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Home Radioddity QT80 HF Radio Review

I got the QT-60 first for the base. Now I have swapped it for a QT-80. Also have another QT-80 in the car. I'm not positive, but I believe the only difference is output power.
 
I got the QT-60 first for the base. Now I have swapped it for a QT-80. Also have another QT-80 in the car. I'm not positive, but I believe the only difference is output power.
Besides looking completely different and the differing mic plugs.
 


 
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Hi Greg, You are showing two different adapters. Can you confirm which one the QT80 matches to? The 6 Pin configuring looks the same but one is RCI Style and the other AT 6666. I'm guessing is the 6666 as the Tag on the QT80 shown references { 6666Pro)
 
I'm gonna go for one of these. They are down to $276 on Amazon new and I am possibly able to get a like new used one on various sites for 170-200 ..... just waiting on peeps to respond to messages.
 
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Somebody help me out. Here is the Mic wiring from the QT80 Manual. Unclear is Pin 4. wtf is Mic Key? For Cobra 4 Pin matchup would RX (black) go to Pin 4 ?
Screenshot 2025-08-05 at 2.59.09 PM.png
 
Somebody help me out. Here is the Mic wiring from the QT80 Manual. Unclear is Pin 4. wtf is Mic Key? For Cobra 4 Pin matchup would RX (black) go to Pin 4 ? View attachment 73723

4. MIC.KEY is for the UP and DN buttons on the microphone.

FYI - On some other radios (like the AT-5555Nii and QT-60) the UP and DN keys are shared with the PTT line, which can result in unwanted channel jumping if your microphone connections become high resistance (dirty, worn out, not connected securely, etc). Moving this function to its own dedicated pin solves this potential issue.
 
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4. MIC.KEY is for the UP and DN buttons on the microp
4. MIC.KEY is for the UP and DN buttons on the microphone.
Here's what I'm wanting to do. Scored used like new 80 for $205 shipped today. Going to use as base. Would like to put my D104 TUG8 to it. From what I've seen on other diagrams and explanations ..... only 3 wires of a 4 wire mic are needed. Audio to 1, (red TX) to 3 and Shield to 5. The Black (RX) wire on a 4 wire (cobra) would be No Connection. Can you confirm this Pez or anyone else reading? Thanks !
 
Yay ... 1 more question. A radio site is selling a AT-6666 6 pin to Cobra 4 Pin adapter. Should this adapter work on the QT 80? Thanks
 
Good review. It has a lot of features under the hood (far more than any other in this class, the only other coming close is the QT60 PRO). Regarding key clicks on CW, I have previously tested this at length on a scope and SA, and had no issues at all, in fact the waveform was very clean without excessive rise-time, etc. Are you sure your local RX was not overloaded or something similar?

However there is a limitation with the CW break-in delay - the hardware cannot switch RX-TX-RX fast enough for "fast" CW, and as a result it can miss the start (the first dit) of CW transmissions. Something to be aware of.

CW and 21MHz were added as a "gift" (the factories words) because they could. It's for the experimenters and IMO it's fantastic they opened up these options for us to play with. 21MHz works great (with slightly reduced sensitivity and TX power, but is still clean), and CW will allow you to answer a CW call with the MIC PTT in a pinch.
Hi Pez, Seeing reports that the 15M Power Output varies widely rig to rig. You said "slightly reduced" on yours but didn't mention the watts. What are you seeing on yours on 15M?
 
There's a whole thread about this radio, features, mods, bands etc. All the information is there to answer all the questions.

Here she be
 
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