So here are my initial thoughts after unboxing.
Pros
– Great packaging, the box and all the components are nicely wrapped. The graphics on the box are excellent as well. Kenwood,Icom and Yaesu should take note.
– The microphone is also a speaker. You have the option to play the audio from the radio or the mic. Great if you are mounting the head remotely.
– Split tones: TX and RX ctcss tones can be set independently. A feature that usually is only available on commercial 2way radios.
Cons
– DC noise is VERY loud when remote head is installed. Not as bad if the head is mounted directly to the radio. I don’t have this problem with my Kenwood D700, Icom IC-7000 or any of my scanners already installed in the truck. I’m going to try some in-line chokes/filters to see if I can get rid of the noise. This noise isn’t present if used on a power supply.
– The POT that controls the VFO is touchy. One click on the dial doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s one step up or down. You can wiggle the knob and get a channel change anway.
– Keeps telling me that the battery is low. ( not sure if it’s talking about the input voltage that it’s sensing but I had it on a regulated power supply and it was doing the same thing. Maybe it’s the internal battery that needs a charge. We’ll see if it does it in a few days )
– Cross-Band repeat only works in simplex mode.
Overall I’m pleased with the audio of the radio. The first few tests I did on IRLP and my local repeater and everyone LOVED the audio so I think after a bit of playing around I’ll learn to love this rig a lot more.
PS: SO far the Pro/Con list is leaning towards the negative but really today that’s all I was looking for was negative things. I’ll properly mount it in the car or maybe as a base unit for a few days and see how I like it then.
I’ll post a video tomorrow or Sunday with more details
Below are the pictures that I took quickly to show you what the box included and what the unit looks like.
Re DC noise in the car, It’s the remote lead in general. I was getting reports of a ‘squeal’ on my TX Audio, like a few hundred hertz being induced from the power supply. After reading your comment, I realised that it was the remote lead, even though it was still ‘rolled’ up as it came from the factory, and the remote head just a few cm away. Hopefully a clamp on ferrite choke will fix the problem.
I’m most impressed with the handmic. I love the idea of it being a speaker mic, and the TX/RX LED’s on the top. Quality of the audio appears better than the main unit’s speaker.
Programming with the software is a breeze. Haven’t tried too much from the front panel, but it’s very much like the UVD1P or UV6D.
What is disappointing is the lack of a data port to use it with APRS etc. The low price would have made it useful for a cheap beacon/digipeater etc. Or maybe the PC port has some secret features we don’t know about yet.
I’ll be getting mine on a radio test set in the next couple of weeks so hopefully the specs are good.