I bought a Q900 several months ago and found it very useful in a laboratory where we transmit all over the spectrum that a MARS mod just won't cover. I'll be buying another Q900 next week for my personal use as a backpack radio. It's rare to have this much capability in such a small package - and with a built in HF/6m tuner. However, I'm not having much luck with the Android app right now. I have to get that figured out, because I really need the VFO tuning knob on HF.
Just curious - are you using this radio toin the lab, or just using it for the wideband reception? I'm always a little wary of recommending the Chinese handhelds for beginners because a lot of them will transmit out of the ham bands right out of the box, which I think is just one more complication a beginner doesn't need. I would be worried if this radio did the same. Thanks!
"I bought a Q900 several months ago and found it very useful in a laboratory where we transmit all over the spectrum that a MARS mod just won't cover. " So how do you do this?
I tried to follow the provided links but I found radios from about 500 to 750 That looks and sounds the same to me. I also followed links for the antenna And do you need 1 or two antennas. Or is the GPS a antenna of some sort. I used CBs from the 1970 and SSB And I had ham relievers but I love the full band deal transceiver. I am getting into it as a hobby and in case SHTF happens to help my community...and I am talking to about 12 men in the community that are very interested as well. We will get a license to use it... Unless a emergency happens when no license is required.... Any help to understand would be greatly appreciated... if my old buddy Art Bell was still alive I would call him up but he passed away some time back. Sad I had just talked to him days before he passed. God bless
@@DCJNewsMedia hey buddy the prices vary based on the modules installed. Honestly if your new to it I would suggest going with a better known intro unit. It will last you longer than you think before you outgrow it. These types of radio are great but not terribly user friendly. Good luck
In aliexpress you can read: The current Q900 is the newest product launched in 2022 and is the third generation improved version. Compared with the - first version (HS2) and - the second version (qr20), - the third generation has optimized all previous problems. The current Q900 has stable performance and can be purchased with confidence. Support satellite automatic doppler tracking function(the software will be sent to you after order.
He should add the caveats of things he says the radio CAN do, which it actually can not. If everything he claims the radio can do, in fact, it would be all the rage! But it's not. There is a Whats App support number you can share with other users and the manufacturer, but you can not see the history of anything that was complained about prior to your joining! How convenient! If you return the radio for repair, the shipping is your responsibility, so for instance, to China from California and back is $300! So all I'm saying is, it looks like a wonderful radio, but buyer beware!
I had seen previous versions of this radio but I thought the manufacturer had stopped making them altogether. Then this video popped up on my YT feed. I might purchase one of these for experimental purposes sometime down the road.
I was very fortunate recently to buy one of these very cheap, it was listed on eBay as 'New other' in the wrong section and I paid only £200 I've yet to fully explore the features but so far it's been a good experience. For the money, it's features make it a much better buy than the Yaesu FT817 (and a lot easier to use) My 817 was soon listed on eBay. No matter where you look, all reviews of this radio are pretty positive. The only issue I have is with the optional external USB VFO control, it doesnt tune smoothly and jumps if you rotate it anything more than really slow.
My long experience with Chinese sellers is that they don’t honour warranties. At the price of this radio your on your own when it stops working. Stay with the well known manufacturers.
Hello friend! I'm the store manager of ALL FOR HAM STORE. If you have any after-sales problems, you can contact me at any time, or join our after-sales group. Our engineers will answer your questions at any time~
That´s an amazing radio. Tks fer Sharing Mat. I´m a CB user, in 27,245 USB Js8call, so this radio is wonderful. 7351. In the near future I will make the the license to ham radio. it´s the better radio to all band´s.
@@todop yes probably don't have enough time to make contacts, yes we need a lot of time to dispend in Radio. But at the end of 43 years it's magic. 7351.
Ic705 for the win. Edit.. I'd love a 705 but ive had great success with an icom 5100 and a xeigu g90 for portable. At home I use a ftdx10. I ran a ts2000 ham in a box but I don't like my eggs all in the same basket. Problem with this q900 for me is the lack of a nice pitted vfo tuning dial. It's a killer for me.
I see it's about $625 US Dollars. That's a darn good bang for the buck with respect to an all band QRP transceiver with all that it offers. Can't imagine Ten Tec providing as much...Actually I (aka KC2WVB) am a big fan of QRP and only use either a UBit-X or Bitx-40. I sold my Kenwood 100 watt unit four or five years ago when I moved, but always found creating a fabulous antenna capable of distance on 10 or less watts was a lot more challenging and thus fun than buying and plugging in a 100 watt transceiver. This led to the ORP preference, but to each their own preference and some people like the convience of a 100 watt unit and find their fun via other means.
In China, the early versions of the q900 were spurned because of poor marketing and obvious flaws in the hash. It was not even licensed by the Management department, at that time.( Selling radio equipment in China requires passing Management department, testing and receiving a license code) Although the launch of the new version of the q900 has resulted in a license code, I remain skeptical about this machine. After all, this company does not have a very good rating in China. Thank you for your review which changed my perception of it a little Finally, I would like to ask if I can upload the video to a Chinese video site for more Chinese ham to see? 73 de BH7CSA
Very impressive radio for what it does, you basically have an entire shack in a box that you can also use portable. The only main drawback holding this radio back it seems is the lack of VFO knob and I wish it had one. I wonder if a rotary encoder could be added using the USB or accessory port? For the satellite function, does it support full duplex? Does it have dual VFO? Also, I am wondering if the bluetooth can be used to pair a headset or can it only be used for CAT control?
I am pretty sure you are the first person to make a meaningful video about this interesting radio, was looking for a video like this months ago, many thanks and looking forward to more!
Great radio, featurewise. But most important: How does it receive and transmit when stations are weak or strong stations are nearby? How clear is the sound? Is the clarifier for ssb usable? Squelch usable? Transmission on all modes in specs? From my experience, the "cheap" chinese SDR radios almost all receive terrible compared to the usual radios. Transmission often is a bit low modulated but generally acceptable, but receiving mostly is garbage. Otherwise I would consider buying one Q900 for portable use.
