in the room with you right now?
Of course, we all know that most normal CB radios have major problems of harmonics. In the bad old days in Canada, the 27mhz CB radios would do an amazing job at wiping out reception in the 54mhz TV band... and especially on radios where people had "tweaked the finals" they would often also do a fair number around 108. That was with type accepted and licensed equipment. So I don't hold this little radio to much more than that.
The radio and the mods are not illegal.Transmitting on frequencies you have no license for is illegal. I have the UV-K5 €19, K5(8) €18 and the UV-K5 plus for just €14 free shipping, and they are fantastic. The new mod has done wonders for the AM airband receiver, it's way more clear now.
@@RobBob555its a type 95, and the damn thing isn't even txing. But I'm not from the UK, you crazies have goons for "TV licenses" so nothing would surprise me. This is being used as a scanner. Not even an old superhet design that could output some emissions (and thus how radar detector detectors came to be). FCC for. Ham, this is p95 radio and completely fine..disable TX in the firmware entirely if you are that worried.
Not really. If modifying this radio to tx out of band, the CE-conformity is no longer valid. This again means that this modified radio can not be sold to or owned by others than radio amateurs. In any way it's not legal to transmit out of the ham bands, as this radio is a ham radio. But I've ordered one, as it can receive airbands and is dirt cheap for the moment.
@@la7yka that's exactly right, it's a ham radio, and subject to part 95. Taken to the extreme, you can build your own superhetrodyne transceivers, no issue, so long as you - as the builder and station operator ensure you're not outputting spurious emissions out of band. That said, disabling TX in firmware and permanently locking the bootloader, or if you're super paranoid desoldering or adding a resistor to GND from the RX pin of the UART side of the CH9xxx TTL to USB chip in most of these, you'll ensure it cannot be reversed. You could also just desolder the PTT and the PTT trigger for an external mic on the Kenwood jack if there's one. Of course, something like a quansheng out of band, eg in 915mhz puts out something on the order of a few microwatts, as the built in filtering is designed unsurprisingly to be for 70cm and 2m, perhaps with 1.25m for the US and regions that allow it (in VK it is unavailable unfortunately). As for air band - not so much quanshengs but the Abbrees often come with no restrictions on out of band tx and can TX on airband no issue at all. As I'm also a licensed pilot and was at the airfield when they were doing their three monthly maint on the surface, lights, etc - we tested to see if it could activate the PAL. Not only could it do so, but even without AM demodulation, by putting it about 300khz out the AFRU read back could be heard. Obviously closed private airfield with maint crew consent (and X markers on the sock), please do not tx on airband unless you have a pilots license and are in an aircraft or are relocating aircraft at an airfield and have done your radiotelephony course. We hear supposed professional pilots "meowing" and acting like morons on 121.5mhz... frustrating as SOP is to set COM2 to guard so you can hear any nearby aircraft in distress at a lower altitude that the FIR controllers can't hear and relay (and also as a fallback if you forget to change freq), which leads to volumes being turned down on the guard radio due to this nonsense. There's 11m, the ISM bands and generally country based allocations of small amounts of spectrum for those who don't want to get their ticket but just want access to a radio service, in the US eg GMRS etc, and Australia has repeaters even on its equivalent UHF CB service that works like PMR but in the 470-480mhz band, with I believe a power restriction of about 4-5W, and wideband FM has been grandfathered (channelized as 40 channels) but most are now NFM and are 80 channels with every second channel placed in the "end space" so the freq to channel plan looks a bit wacky. Repeaters are permitted just like GMRS, you just need a license for the repeater site from ACMA (the Australian equivalent of the FCC). We also have *some* of 915mhz available for both LoRa, other hopping digital modes and unfortunately an LIPD exception made so equipment from overseas like car remotes on 433.xx mhz can operate which yes, indeed infringes upon the 70cm allocation, but they decided to ignore the hams. 73 friend
Interesting video Andy. Regarding the low RF output outside of it's design range, it may be something to do with the filtering after the RF power amplifiers. Interesting bit of kit non the less.
There is now an hf module upgrade available for these radios and the modules are very cheap that supposedly stabalize the harmonics cleaning up the radios transmit problems when using just firmware upgrade you instal the hf module then apply firmware update to gain full hf transmit recieve iv bought two radios and two modules so will see if the actualy work
Once modified with firmware. As you show, the UVK58 acts like a low powered signal generator across the spectrum and it appears to be useless as a transceiver.
I'd not yet checked out other videos on these. Very interesting stuff. Certainly great for reception. Handy to see if there's any CB or 4m activity around. 73 M7TUD
I've got a K5 up in the shack still in its box, never charged or switched on. It's been sat there for about a year now. Maybe I ought to get it out and make sure it works. Or maybe it might be worth £100 in 6 months time when everyone wants one :D
Good video, I'm not a Radio Amateur, I have some UV5R's for emergency use on the hills, and trained in radios in the Military, so know what you are explaining, many HAM's will go in the huff about these radios, but isnt going to to stop them being purchased, education is the best approach, maybe explain how to setup a CB rig for those still into that, that isnt going to bleed all over spectrum.
Hi Andy am totally new to this would this radio be OK for listening to ham radio and maybe fire ambulance ect and is it easy to mod if not what would you recommend sorry for the basic questions but total learner cheers
Andy good day mate,, I too orderd this radio last week from eBay it should arrive in a few days I paid 32$ free shipping. I chatted with the seller before purchasing he updated the radio for me. I'm disabled and no computer but there are some sellers on ebay that will do this for you. Been following you for a while I love your vids almost up there with ringway mate..just kidding mate😂😂😂
I just wish they would make a radio to descramble my local High Vhf so i can listen to local police calls . Boy do i miss the days when you could listen in at home . I miss the old days . I'm an old pld Radio Shack employee.
Unbelievable - I picked up one of these puppies for £15 delivered! Incredible that a radio like this could be built for this price and (presumably) the manufacturer and Ali seller can still profit! I note even a mains powered desk charger! I have not dared to plug it in yet but I might get away with it as Diwali celebrations are still going on.
The ONLY piece of TE I've EVER blown up was a £40K HP VNA. I was distracted and I forgot the attenuator and through 100W into it. The display simply showed OUCH!
I got linked by ringwaymanchester So eli5: transmit bad, listen good? Not a great walkie talkie but good for listening? Or did the technical stuff just go right over my head?
