| W5KVV |
Rating:  |
2023-04-08 | |
| Not bad for the money |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I picked up several of these when Wouxun pulled the plug on this particular model. Mine came from MTC and were radios only. No antenna, battery or charger. I believe they were $20 each. Purchased the Wouxun high cap battery (2600mHa) and the over sized charger to accept said battery. For the antenna I'm using a Yaesu FT-65/FT-4X antenna. Acceptable, not stellar performance. The rig would benefit from a Diamond, but this is my utilitarian HT.
Overall not a bad little HT, but these were UV5R's in a different case. Slightly different, yet more refined firmware. Way more stable than the UV5R. I've had mine on my service monitor & to my surprise it wasn't that bad. Interestingly enough, the RX responds to 120 degree reverse burst/STE (Motorola), but not 180 degree reverse burst/STE.
I use RT Systems for programming on all my China HT's. This eliminates all the BS associated with FPP. Works flawless every time.
If you can find one dirt cheap pick it up. Not bad little beat em' up radios. |
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| KH6TA |
Rating: |
2016-10-01 | |
| 1 of the BEST-performing Chinese HT's |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had 2 of these since mid-2014. Great Rx sound and signal, Tx also gets kudo's. Receives A&B together, no TDR baloney. Nice solid feel in your hand, lettering has not worn off a bit in 2 years. WE have been 5-star happy with these UV6D HT's. I even bought an extra (still NIB) for Justin Case......
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Earlier 5-star review posted by KH6TA on 2012-06-22
The 1P's are great radios, but the 6D has better feel, better speaker, better features that make it well worth upgrading to, and it uses the same batteries, etc. Yes, even the "new" software still sucks, but it works IF you just follow the instructions. My XYL and I use our 6D's for Ham, Army MARS,Marine Channels,GMRS and VFD. I think they well-earn the 5 rating, and with an 18 month warranty from wouxun.fl and other US Distributors, how can you go wrong for $150?
Note: We used the KG-UVD1P's for 2 years with NO issues at all.
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| VA7SOO |
Rating: |
2016-05-31 | |
| Nice radio, nice price |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
(I'm an infrequent radio user. I just use them for communicating with others in my group when camping/hunting/travelling/fourwheeling.)
I just bought it a few days ago so I'm still in the "honeymoon" phase. But it was more like an arranged marriage. It's the only radio that met my budget/reliability (perceived)/features requirements. Even so, there are a few shortcomings:
1. No scan edges. What? It seems like an easy thing to include. Also the scanning speed is slow so it takes a LONG time to scan through all the frequencies, VHF and UHF together (can't scan just VHF or UHF either).
2. Modifying an existing memory entry (aka "channel") requires that you turn the radio on while holding a button and then typing in a 6-digit code (that you can't change) to enter Dealer Mode. This lets you edit your channels' settings. When you're in Name display mode (channel is displayed by name, not frequency), the only way to view its frequency is to switch to Frequency display mode which requires some menu diving.
Basically, it seems like this radio is meant for communicating on pre-arranged frequencies.
If your usage involves scanning to find used frequencies, this radio is, imo, not going to be satisfactory.
User manual is crappy Chinglish (I'm Chinese and enjoy hilarious Chinglish errors but not in a technical manual).
Radio fit and finish seems nice. On the surface, it seems the same as my Icom T2H. Power adapter for the charger base was DOA, though. BTW this is a new style base that has a single power input which is 12V DC-only so it can still be using for in-car charging if you buy or make a cig lighter power cord for it.
Programming in new channels isn't that big of a deal. It's different from my Icoms, maybe takes a few seconds longer, but it's not horrible. You basically make all the settings and then save it to a channel number. Then you can go into channel mode if you want to give it an alpha name.
This isn't my ideal handheld radio but for the price, it's the closest thing I've found. If I end up using radios more often I might consider spending 3-4x more for a dual-band Kenwood/Yaesu/Icom.