I been waiting for the day that a Chinese manufacturer would bust onto the scene with a full fledged all mode, all frequency radio. The day has come, look out Yeasu, Icom, and Kenwood, this is only the beginning. Mark my word.
No matter how good they get people will still use faintly racist language about it and call them Chinesium. It’s so sad. There’s *great* kit from over there right now.
I grabbed one of these as general purpose remote station radio. It seems to be very feature rich and well put together. Thanks for the review. I also have a Xiegu G90 to compare it to - it will be interesting how it tunes up the same long wire.
OK, due to your glowing reviews on this radio, I went ahead and ordered it and it's here now. But I could barely get it working out of the box first day, and second day, after asking for a refund from the dealer, (he's on vacation now, probably with my money), I decided to give it a second look and got it sort of working, but then on one reboot an orange warning showed up, too fast to read, and after that the only mode that shows white is the DMR mode, all the others are red and it won't transmit! Nothing in the manual about this, and where is a support link? Their website only shows a sales email address for support! Do they support this radio? Can I somehow reset it to factory condition? Frustrated, Bob, KL7EAL Los Angeles
Hi I see you have tested both the HS2 and the q900 and both look similar and wondered which you found the best ?. I use a ftdx101mp and ic9700 at home and so looking at something simple for use when away in our caravan and would appreciate your thoughts
My comment was not rude. It was obvious that the narrator was well informed and knew what he was talking about because after my repeated times listening, I was able to grasp the information despite the strong British or Australian accent. I suppose that any British or Australian accent trained ear would have understood the video on the first try, but not those of us with American English ear that are also interested in the information provided.
Be very careful before buying it. Might let TM here do more testing first. It looks almost identical to the Ailunce HS2 I bought a couple of years ago. My dislikes about it at the time were: 1. Tiny buttons and tiny display. Very fiddly to operate. 2. Poorly suppressed harmonics in the TX signal. (I'll have to re-measure to talk specifics) 3. Non-existent support from Ailunce. No software, firmware or manual updates for ~ a year. I'm going to try determine what's different from this "Q900 V3" and my "Ailunce HS2". The new firmware files look like they might drop right into my radio, but I'm not anxious to brick my HS2 just yet. I was planning to dump it on ebay for half what I paid for it ;)
@@pen25 Yes, I'm actually interested to see if they have fixed old problems with the design. Can't fix the tiny buttons and screen, though. I wound up operating my HS2 with the erase end of a pencil ;)
The manual is probably one of the best I have come across, well written and easy to follow also interesting is the Cat control software will it work on other brand’s
edit: As Matt has made clear, this is the 3rd generation design from Guohe, the OEM for the HS2 and QR20 which are 1st and 2nd generation. Yes! I've been yacking in here about that . The only external physical differences between it and my Ailunce HS2 is the color, the speaker grill (moved and smaller) and an extra SMA connector on the Q900 V3. Otherwise it looks the same... same tiny buttons and tiny screen. And given how packed it is inside my HS2, I doubt the LPFs are much better (and the HS2 TX spectrum is not great).
Great video! I have a V3 Q900 and really enjoy the radio However, not sure about how to set up DMR for the US. Will this work with US based repeaters? Or with hotspots? I'm getting conflicting information on this so I figured out I'd ask here. Somewhere I read we needed to purchase "keys". Any info you could provide in how you got it to work would be much appreciated.
super review video, will you say it is ok in sensitivity and selectivity compared to icom and yaesu´s radios. and what is the compass and gps modules for?
Hi I'm live in Trinidad and would like to know if purchased as standard would I get all modes inclusive of the cw decoder I'm a new ham and love this radio 73s.
@@TechMindsOfficial I'll try to find the FCC ID for this unit to check it, but... I've looked at FCC certification test reports on a few Chinese transceivers. The new Xiegu X6100 (FCCID: 2ANLH-X6100), for example, was tested and certified for Part 15B compliance as a "Digital device" and was never even placed into transmit mode during testing. That is the *only* FCC cert it carries. Point being, yes the FCC apparently does issue certifications for amateur transceivers - under Part 15. I'll call it the "electronic device sitting on your desk and powered up" category.
@@TheArtofEngineering As I said, an amateur transceiver holding a FCC Part 15 cert means nothing with regard to TX spectrum purity. And this Guohe company (Q900 maker) doesn't even seem to hold *any* FCC certs. The seller linked above shows a "Supplier's Declaration of Conformity" which states it was tested to FCC Part 15 B (not a transceiver specific test). BUT there does not actually seem to be an FCC certification granted. FWIW I just ordered one anyway :)
Hi Matt. You already helped me to get onto HL2... I am now looking at something I can run remote, do Digital and CW/SSB and also possible take portable. Do you reckon this is the RIG I should consider? I dont mind not having VFO Knob... neither that its not an ICOM or Yaesu. Compared to mcHF - on HF , where would you put that? Regards Jiri
IS THERE A DIFFERNT BUILD BETWEEN USA RADIO AND THE UK RADIO YOU SAID ALL MODE SO ON THE USA MODEL THE 220 MHZ WOULD HAVE OUTPUT IS THIS CORRECT GUY KC2AYG
What is the best way to program channels into the radio? I've been mostly using the QRadioBLE to control the radio, but I'd like to program a bunch of channels/presets like a normal ham radio. I don't see dedicated CPS software to do this. I love this Gen 3 radio though. Way better than my Gen 2 which I mostly used for experimental stuff, not ham radio.
Very odd, I when I google the Q900, I see ads on eBay for only $55.00? It's almost worth getting scammed to try to buy it for that price, and it's version 3. Also, anyone tried the tuner on end-fed long-wire antennas that don't tune well with, for instance, an Icom 7300? My Xiegu G90 will tune almost anything and wonder how well this radio compares?
I almost bought one of these until I found that it will not transmit on the full range of amateur frequencies on some bands! ☹ Does anyone know if the gen3 model has corrected this or if there is a software/firmware fix? If it can be used for CB, why in the world did they truncate amateur band coverage (rhetorical question)? Thanks, and 73 de KD4CNO🤨
Who can specify the limit values of the main filter of the DSP selection transmitter, the lower and upper values? If there is filter data, what is the squareness and uniformity of the transparency strip?
asking what antenna you can use for Q900 version 3, is there a Diamond Antenna adaptable to Q900 Transceiver? 73 have a nice day hope to respond to my query.