I once helped somebody use an even more illegal "CB Radio". It was a 500 watt AN/URC-32 Transceiver. One of these has a lot of rack mount size components stacked up about 6 feet high. I was an electronics technician on the USS Norton Sound usually docked at Port Hueneme, CA (we only put to sea occasionally to test things.) One of our radiomen had full out jumped on the CB craze bandwagon. Many were trying to see "how far" they could transmit and receive. I set up one of our two AN/URC-32's for the CB frequency he wanted, and people reported back. He started transmitting to his CB buddies and got responses like "You must be right next to me!" Anyway, the next morning we see a white FCC truck drive up alongside the ship. The AN/URC-32 had frequency setting dials that looked like odometers and was still sitting on something like 27.125. I scurried up to that radio room and changed the settings to erase any evidence. We never heard anything about this. But I strongly suspect their monitoring had rather easily picked up on our malfeasance and it wasn't too hard for them to figure out the source.
@@Mickwhyer That's for sure. Read the book "Catch 22" and you can probably associate names of real people you knew with the military characters in the book. Another transmitting shenanigan was when I worked at the Transmitter site on Midway Island. They had a ham radio club (real nice Collins S-Line setup) and they had an audio line over to the patch panel in the control center area of the transmitter site. Sometimes when they "needed more range" I put an AN/FRT-39 10 kW transmitter up on their frequency. (State of the art single side band capable synthesized transmitter.) And then connect to one of our huge rotating log periodic antennas if one was available. And aim it where they wanted. No FCC trucks on Midway Island.
i hope it does and i like the abillty to have all modes really be all modes and its not a problem that it has harmonics because its so low of power its not going to interfere with anything
@@jplacido9999 milliwatts pose literally zero risk 4 watts much higher only has a 10 mile range with zero interference and that never happens so your range is more realistically 1 mile or 2 so with milliwatts you would have to be standing next to the plane to interfere so no its not going to pose a risk
as a non radio person...i barely understand walkie talkies lol...can i use the uvk58 as a pimped up powerhouse walkie talkie? Using 2 of them of course...i have a friend. thanks
Hey Andy. I got mine from Ali Express for £12 ! They're well built and sturdy. USB charging as well. It will open our local repeater and its pretty sensitive. I got the proggraming lead and the software and it should be good on recieve.
Andy, could you do the harmonics check around 156.8 MHz please? I can't help wondering if the Quansheng could be a budget emergency radio for sea angling and other shore activities. I know it's not waterproof, but at
I have this radio..... What I found firstly was AM was terrible. I was gonna flog it that is until a modification that fixes am and adds loads of other things. I'm shocked with how well these receive. Christ it receives better than my £200 Ailunce HD1.... De M7ILZ
Just the firmware modification will not help transmit / receive in 10/11/12 meters. You need to remove the VHF circuit and create filters to block VHF UHF reception otherwise, your RX will be overloaded with signals from V/UHF in 10/11/12 meters. Also place a filter for transmit and you will end up with 4 watts output 10/11/12. As you said, the radio is not designed for HF so internal circuit changes are needed. The firmware is nice but can't do miracles. Keyword: Selectivity
So what? It doesn't matter if it has those frequency capabilities when you need antenna for them too. Having a ability to listen on many different bands is not a criminal. Trying to transmit and not having the proper setup will eventually destroy the radio. The power is not that big to do too much damage other than the person who operates it and for the person well deserved.
@@la7dfa So true, what is the point of prepping for the end of the world when all you do is prolong the suffering. Better to live and hope for the best then prepare for the worst and not live while you can...
Did you see that they came out with the K5(99) which is basically a K5 with the firmware already set up for 18-1000MHz? Just picked one up to see what the buzz is.
Look, you don't understand how the algorithm works, youtube is soooo difficult to get your videos seen at the moment so ill do what i have to do...stop being an ass and support youtubers if you watch their videos.
Maybe a stupid question....But On what frequency do i use this as a walkie talkie? So I dont get into cb or ham frequencies? My father was a ham radio amateur PJ2EP. Always wanted to get into this radio amateur thing, and might get my license, but as I heard this thing is so powerful and was looking for a walkie talkie to communicate with my family. I bought it. But want to make sure I do not get into cb or Ham frequency. Thank you!
To avoid getting into licensed frequencies...you can use an arbitrary...channel 5 in the FRS family radio band. It's is 462.6625 mhz but do not go higher than 2 watts max. Obviously you'll need another FRS radio set at channel 5 but you can pick one up at a wal mart or best buy..etc it's legal ..just stay .5 watts output
That my friend is an example , you get what you pay for . It has limited range in talking distance , a walkie talkie at best is maybe 5 miles on a good day and that's no interference . The length of the antenna makes it impossible to operate proper on all frequencies . It's an overglorified walkie talkie lol . Maybe good for listening more than transmitting .
Fantastic explanation of the harmonic issue but....with such very low power any transmission in band or out of band is never going to cause issues to anyone...
@@digitalmediafan Even if you just get 1 milliwatt on CB, you still will be probably emitting 5W somewhere else. With some bad luck you may hit an important frequency for Aircrafts, Maritime services or similar. Dont be a stupid jerk.
TH-camr: “don’t buy this, it’s illegal”
Me: Time to buy
@2:25 Ham operator here. And no not complaint at all. You are wonderfull doing showing what are the risks on doing this . Teaching people about this ham or non ham is wonderfull..!! Keep up the great work mate. Radio is wonderfull... Loving your videos !
Lol as if the risks are so bad to not use the radio like that... you take yourself too seriously
Thank you friend, appreciate it.
@@VTX-Liveyou are missing the whole point here. this is a bit teaching about harmonic and such.... you should know that this is also good to show to people who are not really aware about this. All of us started at point 0.
Risks wtf are you talking about 😂😂😂😂😂
@@flyiny_sqiurrel i hope this is a troll post. If not. Go read about harmonics.
I have absolutely no idea what any of this language was talking about, but it was super interesting.
Looks perfectly fine for CB band!
Splatters over 10Mhz ✅
Has roger beep capability ✅
Mic turns up past 100% ✅
🤣
Buy it and let the local rig doctor mess around with it.
rofl
@@johnclarke2997 peak and tune! 💩
This comment should be pinned 😂
a few of us are working on hardware mods to match the firmware. the filters will be switched by spare gpio to give a better low pass or resonance at 28mhz as that is the only fm compatible hf band for non type approved amateur gear. if thereis space, filters could also allow 6m band at reasonable power, but i am working on the 28mhz 5w mod.
Very good 👍🏼 drop me an email: andy@cloudsto.com
Oh my gosh, I am SO interested in this!
