As I have mentioned before, I really like the looks of most of the Wouxun radios, and the Wouxun KG-UVD1P is no exception to that. Not all of their radios are the same, however, regardless of how good-looking they are. Let’s take a look at this model and see how it compares to their other radios, and to the competition.
The Yaesu VX-7R is a quad-band, feature-rich radio released in 2002 that is still quite popular even though it has been discontinued around 2017. There are a lot of factors that make it as popular as it is today, and why it continued to be produced for 15 years.
The Yaesu VX-5 is an excellent small radio from one of the three top manufacturers of handheld ham radio. Being tri-band, it is exceptionally capable and packs an enormous amount of features in a package smaller than most cellphones these days. Let’s see what all it can do.
This Explorer QRZ-1 is an interesting radio as it is based on the TYT TH-UV88. In fact, I can’t find any substantial difference between the two at all, and I am currently using the battery off the TYT on the Explorer. You may also know that the same radio is also sold under the MyEmergencyRadio.com brand as My-EMR1 and I have an article on that radio.
I have always liked the way radios like the Wouxun KG-UV3D look. Something about them just look and feel better to me than a lot of the Baofengs and their clones. But looks aren’t everything.
The Baofeng 5RH Pro is one of a new platform of radios. That is, a set of radios that share a lot of common things like basic key layout, size, battery type, etc. The older platform was the UV-5R and its many variants. This new platform is definitely a step-up in just about every way, with a few caveats.
I thought I would pick up the Quansheng UV-K5 because I really don’t hear much about Quanshen. They have been selling ham gear in the United States for over a decade with models like the TG-UV8D and TG-UV2, however it is not a name you see mentioned that often, which is a shame.
The Baofeng UV-K5 Plus is one of a new series of radios that appear to be based on the same chassis which include the RH5, UV-5RM and BF-F8HP Pro among others. Like the UV-5R that spawned a whole series of radios based on that platform, each model has some unique characteristics.
Like you, I have seen a lot of advertisements for the My-EMR1 radio. "TIMES ARE UNPREDICTABLE… PROTECT YOUR FAMILY WITH OFF-GRID COMMUNICATION!" they exclaim. They go on to talk about how you can communicate locally and globally. I had to get one and see what it really was.
The HamGeek APX-8000 caught my interest for several reasons, including I had never heard of HamGeek in discussions of handheld radios before. Sure, I knew about the HackRF, but I honestly never heard anything else of them.