Holy smokes. That rig has come a long way. Very, very impressive!!!! One thing I noticed, did the Android app spectrum actually like up correctly with the rig? I'm in great danger of spending more money over here!!! Hihi.
Is there a recommended antenna configuration if the station is remote. i.e. need a separate DMR antenna on Ant2. HF antenna on Ant1, maybe consider remote u/v / HF antenna switch on Ant1.
I keep hearing stations that will not use the official NATO alphabet. Not doing that can confuse non- English speaking stations. I heard one foreign station give up on a G3, because instead of Golf that G3 kept saying "Germany" which isn't even a G sound.
It's bad enough not using the proper phonetics, but using 3 different countries. Oy! A friend of mine used to do that. Victor Echo __ Mexico America France. Silly.
I know, it's quite an annoyance that I share and thought I was alone in that. Using a "j" sound is like using "n" to denote knickers, with a silent K. I asked a relative who was a copper and used radios, why this was the case. 'Some people don't use Nato standard'. Oh. OK then. Is that it then? Thanks for the backup, via your post @Mike C. Warm 73s heading your way. (That's 'way' spelled W for wedgewood pottery, A for apple pie with custard and of course, Y for yeah baby!)
That's a neat radio, and the price isn't as breathtaking as one would expect. Though their choice of mascot on the webpage is a bit on the odd side, but whatever. Pretty neat bit of kit.
Thanks for the quite informative video! I was interested in the radio quite a while ago, but it was never available, or it was not sold to Europe or Germany. Even now, clicking on your link results in "This product is not available in your region". As this thing was running around like that for 3 years now, I considered it a hoax. Nice to see, that at least e few people got it delivered to their desk. But still there are many questions. In the beginning, Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS and IMU were separate boards that could be places by the buyer even later on. And all of these could be placed, not only one. Checkin Aliexpress right now, there are sellers that sell these units but only with +DMR or +GPS or +GPS+IMU and they do not have any sell listed. Can you provide a more internal look of the unit and explain which modules can be placed where and which can be used parallel and which only alternatively? Another question is, how they implemented DMR? Do they equip the radio with an AMBE chip? That would enable also D-Star, NXDN and other digital modes. And finally I got confused about what is implement and what is missing. The unit can do quite a lot of things through Blutooth, but what about the Ethernet-Port. I'd really would like to use that unit as a remote unit on my far away 2nd QTH.
Hi. I own the Xiegu XPA125B. I don't see an accessory jack on the Q900. Is there a way I can connect the Q900 to my amp? Thanks, and I really enjoy your videos. 73 de WA3RSL.
Thank you for sharing these tips, I did not know this team. It looks very interesting. Greetings and congratulations for your professional videos. 73 from Mexico! **** One additional question: What settings did you use to TX? antenna, power amplifier, antenna line, etc.? What do you suggest us to properly operate a radio of this type in phone, in digital modes in HF?
Ordered and payed by your aliexpress link with no luck I extended the shipping time by one week and still not sent I now have a refund pending When I ordered only 5 others had been sold so the seller wasn't overworked Order just closed with no explanation other than that it had timed out Aliexpress have done it again Great wiork
On the watsapp group they said they had sold out and will be shipping end of October. I guess you could extend the shipping time to end of October to be sure. Think they had over 100 in stock but demand out weighed stock unfortunately.
What a fantastic looking and working radio mate...these shack in a box are getting better and better and it also looks very modern. Is there a price on this unit mate or do they have prices on there web site with all the different options Cheers mate another great vid 👍 👌
Thanks for the video. I got my own Q900 with DMR module a few days ago. I am a bit confused about the second antenna connector (SMA-it’s labelled ANT1 on my rig, on yours it’s ANT2) - 3:56 - When operating VHF/UHF FM with one antenna only, I must connect the antenna to the SMA connector, right? The manual is not very clear about this point. Can you help me out?
Another great find. Looks like an excellent shank-in-a-box type of radio or for newly licenced hams looking for a budget all-mode radio. I tend to operate portable most of the time on HF 4m 2m and 70cms. This is ticking a lot of boxes for a backpack / SOTA / POTA friendly radio. I'd really appreciate it if you could test how it performs on TX and RX this on 4m/70Mhz. Thanks Tom EI5IEB
I've had a read through the documentation on the manufactures website and this may be a simple copy/paste from Gen2 to Gen3. The Technical specification document v1.2 does not list 70Mhz in the Transmission Frequency Range, however, there are screenshots in the user manual v2.1 that show band selection buttons which seem to indicate that 70Mhz is selectable. Band selection buttons/icons show, 50 , 70, 144, 430, pg.8/9(Band Selecection Operation) and pg20 (Launch Operation - band selection) It would be great to know if this is indeed an option for 4m/70Mhz. One less radio to carry when out portable 🙂
@@tmccarthy See my other comments about the Ailunce HS2. This looks like a copy or minor update to it. Based on my experience, I wouldn't trust the extra bands until someone measures the TX spectrum. I wasn't happy about the HS2's purity when I did measurements. I've had my HS2 apart and they surely shoved a lotta stuff in that little box. I suspect they skimped on the LPFs and I worry that "extra bands" were achieved just by "opening" them in software. Maybe we can encourage Mat to open his Q900 V3 so we can have a look inside. Meantime I'll re-do my TX measurements of the HS2 and record them better this time.
I don't really know what I'm doing but I've manually programmed a UVR5 and can listen to my local repeater and weather. Should I get this as a beginner?