Any luck with the HW mod? Is it backwards compatible?
@thelydiaspringexperient6437 Where can we follow your hardware mods?
This will be fun.
GL and 73 from Em89
It's worth noting, for anyone who is after one, that the UV-K5, UV-K5(8) and UV-K6 are all the same guts, just in a variety of similar cases, and different backlight colours.
The UV-K5 plus, in addition, is a hateful thing with a jarring blue backlight and no USB-C charging.
UV-K6 is my preferred favourite.
I buy the uv5-r plus for the battery to put on my other quanshengs
Fine, but you have to first ask yourself why they went to the trouble of putting the extra tab on there.
Were they doing it just to be shitty or would there have been an important safety concern?
@@TomR459
Thanks for the info mate... Why do you like that one in particular?
Just that it is the latest model.@@RossTallo
Does this still apply to the current production models?
Beautiful!!! Now I need one to keep in my SHTF box...
I am 55, and I have always wanted to learn all about how to use these radios since I was a child. I just stumbled into this channel and sub'd, hoping to learn as much as I can from this community!
I'm 55 myself soon. How did that happen.
"Modern radio" is a lot more than just radio and it's pretty cheap to get into. There's a whole invisible world of transmissions from car alarms to smart meters and all kinds of data. SDR's are cheap and the more you learn the more you can listen to. 2 SDR units and some free software and you can be listening to trunked comms in your area.
one simply put a base / mobile unit in a house or vehicle, ran some 50 ohm coaxial cable out to a 6ft tuned whip or any groundplane roof mounted pole, and started chatting by pressing the mic switch, then letting it go in the hopesof hearing someone... All very basic, sort of like typing Q&A's in places like this, where goodness knows who will answer.
?
Yes, please! I'm 70 yo man and don't understand how to use this radio. And I bought one, don't ank me for... 😂
Would this be ok for a 12 yr old to listen to planes? His always at Sheldon Park in Birmingham and been asking for an airband radio for a while
I've had a handful of those 'illega' CB radios. Small list - Cobra 2000 with extra channels, Golden Eagle with extra channels, Trinidad with extra channels, Yaesu FT-101e (i know not illegal but I used it on CB), 5k linear amp with a set of Moonraker 4 beams. Miss talking skip and CB's in general. Great video, thank you!
You have to do what you must for off grid communications. The very first thing to go down in a widespread emergency is electricity. Cellular is always the second. Not to mention, while cellular is up, you can be bumped for VIPs right in the middle of your conversation, even if it is an emergency. Cellular is 100% dependent on a subscription. CB, amateur radio, GMRS, FRS, MURS, pirate radio, foreign radio service radios like Australian UHF CB, LPR433, PMR466, are dependent on a battery, and antenna, only. Thus, do not interrupt air traffic, stay off first responder frequencies, and collect all the other radios you can.
73 de KBX-1339.
5 kW? LOL If your splatter box you call a "linear amp" had this power on HF, and if it had 100% efficiency, it would take 45 Amps on your power outlet.
But, no amp has 100% efficiency. In fact RF amps are rarely over 50 or 60% percent efficiency. If we consider 50% efficiency (50% of the input energy is converted into RF energy), 5 kW RF would need *90 AMPS* from your 110V outlet.
This is sufficient to call bullshit on your claim.
@@superpieton It would have to be a 220 volt outlet and could make a 4400 watt, sweep tube, amplifier. But, I hate sweep tubes. They are sloppy and do not last very long. I once knew an amateur radio operator that was very proud of his sweep tube amplifier. Granted, he really should have been proud of it since most amateur radio operators would not know how to make one. But it was so messy. The harmonics were quite beautiful in his CRT spectrum analyzer. He was the one that got me interested in the radio hobby. It was interesting to hear him make contacts with Japan from Alberta. He told me that his amplifier was messy on the air, but did the job. He used a very narrow banded antenna tuner to help reduce the mess. But, it seemed what he did worked. He just had to watch the spectrum analyzer and adjust the homemade tuner a lot. It had four knobs to get the antenna tuned and the notch at the right frequency. He must have bought tubes for that amplifier about once a year, or a little more. He showed me how to make manual tuners, solid state amplifiers, power supplies, antennas, oscillators, and how to use test equipment. Though, not an amateur radio operator, I make lots of extra untaxed side money making these items, modifying radios from other services to work on amateur radio and to other services, installing antennas on towers, setting up volunteer fire brigade stations, and much more. I am still a hobbyist. I just never got licensed due to the hassle of finding a place to test. If I try rather hard, I can make a solid state splatter amplifier, even if the radio is clean. I am glad there are not much calls for them. I have only made one. He wanted the most messy amplifier. I made it for him. He was thrilled. I guess he thought harmonics causing lots of bleed over means extra power on the frequency you are using. It is actually the opposite.
I still have my 1979 Yaesu FT-101 that has the CB crystals in it that I used to run on the CB band back in the 80's. 100 Watts AM, 150Watts SSB! It probably needs the capacitors replaced by now!😲😲
@@superpietonwhy on earth would he lie? Get tf over yourself fella! 🙄
You get military handhelds that transmit from 26 MHz to 520 MHz. SDR can give you the ability to do from 1 MHz to 1200 MHz. You just need a linear amplifier to follow.
huge difference between military radios and this piece of junk.
The front end on this thing is like a barn door, someone can sneeze two blocks away and desens the front end of the radio.
@@dannelson8556who would do that anyway? Radio communication is based on a fundamental flaw of being easy to sniff since it’s a wide broadcast. Military radios and their techniques of possibly processing information to further enhance security has been studied and analysed for decades now, with the conclusions publicly released. Long story short if anyone was trying to capture information from ANY RF comms they would exploit the physical principles of the signal itself giving higher compatibility, not a specific frontend interface of a niché manufacturer.
@@Mikeowd Digital over Analog is quite effective and when targeting is a concern, tiny repeaters with out-of-band comms take care of that issue. Do you think militaries just quit using radio?!
I have one of those. Its surprisingly well built. That USB charging is a game changer as well. I installed the S-meter mod on mine and that was about it. I think you hit the nail on the head about someone developing this radio further and i am excited to see what comes of it.
Where did you buy it? Some are sold on Temu and Banggood, and I heard bad things about those sites, so I don't wanna buy some knockoff.
No contact wireless charging would be preferred.
