DUAL BAND FM MOBILE RADIO COMPARISON
In this
comparison of the AnyTone, Yaesu, and Wouxun dual band mobile transceivers, you
will note that the Chinese manufactured AnyTone AT-5888UV (Qixiang Electronics) is a near clone of
the USA-Japanese Yaesu FT-8900R in its user features and functionality. The Wouxun KG-UV920P on the other hand, and
sadly, has a very complicated user interface and on-screen menu, with buttons
seemingly designed for a small child’s fingers!
Here’s an initial visual comparison below. Click On Any Photo To View A Larger Image.
The
Chinese AnyTone AT-5888UV Dual-Bander
Yaesu Screen
Layout Above • Compare To AnyTone Top Photo
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| Yaesu Button Layout Above Vs. AnyTone Buttons (Top Photo) |
IDENTICAL ANYTONE & YAESU MOBILE RADIOS?
Between the
AnyTone and the Yaesu dual-band FM radios above, you will note that SCREEN MENU LAYOUTS ARE ABSOLUTELY IDENTICAL! The design and position of
each icon is exactly the same for each radio’s displays. Coincidence?
Now, before anyone says anything: Yes, I am aware that the Yaesu FT-8900R is actually a QUAD-BAND FM transceiver, operating on the 2M, 6M, 10M, & 70 CM bands. But for our purposes here, I'm going to continue to refer to the Yaesu FT-8900R as a "dual-bander," in order to avoid confusion and also as most hams use this amazing radio on 144/440 MHz bands, rarely on the 6M or 10M bands.
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| AnyTone AT-5888UV w/ Front Speaker Mic For Portable Use |
As to the KNOB LAYOUT, the AnyTone AT-5888UV utilizes the VERY SAME left-right volume and squelch layout as the Yaesu FT-8900R. This is a very nice and well-thought out
feature, as controlling the volume of each side-by-side band screen is very
convenient indeed. The LOW (output power
adjustment), V/M (VFO/Memory), HM (Home Memory Channel, and SCAN buttons are in
identical placements. The AnyTone,
however, did move the SET button to the upper left-hand side of their
radio. Oh well, you can’t everything! Now, let’s look at the Wouxun KG-UV920P dual-band
FM radio:
THE WOUXUN KG-UV920P
The best way
I can summarize the Wouxun User Interface is this: Confusing. The VFO
(frequency tuning) knob is on the left, while the VOLUME controls on the right are NESTED, for each of the side-by-side
band screens. This makes volume
adjustment a bit tedious. It gets more interesting: the SQUELCH adjustment is made via a SCREEN MENU OPTION. Oops!
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The Wouxun KG-UV920P Dual-Band FM Radio
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Speaking of
which, the MENU OPTIONS as seen on
most Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom, and other popular radios are SPLIT here between PANEL BUTTONS and ON-SCREEN MENU selections. This makes for EXTREMLY CONFUSING selection of a
number of “on-the-fly” options one would necessarily like to make during an emergency
or disaster scenario, such as changing CTCSS codes for a particular repeater, jumping
to lower power, a quick squelch adjustment, etc.
THE PRAISE REPORT
These radios
do provide a much-needed alternative to the higher-priced, more rugged
land-mobile VHF-UHF public service radios manufactured by Motorola, Vertex, Harris, Daytron, and others. Inexpensive and programmable, these radios are great for light use by Army-Navy MARS, U.S.
Coast Guard Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol, SATERN, Red Cross, and other emergency
community response radio stations which operate OUTSIDE the FCC Amateur Radio
bands or within the NTIA U.S. Government bands.
The
inexpensive Chinese ($250-$300) dual band rigs – namely the AnyTone &
Wouxun mobile models -- offer multi-colored backlit LCD screens, detachable remote heads,
dual-fans with large heat sinks, FM broadcast reception (most models), DTMF
microphones, alpha-numeric displays, low power consumption on receive, CTCSS/DCS Encode/Decode, cross-band repeat, dual band simultaneous reception, encryption capabilities (scrambler), narrow & wide band, 2.5KHz frequency steps, remote "kill," password protection, and more. Of
the two, my money would be on the AnyTone, mainly for its ease of use.