Just my opinion: Not unless you have a comfortable amount of disposable income or savings. Or at least not until this radio has been fully vetted. I tend to trust Matt here at TechMinds but the lineage of this particular radio leaves me feeling uneasy about it.
does it have a built-in voice or cw keyer, I am finding mixed information! If not this is something they should add and is a major shortcoming of many of the little SDR radios such as the G90. I know that you can get a 3rd part voice keyer mic but I was told this has it already but I can't confirm that thanks for your videos and hopefully you can answer this. KC9CUK 73
From the manual When using hand keys, automatic keys, semi-automatic keys, external electronic keying unit or computer-generated keyboard equipment, please operate as follows: 1. Insert your 3.5mm (three-phase or two-phase) plug into the key jack on the rear panel. 2. Short press [MODE] to select a CW mode (CW or CWR); "CW" mode uses the carrier input on the USB side, while CWR (reverse) mode uses the input on the LSB side. 3. Long press [BAND] key to enter CW setting. The up and down direction keys on the keyboard select options, and the left and right direction keys adjust the settings in the options. 3-1. KEY MODE selection contents of left and right direction keys : manual key and automatic key 3-2. KEY SPEED automatic key code rate. The larger the value, the faster the speed 3-3. TX-RX CW transmit and receive conversion time. The greater the value, the greater the delay. 3-4. STF CW sidetone audio. 3-5. STG CW sidetone volume. 3-6. TRAINING practice mode, launch is not enabled. 3-7. DECODE CW, RTTY decoding display switch. 3-7. THRESHOLD CW decoding threshold. 4. CW automatic call, long press the [MENU] key to enter the menu, select a-call with the direction key, short press the [MENU] key to select A-CALL, and use the numeric keypad or USB keyboard to input the automatic call content. Press and hold the [MENU] key continuously to exit the main interface, set the key mode to the manual KEY mode, and press and hold the corresponding 5 items of input on the numeric keypad 1 ~ 5
I had 2 of these and both were dead out of the box. Got my money back and bought an IC-7300 have not looked back.
I bought a Q900 several months ago and found it very useful in a laboratory where we transmit all over the spectrum that a MARS mod just won't cover. I'll be buying another Q900 next week for my personal use as a backpack radio. It's rare to have this much capability in such a small package - and with a built in HF/6m tuner. However, I'm not having much luck with the Android app right now. I have to get that figured out, because I really need the VFO tuning knob on HF.
Just curious - are you using this radio toin the lab, or just using it for the wideband reception? I'm always a little wary of recommending the Chinese handhelds for beginners because a lot of them will transmit out of the ham bands right out of the box, which I think is just one more complication a beginner doesn't need. I would be worried if this radio did the same. Thanks!
"I bought a Q900 several months ago and found it very useful in a laboratory where we transmit all over the spectrum that a MARS mod just won't cover. " So how do you do this?
I tried to follow the provided links but I found radios from about 500 to 750
That looks and sounds the same to me.
I also followed links for the antenna
And do you need 1 or two antennas.
Or is the GPS a antenna of some sort.
I used CBs from the 1970 and SSB
And I had ham relievers but I love the full band deal transceiver.
I am getting into it as a hobby and in case SHTF happens to help my community...and I am talking to about 12 men in the community that are very interested as well. We will get a license to use it...
Unless a emergency happens when no license is required....
Any help to understand would be greatly appreciated... if my old buddy Art Bell was still alive I would call him up but he passed away some time back. Sad I had just talked to him days before he passed.
God bless
@@DCJNewsMedia hey buddy the prices vary based on the modules installed. Honestly if your new to it I would suggest going with a better known intro unit. It will last you longer than you think before you outgrow it. These types of radio are great but not terribly user friendly. Good luck
Sus
In aliexpress you can read:
The current Q900 is the newest product launched in 2022 and is the third generation improved version.
Compared with the
- first version (HS2) and
- the second version (qr20),
- the third generation has optimized all previous problems.
The current Q900 has stable performance and can be purchased with confidence.
Support satellite automatic doppler tracking function(the software will be sent to you after order.
That's a great looking transceiver. What an incredibly broad spectrum. Nicely done video, very clear explanations. Thanks for sharing this info!
He should add the caveats of things he says the radio CAN do, which it actually can not. If everything he claims the radio can do, in fact, it would be all the rage! But it's not. There is a Whats App support number you can share with other users and the manufacturer, but you can not see the history of anything that was complained about prior to your joining! How convenient! If you return the radio for repair, the shipping is your responsibility, so for instance, to China from California and back is $300! So all I'm saying is, it looks like a wonderful radio, but buyer beware!
I had seen previous versions of this radio but I thought the manufacturer had stopped making them altogether. Then this video popped up on my YT feed. I might purchase one of these for experimental purposes sometime down the road.
Don't buy mate ... it's soo bad ... check this out ruclips.net/video/sR7es9jfkOg/видео.html
I was very fortunate recently to buy one of these very cheap, it was listed on eBay as 'New other' in the wrong section and I paid only £200 I've yet to fully explore the features but so far it's been a good experience. For the money, it's features make it a much better buy than the Yaesu FT817 (and a lot easier to use) My 817 was soon listed on eBay. No matter where you look, all reviews of this radio are pretty positive. The only issue I have is with the optional external USB VFO control, it doesnt tune smoothly and jumps if you rotate it anything more than really slow.
What a great and succinct review! Lots of useful info presented without rambling. You make this radio very appealing. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
So glad there was no annoying back ground music, Great info and footage here, Cheers
My long experience with Chinese sellers is that they don’t honour warranties. At the price of this radio your on your own when it stops working. Stay with the well known manufacturers.
Hello friend! I'm the store manager of ALL FOR HAM STORE. If you have any after-sales problems, you can contact me at any time, or join our after-sales group. Our engineers will answer your questions at any time~
Strange, worked for me Sputniksam! You can also try this link: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFSPrfh
And if the well known manufacturers do not have a similar product?
@@POPO-wx2uu what are the links to contact you?
@@hubbablahloo1843 Hi You can scan the QR code to join our whatsapp group
This is the first time ive ever seen one of thies radios really cool
That´s an amazing radio. Tks fer Sharing Mat. I´m a CB user, in 27,245 USB Js8call, so this radio is wonderful. 7351. In the near future I will make the the license to ham radio. it´s the better radio to all band´s.
I like the idea of licence free also, I'm a ham but I don't talk .