@@Enonymouse_they have phone cases that mate with the phone using micro USB or usb-c, and the phone case has a wireless charging coil built in. This is for phones that don't support wireless charging.nit obviously adds bulk in both thickness, and length, but something similar might be able to add wireless charging to this radio since it has a USB port! I feel like you could take a reputable wireless charging case, tear it apart, and fit the components onto a 3d printed case for this radio. Maybe even go all in and throw some 18650 cells into the shell, so the wireless charger goes into the 18650 cells, and the 18650 cells are like a battery booster for the radio's battery
@cyleleghorn246 I think you're onto some good ideas! What would be awesome is if there is a way to set the display up with the handset so it could be used in the field without any power other than what you bring with you. Possibly even a separate power pack so you could bring some extra 18650.
Or make a separate power pack with some switch's power output to be able to boost the handset when needed. To power the display screen component when needed or use both when needed. Do you think that's possible?
@@JuggaloNY I'm not sure what the radio's voltage is that it would need to be boosted to, but they have adjustable DC to DC converters (buck converters) that take an input voltage and can convert it to any output voltage between a certain range. So on ming be able to be fed by 3v-9v, and have an output of 5v-24v. They are sold rated on the amps they're capable of outputting.
However if you want to build it yourself, once you have more than a few features I think it would be easier to just make 2 devices. One 3d printed case that adds wireless charging capabilities to the radio (with or without extra batteries in the case), and then another separate battery pack with ten or more 18650 cells, fancy USB qc 3.0 plus ports for fast charging devices, and an adjustable buck converter on the other side that has a barrel jack for the output, for which you'd make your own adapter wire to plug into your mystery radio to power the display. Having 10+ cells in the battery pack and buck converter as a separate device just means more power, but specifically more power anywhere, not just for that radio. Charge anything with USB or custom barrel jack or Anderson powerpole adapters. If you pick good 18650 cells and get a good USB charging circuit, you can make a really good battery bank for less than most on the market, but you need to factor in the cost of tools you don't have, like a spot welder for connecting the batteries
The UV-K5 tests on the CB band show that its output power figures are in µWatts (yes, *MICRO* watts -- 228 µW to be precise).
enough to chat with someone with a CB talkie in a 20m radius!
The problem I found with some radios like a Yaesu and the handful of Baefengs was that their receive ability was pretty good but their ability to transmit well enough to be heard by nearby repeaters was actually very poor.
the firmware is moddable .... thats the entire point lol
Great summary and test Andy. The Quansheng is truly a cool little unit that I don't think even Quansheng expected to be so popular!
Thanks mate, yes they struck gold by using that chip in a fairly decent piece of hardware. The question is what is their next move. If they are clever they will embrace the communities efforts on the firmware and come up with a hardware design that truly embraces the full capabilities of the BK4819 and the third party software. Hope you are all good mate.👍🏼
@@andykirby all good mate! Good to see you making some awesome radio videos again. I hope QS do bring out something new and refine the hardware for us
Cheers mate, yeah me too! Good to see your channel is going well also!
I have been waiting for more than 20 years for a radio with a firmware that can be modified by the user! So "our" guys were not willing to give us such a thing, the chinese finally did. Now go on this way! A community will develop software much faster than a company. Next model -> more memory for software extensions please! Then bring out a shortwave transceiver. Just good & capable hardware required, software can be very basic, the enthusiasts will do the rest.
Just picked one of these up from aliexpress for £15 shipped. Looking forward to playing around with it....... cheers Andy, another great vid.
Any updates? Was it user friendly? Any decent legit ham use?
As a ham operator of over 40yrs I'm all for these cheap Chinese radios, their value for money is off the scale!😂👍
Why not just get rid of amateur radio altogether? Oh wait, that's already happened. There was a time when amateur radio operators actually built their own radios. Now you go take a simple test (that is if you want to be legal, many don't even bother) go get a $30 communist radio, and start cluttering up what used to be the amateur bands with your rf trash. Amateur radio has gone the way of CB radio, and that is sad. Of course I guess it had to happen. Trash technology has made real amateur radio obsolete. I got my technician license back in 1987, and bought a $400+ (in 1987) Kenwood TH-215 2 meter only HT. Then I had to wait a really long time until they did away with the code to get my general. I immediately bought a brand new Icom 718, which got packed up and put in the closet a few months later. I found a beautiful Yaesu FT-DX 560 tube radio that didn't work, and spent months rebuilding it. THAT is what I got into amateur radio for. To actually learn about and work on radios, not to buy some new computerized junk, hook it all up, and start talking. Amateur radio is no longer amateur. It's just like commercial radio. You can't work on today's radios. I have lost interest in amateur radio, and went back to 11 meters, where I started. I got an older SSB 11 meter radio, built a nice clean 100 watt tube amp for it, built an antenna, and have been having more fun than I ever had on amateur radio.
@@geraldscott4302that’s all fine. But even today most people don’t have $400 or £ even in today’s money to splosh on a new hobby they aren’t sure they will stick at. And buying a 400 what ever currency radio isn’t building it is it? In the uk the first level license hasn’t allowed people to build (that changed recently I think)…and I imagine that was to stop people building junk that interferes with the spectrum. These cheap radios are a gate way drug to the hobby.
@@geraldscott4302gatekeeping much? Most people can’t justify 400 even in today’s money on a hobby they don’t know they will like. These are a gateway dr#g into the hobby. Why is it ok to enter the hobby buying an expensive radio rather than building your own as seems to be the case with you?
@@RabbitStu-M7UTS You no longer need to spend $400. The prices of new, name brand amateur radio equipment has come way down since the late '80s. There is also the option of buying used. I can now find a perfectly good, much newer, used equivalent of what I paid $400 for back then for under $100 today. Of course it is a LOT easier to get an amateur license today than it was back then, and when you got it, you had a real feeling of accomplishment. And you were proud of your equipment. I still remember on my first 2 meter contacts, everybody asked me what kind of radio I was using, and I was happy to tell them. It would have been absolutely humiliating to have to tell them it was some communist Chinese POS.
@@geraldscott4302
Hi Elmer!
one of the things about being a cable installer in the day was having the spectrum meter analyzer that tuned into EVERY audio band, and a butt phone with alligator clips.
I haven't operated radio for years, was A and B class license at 14 and 15 years respectively, 43 now. But remember being involved with some cutting edge stuff back then, copper tube wave guide for Microwave frequency transmission and some first satellite packet radio. It's come along way and glad that the door was opened to the interested. Love the look of this, always had soft spot for hand held with power ✌️
Got a old boafang which I received after my mate passed away 10 years ago just use it as a fm radio for work still going strong with every day use! We where into Cb back in the 90s had a few nice setups tbf met my missus on channel 19 our son is now 24 couple of grandkids too! 👍🏻👍🏻 I also had and old uniden if I remember correctly which was programmable it did 0-30 mhz once set up clever stuff back then! 👍🏻
Andy this is absolutely insane! Ive got the Retevis version ov this rig. I ghink it's time for some modding.
