Category Ham Radio Equipment

Dec 8 2017

Quick Review of the QYT KT8900D Mobile

QYT KT8900D Mobile RadioBought a QYT KT8900D (upgraded 2nd gen.) Quad Band receive Dual Band (2 m / 70 cm) transmit mobile radio the other day. Why? I don’t know. Just wanted to see what these Chinese radios are like these days I suppose. I am not using the radio mobile so I am not concerned with the lack of image rejection or other quirks encountered when driving around dense RF fields. If you plan to drive near or in a city, IMHO forget it, this is not the radio for you!

Worked a local 70 cm repeater with it the other day and received a good audio report from several guys.  Guess that’s a promising sign for an inexpensive mobile radio.

Taking the easy way out, I loaded up the frequencies I wanted using CHIRP since I have a subscription to Radio Reference. Once I had the Ham Repeaters, Fire and Ambulance info loaded, I then downloaded the contents of the radio into the factory software.

If you plan to use CHIRP as I did, be sure to follow up with the factory software since it offers a whole bunch of settings in the Options panel not available at all in CHIRP. You will find that the factory software Chinglish conversion good enough to understand  99% of the setup.

The factory software does not seem to permit setting up the radio with name only as a default for the display. As a result, after each upload of the code plug, you do have to manually step through the display if you want to change each of the four displayed frequencies over to names. Accomplishing this is done by hitting the ABCD key and then the V/M key on the front panel.

When the radio is power cycled, the names are displayed. If resetting to names was required during each power cycle the radio would have been returned.

For an $85, knock-around ham shack radio the QYT KT8900D appears to be a good buy.  Should I run into additional issues I will post them here in the future.

Want to know more, visit this link at Amazon.

73 Gary KE2YK

 

Nov 13 2017

Drake SPR-4 Receiver SOLD!

I am selling a solid state Drake Receiver and Original Manual. To my knowledge, the radio is in good working condition. Cosmetically the radio is clean (minus the dust) as the photos will show.

The radio has the crystal calibrator and Noise Blanker installed. The crystal bank is fully loaded.  To my knowledge the radio works on all bands. The incandescent bulb is out behind the pre-selector and S meter indicators.  The original owner placed a plastic strip of frequencies along the front of the top cover as you will see in the photos.
An inquiry was recently made regarding the purpose of the threaded holes in both sides of the cabinet. I don’t know the reason for them but it is part of the original cabinet when manufactured. I verified that by looking at the cover of the manual and viewing an SPR-4 demo video on youtube.
Buyer pays for UPS packing, shipping and insurance.  PayPal preferred but USPS money order accepted.

If you are interested, make me an offer by email at ke2yk48 at gmail dot com

Here are the what you see is what you get photos. Dusty cover included in price!

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Jun 25 2017

Field Day Was a Blast!

Brookhaven National Laboratory Amateur Radio Club

 

Been enjoying Field Day for about 30 years now and this year was no exception. Despite a family obligation I managed to squeak out around 150 CW Q’s!

 

This was my first year working split (so to speak). I attended the BNLARC / K2BNL Field Day with old (and new) friends on Saturday evening for around 4 hours.

KE2YK's KX3

 

Sunday morning was the first time working QRP CW from home! Unlike working Field Day from a picnic bench, this old geezer really appreciates the comforts of home. Worked class 1E in the central air… and you can’t beat that!

All in all despite the horrific WX Saturday morning on Long Island, Saturday evening at BNLARC was picture puuurfect. The WX was so clear I caught a faint glimpse of the Milky Way galaxy despite the light pollution.  A truly rare instance with humid Long Island summers!

72 and 73 KE2YK