@@todop yes probably don't have enough time to make contacts, yes we need a lot of time to dispend in Radio. But at the end of 43 years it's magic. 7351.
Ic705 for the win.
Edit..
I'd love a 705 but ive had great success with an icom 5100 and a xeigu g90 for portable. At home I use a ftdx10. I ran a ts2000 ham in a box but I don't like my eggs all in the same basket.
Problem with this q900 for me is the lack of a nice pitted vfo tuning dial. It's a killer for me.
Looks like good radio on a budget, plenty of scope for beginners , great presentation Mat on this 👍👊
Thanks Mat, appreciate the comment. Cheers
@@TechMindsOfficial how much is it?
I see it's about $625 US Dollars. That's a darn good bang for the buck with respect to an all band QRP transceiver with all that it offers.
Can't imagine Ten Tec providing as much...Actually I (aka KC2WVB) am a big fan of QRP and only use either a
UBit-X or Bitx-40. I sold my Kenwood 100 watt unit four or five years ago when I moved, but always found creating a fabulous antenna capable of distance on 10 or less watts was a lot more challenging and thus fun than buying and plugging in a 100 watt transceiver. This led to the ORP preference, but to each their own preference and some people like the convience of a 100 watt unit and find their fun via other means.
In China, the early versions of the q900 were spurned because of poor marketing and obvious flaws in the hash. It was not even licensed by the Management department, at that time.( Selling radio equipment in China requires passing Management department, testing and receiving a license code)
Although the launch of the new version of the q900 has resulted in a license code, I remain skeptical about this machine. After all, this company does not have a very good rating in China. Thank you for your review which changed my perception of it a little
Finally, I would like to ask if I can upload the video to a Chinese video site for more Chinese ham to see?
73 de BH7CSA
Very impressive radio for what it does, you basically have an entire shack in a box that you can also use portable. The only main drawback holding this radio back it seems is the lack of VFO knob and I wish it had one. I wonder if a rotary encoder could be added using the USB or accessory port?
For the satellite function, does it support full duplex? Does it have dual VFO?
Also, I am wondering if the bluetooth can be used to pair a headset or can it only be used for CAT control?
This will pair nicely with my Xiegu XPA125B! Love it.
I am pretty sure you are the first person to make a meaningful video about this interesting radio, was looking for a video like this months ago, many thanks and looking forward to more!
As someone who was trained on Gamma phone systems, that intro music haunts me to the core.
Thanks for the informative video.... including my contact with France! Next time I should reduce compression and maybe drive levels! 😯
Great radio, featurewise. But most important: How does it receive and transmit when stations are weak or strong stations are nearby? How clear is the sound? Is the clarifier for ssb usable? Squelch usable? Transmission on all modes in specs? From my experience, the "cheap" chinese SDR radios almost all receive terrible compared to the usual radios. Transmission often is a bit low modulated but generally acceptable, but receiving mostly is garbage. Otherwise I would consider buying one Q900 for portable use.
I been waiting for the day that a Chinese manufacturer would bust onto the scene with a full fledged all mode, all frequency radio. The day has come, look out Yeasu, Icom, and Kenwood, this is only the beginning. Mark my word.
It will be a long time before they get to the big 3's quality and reliability, a loooooong time!
@@yauwohn it'll be a lot longer before the big 3 make reasonably priced radios.
I'm waiting for a full 100 watts transceiver from the Chinese manufacturers
No matter how good they get people will still use faintly racist language about it and call them Chinesium. It’s so sad. There’s *great* kit from over there right now.
@@Martinroadsguy - have you looked at the prices of the IC-7300 and FT-891? Totally reasonable prices for the quality offered.
Dave N8POT who put this Radio out @ what is price of the product @ the position for the Radio ? Thanks have a good day
I grabbed one of these as general purpose remote station radio. It seems to be very feature rich and well put together. Thanks for the review.
I also have a Xiegu G90 to compare it to - it will be interesting how it tunes up the same long wire.
Hi Derek, did you compare it to the Xiegu G90 tuner?
OK, due to your glowing reviews on this radio, I went ahead and ordered it and it's here now. But I could barely get it working out of the box first day, and second day, after asking for a refund from the dealer, (he's on vacation now, probably with my money), I decided to give it a second look and got it sort of working, but then on one reboot an orange warning showed up, too fast to read, and after that the only mode that shows white is the DMR mode, all the others are red and it won't transmit! Nothing in the manual about this, and where is a support link? Their website only shows a sales email address for support! Do they support this radio? Can I somehow reset it to factory condition?
Frustrated,
Bob, KL7EAL Los Angeles
how about measuring the performance and going over specs instead of doo dads (battery, connectors, etc?
As you asked so nicely, of course.
How good is the Q900’with receiving shortwave radio stations? I will install a MLA open loop antenna to be connected to the Q900. Thanks!!
Hi I see you have tested both the HS2 and the q900 and both look similar and wondered which you found the best ?. I use a ftdx101mp and ic9700 at home and so looking at something simple for use when away in our caravan and would appreciate your thoughts
You have a great, balanced presentation style. NO shrieking hyperbole! And never change the intro/outro music! 73 de K4FMH
Thank you Frank, means a lot to receive nice comments like this. Cheers
Does it get 11 meters, the CB radio band?
If you watched exactly even 1 minute in you would’ve gotten your answer
Yes, confirmed by the commentator.
My comment was not rude. It was obvious that the narrator was well informed and knew what he was talking about because after my repeated times listening, I was able to grasp the information despite the strong British or Australian accent. I suppose that any British or Australian accent trained ear would have understood the video on the first try, but not those of us with American English ear that
are also interested in the information provided.
I’m more than happy to answer any questions you have. Thanks for watching sir
Looks like my dream trx. 🙂
edit: Maybe also add FreeDV for HF digital voice and CW decoder and it would be perfect.