Awesome video man, Thanks for sharing
*UPDATE! TRY THE IJV FIRMWARE. It will TX a very clean DSB and CW signal on the 2/70 bands. It also has a very nice user interface. 73.
Original post:
In the frequency scanner/spectrum mode, after pressing PTT to lock the frequency in, If you select SSB, And then toggle to the DEV setting and lower this to around 200 or 300, It will actually TX a reasonably good sounding double sideband signal. You can not only listen to SSB but you can talk there too! Amazing. (I did this test on 2m where I am licenced, and where the radio is reasonably clean (on VHF).
And splatters and make spurious and harmonics all over the spectum. Yeah, "amazing" as you say...
@@superpieton hello sad ham. That's funny... Where did I say that I did this test out of band? I actually did this test on 144MHz where I am licenced. The radio is fairly clean on VHF. Not good on UHF and absolutely awful everywhere else.
But my use is 2 m SSB. So I'll carry on and enjoy the radio for what it is.
73
"SOME PEOPLE" 🙁🐖🐷🐖🙁
@@superpietonfudd alert. 🤡
more like AM but still neat. I tried mine on 432.1 Too bad there's no way to get rid of the carrier. THAT would be outstanding to have a VHF sideband portable. There seems to be limited info on the Beken chip. I would not try the "sideband" transmit anywhere but 2m and 70 cm bands where the PA's are good.
Brilliant video Andy and a great little inexpensive radio to experiment with. I am unsure why some are fussing as this is what amateur radio is all about, obviously most know this is always going to splatter where it was designed to TX but for RX there’s no harm in my book.
Yes, exactly
@@andykirby what's the stubby antenna you're using?
This'll stir up the angry old radio men brigade!! 😂😂😂😉
I am already hearing the oldtimers charging their pace makers and Mobility scooters. 😒 Probably they are most mad that there is no morse option in it too.
I had some do gooder threaten to report me to ofcom last week for using my little boafeng on PMR 446 saying baofengs are not legal on PMR as they don't have fixed antennas and that they transmit more than the legal permitted power of 0.5 watts lol
@@mrlardstersome people, like theres not bigger issues in the world
@@mrlardster i am a licenced ham but i am also a hobby radio enthusiast. as long as i don't get interference and if i do and give you tips to solve it you do them i don't care. i am not a cop. and it's not my job to police. it's my hobby that i like for others also to enjoy. and that enjoying part is the only thing i care about. those oldies think they rule the airwaves while ruining the hobby by gatekeeping and just being difficult. nobody needs morse anymore or soldering with everything being smd. they would do better to start using computers with their hobby and 3d printers. but that is just my 2 cents.
@@raunchyNO yeah no worries my mate and good for you too 🙂🙂 and the more people who enjoy the hobby the merrier eh, but yeah there'll probably always be some do gooder on the airwaves who wants everyone on there to do everything by the book won't there, just take no notice and laugh at them I say, I certainly did when that do gooder threatened to report me last week, just hope people like him don't put others off taking up the hobby 🙂🙂
Got mine! 34 bucks plus tax. I have a couple bofeng's and some older 2 meter hand helds, problem is, I am the only HAM in my town, I can only talk to myself and I don't need a radio for that. I am studying for my General ticket so I can go HF and find some one to visit with. The 2 meter was great back when I used to go south for the Winter, we used to settle in a little town in western Arizona, we could piss into California from the campground and the 2 meter band was going strong down there, in fact we were picking up some cats who thought it was CB or something out of Havasu city.
Got me one ordered from Amazon, and it's headed this way. Can't wait to play with the receiver on it.
Can I get an update from you?
I can only see them sold as a pair on Amazon? Canada here.
Had a couple of these a few months still boxed upYou've sparked my interest in them now seeing the open source boffins have ironed out the nuisances.
Great video and nice to see the SA hooked up to it. 👍
Can I buy on of these from you
This reminds me of when me and my cousins opened my grandpas birthday present secretly to see what it is, and it was a ham radio. So we got it and found a literal news channel, and started talking on it. It was the funniest thing i have ever seen in my life! 😂
Yeah great for us earwiggers !!! keep up the good work andy great explination of the firmware !!!!
I have a few, I need to do this. Awesome for cheap receive radios. Brilliant video. Cheers!🍻🤠
Excellent video, cheap but mighty little radio. What is the brand of that stubby antenna? Thank you
Ordered one of these before I watched this vid, can't wait to get it and mod it. Cheers Andy!
Nice tech, but a problem with your transmit test connected to the tinysa ultra. 40db is not nearly enough attenuation. Although it takes you under the sa's max it is still too much power for that sensitive instrument. I use 80-100db of attenuation, transmit 1 watt, and get very clean signals. Try it. Those harmonics might look more reasonable...
Looks like the tinysa had configurable input attenuation too (not sure if used here) which could knock another 31dB of the signal for a total of 71dB of attenuation.
@@ttttonyyyy I do not use it. Better to put whatever you need on externally. Why? Because you can't use the built-in attenuation and the LNA at the same time and with the right amount of external attenuation, the LNA is magical!
Radios can be legally modified in America by hams. The only issues would be use out of band, or spurious emissions. The actual changes are perfectly legal.
Just got one of these using the link from OM0ET's link. just over £10 delivered in 5 days from china! Firmware upgraded as soon as i got it :P Great lil' receiver. but dirty on TX out of 2m/70cm. not a prob for me as its only being used as an RX unit. Hoping to grab a HackRF one H2 portapack in the new year too. Cheers andy!
Yep pretty much the same situation as me, as soon as I got it the firmware was loaded.😁
@@andykirby Can you tell me a good pair of all-rounders you would recommend...I bought a pair of the baofeng ones you reviewed with the missus...just looking for an upgrade
Hi M8...did you have to pay any import duty,,,?
@@mikeluxy nope. I guess it was too low a price to warrant the import duty. Although I guess it will be different when I buy my portapack and hackRF one though.
Thanks M8...Im a bit green here...what do you mean by Portapack and hackRF.... Cheers@@murlock666
While in Wiesbaden GE US militry Air Force -our Police radios were 70.4 ish MHZ (in 1990)...............I wonder what that freq. is used for now?