WHAT SETS THE CHINESE RADIOS APART?
From a design standpoint, the Chinese designers of the AnyTone & Wouxun models got a lot of things right. For instance, most FM transceivers coming out of China -- 50W mobiles & 5W handhelds -- have FM broadcast receive 68-108 MHz built in. Nice feature for listening to your favorite country music station while on the road! The AnyTone models add AM aircraft band receive, which I particularly like. Great for monitoring 121.5 MHz, the aircraft "Mayday" channel. Top-mounted speakers on all mobile models means you can throw your mobile on the passenger seat next to you in your car, plug the 12VDC power cord into a cigarette lighter socket, throw a mag-mount antenna on the roof, clip the speaker microphone to your jacket, and you're good to go mobile!
As an emergency comms backup radio for your "Go Kit," there are a lot of nice features that are hard NOT to like! I already mentioned the speaker-mic feature, air band monitoring, dual band receive and scanning, and dual, thermostatically-controlled rear fans. But the feature I like the most on an emergency comms unit (which is also on the Yaesu FT-8900R) is Full Duplex Cross Band Repeat. Click HERE to view nice video tutorial on how to setup a duplex cross band repeater, using the Yaesu FT-8900R.
Unfortunately, the AnyTone AT-5888UV is not available in the USA just yet, as the first batch sent here from China had to be recalled last week for harmonics problems. We should begin to see the final USA model by March. You can pre-order the latest AnyTone dual-bander at www.wouxun.us.
A PROGRAMMING NIGHTMARE
There are
TWO popular methods for programming your dual-band FM mobile radio: Windows-based PC programming software or direct-input,
using the DTMF microphone keypad. However,
it should be noted that Part 90 FCC Accepted land-mobile radios may ONLY be “bench
programmable,” that is using a PC computer. No Part 90 “in-the-field” user programming of
frequencies, tones, etc. is allowed, although the Chinese offerings above do
so.
For years
now, Amateur Radio gear could be programmed quite easily -- even “on-the-fly,”
as it were. Yaesu, Kenwood, and Icom,
for instance, allow programming of their mobile radios via the DTMF microphone
keypad in a similar fashion as the programming of their handheld, portable
units via the DTMF keypad on the front of the radio. The “programming transition” between radio
types is pretty seamless, once you get the knack of it.
Enter the
Dragon! When the Chinese entered the
field, my “Programming Dream” became a “Programming Nightmare!” Programming the Wouxun via the DTMF
microphone’s keypad is tedious, to say the least. My biggest complaint is the jumping between
on-screen menu options and the pressing of the tiny front panel buttons to reach a
programmable result. Wouxun’s PC
programming software, although improved recently, leaves a lot to be desired,
as well. All that aside, in an emergency, am I always going to have my laptop handy? Not likely!
Lastly, I
was so please recently to discover that RT Systems has entered the field by providing
USB programming cables and Windows-based software for the most popular Chinese handheld
and mobile radios, such as the Baofeng and Wouxun models. As a ham radio
operator, I have appreciated the intuitive RT Systems software for
programming my HF rigs and Yaesu handhelds for years. Not to go into great detail, but if you have
ever been challenged by not being able to move memory channels up or down or
had the “CSV Import-Export” dilemma drive you batty, you will love the ease and
convenience of RT Systems software! BTW,
the USB cables and software are VERY affordable, too. To see how easy programming your rig can be, visit www.rtsystemsinc.com.
Want to learn more about these fascinating FM mobile radios? You can download and/or view a user manual by clicking on one of the selected model links below:
AnyTone AT-5888UV User Manual
Wouxun KG-UV920P user Manual
Yaesu FT-8900R User Manual
There are
many choices becoming available these days for the Volunteer Emergency Radio Communications Responder. My advice? Investigate, ask questions, and most of all,
CHOOSE WISELY!
