Wouxun KG-UVD1P Review

While looking for information about any deals at Dayton 2010, I came across an interesting video clip of the first U.S. Wouxun dealer selling the Wouxun KG-UVD1P ham radios. A quick search of google turned up the website were I was able to contact the dealer and get a price quote, and in no time I had a brand new 2m/440 HT to play with at a very reasonable price.

Physical Characteristics

I'll first describe the physical characteristics before discussing the functionality of the radio. Here is a close-up picture of what the Wouxun HT looks like:



You can see that the button layout is very typical of most HTs in this basic, no-frills class. Most of the buttons are self explanatory, with the exception being the "TDR" button, which turns dual band on and off.

One of the first things most people will notice is that the antenna connector is not the typical SMA connector that we usually see on the mainstream HT's. The connector on these radios is the reverse SMA normally found on network router antennas:



You can get adapters for BNC or regular SMA if you wish to use a different antenna.

For size reference, here is the Wouxun (right) next to an Icom IC-T70A (left):



As you can tell, the Wouxun is a little smaller than the Icom. As a result, it also feels a little lighter in the hand.

The right side of the radio is where the headphone and speaker jacks are located. These are the exact same configuration as the Kenwood HT's, so any Kenwood speaker/mic headsets should work fine...mine did.



There are LEDs on top of the radio that serve a couple of different useful functions. The two LEDs to the right are for bands A and B. They turn green when receiving and red when transmitting:

Receiving:



Transmitting:



The larger LED to the left serves only one function: a flashlight.



The radio comes with a belt clip, wrist strap, 1300mAh Lithium Ion battery, and a nice desk charger. I hope that the inclusion of desk chargers by the Chinese companies and Alinco drives Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood to do the same.



Here is a picture of the radio in my hand to give you good perspective on it's size. You can also see that the display is simple, but effective.



At the time of purchase, pricing on the radio and accessories from Wouxun.us is as follows:

KG-UVD1P 136-174 & 350-470 - $107
USB Cable & Software - $18
1700 mAh Battery - $24
AA Battery Pack - $8
12v Battery Eliminator - $12
Leather Case - $10
SMA - BNC Adapter - $5
Dual Slot Charger - $24

The only accessory I purchased was the USB cable & Software. Next up in this review, I'll discuss the radio's functionality and try to provide some assistance on the manual.

Anyone else that has one of these radios should feel free to add their own comments and points of view to this review.

Manual

The documentation that comes with this radio is reminiscent of the manuals that were shipped with the early VCRs; the translation into English is cryptic, at best. The box has some weird translations also, the best being the "Speedy Switch on Work Mode (A/B + TDR)" The A/B and TDR describe buttons on the radio, but I have yet to figure out what "Speedy Switch on Work Mode" means. That said, this is a fairly simple radio so the manual will generally give you enough information to figure out how to perform the various functions. In my opinion, the most important part of the manual is the part that describes the various key shortcuts that get you to the radio functions and settings. I've converted the factory PDF manual so it can be searched to help users find various topics and attached it to this post.

My review would be remiss if I didn't discuss one of the more interesting features of this radio: the Voice Prompt.

The Voice Prompt is the computerized voice of a very nice sounding Chinese lady that announces the menu or function that you have selected. It can be switched between the English language and Chinese via Menu 09. In simplest terms, the lady announces various functions that you've selected as you change the setttings on the radio.

For the first few hours after receiving this radio, I thought this function was very entertaining. I even switched it to Chinese for a while and just randomly hit the buttons and menus to make the radio say something over and over. Needless to say, my family was less amused than I was and it quicly became annoying to them.

For the visually impaired, this is probably a great idea, although the average user will want to turn it off as soon as the novelty wears off. To give you an idea of what this sounds like, I captured a clip of me selecting the CTCSS menu and then actually changing the tone.

I'm still not sure whether I should feel guilty for liking the voice or if I'm tired enough with it to turn it off permanently

Physical Characteristics, continued

Overall, the radio feels like it is "sturdy enough" but not overly tough. It does not feel like it will be as durable as some of Yaesu and Icom's offerings, although it is probably on par with their lower end radios. This is somewhat of a subjective evaluation and I suppose time will tell. The buttons all click when you push them, resulting in a nice tactile feel. The PTT button also has a nice, positive click to it without being overly difficult. The PTT is definitely better than some other HT's I've owned. You turn the radio on by rotating the top right knob. This is an "old school" approach and it works well. The stock antenna seems to be made fairly well; I don't see how it would be possible to easily break it.

One glaring omission on this radio is the lack of a external power jack for cigarette lighter operation. You have to buy the battery eliminator option and then you can purchase a 12v adapter. I don't understand why Wouxun went with this approach because it's clearly a hassle.

Modification

When you purchase the radio from the U.S. distributor, it comes with only the amateur bands enabled for transmit. However, if you have a need to use other frequencies, you can enable out of band transmit by modifying the radio using only software and the programming cable. I've given instructions on how to do that here: http://www.worldwidedx.com/radio-radio-related-modifications/62063-wouxun-kg-uvd1p-software-mod.html