Episode 201 of The Two Way Radio Show Podcast is now available.
We introduce a new Wouxun KG-XS20H tri band mobile ham radio. It is based on the KG-XS20G Plus.
TWRS-201 - The Wouxun KG-XS20H Tri Band Mobile Amateur Radio
Show Notes:
TWRS-201 - The Wouxun KG-XS20H Tri Band Mobile Amateur Radio(buytwowayradios.com)
I listened to this podcast while cutting weeds this morning. Good episode. I really like my XS20G so this amatuer version looks really good. The main reason I like the GMRS model is I can plug it into a power outlet in my vehicle and use it on high power. The 20ish watts give you a lot of power, as compared to a HT, yet the lower current draw allows you to use a power outlet making the radio very portable. Even though I don’t spend a lot of time on the HAM bands the XS20H is tempting. Every Wouxun radio I have has been somewhere between good to outstanding. Thanks for another good podcast.
Sean
I always wonder when triband radios like this (or even HTs) do not, in this day and age, have displays that show all 3 bands! This is a nice radio tho! I like Wouxun!
I never really gave that any thought, although that would be a good idea. I’m guessing since the XS20H is basically the same radio as the XS20G it would take more than a firmware change to make three lines of active info on the screen work.
And no sooner do I complain than such a thing appears! Check out the Radtel RT-880!
It sounds great in theory, but splitting the display into three parts has a few challenges. Without getting too technical, here are a few things that manufacturers would need to consider.
First, you would need to shrink the pixels and icons to fit in an additional area for the third band. This would require a higher resolution display panel. Unfortunately you couldn’t use the existing screen because the resolution is too low to make everything much smaller than it is now and still be readable in such a small display area.
A higher resolution display would require a more powerful graphic chip and display driver to manage the display. While not impossible, it would require a lot more memory and firmware support to manage, which in turn would drive up the cost to design, develop and build.
Also, in the case of Wouxun dual band radios that have true dual receive capability (and cross band repeat in the case of the ham models), which is where the dual displays really come in handy, most, if not all are essentially two radios in one, a trickier feat if offering tri receive. I just threw that in as an interesting side note. I personally can’t listen to two conversations at the same time, much less three.
This would also require more power to operate. It could also generate a lot more heat. Those are all important things to consider when building a handheld radio.
This is not to say it can’t be done, of course. It really comes down to cost vs demand.
Yes, I understand. Engineering is always about tradeoffs. A 3 level display would obviously be more expensive… But see my reply prior to yours. It has now been done. I’ve no doubt others will join in eventually…