I remember modifying many radios to jump 640KHz to go out of the propagation laden USA SSB CB band and it did turn into a sub-culture back in the 70's & 80's haha! But this stuff is insane! It's a wonder we can even use ham radio any more with all of those harmonics and horrible distortion etc. from everything else.
TX'ing with this in Canada would be enough to wear hand-cuffs I believe ;) There used to be import limitations i.e. certifications, but obviously with China that's completely gone.
Most HAM radios have wide TX mods.
I have done several, Icom, Xiegu, and Yaesu being the easiest, clip and remove one diode.
Good presentation, thanks!
I love oddball radios such as this, I might give it a try.
Andy is the number 1 CB guy of all the radio amateurs. That's why I decide to pass my radio amateur licence. Way to go Andy if you want to lure the top tier cb crowd into radio amateurism.
@@ImproveConditions What? Radio isn't even light. It's EMF. I cant tell if you're stupid or just jealous. Go get licensed. Doesn't mean you have to stop using CB, just means you can legally do more so when CB band is closed you have like tons of others to pick from
The last thing ham radio needs is a bunch of CBers...
I mean they're more than welcome as long as they leave their CB nonsense behind, but they're not they're bringing it with them. The ham bands are starting to sound like glorified CB with jammers and people playing music on repeaters and purposely interfering with people.
Not to mention bringing junk radios into the hobby, The HF bands are starting to suffer from Chinese splatter boxes being hooked up to amplifiers because your average CB or has no clue what phase noise means or what impact it has on the bands.
ham radio was a much better hobby when it was propagated primarily by engineers scientists and physicist.
about the only place safe from the CB crowd in ham radio is 10 GHz and above, operating At those frequencies requires knowing what you're doing because there is no commercial appliances for the CBers to use.
@@dannelson8556 did you read my message "top tier" ? The better CB crowd.
@@dannelson8556😭🐖😥🐷🙁🐖
The lure to those who are interested in radio should be that you get to LEGALLY exploit bands for various purposes that you couldn't touch or risk fines and jail for using if caught. 🤷♂
wow found this by accident, great video, and you are so so clever. Guess who's now wanting to find one of these on a famous website, and sure enough it exists, next day delivery lol. Now comes the hard bit, trying to make sure the wife doesnt find out ha ha. Great video as mentioned.
TBH - if I bought another i would not be buying it to focus on using it for transmitting. Would primarily be buying it as a spare radio for camping and hiking to listen to FM and Airband or local transmissions.
I can confirm to you that certain models of this radio can transmit on vhf air bands also after a specific change in the hidden menu. Needless to say it is illegal and land you in trouble.
There are times where listening is more important than talking so if the RX is truly open and able to get good signal the whole way, it would be a good investment.
Why do I feel like there's some goofy prepper Trumper political subtext to your comment?
There wasn't but since you wanted to show your ass and read into something that wasn't there, I'll clarify. When the AT&T bombing happened in Nashville a few years back, I was able to listen to the Ham network in TN and get more knowledge of what was going on. I had nothing to contribute to the conversation so I listened vs talked. Hopefully that clears up the subtext of my comment and now you can put away your Trump hating bullshit and try to have a reasonable conversation with some one. Absolutely ridiculous having to explain something that seemed pretty obvious. God gave people two ears and one mouth for a reason. Do I have to spell that out for you? Or are you gonna get on a God hating bandwagon as well.
@@johnroscoe2406 because, even though 2016 was nearly 8 years ago you still can't stop thinking about donal trunk. Is trunq in the room with you right now?
@@honse246 Go away and let the adult's talk please.
@@johnroscoe2406 you mean the adults in your head?
Of course, we all know that most normal CB radios have major problems of harmonics. In the bad old days in Canada, the 27mhz CB radios would do an amazing job at wiping out reception in the 54mhz TV band... and especially on radios where people had "tweaked the finals" they would often also do a fair number around 108. That was with type accepted and licensed equipment. So I don't hold this little radio to much more than that.
The radio and the mods are not illegal.Transmitting on frequencies you have no license for is illegal. I have the UV-K5 €19, K5(8) €18 and the UV-K5 plus for just €14 free shipping, and they are fantastic. The new mod has done wonders for the AM airband receiver, it's way more clear now.
Actually, it is..check your licence conditions 🤷
@@RobBob555its a type 95, and the damn thing isn't even txing. But I'm not from the UK, you crazies have goons for "TV licenses" so nothing would surprise me.
This is being used as a scanner. Not even an old superhet design that could output some emissions (and thus how radar detector detectors came to be). FCC for. Ham, this is p95 radio and completely fine..disable TX in the firmware entirely if you are that worried.
@@RobBob555 We have different conditions in the Netherlands. 😉
Not really. If modifying this radio to tx out of band, the CE-conformity is no longer valid. This again means that this modified radio can not be sold to or owned by others than radio amateurs. In any way it's not legal to transmit out of the ham bands, as this radio is a ham radio. But I've ordered one, as it can receive airbands and is dirt cheap for the moment.
@@la7yka that's exactly right, it's a ham radio, and subject to part 95. Taken to the extreme, you can build your own superhetrodyne transceivers, no issue, so long as you - as the builder and station operator ensure you're not outputting spurious emissions out of band.
That said, disabling TX in firmware and permanently locking the bootloader, or if you're super paranoid desoldering or adding a resistor to GND from the RX pin of the UART side of the CH9xxx TTL to USB chip in most of these, you'll ensure it cannot be reversed. You could also just desolder the PTT and the PTT trigger for an external mic on the Kenwood jack if there's one.
Of course, something like a quansheng out of band, eg in 915mhz puts out something on the order of a few microwatts, as the built in filtering is designed unsurprisingly to be for 70cm and 2m, perhaps with 1.25m for the US and regions that allow it (in VK it is unavailable unfortunately).
As for air band - not so much quanshengs but the Abbrees often come with no restrictions on out of band tx and can TX on airband no issue at all. As I'm also a licensed pilot and was at the airfield when they were doing their three monthly maint on the surface, lights, etc - we tested to see if it could activate the PAL. Not only could it do so, but even without AM demodulation, by putting it about 300khz out the AFRU read back could be heard. Obviously closed private airfield with maint crew consent (and X markers on the sock), please do not tx on airband unless you have a pilots license and are in an aircraft or are relocating aircraft at an airfield and have done your radiotelephony course. We hear supposed professional pilots "meowing" and acting like morons on 121.5mhz... frustrating as SOP is to set COM2 to guard so you can hear any nearby aircraft in distress at a lower altitude that the FIR controllers can't hear and relay (and also as a fallback if you forget to change freq), which leads to volumes being turned down on the guard radio due to this nonsense.