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| K1LSB |
Rating: |
2014-12-27 | |
| Overall a very good radio. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Very good battery life (but see my comment later), solid build, feels a little big in the hand. Unlike the Baofeng UV5R+, you can't access all of the buttons on the radio when it's sitting in the charger.
This radio has outstanding receive sensitivity on VHF and only so-so sensitivity on UHF. Resistance to intermod is good on both bands.
One thing about this radio, it slowly drains the battery even when the radio is turned off. That could be a bad surprise for someone who isn't aware of that and has his radio stashed in a bug out bag with the battery installed in the radio.
So one point deducted for the less-than-stellar UHF sensitivity and the battery draining while the radio is turned off.
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| N5TWB |
Rating: |
2014-11-22 | |
| I hate Chi-Com birdies! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Trying another Chi-com radio and finding another birdie right on top of the output of a local repeater that is my home access to the UHF link system for NE OK. Add in that the drivers for the programming cable wouldn't load from the mini CD-R so I'm driven to hand program with the Chinglish manual as my guide. I've managed to avoid this with previous Wouxun/Baofeng radios. What a hot mess that is!!
Back to the retailer with this one! |
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| PA3KVE |
Rating: |
2014-01-02 | |
| Simply great |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Have this porto for some months.
Is a great little rig.
Good battery life and a lot of options.
Free software and handy to program.
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| KC7QMF |
Rating: |
2013-12-01 | |
| Tremendous value for the price |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I recently purchased the KG-UV6D v2 (unblocked) from Import Communications, a licensed Wouxon distributor. I gave this unit a "4" for price and features. The price plus shipping was an unbelievable $127.50. The radio arrived with the supplied accessories: Radio, dual-band antenna, 1700 mAh battery, belt clip, stand-up charger, manual and wrist strap.
Features: Six character alpha-numeric display, 2.5 kHz tuning step, FM wide and narrow (25/12.5 kHz) band transmit, TX & RX - 136-174 & 420-520, 199 memory channels, lockable keypad and menu buttons, female SMA antenna connector, 18 month warranty from factory in China. (Probably will cost more to send it in for repair than to just buy a new one).
Programming the unit is anything but intuitive. I I programmed the unit with the aid of the supplied user manual in about 4 hours.
Audio was loud and clear both from the internal speaker and external speaker mic (purchased separately).
Transmit audio was excellent and the unit was able to hit a distant repeater with the supplied dual band antenna.
Battery life is good and on a par with what you would expect from the supplied 7.4v/1700mah Li-ion battery.
I downloaded the programming software and driver from Wouxon. I could not get it to work with my computer (I suspect that the software does not play nice with Windows 7).
Manual is difficult but not impossible to use. The syntax and grammar are fair to poor with several grammatical and spelling errors.
The radio lacks some features that I would like to see in future versions: Software-lock switchable for PTT button, keypad or both. More options for software defined switches. Edit the scan list from the keypad.
Summary: If you are looking for a radio with lots of bells and whistles like advanced paging, dual-band repeat, etc. this is not your radio. If you are looking for a decent dual-band radio at a bargain basement price, the Wouxon KG-UV6D deserves a close look. |
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| KD0VTO |
Rating: |
2013-07-16 | |
| A good radio at a good price |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I've had two of these radios for a while now. They have a reputation for being difficult to program, but I have little in the way of complaint regarding that aspect. It seems easy enough to program from my perspective--just punch in an offset direction, offset amount, PL tone, etc when you want to use a repeater. It only takes a moment, but I wouldn't want to do that if I hopped repeaters much. Fortunately, it's easy to program in favorite repeaters using KG-UV Commander which to me seems better than Wouxun's own software.
In terms of physical performance, the radios seem to do well. I've observed strong reception in many situations that I had imagined would be challenging. Transmit performance seems to be good as well. I haven't had any trouble hitting the endpoints and repeaters I've tried to around town. The stock antenna works, but I quickly installed Nagoya NA-771 antennas. I'm not familiar enough with the stock unit to say if it was really a necessary upgrade.
