Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Wouxun KG-UV920R-A

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Wouxun KG-UV920R-A
Reviews: 13MSRP: 349.95
Description:
The KG-UV920R is Wouxon's first dual band rig, operating both 2 meters and 70 cm (440 MHz). Power output is selectable in 3 steps (2m: 5/25/50W, 70cm: 5/20/40W) and modulation can be switched between narrow-FM and regular-FM. The receiver covers the entire HF band, 65-220 MHz and 400-520 MHz and supports AM. A detachable front panel and DTMF-mic come standard.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00132.8
K6FUZ Rating: 2012-12-23
Not quite what you might expect Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
CONS:

Crossband repeat is SLOW to open squelch and apply transmit.

"Dual" receive only receives as dual if operating VHF/UHF but not if using both as either VHF or UHF.

Cannot scan on one half and receive on the other.

Scanning is slow. This is not a scanner. If you have a handful of freqencies you need to monitor but no more you can probably get away with it.

The programmer relies on having MS Excel to save configuration files for no real reason.

The programmer doesn't follow reasonable practices for interface, usability, and look or feel.

Output is not as advertised on 70cm.

The channel numbers are way too small.

The volume is not quite powerful enough.

The squelch is a software setting. (A commercial thing that's NOT appropriate for ANY ham radio.)

PROS:

The mic has a speaker in it WITH a volume adjustment. Very handy.

The display is large except for the channel numbers, and accomodates alpha tags.

It comes able to TX/RX across its entire range from 136-174MHz and 400- 479.995MHz.

It comes with a separation kit and a choice of face angle mounting plates for straight and slanted. The cable is RJ45 on the ends but is NOT wired straight through. A straight through extension WITH the cable would work.

The fan is quiet and can be set to turn on only when the radio needs it.

The programmer DOES work and you can leave the programming cable attached AND operate the radio. The programmer has its own RJ45.

Interfaces are USB and RJ45 - no pesky serial, DIN, mini DIN, or 3.5mm cables.

COMMENTS:
The best feature of this radio is that you can leave the programmer attached because it has its own port. The cable can even be extended using a USB extension or an RJ45 extension - pick your end. The reading and writing is relatively fast and the radio doesn't require a manual reboot after programming. It just comes up and works. Essentially this makes the programmer a working extension of the radio as opposed to a programmer which has to be attached, used, and detached, in order to allow the radio to operate. It doesn't take up a mic hole, a speaker port, or anything else you would use to operate the radio. It doesn't require power cycling or a three finger salute to enter and/or exit a separate program mode. I have always wondered why all radios aren't like this.

If you're needing to constantly change your radio configuration, you can do so easily and without having to fiddle with cables. You can basically wire the radio to a computer USB port and never take it off and even reprogram in the middle of a QSO and jump right back on the air.

I'm not sure why one would have remote settings and ANI in there. You could never use this as a commercial radio because it has way too many controls presented on the panel and mic.

The compander and noise surpression features seem like they're for an AM/SSB radio, not FM.

The fan also sticks out too much and should suck not blow to reduce the intake of dirt. The sides are screened but the fan port is not.

N2PLI Rating: 2012-12-21
very low quality Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this radio from china,it is just barely acceptable as a back up radio the review from the gentleman before my review got it down a 100% .I must add the scan is very very slow to find active frequencies.The recieve is very good but it gets intermod not acceptable amount..and it dont have a reverse button as we know you gotta cyle through the whole duples setting to reverse the frequencies.I would have given it a 2 but being its 250 dollars I give it a 3.dont waste your money buy a icom kenwood yaesu maybe a alinco
W5BPP Rating: 2012-12-20
Second product revision of the unit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
THIS IS A UPDATE TO MY ORIGINAL REVIEW.
I should have ask more questions before I purchased the unit. Most of the problems noted on the internet forums about the first version seemed to be fixed. This is a dual band 2m/7cm mobile transceiver. Keep in mind this is a commercial radio not just a ham radio. I have two Kenwood V71A's and I guess I expected the UV920R to be similar in function, but it is not. To start, the advertised 7cm output of 40 watts is not there. I set a 50ohm dummy load to test unit and got only about 28 watts out. On 2m it did in fact output the advertised 50 watts. The biggest problems for me, that I have found so far is the "dual band" will only receive 2m and 70cm simultaneously. If you have both sides set on 2m frequencies or both set to 7cm frequencies, only one side will receive at a time so on the other side you will miss any transmission receptions. Also, scan only works on one side at a time. If you turn the volume knob up or down while scanning on "A" side, the scan will stop completely. If you scan on the "B" side, the volume knob does not function at all! I purchased the unit for FD/SAR use. Unfortunately it will not work for my use at all, other than the 2.5kh frequency step that Kenwood V71A does not have. I have not yet tried the cross band repeat, but I suspect 2m/2m or 7cm/7cm will not work either. But again the problem is mine for not thoroughly checking out the unit before I ordered. I have several of the Wouxun handhelds and have not a problem with them at all. Since I am probably stuck with the unit, as I have time, I will try cross band repeat and update this review at a later date. UPDATE: One more note on a negative for me. The 999 memories is only in four groups of 250 each. BUT on the positive side the Dealer accepted the unit back for a full refund. So I am completed testing.