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Reviews For: QYT KT-8900R

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

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Review Summary For : QYT KT-8900R
Reviews: 5MSRP: 89.95
Description:
Mobile tri-band (2M/1.25/70cm) Transceiver
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0052.6
KB6ZOP Rating: 2020-08-24
Inexpensive rig or $90 learning experience? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I picked up this rig knowing full well that it would be a gamble based on the cost point but I figured it was worth at the very least trying it out, knowing it would be disposable at less than $100 for a tri-band radio.
Before I get into the details, let me start with the pro's
Pros:
It's small.
It's loud.
Its' cheap.
Easy enough to program with laptop.
Programming cable was included and plugs into the front of the radio.

Cons:
Volume and channel knobs are too small to be functional for an average sized adult hand.
Additionally, the volume is either very quiet, or very loud. Clearly they did not engineer this radio with a properly designed rheostat based volume control.
Power button - Since the button is so small and so close to the mic jack, one needs to use a thin pointy object to press and hold the power button. They could have easily eliminated this button by having the On/Off as a part of the volume knob like 99% of all other mobile radios.
The Beeps are LOUD, and cannot be adjusted. It's either on or off.
nearly impossible to program on the fly. You really do need a laptop or a laborious cheat sheet in order to program manually.
As mentioned elsewhere in the reviews, the scan mode is extremely slow.
Horrible receiver. If I'm within .1 mile from any municipal office (Public Safety building is down the street) I hear all sorts of intermod and other QRM.
Very poor quality microphone with inefficient button layout. Who ever heard of placing the up and down buttons on the bottom face? they belong on the top of the mic. I'm not a meathead, but I'm sure that if I were to squeeze the mic out of anger, it would crush like an egg.
The 8900R which I have does seem to have 1.25M but when I tune into a 220 repeater, the radio emits a repeated click that does not go away until moving to either 2M or 70CM. Granted, I did not connect a 220 antenna to test output.
No way to turn off display of sub band. Even the simplest of dual band HT's have that as an option.
Radio gets EXTREMELY hot after short conversations, even though my VNA shows 1.4:1 SWR at the highest points.
The programming jack is in the face plate of the radio and is identical in every way to a speaker jack. I sure wouldn't want to mistakenly insert a speaker there though.
Power cord - I really do recall over the decades, that it is always UNWISE to use a car's PTO or cigarette lighter port to power a transmitter however, the default configuration of the power cord for this radio is with a 12v PTO/CLA plug. HUH?
Did I say that the power on/off beep is LOUD?

Anyway, off my soap box.. Would I buy this rig again? Never.
Will I replace it as soon as I can find a decent, compact rig that will fit my car, yes!
Will I throw it away? Probably not. I'll most likely set it up somewhere as a spare in the garage but only as a backup to my ancient Icom, Kenwood or Alinco.

HOWTOPHIL Rating: 2020-03-22
Decent, small, mobile radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had this radio for a couple weeks and tend to get decent responses to sound quality and signal strength. No one complains and a few have even offered compliments. I tend to be stretching out the VHF/UHF distance by reaching out to repeaters 20-25 miles away from me and still make it in without a problem with this radio on 25 watts and pumping through a makeshift dipole.

For the money, it's a great little radio. The volume is finicky (at best) and requires a light touch with small movements if you don't want to blow out your ears. On the other hand, in a vehicle with a lot of noise, it's no problem at all to hear this little beauty.

The power button, in my opinion, should be on the opposite side of the radio, away from the mic cable. However, that's not a deal-breaker.

I'd also like a way to turn off ALL the beeping, including the on and off chimes. Though, again, not a deal-breaker.

I worry a bit about the fan being a problem in a vehicle or outside, but so far it seems fine. I would suggest blowing out the intake with some canned air every so often.

I have reached 1.25m, 2m, and 70cm repeaters from 20+ miles out. It seems to have no problem making the distance from inside a second-story room.

Driving, there's a lot of pop and crackle, but I also have an older vehicle and that tends to be true (if you listen) even in the built-in commercial FM radio in the car.

It fits in a small ammo box with the mic, the power cable, the rolled-up dipole, a small 12v battery with a cigarette lighter connector, the programming cable, and some other useful cables. For a compact mobile radio with "enough power," it seems to do well. It is easy to carry back and forth, install in a vehicle, or keep in a backpack.