Be very careful before buying it. Might let TM here do more testing first. It looks almost identical to the Ailunce HS2 I bought a couple of years ago. My dislikes about it at the time were:
1. Tiny buttons and tiny display. Very fiddly to operate.
2. Poorly suppressed harmonics in the TX signal. (I'll have to re-measure to talk specifics)
3. Non-existent support from Ailunce. No software, firmware or manual updates for ~ a year.
I'm going to try determine what's different from this "Q900 V3" and my "Ailunce HS2". The new firmware files look like they might drop right into my radio, but I'm not anxious to brick my HS2 just yet. I was planning to dump it on ebay for half what I paid for it ;)
@@Randrew looks like a lot of upgrades from the hs2.
@@pen25 Yes, I'm actually interested to see if they have fixed old problems with the design.
Can't fix the tiny buttons and screen, though. I wound up operating my HS2 with the erase end of a pencil ;)
cw decoder is a nonsense since you can learn and decode yourself .
@@Randrew realy good value for money hey ? ... dumping it half price on ebay ...
Why is there not a box with siimilar functions and display like this available for HackRF instead of the clumsy PortaPack ??
Wow! This version seems much better then the last 2. Will have to take a serious look at this one.
It is, and I’ve owned the first one.
@@TechMindsOfficial Have you put any thought on how this would hook up to your xpa125b?
The manual is probably one of the best I have come across, well written and easy to follow also interesting is the Cat control software will it work on other brand’s
That looks similar to the Ailiunce Matt? Great coverage and very tempting!! Thanks mate 73 Gm4zji Chris
edit: As Matt has made clear, this is the 3rd generation design from Guohe, the OEM for the HS2 and QR20 which are 1st and 2nd generation.
Yes! I've been yacking in here about that . The only external physical differences between it and my Ailunce HS2 is the color, the speaker grill (moved and smaller) and an extra SMA connector on the Q900 V3.
Otherwise it looks the same... same tiny buttons and tiny screen. And given how packed it is inside my HS2, I doubt the LPFs are much better (and the HS2 TX spectrum is not great).
Great video! I have a V3 Q900 and really enjoy the radio However, not sure about how to set up DMR for the US. Will this work with US based repeaters? Or with hotspots? I'm getting conflicting information on this so I figured out I'd ask here. Somewhere I read we needed to purchase "keys". Any info you could provide in how you got it to work would be much appreciated.
super review video, will you say it is ok in sensitivity and selectivity compared to icom and yaesu´s radios. and what is the compass and gps modules for?
Hi I'm live in Trinidad and would like to know if purchased as standard would I get all modes inclusive of the cw decoder I'm a new ham and love this radio 73s.
I really want one and Christmas is coming lol
Seems like it's the same radio as the Ailunce HS2 and Radioddity QR20 for those sketched out by aliexpress.
It’s the same manufacturer, but not radio. HS2 = V1, QR20 = V2, Q900 = V3 with lots of bug fixes and improvements.
Will the Q900 firmware work in the Radioddity version
Oh goody, 20 watts on HF! Now you have a legal use for Grandpa's old CB linear!
Go for G90, sort of tried and tested OS which is stable if hf is of main interest. All in one radios are usually are troublesome, especially Chinese.
I would agree about a G90, I own one and love it. But it doesn’t so vhf/uhf with SSB, which is really handy on a small unit like this.
Can the radio transmit on 63cm and above into the commercial band frequency. 477 to 550MHZ. and is it capable transmit on 23cm. and 60GHZ. bands...?
For some reason I CANNOT get FT8 to work using the FT-817 settings.
What is the spectral purity like? Does it transmit from 160m to 6 m every time you key down?
Doubt the FCC would issue a certificate of it did that!
@@TechMindsOfficial I'll try to find the FCC ID for this unit to check it, but...
I've looked at FCC certification test reports on a few Chinese transceivers. The new Xiegu X6100 (FCCID: 2ANLH-X6100), for example, was tested and certified for Part 15B compliance as a "Digital device" and was never even placed into transmit mode during testing. That is the *only* FCC cert it carries.
Point being, yes the FCC apparently does issue certifications for amateur transceivers - under Part 15. I'll call it the "electronic device sitting on your desk and powered up" category.
@@TechMindsOfficial cool 😎 didn’t realise it had the FCC ✅…. Thanks 🙏 for the reply. Love ❤️ the channel.
@@TheArtofEngineering As I said, an amateur transceiver holding a FCC Part 15 cert means nothing with regard to TX spectrum purity. And this Guohe company (Q900 maker) doesn't even seem to hold *any* FCC certs. The seller linked above shows a "Supplier's Declaration of Conformity" which states it was tested to FCC Part 15 B (not a transceiver specific test). BUT there does not actually seem to be an FCC certification granted.
FWIW I just ordered one anyway :)
@@Randrew i guess the genie is outta the bottle when it comes to non compliance 😝would be interesting to see how it goes on an analyser?
Hi Matt. You already helped me to get onto HL2... I am now looking at something I can run remote, do Digital and CW/SSB and also possible take portable. Do you reckon this is the RIG I should consider? I dont mind not having VFO Knob... neither that its not an ICOM or Yaesu. Compared to mcHF - on HF , where would you put that? Regards Jiri
IS THERE A DIFFERNT BUILD BETWEEN USA RADIO AND THE UK RADIO YOU SAID ALL MODE SO ON THE USA MODEL THE 220 MHZ WOULD HAVE OUTPUT IS THIS CORRECT GUY KC2AYG
Hello, could you give a feedback about CW ? 73
Hello: Has the APRS function been enabled?
Would the radio also work with Winlink and Vara HF and Vara FM?
Many thanks,
Robert (Bob) Chambers
8P6RC
What is the best way to program channels into the radio? I've been mostly using the QRadioBLE to control the radio, but I'd like to program a bunch of channels/presets like a normal ham radio. I don't see dedicated CPS software to do this. I love this Gen 3 radio though. Way better than my Gen 2 which I mostly used for experimental stuff, not ham radio.
Very odd, I when I google the Q900, I see ads on eBay for only $55.00? It's almost worth getting scammed to try to buy it for that price, and it's version 3. Also, anyone tried the tuner on end-fed long-wire antennas that don't tune well with, for instance, an Icom 7300? My Xiegu G90 will tune almost anything and wonder how well this radio compares?
