New Dual Band Mobile Breaks $250 Barrier

But you are not Chinese.

(Read that twice, carefully).

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

 

Steve--

You forgot to mention the SUICIDE NETS.

;-)

73,
Chip W1YW

 

I never bought one because it wasn't clear to me they would TX and RX in English. I guess if everyone in this country buys one, they automatically convert the languages for users.

 

Baojie BJ-UV55 and HYS TC-UV55 VHF+UHF dual band

Wow,. OK. whew time out. with all the commentary on here, I thought I'd get back to basics for those that are interested in the technology, the innovation, and the actual product that is available today in the market. I'm working on a full user and technical review of this radio -if others own this radio, I'd love to compare "user and experience" notes.

It is sold here as the Baojie BJ-UV55 as well as under the HYS brand as a TC-UV55. The shipped price is ~$230 from 409shop, shipped to USA.
It IS amazing that the cost of a full 50W dual band transceiver with most bells/whistles/features is fast approaching that of a single band radio of just 4 or 5 years ago. Technology, SDR, etc all moving forward fast.

I believe there is a yahoo email group forming for this radio. I'll post here if that gets off the ground.

I've owned and used one for about 6 months and it's been pretty darn solid- price/performance trade off. It's not a big name brand, but it's at least 30% less expensive than what the big 3 offer.

Of course, everyone has a choice so I wont debate that.

Since QST or other ham rags have yet to do a review on these brand/model of China radios (no advertising dollars spent in QST, so why would QST offer review space)....It's only fair we do a review ourselves and share the good and the bad...

Joe K7JOE/BY1

 

Those functions are functions taken from the commercial two way radio market.
"Stun" and "Kill" require two of the same radios for it to work.

One thing to keep in mind, This only works if the missing radio is turned on and is on the same frequency and in range.
This is a great function for (example) a Motorola XTS3000's on a trunking system because it can only be used on one system. But not so good
if the person that srtole the radio puts it up on ebay and sells it in Tennessee when you live in New Mexico.


The "Stun" function" is used in case the radio is misplaced or stolen. When the radio is is connected and attempted to be used on the same frequency as the other owners radio The owner can send a "Stun" command that will
effectively disable the radio. If the radio is retrieved then the radio can be unstunned or "Revived" by the owner with the correct authentication code from the mobile and returned back to normal use.

"Kill" is basically the same except it must be revived by a dealer or by software means.

The monitor function disables the PL or DPL on the receive so you can monitor the frequency before you start talking.
I don't know what inspection does.

Now that being said, "Monitor" could also mean the other radio could send a code to the other causing it to go into an invisable PTT mode for a predetermined amount of time.
This would allow the owner to hear what is said by the person possessing his stolen radio or allow enough time to triangulate him down.
I suspect the latter.


I hope this helps.

-Mark A. Lacy
CEO - Engineer
W5TXR Electronic Labs
New Braunfels, TX

 

Still don't know why every radio doesn't have an upgradable firmware. It could really help if there's bugs found and fixed while the radios are being shipped. They can be fixed by the seller before hitting the market at the very least, or best yet, by us.

I hope everyone that won't by Chinese radios isn't buying a Yaesu FT2900 or FT60... Last I looked they were made in China. Sadly, China is way more business friendly than the US. Having equal tariffs is a good idea, though. I haven't researched it to verify the validity of the prior poster's claims, though.

Even if you buy a radio that's made in Tennessee, you can bet a lot of the internals have to be sourced from China. Though, it's nice to know the final assembly and test/tune is done by people you could sit down and have a beer with.

 

"Since QST or other ham rags have yet to do a review on these brand/model of China radios (no advertising dollars spent in QST, so why would QST offer review space)....It's only fair we do a review ourselves and share the good and the bad..."


I believe QST buys the gear they review right off the shelf, just like any other ham would do. After they review them, they are auctioned off once a year on the ARRL site.


