Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Youkits HB-1B QRP CW Transceiver

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Youkits HB-1B QRP CW Transceiver
Reviews: 52MSRP: 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
00524.6
K5JYD Rating: 2015-08-18
fine qrp rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had several qrp rigs and this is the best so far. With an enclosed battery and my palm pilot miniature paddle attached to it with magnets its the most compact radio I've ever used. I use an end fed par electronic 20m wire and don't need a tuner. If I want to just play around I use a random length home brew end fed with the miniature ten tec auto tuner and can work 20/30/40 etc. Its just a fun rig.
k5jyd
W9UCR Rating: 2015-08-18
Lots of Bang for Your $$ Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is actually my 3rd HB-1B. The first two were purchased through Ten Tec who was, at that time (about 6 months ago), the distributor for these little rigs. Both failed within a couple of days. I decided to wait for awhile and see if their QC (Quality Control) improved and when they announced a new distributor (Vibroplex) and a new model (the 'Mark 3') I decided to give it another try. I guess three times is the charm because this little rig is everything I was hoping for.

To begin, I've been a ham since 1952 so this is not my first rodeo and I truly appreciate good quality radios. My main rig is a Yaesu FT-950 with Ameritron AL-811 and I operate almost exclusively CW. We also live in a hurricane zone and the threat of extended periods without power is real, so I needed something to use when the power company is putting their infrastructure back together from a storm. This little guys is perfect for my needs.

For openers, it has all the convenience features one would expect from a more expensive rig (KX-3?) The new Mark 3 covers 5 bands (40, 30, 20, 17 and 15 meters.) It has a built-in keyer, variable bandwidth i.f. DSP, LCD readout to two kHz decimal places (e.g., 7040.00 kHz), RIT, SWR meter and lots more.

Obviously, the build quality is not nearly as good as Elecraft's but for the money it is an amazing bargain. The keying can be set for full QSK or adjusted to various time delays if that is your preference. That's important to me as I am active in CW nets.

Performance-wise I can not find any faults with the radio. The frequency is rock solid with no noticeable drifting from a cold start. As far as I can tell it is as stable as my Yaesu. The ALC is not as good as I would like and there is a noticeable pumping effect on strong signals, but there is an attenuater built in which solves that problem.

Since I've only had this rig for a short time, I can't speak to its reliability, so I'll post another report in a few months.

To summarize, read the title of this review! 73

Bob W9UCR
K9NZ Rating: 2015-05-24
Great Fun Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought mine in the flea market at Dayton last weekend for a $100 bucks best money for fun ratio
ever. I have work 17 countries on 20 meters and a lot states on 40 meters. Works great the filters
are good and receiver is very good. I have owned a few qrp rigs this by far the best I have used.
K9NZ
VE1YY Rating: 2014-10-28
FB XCVR Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have the Mark 2 version released in Canada Spring 2014. This rig is marketed by others (such as TenTec) and elsewhere on the globe.

As a neophyte QRP operator, after decades of QRO operating, and being accustomed to good receivers, I was pleased from the outset with the HB1B Mark 2. Receiving is good: the bandpass filter actually works, the tuning is smooth, and the tuning resolution is a boon! The RF signal output reportedly is clean and looks so when I sample it on the base shack’s Icom Pro III and on an outboard 'scope. Contacts, using a wire thrown up into trees, with a radiator height of about 3 meters, were between 1000 and 1200 km away and 559 or more.
AD4XJ Rating: 2014-08-27
Afforable Fun! Super portable! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just got my HB-1B in the mail today. Ordered directly from YouKits on ebay, shipped from China in about a week (express).

First impression was, "Wow! This thing is small and light!". My unit came with the Li-Ion battery pack and charger. I am also using an external LiFe 4200 mah battery which I plan on taking with me on SOTA activations.

First contact out of the box was with a station in Argentina over 5100 miles away on 30 meters!

Some hints that I figured out:

1.) Open up the case, inside there is a battery holder for AA's as well as rubber feet to put on the bottom of the case.

