[CTSARA] Vendors for Chinese HTs

[Jon Perelstein]

I've been asked to provide information on vendors of the Chinese HTs.

There are three major brands:  Wouxon, TyT, BaoFeng.  Wouxon is the high
end of the line, BaoFeng is at the low end with very inexpensive radios,
and TyT is somewhere in the middle (but more toward the BaoFeng pricing).
 It looks as if TyT and BaoFeng are actually the same radio.

Many of the radios are certified for both Part 97 (ham radio) and Part 90
(public service and some land mobile service).  In the case of BaoFeng, I
think that all of their UV-5R radios are Part 97 and Part 90 and that you
can't get a ham-only radio.  Ditto TyT.  Wouxon has some radios that are
ham only and of course you pay less for the ham only radios.

The Wouxon line includes:
---------------------------------------
KG-UV6X:  5 watts, Part 90 and 97, VHF/UHF, 200 memory channels (around
$170)
KG-UV3X:  5 watts, Part 90 and 97, VHF/UHF, 125 memory channels (around
$150)
KG-UV3D:  5 watts, Part 97 only, VHF/UHF, 128 memory channels (around $100)
CAREFUL - the UHF part may be either 220 or 440 MHz, so make sure you
specify the correct band

Both Lentini here in CT (http://www.lentinicomm.com/) and Powerwerx (
www.powerwerx.com) are good sources for the Wouxon.



The BaoFeng line includes
--------------------------------------
UV-5R: the basic BaoFeng radio.  4 watts, Part 90 and 97, VHF/UHF, 128
memory channels (around $35).
UV-5R+, UV-5RA, UV-5RB, etc.:  All variations on the UV-5R.  Same radio,
just different case.

Mostly bought through Amazon or eBay.  Here are links to specific offerings
that at least one of us has done business with in the past:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008IYCQSO/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

http://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-136-174-400-480-Dual-Band/dp/B007H4VT7A/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1386851559&sr=1-1&keywords=uv-5r

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BaoFeng-UV-5R-136-174-400-480-MHz-Dual-Band-DTMF-CTCSS-DCS-FM-Ham-Two-Way-Radio-/310802122159?pt=US_Ham_Radio_Transceivers&hash=item485d4005af


The TyTs are also on Amazon and eBay, plus at Lentini.  To be honest, I
don't know much about them.


A WORD ABOUT ANTENNAS:  All use an SMA mount (like most of the Yaesus and
Icoms).  However, many of the radios use a female SMA in the antenna, as
opposed to the Japanese who use a male SMA in the antenna.  Wouxon has
switched to a male SMA in the antenna; check with the vendor that you're
getting the male SMA.  The BaoFeng's still come with a female SMA.  There
are specific after-market antennas for them, and John Kalotai N1OLO - a
local ham who is in GNARC, is a Stamford EMT, and runs Ham Source (
www.hamsource.com) has them.   There are adapters available (male-to-male,
female-to-female, female SMA to BNC, etc., etc., etc.) if you already have
a good after-market antenna.

Recommended accessories:

1.  Spare Battery:  YES!!  YES!!  YES!!  YES!!  Always have at least one
spare battery, if not two or three.  BaoFeng has a high capacity (3800 mAH)
battery, but it only fits the UV-5R and not the other patterns (e.g.,
UV-5A, UV-5B, etc.).  Otherwise, you can get standard vendor batteries at
ridiculously low prices.

2.  Add-on antenna:  We always recommend longer antennas for HTs.  Buy
yours from John (N1OLO) and support a local business.

3.  Speaker Mic (may be called "Two Way Radio Speaker"):  It's up to you -
personally they annoy me, but many people (most people?) prefer them.

4.  USB Programming Cable:  This is used to program the radio from a
computer.  It's a good idea to have your own, although there are a number
of us who have the cables and we'll use ours when we set up your radios.
 Don't bother with the vendor software, we all use CHIRP to program our
radios.

5.  Car Charger:  Let's you use your charging cradle (which comes with the
radio) from your car "cigarette lighter" jack.  Up to you - I have one for
CERT, but if I wasn't in CERT I probably wouldn't bother.

If you want to limit yourself to only one accessory, then get a spare
battery!!

Thanks to Steve Urso for his help on this list.

Jon