kington / jingtong vhf / uhf handies ???

[GM1ZVJ]

Anyone else had a chance to play about with the Kington 3118 uhf handie ?? sometimes sold under the brand name off jingtong these sets are available in both vhf and uhf versions offering wideband ( 136 -174 mhz ) and ( 400 - 470 mhz ) transmision with a power output off 2.5 watts fm.

normally sold for what are sometimes bargain prices on ebay etc.

personally have both versions and must admitt to being initially very impressed with there performance given the low cost off them .

just wonder if anyone else on these forums uses them and if so how you find them to perform ??

lastly !! should anyone here know about these particular sets any ideas on just what antenna socket is fitted to both the vhf and uhf versions  ?? appears to be a type off sma socket in reverse ie. the small threaded protruding part off the bnc that would normally be fitted to the top off the actual set to accomodiate the bnc plug is on the actual rubber aerial itself with just a threaded socket on the actual radio body to screw this aerial onto.
sound like any type off commonly available antenna socket or is it possibly a one off arrangment that had for some reason be produced for these sets only ??

thank you,
           john

 

[WD8CKP]

i have the jingtong jt-208 vhf  (2) its a very good radio have used it abt 6 months  the programming translation was useable most of the time

i also have the kyd uhf models but not very impressive

as for the antenna connectors you can find them on ebay  i got 1 bnc female, 1 bnc male and 1 uhf adapters which was around 15 dollars delvered to the door


as for price i got mine from hong kong for 70 dollars delvered here to the door   took abt 10 working days


bill wd8ckp

[GM1ZVJ]

Thanks so much for your reply, will try and get some off the ant adapters sorted out locally, think the supplied short rubber flexiable antennas are the sets main downfall and an upgrade is  now on the cards !!!

cheers,
         john

[VK2TXB]

Hi there,
I am in Hong Kong right now actually and have bought quite a few of these radios. The best price I have got them for is $200HK, about $26 USD!!! They cover a ton of freqencies, 70cm, GMRS,FRS etc and there are some real good shops that sell all the parts, even a battery pack that slips into radio and has a cigarette lighter plug running out of it. The antennas are weird, BUT the adapters here are very cheap and will convery to a BNC or even SMA if you want. The BNC adapter is really solid. Spare batteries are approx $40 HK (divide by 7.8 to get US amount) which is approx a bit over $5!! Compare that to a Yaesu spare part eh? The best shop I have found has a website it is www.409shop.com   I have been to his little shop and he has alot of great bits and pieces. Mail me if you have any questions.
Cheers
Andrew
VK2TXB (in Hong Kong till early Oct 05)

[GM1ZVJ]

Thanks so much for the very useful info and also for the link to the www.409 shop.com website it was very much appreciatted.

have now got a kington uhf version and also two jingtong versions off this radio ( one vhf and another uhf ) so think you will gather that I am actually very impressed with them for there very low cost !!!

dont supose you know how to stop the annoying bleep tones off the operating keypad on the radios ?? is it indeed possible ?? notice that the kington version has a little bell symbol in the top right hand corner off the display screen making me wonder if the keypad beeps are able to be switched on / off.

nice to know that the 409 shop sell an adapter for allowing sma / bnc antenna to be fitted to this radio, I have been advised that if I purchase a female to female sma adapter and also a bnc to sma adapter then this will do the same job but obviously there adapter would make a simpler conversion ??

really like the idea off the ext spkr michrophones they also sell so may just purchase a few off these for my radios.

lastly !! feel that the antennas may be the thing that needs changed the most on these radios wonder if you have changed the ants on your rdaios and if so what model you used and what differnce did you find in performance when compared to the original short rubber flexable versions supplied with the sets ??

thanks so much once again,

john  

[VK2TXB]

Hey John,
No problems! Glad I could help out mate. Yes the beep noise is very annoying for sure, but still haven't figured out how to kill it. Next time I am out near the 409 shop I will ask him. I have tried lot's different antennas on it with the adapter and it makes a huge difference on everything. I have a home made rabbit ears dipole that I tuned up with my 259B analyser for 145mhz and just holing dipole in my hand vertically (inside my ground floor QRM magnet apartment) I A-B'd this with the rubber ducky antenna on signals. Well, the dipole heard everything (well it was in Cantonese, so I have no idea what they were saying!) and the rubber duck was deaf aginst the mid to weak signals I heard on dipole. I also have a Maldon 18" 2/70cm whip that I used against stock antenna, again night & day. All these radios are made across border here in Shenzen, which is on Hong Kong/China border and where everyone goes to get cheap copy tailor made suits, bootleg DVD's (I just got a master copy DVD of "War of worlds" for $1.25USD!, when last there) and all the knock-off designer label clothing & handbags etc, plus of course pirated software for about $1.50 a programme) All the shop owners have these type of radios that are used by their look-outs outside to warn if customs police are going into the shopping centre!
I suggest you order the antenna adapters and spare batteries, and cigarette lighter adapter off 409 shop as these things are next to impossible to find exept on E-Bay which is always a bloody overpriced rip-off. The adapters are totally robust and his version of the Yaesu VX-5R/7R etc adapter of SMA to BNC is far superior to the crappy yaesu flimsy one they try and sell for like $10! I will ask about the beep tone when I go out there next week, send me an email if I can help.
Cheers
Andrew
VK2TXB

[ZS1XJ]

Hi,

I also bought a Jingtong JT-208,through a local ham.  Waiting to get it.

But see also : http://www.jingtong.co.uk/

73
Johan
ZS1XJ
Worcester, South Africa

[ZS1XJ]

I got hold of a Jingtong JT-208, the VHF model.


It seems to be working fine, but I am trying to program some frequencie sin the memories, repeaters with and without CTCSS, etc.

I struggle to understand the Chinese English used in the manual.  Does anyone have more user friendly notes on using this hand held?

Thank you.


73
Johan
ZS1XJ