2.) The new units are full QSK but you have to turn on the setting--there are some older online manuals out there but youkits has the current manual in pdf form which shows you how to do this (a couple of button pushes).

3.) If you use the included Li-Ion battery, do yourself a favor and take off the metal label (it's some kind of foil so it's a conductor).

4.) If you use a straight key, it has to be plugged in before turning the radio on--also the outer and middle conductors of the plug have to be wired together (Note: My other radio only uses the inner and outer conductor, and as I didn't have another plug laying around, I figured out that I just had to jumper the middle and outer conductors when turning the unit on--afterwards I pulled the wire and the straight key continued to work fine.)

5.) You don't have to disconnect the internal battery when using an external battery or power supply. If an external battery is plugged in, the internal battery is not in the circuit. As soon as you unplug the external power connection, the internal battery immediately takes over.

I tested the unit at 13V and found it output 5W on 80, 40, and 30M and 4W on 20M (spec says 4-5W.

The DDS works great...listed to it on my other radio and didn't detect any drift. The filtering works great and the attenuator is perfect for stronger signal/noisy bands.

Is this a super expensive, commercial type rig? No.

Is it a fun, small, affordable, and well featured QRP rig? You betcha!

I can't wait to take this on the trail with me!
VU3NUF Rating: 2014-08-14
A quality purchase at a reasonable price! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had earlier ordered the TJ2B kit from YouKits, but realized in a couple of days that this is not what I was looking for. I sent it back and got the HB-1B instead. The exchange was hassle free with no questions asked. Mr. Yimin Zhao, who looks after their branch in Canada, was unbelievingly prompt and comprehensive in replying to so many of my questions which I had about the new radio.

About the radio – It has a heavy gauge metal construction with a good black finish. It is amazingly compact in size relative to the features it offers. Haven’t used it on 80 and 30 meters as yet, but on 40 and 20 meters I have found the receiver to be pretty sensitive (with obvious credit going to my finely built fan dipole as well). The output in CW mode is 4W at 12.5V, just as described on their website. The screen is big and bright which displays an assortment of information. SSB receiving is crisp and clear (I use headphones), but one can also use an amplified external speaker.

Getting a hang of the tuning rate/steps does take a little time, but it is absolutely worth the effort.

The kit comes with a 3 cell li-ion battery pack and an appropriate charger. The battery pack needs to be stuck on the PCB with included DST in the battery placeholder, which can be accessed by unscrewing just two screws at the back of the rig.

The kit does not come with an owner’s manual, but that’s not an issue since it is available online on their website.

So, in my opinion, the HB-1B radio has been a quality purchase at a reasonable price, and I am enjoying using it so much that it has instantly become my primary home and portable QRP CW rig, alike.

73 de Yatharth
VU3NUF
VA3YG Rating: 2014-02-11
Fun factor - A++++ Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased this little beauty brand new from TenTec, where I rec'd professional service from Stan (WD0BGS).

I had researched this radio purchase even more than my more expensive amateur equipment. I think I have watched every YouTube video and read every review! I was hooked and had to have one..... I'm a long time amateur operator, who, in the past couple months have been brushing up on my CW skills...... and having a lot of fun doing so.

The radio arrived to Ontario in 5 business days with a note from Stan saying he had checked the rx and tx functions prior to shipping.

The radio is very intuitive and I was up and running in no time. Using an 80/40 double bazooka with the apex at 53', I was receiving 599 reports consistently on 40 meters and stations were impressed with the signal. Wow, what a beautiful display..... so bright and clear.

This radio will join my Elecraft KX3 and Yaesu FT-817 (non ND) along with various wire antennas and the Buddipole for some much anticipated Spring time portable expedition fun in and around Ontario.

Is the radio perfect? No...... Is it fun? You betcha!! I'm very impressed with the bright LCD display, the clear receive, the size, the signal output and the intuitive operation. Will be looking for a mini speaker to replace the headphones.