Audio performance is quite good. Both sending and receiving results in clear, intelligible audio under most circumstances. It's possible to pair the radio up with an external microphone/speaker combo that offers a headphone jack which may be optionally used. That accessory is inexpensive and seems to be well constructed. The external speaker is not quite as clear as the speaker built into the HT itself but is still of good quality.
Battery life is quite notable. In my testing, the unit will happily sit in standby with reasonable receive activity for a full two days on a fresh charge of its stock lithium ion battery pack. My last test made it about 52 hours, but that doesn't include any transmission. I've not tested battery life using alkaline batteries in the optional AA battery pack yet. It's worth stating that the AA battery pack accessory cannot be filled with NiMH or NiCd rechargeables. The unit isn't built to utilize voltage levels that low and will quickly shut off due to insufficient voltage if it powers on at all.
The only difficulty with performance that I've observed to date is trying to work satellites. I've yet to successfully receive anything downlink activity, but it could be due to my inexperience. I know it's hard (but supposedly sometimes possible) to do with a whip, so I thought I'd give it the old college try. I can hardly fault the radio for this—it seems to have generally good sensitivity.
Would I suggest these radios to others looking for an inexpensive HT? Absolutely. They're a great value and well constructed. |
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| HANDYRADIO |
Rating: |
2013-06-25 | |
| Great quality handy |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Wouxun is probably the best Chinese made radios around. I have used Baofeng, TYT, Quansheng and Puxing etc but Wouxun has always been the preferred choice. UV6D is solid and full of useful functions.
I have found the stock antenna to be very good even compare to my Yaesu VX7R!!! and the Yaesu is 3 times the price!
Here is a video I used the UV6D to make a contact with a special event station. 13 miles into the repeater with no problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKhq2lnATlA |
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| W8EDV |
Rating: |
2013-05-05 | |
| Amazing Radio |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I have had this Wouxun radio for almost a year now and it is by far one of the best I have owned and I have owned every brand there is at one time or another, in dual band HT's. I got into the Ham Radio Hobby in 1977 so I've been around this stuff for a while and I don't claim to know everything, but I do know when a radio serves me well and this Wouxun is no exception. It's built with quality material, it's much heavier than the less expensive Chinese hand helds and it performs as well as any Icom, Yaesu or Kenwood I have owned.
I will also say if you're afraid of programming the radio via your computer and some software then this radio isnt for you, however, you can program it without any software, it takes a little patience and extra time as you have to punch in all the information manually via the keypad but I've done it and it's really not hard.
The receiver on this Wouxun is as good if not better than the Yaesu FT-60 I own, and this Wouxun UV-6D hears many of my local repeaters anywhere in my house which is a brick home, and there are places that my Yaesu FT-60 drops the repeater signal, this does not happen with the Wouxun.
Battery life is also very good on this UV-6D it can go all day without a charge. The display is crisp, and clear, and you can set the display to VHF,VHF, UHF, UHF, UHF,VHF, and VHF,UHF, so you can display the frequency to your liking.
The stock antenna that comes with it is ok, but I wanted a little more gain, so I put a Nagoya 771 on it which is about 16 inches long and it made a very significant improvement on the receive. The transmit audio is very good, I am told that if I dont' say what radio I am on, my friends dont know if it's my Yaesu, or my Icom mobile rig, the transmit audio is loud, clear and clean.
I'm very happy with this Wouxun KG-UV6D and I highly recommend it. I also have a Baofeng UV-5R and it's a great little hand held too but this Wouxun cost about 3 times as much as the Baofeng and you can tell that this Wouxun is a quality radio and a real performer. There is one feature I wish they had implemented on this radio, and maybe I havent found it , and that is when a signal comes in, I would like the display to light up like the little Baofeng radio does but thats not a deal breaker for me, I love this Wouxun, and it's my daily workhorse, I rarely use the Yaesu anymore. Buy one, you won't regret it, for the price this radio will surprise you.
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