There's 11m, the ISM bands and generally country based allocations of small amounts of spectrum for those who don't want to get their ticket but just want access to a radio service, in the US eg GMRS etc, and Australia has repeaters even on its equivalent UHF CB service that works like PMR but in the 470-480mhz band, with I believe a power restriction of about 4-5W, and wideband FM has been grandfathered (channelized as 40 channels) but most are now NFM and are 80 channels with every second channel placed in the "end space" so the freq to channel plan looks a bit wacky. Repeaters are permitted just like GMRS, you just need a license for the repeater site from ACMA (the Australian equivalent of the FCC). We also have *some* of 915mhz available for both LoRa, other hopping digital modes and unfortunately an LIPD exception made so equipment from overseas like car remotes on 433.xx mhz can operate which yes, indeed infringes upon the 70cm allocation, but they decided to ignore the hams.
73 friend
Interesting video Andy. Regarding the low RF output outside of it's design range, it may be something to do with the filtering after the RF power amplifiers. Interesting bit of kit non the less.
LOL Just bought one of these, its coming tomorrow! Excited lol
There is now an hf module upgrade available for these radios and the modules are very cheap that supposedly stabalize the harmonics cleaning up the radios transmit problems when using just firmware upgrade you instal the hf module then apply firmware update to gain full hf transmit recieve iv bought two radios and two modules so will see if the actualy work
Once modified with firmware. As you show, the UVK58 acts like a low powered signal generator across the spectrum and it appears to be useless as a transceiver.
Having one for real emergency use.
It just hammers the waves.
I'd not yet checked out other videos on these. Very interesting stuff. Certainly great for reception. Handy to see if there's any CB or 4m activity around.
73 M7TUD
very professional looking display.
no colrfull cartoons.
I really like it.
Rog AMAZING video
Thanks ROG!
Supplied impedance matching at such wide band probably means a 50 ohm resistor as an antenna.
I've got a K5 up in the shack still in its box, never charged or switched on. It's been sat there for about a year now. Maybe I ought to get it out and make sure it works. Or maybe it might be worth £100 in 6 months time when everyone wants one :D
Good video, I'm not a Radio Amateur, I have some UV5R's for emergency use on the hills, and trained in radios in the Military, so know what you are explaining, many HAM's will go in the huff about these radios, but isnt going to to stop them being purchased, education is the best approach, maybe explain how to setup a CB rig for those still into that, that isnt going to bleed all over spectrum.
Hi Andy am totally new to this would this radio be OK for listening to ham radio and maybe fire ambulance ect and is it easy to mod if not what would you recommend sorry for the basic questions but total learner cheers
That antennas SWR must be poor, but I'm excited for mine to arrive!
Andy good day mate,, I too orderd this radio last week from eBay it should arrive in a few days I paid 32$ free shipping. I chatted with the seller before purchasing he updated the radio for me. I'm disabled and no computer but there are some sellers on ebay that will do this for you. Been following you for a while I love your vids almost up there with ringway mate..just kidding mate😂😂😂
Haha nice! That's good they will update the radio for you. Ringway is smashing the videos at the moment 😁
@andykirby but I definitely enjoy your creativity and music as well. top notch mate 73! From usa 🇺🇸
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 thanks buddy.
I just wish they would make a radio to descramble my local High Vhf so i can listen to local police calls .
Boy do i miss the days when you could listen in at home .
I miss the old days .
I'm an old pld Radio Shack employee.
Unbelievable - I picked up one of these puppies for £15 delivered! Incredible that a radio like this could be built for this price and (presumably) the manufacturer and Ali seller can still profit! I note even a mains powered desk charger! I have not dared to plug it in yet but I might get away with it as Diwali celebrations are still going on.
Excellent Melvyn....was this through Ali Express...Did you have to pay any import charges...?
Mike I just ordered one. A couple of quid VAT which Aliexpress should pay UK customs import duty
Where did you get it from? 👍
Yes through Ali - paid Tax through Ali and was delivered in 5 days.
Nice video, I actually know Selim and we are actually from the same Radio Club.
That some rough spurious emissions issues ! But makes sense
There are several more versions out there now. Which one would you recommend now?
What was the antenna you put on instead of the original?
Moving towards Minority Reports 😂
Nice one Andy
Love this stuff 😊
The ONLY piece of TE I've EVER blown up was a £40K HP VNA. I was distracted and I forgot the attenuator and through 100W into it. The display simply showed OUCH!
What about the K6, Andy? Do we go for that or the K5/8? And how do we update the firmware? Technology is sure changing.
I love the baby spectrum analyzer. The radio is cool but that analyzer would be an awesome tool for the toolkit.
Reminds me of the 80s, we had the cobra 148 using sideband and the old AM, good old days.
🙄🤦
Good lord that's a blast from the past lol
2m and 70cm we modified it and out of band the harmonics are awful, however on marconi test set clean on bands it is meant for
I got linked by ringwaymanchester
So eli5: transmit bad, listen good? Not a great walkie talkie but good for listening?
Or did the technical stuff just go right over my head?
Welcome 😁 yes you've got it 👍🏼 great RX
I love the radio in background on 27 megs chicken band LMFARO
Cant find it ebay ☹️
Amazing that thing works / receives BETTER than either the Yaesu or the Icom ! Crazy 🤪
7J6CAT: Okinawa 🏝
The uvk5r does the same thing with software upgrade
It would be great to have a development board with the same RF chip of the quangsheng radio, that would make any hardware mod much easier 😊
I once helped somebody use an even more illegal "CB Radio". It was a 500 watt AN/URC-32 Transceiver. One of these has a lot of rack mount size components stacked up about 6 feet high. I was an electronics technician on the USS Norton Sound usually docked at Port Hueneme, CA (we only put to sea occasionally to test things.) One of our radiomen had full out jumped on the CB craze bandwagon. Many were trying to see "how far" they could transmit and receive. I set up one of our two AN/URC-32's for the CB frequency he wanted, and people reported back. He started transmitting to his CB buddies and got responses like "You must be right next to me!" Anyway, the next morning we see a white FCC truck drive up alongside the ship. The AN/URC-32 had frequency setting dials that looked like odometers and was still sitting on something like 27.125. I scurried up to that radio room and changed the settings to erase any evidence. We never heard anything about this. But I strongly suspect their monitoring had rather easily picked up on our malfeasance and it wasn't too hard for them to figure out the source.
