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Reviews For: TYT TH-9000 UHF 400-490 Mhz Transceiver

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : TYT TH-9000 UHF 400-490 Mhz Transceiver
Reviews: 8MSRP: $145.99
Description:
70cm band uhf 400-490 mhz receive, 430-450 mhz transmit. FM transceiver
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.tyt888.com/en/products/Detail.asp?ID=2055
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0083.6
IZ3ZVO Rating: 2017-01-13
An insidious firmware bug to mention Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I am writing another review for the TH-9000D because I have detected a firmware bug that may be insidious.
I nevertheless confirm my other statements about it, so I find it a reasonable radio given the price, and a usable product for simple operations such as short range FM simplex and repeater communications.
The bug: the unit I hold has a problem when one is trying to manually set the shift by keys for a memory channel. When doing so, whichever shift amount I set, the transceiver memorizes +10 MHz. I can change it, but when I check which shift was memorized, I get +10 MHz again. This is problematic because a) in memory mode the transceiver does not display the tx frequency when trasmitting, and so it is possible to transmit with +10 MHz shift without being aware of that, and b) in some countris, the +10 MHz from rx frequency may fall outside the ham bands, and then transmitting there may be a violation of licence conditions or whorse. For instance in Italy the 70 cm band ranges from 430.000 to 434.000 and from 435.000 to 438.000, and most repeaters have output between 430 and 431 MHz and +1,6 MHz shift.
Obviously if I am trying to use a repeater with output for instance at 430,0625 and I set +1,6 MHz shift to a memory, I get a tx frequency of 440,0625 that falls outside the ham bands, with possibly quite negative consequences.
I am not sure that all the TH-9000D units share the same problem, but I feel to suggest every user to check their tx frequencies for split channels using shift by the use of a frequency counter and/or by program cable and software.
For this bug I reduce my rating to 2/5.
AF5CC Rating: 2016-06-06
Needs help Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I gave this rig a 2 because it needs help. First off, the manual is wrong. I tried to get it set up on the local repeaters, and the directions in the manual for programming the offset frequency and choosing offset directions are wrong. It about drove me nuts until I finally did a google search and found the correct way to program these things. You do not use the F key at all. You just press and hold the P3 key to get to the offset amount, and press and hold P3 again to cycle through the different offset directions.

Also, I bought this mainly to use on the FM satellites. It heard the local repeaters just fine but was pretty deaf when trying to hear Oscar 50. My Baofeng HT heard SO50 much better. I sold the TYT rig at a loss and just used my HT instead. The TYT rig did get into AO85 just fine and seemed pretty solidly made.

Maybe the 222 version is better since I wouldn't be using it for the satellites, and it is a cheap way to get on 222.
KB9RZ Rating: 2016-04-25
Using a Pair as Repeater Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I use a pair of these for a 440 repeater. I usually keep the TX power at 25 watts. Works flawlessly with an Arcom 210 controller. I had to bring the control pins out using a header connector and flat cable from Digikey, but otherwise no problem at all. Great audio RX and TX.
N7DPK Rating: 2015-03-15
Great Little Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very easy to program (no need for cable). Watched a few youtube clips before the purchase and contacted a couple of owners of this radio to get feedback.
I am a fan of the radio and features and for the price $135 I could not go wrong.

Since having it professionally installed all audio reports have been excellent and would recommend this mobile radio to my fellow ham operators.
G0YNM Rating: 2013-10-27
The "Golden One GY-1907" version Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very good set for the money, better than the TYT TH 9000 for Ham use possibly as the buttons are marked properly (& non configurable) V/M, MHZ TS/DCS etc.
The set is simple to use. receiver is better than what you would expect, audio is nice, squelch is well behaved & even hen set on minimum, it never rumbles or opens unexpectedly, and opens on reasonably weak signals, but for weak signal DX i personally would like an even lower setting than this though. maybe its internally adjustable. but its not bad as it is, perfectly useable.
Audio volume & quality is excellent, i use external speakers on all Amateur gear, except this one, i tried it, but found i didn't need to.