Good job YouKits and good job TenTec.

Hope to work you on CW some day.

73 de VA3YG Brent
OZ1LQO Rating: 2013-09-15
Does exactly what it's supposed to Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Got this little beauty on a vacation trip to Canada this summer - brought my FT817 as well, but ended up using this all the time instead..!
I read the reviews up front and was aware of potential quality issues, so I got the dealer to open it up for me before buying it. No problems, everything looked just fine.
This small rig performs just well. Output at 12V is around 4watts, not much, but enough with a dipole and I made several contacts in Europe while over there. Sound is good, although at high volumes it tends to distort a bit. The built in adjustable IF filter works just amazing once you get used to it - it's so nice to be able to adjust the width seamlessly by tuning a knob - a functionality I'm now missing in my much more expensive IC-7000...
Sensitivity is as expected, not as good as the bigger rigs, but I'll say this: If they can hear your 4W, then you can hear them too for sure!

Low weight and size really counts when you're on the trails, and this is exactly what I'll be using it for: SOTA, ILLW, QTTF and anything backpack worthy. Forget about building in the 3 lithium cells, the fit inside the box is too tight, the battery pack will put pressure on the PCB. Instead, use an external 8x1.5V AA pack, those batteries can be bought anywhere and you don't have to worry about bringing a charger, finding an outlet, etc.

Some people described problems with the finals burning when you're at bad SWR, I never saw this and basically when operating QRP on the trails, you want as little gear to log anyway, ie. make a couple perfect tuned antennas so you don't have to carry a tuner!

I'd recommend this little Chinese anytime, it's a perfect, cheap, companion for my mountain/outdoor trips. I fact, I recently brought it with me on a canoe trip in Sweden, worked like a charm, really fun.
W7JCK Rating: 2013-08-24
Nice little radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have been out of HF for awhile, and thought I'd try my hand at QRP with the HB1B. Overall, I am very pleased. The receiver is quite decent and you can hear a lot more stations than can hear your 5 watts. All the functions work as advertised, it's a very well thought out device. I haven't tried mine portable yet, but I think it would do fine with a small external lead-acid battery pack.
VK2DMH Rating: 2013-07-30
Chinese 4-Band QRP Rig is a Little Beauty Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought my HB-1B QRP CW Transceiver from Youkits.com, and paid for the optional Li-Po battery and wall-wart charger.

It arrived promptly, but I had trouble getting a straight morse key to work with it. At first I thought it was me making a mistake with my wiring, which is what tells the rig whether you are using a straight key or a paddle. Eventually I diagnosed an intermittent fault with the rig, so I arranged to send it back for repair.

Yimin, who lives in Canada, was very helpful, and had a replacement sent to me from China. He delayed sending it for a couple of weeks so I could receive the Mark 2 model, which has full QSK break-in.

Once the new rig arrived, I was able to plug in either a straight key or a paddle, and everything worked FB. This HB1B has excellent sensitivity and a beautifully efficient variable width IF filter, which does a wonderful job of selecting the station you want while blocking out nearby QRM.

You can program your callsign into a memory on the rig, and it can call CQ for you, and you can change the sending speed of the built-in keyer to whatever CW speed you are comfortable receiving. You can also program your favorite frequencies into 30 different MEM channels and can listen to SSB voice conversations or AM news and music broadcasts (by zero-beating the receiver's SSB side tone).

I see this rig as just about perfect for QRP CW portable ops, such as SOTA (Summits On The Air) or hiking and camping. Just take a good, lightweight wire aerial for maximum signal power out.

I could not be happier with this radio. I have avoided CW for more than 20 years and stuck to voice, with a little PSK and other digital modes. But when fiddling with the HB1B while sitting on my porch the other day, I heard a CQ coming in strongly on 40 meters. I nervously answered the call, and had my first proper QSO in CW mode for more than 25 years. You can read the full story on my website, http://www.walkietalkietwowayradios.com/ The article is called How I Learned To Love Morse Code.