It's good for the price-point, though it does have some quirks.
G4VRR Rating: 2019-11-12
Decent Dual Band Mobile But Not Without Issues Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This little radio (that has enjoyed a very easy life ...) died on me abruptly when I inserted a 3.5mm TS external
loudspeaker plug into the (correct) rear apron socket. No more display, no audio and no RF, and there's no apparent solution in sight. Based upon this experience, I cannot be blamed for reducing the star rating. I would add a note that the problem I had with the reduced power setting seemed to be related to programmed memories insisting on the defined power level. Change to VFO and QRP became possible.

Taking into account the "one size fits all" menu systems used on Chinese radios, I have an ubiquitous Baofeng UV5R handie too that (ignoring the battery packs) has been reliable, but I think I've bought my last Chinese radio for the foreseeable future. You have to look upon the enticing cheap initial cost as better spent if put towards something better engineered.

Earlier 3 star review:

"There seems to be (at least?) two versions of this set: one with two rows of push buttons and another with a single row. Mine is the latter.

I had some trouble with the squelch not working just the same as the Polish YouTuber. It was partially down to me and partially due to the ubiquitous rubbish Chinglish "manual". I expected the "Moni" button to listen on the input like my Standard C510a. Nope. It just breaks the squelch, and then only when you have a squelch level set. Obvious I suppose but not to me it would seem. A listen on input facility would garner another star immediately in my view.

This little radio sneers at my demoralised attempts to call up low power. The QRO isn't anywhere close to the claimed output level anyway. The volume control is too close to the microphone input which makes it difficult to adjust, certainly whilst mobile. I wonder why the programming socket is on the front panel and the audio out on the rear apron? The antenna socket should be an "N" type. I changed mine but it wasn't easy to source a rhombic flange bulkhead fitting. Programming manually was carried out because I was impatient for the Chinese sourced cable to arrive. Tedious and impossible to figure out from "The Manual". Big shout for the YouTube videos in this respect. Why no $5 cable included? I guess that's typical but should not be allowed to pass without comment.

The radio feels solidly built. Would I recommend? Yes, definitely. You have to take all the anomalies on the chin because these Chinese companies appear to have done us a great service in forcing down the profligate prices of the big boys. I remember paying nearly four times the price of this rig 35 years ago for an unreliable Yaesu FT709 handie. My little Chinese box has been reliable which is more than I can say any of my Ya-soo rigs ever were.

Provided it continues to work and you can accept the sometimes convoluted radio menus and user frustration, you ought to be OK with one of these little (tiny) rigs.

Regarding the low power setting? suggestions on a post card please!"

WB3V Rating: 2019-04-28
I've had HTs bigger than this radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
In spite of what the box says, CHIRP now supports this radio. With other big name mobile rigs I have had to use an amplified speaker to hear them while driving. Not so with the QYT -- it has plenty of audio from a very small speaker. Receiver seems sensitive as I can pick up repeaters in my area no problem. Only improvement I can think of for the next version would be a scan lockout to block active scan channels you don't want to listen to at the moment.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by WB3V on 2019-04-26

Using the QYT online software and cable to program the radio took a little longer than I expected, but there was a steep learning curve for me. Got everything working on all three bands, and plan to install in the car tomorrow. Stand by for further updates. In the mean time, hitting all the local repeaters with an indoor antenna and surprisingly made a contact with a local on 146.52 simplex. Quite capable for the price. It does get warm. comes with a vehicle power plug and a programming cable.
N2CJ Rating: 2017-05-25
A fine line between genius and junk Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A local ham was raving about this radio and he sounded great on the repeater so I pulled the trigger. Despite being advertised as 240-260 MHz, the 222 MHz frequencies can be programmed into the radio using the manufacturer's software or CHIRP.
Programming with the cable went well; however, audio reports weren't good. It turns out my radio was shipped with a newer microphone with the element placed behind the circuit board behind the keypad. Earlier versions have the mic element mounted at the bottom of the mic housing.
I returned this unit to the Amazon seller for a full refund.
I ordered from an Ebay vendor and received another unit with the earlier microphone. Audio reports were good; however I wasn't able to key some 222 MHz repeaters which were well within range. Some testing with my Bird Wattmeter and a dummy load revealed the radio is only putting out 4 watts on 222 MHz. Power on 2m and 70cm measure at 21 and 15 watts respectively.
The Chinglish manual is basically useless for anything further than identifying the basic functions of the radio.
I'm not sure if I will be returning this unit or not. At $89 is basically disposable.