I almost bought one of these until I found that it will not transmit on the full range of amateur frequencies on some bands! ☹ Does anyone know if the gen3 model has corrected this or if there is a software/firmware fix? If it can be used for CB, why in the world did they truncate amateur band coverage (rhetorical question)? Thanks, and 73 de KD4CNO🤨
Whats the range on these?
Who can specify the limit values of the main filter of the DSP selection transmitter, the lower and upper values? If there is filter data, what is the squareness and uniformity of the transparency strip?
On the Ali Express link, the frequency chart does not show the 11 metre band, why is that ?
Can you transmit with the Bluetooth app or is it just for receiving? What is the range for the Bluetooth?
'
just want to know what country made this electric device
How does it compare to Xiegu G90, Xiegu X6100, or iCom 705?
asking what antenna you can use for Q900 version 3, is there a Diamond Antenna adaptable to Q900 Transceiver? 73 have a nice day hope to respond to my query.
Holy smokes. That rig has come a long way. Very, very impressive!!!!
One thing I noticed, did the Android app spectrum actually like up correctly with the rig?
I'm in great danger of spending more money over here!!! Hihi.
ruclips.net/video/sR7es9jfkOg/видео.html
How much? and where from please? My worry is its Chinese.
How's the transmit audio? Does it have compression, eq, variable bandwidth?
Is this particular model up to date with the new FCC rules regulations and new extended bands?
Hi I enjoy your videos could you tell me what's the best settings for using ssb thanks from 9z4apa 73s.
I see DMR is mentioned as a mode. Does it have the D-STAR mode as well or is it actually not an "all mode" radio?
D-STAR & DMR are a type, not a mode. The mode is Digital Voice.
Thanks do you if There is a scan mode on this little chiness transeiver ? if yes can we choose start and end frequence
Another question please: Can the options be installed by me. Thanks.
Hello, is the radio DMR compatible on HF Bands?
Is there a recommended antenna configuration if the station is remote.
i.e. need a separate DMR antenna on Ant2. HF antenna on Ant1, maybe consider remote u/v / HF antenna switch on Ant1.
Thanks four time , What SDR ham Radio you recooment to start with HAM RAdio ?
If it’s a dedicated HF radio, then either the IC7300 or FTDX10.
What does all band really mean? Any frequency and bands on the planet can be dialed into these radios or this all band is still limited to HAM ranges?
I keep hearing stations that will not use the official NATO alphabet. Not doing that can confuse non- English speaking stations. I heard one foreign station give up on a G3, because instead of Golf that G3 kept saying "Germany" which isn't even a G sound.
It's bad enough not using the proper phonetics, but using 3 different countries. Oy! A friend of mine used to do that. Victor Echo __ Mexico America France. Silly.
I know, it's quite an annoyance that I share and thought I was alone in that. Using a "j" sound is like using "n" to denote knickers, with a silent K. I asked a relative who was a copper and used radios, why this was the case. 'Some people don't use Nato standard'. Oh. OK then. Is that it then? Thanks for the backup, via your post @Mike C. Warm 73s heading your way. (That's 'way' spelled W for wedgewood pottery, A for apple pie with custard and of course, Y for yeah baby!)
Your mom doesn’t seem to mind…😉
It's an interesting video, thanks! How can I tell if it's version 1, 2 or 3? Do they all look the same?
Check firmware version. If it starts with 1 is V1, 2 = V2 and 3 = V3. www.guohedz.com/DOWNLOAD
That's a neat radio, and the price isn't as breathtaking as one would expect. Though their choice of mascot on the webpage is a bit on the odd side, but whatever. Pretty neat bit of kit.
Any reason why it doesn't do 4m/70MHz? icom still leading the way then. HF/6 SDR has been done to death, 10 a penny these days.
Full Duplex (2/70) for satellite?
I’ll be covering this topic soon and demonstrating the satellite app that works with this radio.
Very interesting, thanks! I wonder, is there any relationship of this radio to the Ailunce HS-2 (Q-900P)? 73! Linas LY2H
What antennas are you using with this radio?
Would of been an EFHW on HF and a Co Linear dual band for the vhf and uhf.
Thanks for the quite informative video! I was interested in the radio quite a while ago, but it was never available, or it was not sold to Europe or Germany. Even now, clicking on your link results in "This product is not available in your region". As this thing was running around like that for 3 years now, I considered it a hoax. Nice to see, that at least e few people got it delivered to their desk. But still there are many questions. In the beginning, Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS and IMU were separate boards that could be places by the buyer even later on. And all of these could be placed, not only one. Checkin Aliexpress right now, there are sellers that sell these units but only with +DMR or +GPS or +GPS+IMU and they do not have any sell listed. Can you provide a more internal look of the unit and explain which modules can be placed where and which can be used parallel and which only alternatively? Another question is, how they implemented DMR? Do they equip the radio with an AMBE chip? That would enable also D-Star, NXDN and other digital modes. And finally I got confused about what is implement and what is missing. The unit can do quite a lot of things through Blutooth, but what about the Ethernet-Port. I'd really would like to use that unit as a remote unit on my far away 2nd QTH.
The seller is aware of an issue with Germany sales. He is fixing it as we speak. Keep checking back and it will be available very soon. Thanks
This link I am told works, please can you let me know? s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFSPrfh
@@TechMindsOfficial Yes, the link works and knows I am in Ireland. With all optional modules installed it clocks in 1005.38 Euro.
Albert. EI7II.
So this is basically an upgrade of the Ailunce HS2 you reviewed in 2020?
HS2 was like version 1, but this is version 3.
hi, I would like to buy 1 pc with gps and compass and lora installed
what is the price to denmark
I have seen that the price is from 350 to 380 euros
Hi. I own the Xiegu XPA125B. I don't see an accessory jack on the Q900. Is there a way I can connect the Q900 to my amp? Thanks, and I really enjoy your videos. 73 de WA3RSL.
I wonder if the manufacturer would be receptive to add 4m ?
Is the Q900 compatible to a Macbook Pro?
