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Reviews For: Youkits HB-1B QRP CW Transceiver

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

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Review Summary For : Youkits HB-1B QRP CW Transceiver
Reviews: 53MSRP: 299
Description:
Youkits HB-1B 4 Band QRP CW Transceiver
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.youkits.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15534.6
K0INN Rating: 2024-09-15
I really like this rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have several QRP rigs and they all pretty much work very well. I wanted to test a new portable antenna creation in the park the other day and I grabbed this rig because I remembered it was simple and worked very well. The CWT weekly CW contest was going on. I did hook up my Hardrock 50 power amp for a bit more power (50w). I worked the contest and I was making some international QSOs as well as all of the usual CW guys. I used the internal battery in the YouKits and I think it was starting to deplete after the hour contest as I was doing a lot of transmitting.

The HB-1B worked great. I forgot just how well it worked. It is going to be my portable rig unless I want to take something bigger and more expensive (kx3, IC703). This is a great little rig. It is a shame that YouKits is out of business now.

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I really like this rig. I have a couple of QRP radios but this is the one I'm playing with the most now.

Here are my likes.

1. Overall fit and finish of the rig I received was very good. All control were smooth and worked well. The build is very solid.

2. The included internal batteries work great. Long life on a charge and recharges quick. I've used the rig for hours at a time and the batteries never discharged enough to cut the transmit power out. And the batteries are internal - less things to forget to take with you.

3. Rotary encoder works well. The multiple tuning steps and memories makes it very easy to get around the bands and fine tune signals.

4. Variable audio filter works well. I open it up all the way and use course tuning to search for CW activity. CW notes "pop out" when set to narrowest setting.

5. Sensitive receiver.

6. Display is bright, easy to read, and informative. SWR meter reads when transmitting.

7. Plenty of audio.

8. Rig is very easy to operate.

Here are my suggestions for improvement.

1. More fully featured CW keyer with some macros available. The current CW keyer sends one macro in a fxed CQ format with your stored callsign.

2. Ability to change the frequency of CW sidetone. For some reason, the frequency of the sidetome makes it difficult for me to zerobeat. This is probably just something unique to me.

So, just a few suggestions for improvement but no faults to detract from my enjoyment. Therefore, I'm giving it a 5 since it is working as designed for me and I'm having fun using it.
LNXAUTHOR Rating: 2023-05-14
excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
got fortunate and snagged two of these 5-band MK3 (2016 firmware) rigs.. one came with an internal battery, and in the other i put in a 3S 18650 pack... both rigs can be charged using a 12V 1A charger via the charge port (unlike the insipid elecrap kx2); and you can also power the rig via the external power barrel port...

both rigs feature swr and power readout for a max of 5W output, which makes tuning using a portable mag loop a snap... filtering is infinitely adjustable from 400-1k+ Hz... plenty of audio volume... attenuation is a nice feature...

nice metal case.. i replaced the encoder knob w/a 25mm... encoders on my units are fine... optical encoders, such as on the Penntek TR-35, would be better...

SSB receive is a nice bonus, so you can listen to some SW or traffic on the supported ham bands: 40-30-20-17-15

all in all, a bargain if you can find one!
KD5TXX Rating: 2022-06-30
Great rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this a few years ago. It is honestly a great rig. Batteries seem to last forever on it. I have made a ton of contacts with it on all bands. Sensitivity is awesome also. Hears very well. Like others have said the headphone jack is a weak point. I currently use it as a backup home rig, so I can work with it..but in the field that would be bothersome. I'd still buy another if I didn't have this one.
VE7EA Rating: 2022-06-24
Lovely little rig for SOTA Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Using this to activate a few hilltops for SOTA on southern Vancouver Island. What a great little rig. Probably have about 10 hours of operation on it now. Impressed with the very low power consumption - so a 3-pack of 18650 LiIon cells lasts almost forever!

Only wish I could edit the auto CQ feature and I also find the CW sidetone a bit too loud on higher frequencies when the audio must be turned up to hear weaker signals. (EDIT: on later versions of this radio you can turn down the sidetone volume. Do it.).
AE4GM Rating: 2022-03-24
Does HB1B have SWR METER? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Update. I've had mine for about 18 months. Superb performance. I'm using the generic SDR switch in black metal box from Amazon to use as rx with the SDR Play receiver for it. This lets.me look for someone calling CQ, tune to that frequency and answer. Very effective. It's unusual if someone doesn't answer me on just my mobile whip antenna in the yard.
W0CCA Rating: 2021-10-19
My long time SOTA radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been a SOTA op for 11 years and have over 250 activations. I started with the ATS4B which is a VERY fine radio and have used KX1,KX2,KX3, as well. The latter are fine but just too much bell and whistle radio for my simplistic idea of SOTA. But I also like a tuning knob, a lot. This HB1B Mark 5? which covers 80,40,30, 20 15 for me has been simple and trouble free for about 150 of those summits. It is much improved over the original HB1B. Never a problem. I bring the old HB1B along with me in the car as backup but have never needed it. Filter is fine, RIT is fine, keyer is fine, audio with cans is fine, power consumption very low (just did 4 SOTA activations, 90 QSOs, and recharge of battery for all four needed only 406 mah. ) A great, simple radio, for great, simple activities. For me SOTA needs to be successful and the HB1B has never let me down.
N2DTS Rating: 2020-01-09
fantastic! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Got one used, what a great little radio.
Very good RX audio, low noise level, 6 watts out, the adjustable filter works great, sturdy case, big bright clear display, simple and easy to use, big built in battery.

As a small qrp radio, there is not much more to ask for.
KD7WPJ Rating: 2019-07-05
Quality issues Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own this radio for one and half year. I use it mainly for SOTA activations. I love this radio, but it has quality issues with some components. In particular, headphone connector is unreliable. Every activation I am struggling to make a contact with it. I am using rubber band that helps to hold it in the position where contact occurs. It is very frustrating. I contacted Youkits and asked what is the part number and who manufactured this connector, but never receiver response. There is another poor quality component - variable resistor for IF gain control. It alos has intermittent connection and provides noise during the adjustment, but I can leave with it. Youkits is not customer oriented company and does not provide any support for quality issues. This is the reason that I gave rating 2 for this products.
AD4IE Rating: 2019-03-27
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had never worked QRP, but bought this radio to give SOTA a try. This is a fantastic little radio. I've since bought a KX3, but still use the HB-1B on occasion.
KW4JM Rating: 2018-12-19
Great Receive Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This updates my previous "A Little Fragile" review from 9/2017. Once repaired, my little HB1B is an awesome little radio. The receive is incredibly crisp and clear, and the send must be too because I get lots of qso's portable with a tiny multi-band vertical and very good signal reports. I am enjoying this little radio a lot.