It is not often I get new products and hate them from the first turn on, but this is basically, junk!
That seems harsh, but the product is unusable!
I strongly advise not wasting money.
They are cheap and claim to be a 6W typical spec airband hand-held radio. I have sitting here in my hire stock some Yaesus and Icoms. They just work. Enter a frquency and press the PTT - both very sensitive and well made.
This radio, however, is just badly designed. The spec is impressive. Dual superhet design, 25/8.33KHz in big letters on the box. First problem is that available channel selection is 2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25 - no 8.33KHz for our systems in EU and GB. attaching the antenna makes the radio perk up and the squelch is open. At first I thought it didn’t have squelch for AM, the sql-fm menu setting is easy to find, but there is an AM squelch but it’s hidden away in a different menu tree! It mentions in the manual VFO mode - which works great, and there’s memory mode. Unless I am dim, you need to add memories via the computer which is madness.
Worse - sticking on dummy loads, it seems unable to transmit properly either. On the icoms and Yaesus the audio level is so low that it’s difficult to hear. I will stick it on the analyser at some point, but for now it’s back in the box. Receive wise - the local aircraft are loud and clear on the icom and yaesus and unreadable on the QYT. I have dealt with the supplier before so I’m hopeful I can get a refund on the stock I have bought. truly a dire radio. For the price, I guess it is OK, but it is nowhere near the level of a proper aviation radio. I can see maybe ground use - perhaps at a parachute centre where 99% of the time it’s on receive, but not as a pilots only radio - for safety reasons it’s just not quite up to it.
Paul did you ever find the programming software for this one? I have tried the QYT website, the Anysecu website and Chirp, and none seem to have anything that works.
AM Squelch is actually quite easy but undocumented - yes its available through the menu, but also * is increase and # is decrease.
I also bought a higher gain airband specific antenna and the reception increases significantly. I will only be using it for monitoring of local traffic for Drone operations so I dont need long distance and will rarely transmit unless operating near an uncontroleld aerodrome
Hi Paull, did you find a way arround the 8.33kHz channel spacing issue ? glad i found your post because i was about to purchase the radio as a backup unit here in NL.
No - the manufacturer has NOT fitted 8.33KHz channelisation and doesn’t seem to understand the need - although it may be a language problem - and Google translate. 6.25KHz is actually close enough for it not to be an issue - but no good for pilots who are already confused as to why what they tap into the radios is not actually the real frequency.
Thanks for the additional info, doesn’t sound like a pilot only radio at all. You mention in your initial post that Yaesus and Icoms just work, I have been looking at the ICOM A16, do you have a preference or recommendation between the two brands ?
In honesty, i have always had a liking for Icom, but the Yaesu radios are perfectly functional, and one is designed for non-rechargeable batteries, so you throw a set of duracells and the radio in your flight bag and use it just for emergencies. Avoiding having to constanly recharge a radio but never use it!
Between the A16 and the Yeasu FTA-250, I like the looks of the Yeasu better. Programming software is free from Yeasu, and you can buy the RT Systems programming cable. I also like how the Yeasu can display both frequency and channel name at the same time.
Before anyone decides, they should also take a look at our host’s Wouxun KG-S74A. It can also do 8.33KHz, and out of all the Chinese radios, Wouxun has the highest reputation. I also like the quick squelch adjustment on the Wouxun, with side buttons for squelch up and squelch down. (Fully programmable.)
The Wouxun takes Kenwood accessories such as headsets and programming cables, and the programming software is free. Mine also came with an aircraft headset adapter, but not all of them do, I understand.
As far as batteries, I wouldn’t sweat the Li-Ion versus non-rechargeable too much. All three have high capacity rechargeable batteries, and the Wouxun can also be charged with USB-C, while the Yeasu can run off a 12-volt cigarette lighter socket. My battery charge lasts for months in a flight bag, and spare batteries are $25 (Wouxun) and $50 (Yeasu).
After almost a year with the KG-S74A, I have decided on the following programming map for my buttons. Top (orange) button will recall last frequency used with a short press, and light the flashlight with a long press. Side buttons are squelch up with a short press and mode (for quickly switching from Channel Name display to Frequency display) with a long press for the top, and squelch down with a short press and monitor (squelch zero) with a long press for the bottom button.
The only issue I have ever had with it is the channel knob on the top does not have click stops; it uses a very soft stop, and sometimes it stops too soft and randomly selects the wrong frequency. But that is pretty minor.
It’s not a $2500 radio, it’s a $60 radio. It works on 121.50, 122.8 etc. CHIRP works for programming with my Baofeng and Kenwood cable. It is a good radio for the ultralight flyers,
a great radio to carry as a backup if you ever have an electrical failure.
My #1 criticism, I wish the charging and programming was through a USB-C
The antenna isn’t great, but that can be changed.
I bought one recently (in Australia), I haven’t had a chance to go near the airport and check but my local frequency is not getting picked very effectively. I can hear the transmission every now and then but it’s got constant hissing sound. I played around with the squelch (both for an and fm) but no luck. Any idea why there is hissing sound coming though the radio.
So many pilots in training struggle with the comms module. The old system was logical, the new one far less so. Even worse for hobbies listeners who have to put in the frequency, or at least as close as they can get. So there is a frequency spoken or printed that is actually something else is reality and then you have to convert that to your receivers spacing! Thankfully the filtering in most radios we use is wide enough not to matter. In fact it only seems to make a difference when two side by side frequencies are both in use, and for me where I live, that rarely happens.