Thank you for sharing these tips, I did not know this team. It looks very interesting. Greetings and congratulations for your professional videos. 73 from Mexico! **** One additional question: What settings did you use to TX? antenna, power amplifier, antenna line, etc.? What do you suggest us to properly operate a radio of this type in phone, in digital modes in HF?
I used only rig power, 20 watts a on HF SSB. I used a EFHW antenna with 49:1 transformer. Thank you for watching and hello Mexico! 🇲🇽
Ordered and payed by your aliexpress link with no luck
I extended the shipping time by one week and still not sent
I now have a refund pending
When I ordered only 5 others had been sold so the seller wasn't overworked
Order just closed with no explanation other than that it had timed out
Aliexpress have done it again
Great wiork
On the watsapp group they said they had sold out and will be shipping end of October. I guess you could extend the shipping time to end of October to be sure. Think they had over 100 in stock but demand out weighed stock unfortunately.
@@TechMindsOfficial It didn't say that 3 weeks ago when I ordered
They had only sold 5 at that time
They have a few stores for different countries plus they sell direct from website. So the qty sold on website won’t be the true amount they have sold.
What a fantastic looking and working radio mate...these shack in a box are getting better and better and it also looks very modern.
Is there a price on this unit mate or do they have prices on there web site with all the different options
Cheers mate another great vid 👍 👌
Cheers Rob! Check out the AliExpress links in the description, that’s the best place to order from as you can choose the options. 73 ole bean! :)
Thanks for the video. I got my own Q900 with DMR module a few days ago. I am a bit confused about the second antenna connector (SMA-it’s labelled ANT1 on my rig, on yours it’s ANT2) - 3:56 - When operating VHF/UHF FM with one antenna only, I must connect the antenna to the SMA connector, right? The manual is not very clear about this point. Can you help me out?
Yes ,for vhf UHF - fm is a mode and makes no difference in antenna
Tech Minds has been the source I use when buying Ham Radios and stuff.
exam question. is it allowed to transmit amateur radio to third parties?
Another great find. Looks like an excellent shank-in-a-box type of radio or for newly licenced hams looking for a budget all-mode radio. I tend to operate portable most of the time on HF 4m 2m and 70cms. This is ticking a lot of boxes for a backpack / SOTA / POTA friendly radio.
I'd really appreciate it if you could test how it performs on TX and RX this on 4m/70Mhz.
Thanks
Tom EI5IEB
I've had a read through the documentation on the manufactures website and this may be a simple copy/paste from Gen2 to Gen3. The Technical specification document v1.2 does not list 70Mhz in the Transmission Frequency Range, however, there are screenshots in the user manual v2.1 that show band selection buttons which seem to indicate that 70Mhz is selectable. Band selection buttons/icons show, 50 , 70, 144, 430, pg.8/9(Band Selecection Operation) and pg20 (Launch Operation - band selection)
It would be great to know if this is indeed an option for 4m/70Mhz. One less radio to carry when out portable 🙂
The manual suggests it does 4m but the specs say otherwise atm. Seems a very exciting transceiver though
@@tmccarthy See my other comments about the Ailunce HS2. This looks like a copy or minor update to it. Based on my experience, I wouldn't trust the extra bands until someone measures the TX spectrum. I wasn't happy about the HS2's purity when I did measurements. I've had my HS2 apart and they surely shoved a lotta stuff in that little box. I suspect they skimped on the LPFs and I worry that "extra bands" were achieved just by "opening" them in software.
Maybe we can encourage Mat to open his Q900 V3 so we can have a look inside. Meantime I'll re-do my TX measurements of the HS2 and record them better this time.
@@Randrew Thanks very much for the sharing your experiences with the HS2. Hopefully Matt will be able to shed some light on things for us.
@@tmccarthy He has. Check the comments for updates.
when are you goiung to review the PMR-171
I don't really know what I'm doing but I've manually programmed a UVR5 and can listen to my local repeater and weather. Should I get this as a beginner?
Just my opinion: Not unless you have a comfortable amount of disposable income or savings. Or at least not until this radio has been fully vetted.
I tend to trust Matt here at TechMinds but the lineage of this particular radio leaves me feeling uneasy about it.
Great looking package Mat. I clicked your link to buy one but could not find how to apply the discount code?
is it possible to ad a external vfo?
possible to input Tone / Sub for the Repeater ?
Which shop sells this and would ship this to me in Trinidad and Tobago?
does it have a built-in voice or cw keyer, I am finding mixed information! If not this is something they should add and is a major shortcoming of many of the little SDR radios such as the G90. I know that you can get a 3rd part voice keyer mic but I was told this has it already but I can't confirm that thanks for your videos and hopefully you can answer this. KC9CUK 73
From the manual
When using hand keys, automatic keys, semi-automatic keys, external electronic
keying unit or computer-generated keyboard equipment, please operate as follows:
1. Insert your 3.5mm (three-phase or two-phase) plug into the key jack on the
rear panel.
2. Short press [MODE] to select a CW mode (CW or CWR); "CW" mode uses the
carrier input on the USB side, while CWR (reverse) mode uses the input on the LSB
side.
3. Long press [BAND] key to enter CW setting. The up and down direction keys on
the keyboard select options, and the left and right direction keys adjust the settings in
the options.
3-1. KEY MODE selection contents of left and right direction keys : manual key and
automatic key
3-2. KEY SPEED automatic key code rate. The larger the value, the faster the speed
3-3. TX-RX CW transmit and receive conversion time. The greater the value, the
greater the delay.
3-4. STF CW sidetone audio.
3-5. STG CW sidetone volume.
3-6. TRAINING practice mode, launch is not enabled.
3-7. DECODE CW, RTTY decoding display switch.
3-7. THRESHOLD CW decoding threshold.
4. CW automatic call, long press the [MENU] key to enter the menu, select a-call
with the direction key, short press the [MENU] key to select A-CALL, and use the
numeric keypad or USB keyboard to input the automatic call content. Press and hold
the [MENU] key continuously to exit the main interface, set the key mode to the
manual KEY mode, and press and hold the corresponding 5 items of input on the
numeric keypad 1 ~ 5
So this covers 27mhz,CB channels?
Yep!