Haha! great story!
I miss the military...always some good shenanigans
@@Mickwhyer That's for sure. Read the book "Catch 22" and you can probably associate names of real people you knew with the military characters in the book. Another transmitting shenanigan was when I worked at the Transmitter site on Midway Island. They had a ham radio club (real nice Collins S-Line setup) and they had an audio line over to the patch panel in the control center area of the transmitter site. Sometimes when they "needed more range" I put an AN/FRT-39 10 kW transmitter up on their frequency. (State of the art single side band capable synthesized transmitter.) And then connect to one of our huge rotating log periodic antennas if one was available. And aim it where they wanted. No FCC trucks on Midway Island.
Hmm, interesting indeed!
Prolly don't wanna b doin that on a navy vessel in case they think u a Chinese spy lol!
i hope it does and i like the abillty to have all modes really be all modes and its not a problem that it has harmonics because its so low of power its not going to interfere with anything
It will.
You cannot transmit even miliwatts on Airband and similar.
No TX and that's it
@@jplacido9999 milliwatts pose literally zero risk 4 watts much higher only has a 10 mile range with zero interference and that never happens so your range is more realistically 1 mile or 2 so with milliwatts you would have to be standing next to the plane to interfere so no its not going to pose a risk
It ISN'T a CB radio. It's a multiband transceiver
as a non radio person...i barely understand walkie talkies lol...can i use the uvk58 as a pimped up powerhouse walkie talkie? Using 2 of them of course...i have a friend. thanks
Hey Andy. I got mine from Ali Express for £12 ! They're well built and sturdy. USB charging as well. It will open our local repeater and its pretty sensitive. I got the proggraming lead and the software and it should be good on recieve.
Hello
Where do you get the software from. Cheers . Ged
@@ged3680 link is in the description
Andy, could you do the harmonics check around 156.8 MHz please? I can't help wondering if the Quansheng could be a budget emergency radio for sea angling and other shore activities. I know it's not waterproof, but at
I have this radio..... What I found firstly was AM was terrible. I was gonna flog it that is until a modification that fixes am and adds loads of other things. I'm shocked with how well these receive. Christ it receives better than my £200 Ailunce HD1.... De M7ILZ
Yes, the new egzumer mod fixes the AM airband reception pretty good.
@@daytona1212 Does that firmware by chance do all this other stuff too?
@@digitalchaos1980 Yes it does.
@@daytona1212 Awesome, thank you! 😎
Sicario's must have a way of using this between themselves right? How else they not gonna be intercepted by Federali.
Hi Andy! Thanks for featuring me in your video! 😊 Selim M0XTA
This is perfect I love spreading multiwave harmonics all over the HF. perfect. What a great purchase.
Just the firmware modification will not help transmit / receive in 10/11/12 meters. You need to remove the VHF circuit and create filters to block VHF UHF reception otherwise, your RX will be overloaded with signals from V/UHF in 10/11/12 meters. Also place a filter for transmit and you will end up with 4 watts output 10/11/12. As you said, the radio is not designed for HF so internal circuit changes are needed. The firmware is nice but can't do miracles. Keyword: Selectivity
So what? It doesn't matter if it has those frequency capabilities when you need antenna for them too. Having a ability to listen on many different bands is not a criminal. Trying to transmit and not having the proper setup will eventually destroy the radio. The power is not that big to do too much damage other than the person who operates it and for the person well deserved.
Hi Andy, great music 👍I’m looking for a cheap air & marine scanner. Would this receiver do the job🤔
Love it, when the shit hits the fan and all cellular networks have been turned off, these will be king.
The preppers will suffer the longest. It will be about as romantic as The Walking Dead. ^^
@@la7dfa. 😂 not me, got a rig with SSB, LSB, FM, AM and also a GMRS (and yes, licensed)
@@la7dfa So true, what is the point of prepping for the end of the world when all you do is prolong the suffering. Better to live and hope for the best then prepare for the worst and not live while you can...
Did you see that they came out with the K5(99) which is basically a K5 with the firmware already set up for 18-1000MHz? Just picked one up to see what the buzz is.
Arggh tell me how much and how much effort first...then show me the goods
Thank you for the video Andy.
Second time: Not a CB radio.
Please stop clickbaiting. Thumb down.
Look, you don't understand how the algorithm works, youtube is soooo difficult to get your videos seen at the moment so ill do what i have to do...stop being an ass and support youtubers if you watch their videos.
Thanks for the video.
I have got one of these radios but I am waiting for the programming cable. So I can do the firmware update.
All the best..Geff
While the SA was displaying 12 mw the warning next to the antenna connector warns that 6 mw is the limit.
Maybe a stupid question....But On what frequency do i use this as a walkie talkie? So I dont get into cb or ham frequencies? My father was a ham radio amateur PJ2EP. Always wanted to get into this radio amateur thing, and might get my license, but as I heard this thing is so powerful and was looking for a walkie talkie to communicate with my family. I bought it. But want to make sure I do not get into cb or Ham frequency. Thank you!
To avoid getting into licensed frequencies...you can use an arbitrary...channel 5 in the FRS family radio band. It's is 462.6625 mhz but do not go higher than 2 watts max. Obviously you'll need another FRS radio set at channel 5 but you can pick one up at a wal mart or best buy..etc it's legal ..just stay .5 watts output
I got mine off Ali express as a new customer for £7 plus free 5 day shipping. Should be here beginning of next week
That my friend is an example , you get what you pay for . It has limited range in talking distance , a walkie talkie at best is maybe 5 miles on a good day and that's no interference . The length of the antenna makes it impossible to operate proper on all frequencies . It's an overglorified walkie talkie lol . Maybe good for listening more than transmitting .
Fantastic explanation of the harmonic issue but....with such very low power any transmission in band or out of band is never going to cause issues to anyone...
It could though.
Transmit on the air band and you'll find yourself with a massive fine or jail.
@@Brookspirit yes absolutely I was really wondering about 27 mhz though
@@digitalmediafan Even if you just get 1 milliwatt on CB, you still will be probably emitting 5W somewhere else. With some bad luck you may hit an important frequency for Aircrafts, Maritime services or similar. Dont be a stupid jerk.
You will on Airband and similar...even with miliwatts
Does anyone have a feedback if there is any undesirable harmonics in emission between 800 and 1300 MHz? I can't find any test on this portion