Scan speed is better than many Chinese sets, but its not supersonic by any means.

Construction is very pleasing and well built, it looks nice too & the set feels every bit solid and heavy as any Kenwood or Yaesu etc i have ever owned, The buttons feel good & work well & it feels more expensive than it actually was.

TX audio is loud & clear, has plenty of mic gain (which isn't adjustable) and its not muffled & quiet like other Chinese sets. The build quality of the mic is only adequate, very light & plasticky and is unpleasant looking, but functions well. i may replace it with a Motorola one, but they are wired differently. after the pleasing build quality of the set, the mic feels a bit of a let-down.

Changing bandwidth between 12.5kc, 20kc and 25kc also changes the receiver bandwidth. a nice touch, many sets just change TX dev. The sound of the 'companding' on the RX audio reminds me of a speaker with a rubbing voice-coil, so i dont use it. never tried it on TX. The S meter
is actually reasonably useful too, instead of the ON/OFF of some Chinese sets.

The (very) bright green LED on the front is constantly on, even on TX - i would have preferred it to light with the squelch opening, i dabbed a black permanent marker on the green LED several times to darken it.

Main problem for me is there's no accessory socket at all, no PTT or anything, nothing.
That would make this great for use with my masthead preamp etc, though the set is sensitive enough anyway i'm glad to say.

I believe on the TYT TH9000 there *is* place for on the PCB for a accessory socket, and there's room for a 9 pin d sub on the heatsink, but I'm not sure if the 'Golden One' PCB has the same pins for this like the TYT has. i expect it probably has, but they are not identical sets, as the 'Golden Sun' is orange display only, and may not have the blue LEDs fitted like the TYT does.
i can find very little info about these things.
there is some connector on the back as some sort of 'theft alarm' which isn't needed by me, so i am hoping to use this for external PTT instead.

The programming software is ok & is functional, i would like software like 'Chirp' or other software to support the 'Golden Sun' so i could program the set in Linux or on Mac. The TYT TH 9000 software while reading the set says its a different type model, and asks me if i would like to overwrite, i believe its asking to overwrite the firmware, so i have read, but i dont want to take the chance, in case it bricks it unrecoverably, and for no real gain.


interesting to see some non-Amateur signalling like 5-tone and DTMF strings can be sent. possibly for sending a status message, I think the manual isn't clear enough how to set these up. i would swap all those for MDC1200 features though, it would then talk to my Analogue Motorola gear :)

All in all a very capable set with no obvious bugs or gotchas.. the price is excellent, and as i say, the only things to stop this being a **Perfect** 70cms rig are:
I would like a slightly more sensitive squelch for weak sig DX,
Better built mic (i hate keypad mics anyway)
Accessory socket.
MDC1200

But as its a £110 set - i'm not complaining, if it had these features it wouldn't be quite so cheap .. i see no reason to buy any other FM set for most VHF/UHF work.
KE3JH Rating: 2013-10-22
poor returns Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I got this rig and It only puts out 19 watts on high power. Ive tried everything to get this resolved with tyt and I havent gotten ANY answers to my emails!! If you get this rig best hope it works or youl never get it fixed or returned to TYT for another. They wont even email me to tell me how to get the watts they advertised. Take your chances.
M0SAY Rating: 2013-03-06
GREAT RADIO Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
the TYT th-9000 is a great radio i have the 70cms version the build quality is superb some people have said the mic is cheap quality but if you look at the other 3 big manufactures you will not think the mic is poor quality this a quality radio witch works as it should
very easy to operate the software needs a bit moor improvement the compander on this radio is like a processor it highers the audio level up witch makes it very loud i just cant fault the radio
its well worth getting one David m0say

KB3RMX Rating: 2012-11-22
GREAT RADIO Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Received this a couple of weeks ago, needless to say it works great. I was surprised on how well this little radio works, being since its Chinese. Is a little different programming than what we are all used to to, but after a couple of memory writes, it comes right to you. Received great audio reports as well as great receives. Am going to buy the 2 meter and 220 version. Great radio, great price. Nice to see there are other options to buy from rather than the top three.