Mike KK2DOG
www.hamwave.com

 

Yes the front of the mic and the PTT button are clearly copies of newer Kenwood mics. However I just installed a TM-281A and the side, top and back views, even the placement of the power / volume knob and mic plug are nearly identical. The side, top and back views are not exact matches to the 281A but they are so close you have to look for minor differences, or a programming port replaced with a speaker jack but stunning how they rip off other's designs.

Some of my inventory; the first two were purchased new 1-3 years ago. The second two within the last few months. I don't know if the higher end Kenwoods are still made in Singapore or not. I hope anywhere but China. My concern is quality. I tow trailers and Goodyear Marathon used to be the way to go. Nothing but trouble since they moved production to China. Now Maxxis is about the only trailer tire not made in China. I think they are made in Thailand. I figure about anything is better than China... when possible. Of course I'm typing this on an iPad from Foxconn with the suicide nets, go figure :-(


TM-D710A Made in Singapore
TM-V71A Made in Singapore
TM-281A Made in China
FT-60R Made in China

Don
K7DDQ

 

Anyone got a guess?

 

Baofeng, Puxing, Wouxon --- Fisher Price or Playskool? Either way, disposable radios!!!

For the price, they're fun to play with but living in the Big Apple, the RF capitol - intermod tears them up! Maybe others would have better luck in a less RF populated area but not here in NY and their HT's are the same, IMO. And if it breaks - just toss it. You probably can buy another mobile (or 2 HTs) for the price of maybe even thinking about repairing them - not!

In my use, I can stand outside my house on their HT and be operating on 70cm and get intermod from JFK airport's radar (1-2 miles away) and even bleed-thru from the planes transmissions to the tower if they're coming in on a runway from my direction. Forget about using the mobile radio indoors on a base antenna - nearly unusable, it get bombarded with RF even from PD transmissions.

Bottom line: You get what you pay for...

 

I don't think the BJ is by Baofeng. I searched hi/lo and finally found the manual for the UV55 and can send it (10 megs) by email on request.

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

 

Looks like this thread won't die. Everyone venting and no one willing to join me in the solution..OK, I will vent as well. Most American's are horribly naive, don't read much and accept what the media says as the gospel. I have lived and worked in China, visited and conducted business with the major telecom manufacturing plants and have never see anything like this quote below.

Tell us about unfair labor practices, slave labor, child labor, working/living conditions so bad, people are killing themselves to escape them.

The majority of Chinese people live in nice apartments home and in the more affluent area's like Hang Zhou have housing tracks with private lakes and BBQ's like in America. Same thing in Russia where I spent five years. It's a nice world out there, not what you have come to believe. I challenge everyone to pop open your HT's and high end HF rigs and read where the PC boards and parts come from.

So until we unwind what the previous administration did with our trade tariff's in exchanging our debt with China to get the cash to finance the Iraq war we have no hope of keeping pace with the rest of the worlds production. I don't know who negotiated that deal but it is a mess, and if we even suggest to the Chinese that we want to increase the tariff's they have the option of increasing the interest rate on our debt payment to them each quarter. I am non political but we got sold down the river about 7 years ago and it's so complicated I cannot see a way out for us.

 

I'm sure the Chinese manufacturing situation can be improved, I've certainly heard many stories that make me uncomfortable but many people only really know about it because it's been in the popular press usually connected with Apple iPhones etc. It's also easy to shout communist! which pushes many American patriot buttons.

I think there's reasonable evidence that the mining of rare earth metals in several parts of the world involves labor, human rights and environmental issues very much worse than anything that happens at a manufacturing plant in China. These metals are used in many electronic components regardless of where the final product is produced.

The people suffering in the mines are largely forgotten about. What they do seems so far removed from the final product. Many of the mines are in China but also in parts of Africa such as the DRC.

 

Looks like micro-junk. I will let someone else buy one and share their thoughts on it. Radios are getting smaller and cheaper, but for us folks with poor vision, and big fingers, they are a real hasssle. Would you have to ship back to Honk Kong for repair?

 

You don't repair things now days. You just throw it away and get a new one. Hoping the new one will be better.

That applies to Glen as well as to radios. Especially Glen.

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo