Paused the vid a few seconds in to comment this post. I have 3 of these radios. I'm licensed. They are bloody amazing. The best firmware is IJV, of which there are now two different versions. Egzumer is good, the scope thing is a gimmick though, it's not necessary with scan function. The on board memory for the firmware is extremely small. All these different firmwares have to make decisions on what they want to include, against what they want to sacrifice. So yes you can have a scope you don't need on one, but it will be lacking in other areas OR you can ditch the scope and get the better features. Choose wisely 😂 Awesome radio, I'm buying more because the hardware mods are only just beginning to arrive. 73 😊
@@CB-RADIO-UK I have one radio on IJV2.9r5 that is the latest stable version of that firmware and they left it there. It works brilliantly. I have another on IJV3.12 which is now a completely different radio. It's an early build of a completely new software , so I'm positive it will be developed quickly based on previous firmware updates. It's really brilliant to have radios with these capabilities built-in from the factory and to be so hackable. Hardware mods and fixes are beginning to arrive which open up even more possibilities. For the unaware, transmitting within the bands the radio was designed for, the radio is clean and doesn't produce unwanted interference by harmonics on other bands. Even though in some circumstances it will be illegal to TX, for eg PMR446. The hardware architecture of the radio means that if you TX on 27Mhz or "out of band" not only will you have an incredibly weak signal on your intended frequency - you will also be producing stronger harmonics right on the edge of the airband.
Well I am not sure if I agree with your, it may depend on what you want the radio to do, I initially rejected the IJV and went with Egzumer. Your passion is going to make me go back and try IJV. Being able to switch firmware back and forth is a GREAT feature.
Sorry for my english (I'm Italian) but I'd like to say thank you for your clever explanetion makes me able to follow you at 100% and now I have more features on my radio for an amazing scanning option!
Subbed, I am old Skool AM CB user from the late 70s/early 80s, love your material and excellent presentation to the point that I went out and bought a new rig and brought my old rigs out of the attic.
I bought the Quanhsheng TG-UV2 around 2010 I use it for my portable work out on the hills round where I live in West Yorkshire..all the contacts I work all say how punchy the audio is..well pleased with it over the years..
I have been wanting a more specialist radio for a while. After watching this, I've just bought one with the cable to change the firmware for £19 all in from Ali. Thanks, sounds like just what I wanted at a great price! Really looking forward to recieving it. Cheers for the vid!
Following on from my journey so far with this radio, I now have two, with Egzumer firmware, and about to get one of them modded with the v2.1 with pre-amp, HF full band pcb mod! I went from not knowing or caring much about radio, to now being quite passionate about it and considering it one of my hobbies thanks to this video. Thanks again Fred.
@@hawkinsdaniel7144 You're amazing! 😍 I "don't dare" to open up & solder the new board (yet?), but I definetely will try to buy an UPCONVERTER for the UV K-5 😊
Thank You for all your time and effort in making these videos. You’re through but easy to understand walkthrough of the radios and all their functions, is much appreciated.
Have one of those fanatic radios quansheng I also have two Quansheng UV-5R plus these have a much larger battery than the k5(8) has, these radio all take the main fireware uprades IJV ver 2.9R5, EGZummer0.22, and Facgi mod 1.1.2 ssb lite test, the big battery can be used on the K5(8) with simple mod which involves removing a small piece of plastic. The one I use most is IJV, And the Facgi 112, the EGzummer is more for Ham radio licence operators. have, great channel.
@@user-sq8xt9gk7u The "Quansheng UV-5R" has a bigger battery than the "Quansheng UV-K5". If @robmay3570 is right, then the big battery of the "Quansheng UV-5R" (NOT the same as the widely known Baofeng UV-5R!) will work on the "Quansheng UV-K5". Internally, they have the same hardware. By Quansheng's own report to the FCC, "UV-K5, UV-K5(2), UV-K5(6), UV-K5(8), UV-K5(9), UV-K5(11), UV-K5(22), UV-K5(66), UV-K5(88), UV-K5(99), UV-5R, UV-5R PLUS, UV" are the same radio, with different names and cover designs. Source: fcc.report/FCC-ID/XBPUV-K5/6401581.pdf
I love my wee quansheng i live near glasgow airport i see the planes from my window coming in to land and listen to them .11 meters i check to see to see if my old vintage radios are sounding ok and on frequency and conected it to a dipole and listned on usb .listned to a few nearby amateurs on 2 meters .Great build quality also
Dude i am so thankful for your video i wasnt sure if to buy this radio but now i def will (update i ordered it yesterday im waiting now.. okay another update i got it today and im blown away)
Having fun with mine,I have a couple. Built a quad telescopic array,with wound toroid, on a dipole centre,mainly for airband,but it's amazing across 2m, getting vertical and horizontal at same time. Lots of fun.
Just received my UV-K6 early this week. Played with it using the original firmware, but today I put egzumer v0.22 on it this morning and WOW! What a difference! Much clearer RX especially on Airband which is what I wanted. Played with the band scope, and was really impressed. I will, however, keep a set of instructions nearby for some time. The Wiki is online, but can be downloaded. There are so many functions, and so much fun. All of this for only $30 USD including shipping. I, too, will probably by another one.
I bought the Quansheng TG UV 2 back in 2010..didn't fancy the Baofeng..so got the quansheng.. All the contacts I worked all said it had great audio..so I stayed with it...even bought a second one..still using them.
I've just stumbled across this, I know nothing about radios but how you explained it made it really interesting. Thinks I might look into this abit more.
be carefull broadcasting on the wrong band can land you in trouble and even jail . when the tech isnt smart you need to be so just learnthe bare minimum basics at least before you press any buttons . not the kind of tech you learn to use by messing around aimlessly for sure . but a great hobby for sure and not that complicated
Just caved and bought one of these. I got my RTL SDR just a few weeks ago and ive been totally fascinated with radio. Glad i found your channel, thanks for the great review
This is the most informative video I’ve watched up to now and I feel a bit more confident to try use mine as there too many videos that are too complex and I’m not too techy so for me it’s a lot to take in..
Great little radio, I have several, I bought the last 2 for £11.50 each in the sale including delivery to Romania. If you can restrain yourselves, wait until the next sale, if not they're still a great buy
FWIW my first one was under £11 including taxes, the second was £17, certainly a lot of bang for the buck particularly with aftermarket firmware. I have to agree that the radio has a quality feel to it. There is an aftermarket board (fiddly to fit) that can extend HF receive further. When buying from Aliexpress it pays to clear your cookies, they tend to ramp the prices up for repeat purchases.
I have a bunch of different radios including the K5 and K6. I saw the K5(99) the other day and had to order one. Will be here tomorrow. It says it transmits from 20-1000MHz but have heard it’s really 18-1100MHz. Should be fun. I find it great that you can flash cool firmware modes on these Quansheng radios. Thanks for an in-depth video on the K6!
Long press the 4 (FC) key will change the scan rate, 7 (VOX) key will change the step rate on the scope, that's how it works on my radio. Another neat menu feature is Menu #44 /1 Call, you can set a priority channels such as a repeater channel or channel your family or friends use on a regular basis using that menu setting. Once that is set, you can get one touch access to that channel by long pressing the 9 (Call) button on the radio.
Hi Fred, I mentioned in a comment on your other channel that I'd gotten hold of a pair of "unbranded" Quansheng k5's I noticed they have the all black keyboard like your retrevis. Anyhow, I'd just like to confirm that despite having No Branding stickers on the front, they work absolutely fine! I've put the Egzumer 0.21 into them and "chirped" them without issues. I think I'll play around with the latest update later today. 👍👍
Same, I don't bother with other chans I stick with my favourite Fred. I have the exact same Quansheng UV-K5 but I think my cable is a dud, CHIRP won't connect to the radio at all. I don't think it's a driver issue. I got my cable on Aliexpress (not many vendors on ebay deliver to Ukraine). Should i just buy another cable elsewhere, maybe Banggood & should I be steering clear of Aliexpress cables ?
I think that non branded cables can be hit or miss. Rem that for the cable to work it will need a driver and wont work when simply plugged in. See this video for a free download Retevis driver that i use and works with all my cables. ruclips.net/video/nlLaNIq6nBo/видео.html
@@CB-RADIO-UK Oh, thanks Fred. I got a mini Cd with the cable (that had drivers on it, I presume), but my macbook is only a slot loader and can't use mini-CD's. I need like a regular laptop with a tray loading DVD drive to use it, haha, Stupid Apple with their slot loading nonsense!
Fred, I finally worked out what was wrong, I was not pushing the cable in hard enough, it felt like it was seating, but it was not in all the way, online other people had this problem, you really have to push it in HARD, then you feel it click and seat. Now it works on both the Mac version of CHIRP and Windoze too!
Far from it, see the new UV17 and UV18 GPS, and the new UV5 RH Air band rx, and genuine 8 watts, the UV5 RH is also avalable as a Quanshang take off called the Baofeng UV K5
Excellent comprehensive video there Fred. I remember the first time I tried mine last summer i was super impressed and that was before the soft and hardware mods arrived. I have a good few of these now in various state of mods and to this day they impress me. Probably the only downside is that little speaker but for the money it is ace.
I was amazed about the IJV firmware. You can create memory group lists, scan preset lists, Radio freq can now entered into the freq list using Chirp, popup menus and way more nice stuff. No spectrum analyser.
Had this radio for two months. It's far better than the baofen but attaching another antenna causes out of band interference. The ham 2m band is totally desensed same as the Uv5r. We have commercial radio sites around us. Uhf is ok, but vhf wiped out. Now used as a handheld is ok. It does what it's supposed to. I only paid £13 for mine on AliExpress. I also bought the Tidradio h8. That's packed up already. Only the uhf working now. I factory reset it as it overcame another problem. Was working very well. Suddenly it went death. No TX at all on vhf 2m now. Uhf ok.
A great video this will save me having to explain these basics on a daily basis on Facebook user groups, only thing I would add is the USB is only for emergency charging and never charge and have the radio switched on, another 'pea in the pod' is the Quansheng UV5 Plus not to be confused with the Baofeng, the UV5 Plus has nice blue display and a 2200mAh battery which can easily be modified to use on all three models. I have tried many firmwares and have settled on ine called Kamilsss which is like egzumer on steroids much faster spectrum, scanner etc. keep up the good work Fred
Hopefully there will be a successor with a chip capable of below 18MHz and extended memory for more firmware modifications. Otherwise it is anbelievable how this quality can be delivered for that price. It is always a joy to take it in your hands. Doesnt´t feel like 20 bucks.
They are a belter of a radio - one of mine was £13 delivered, absolutely crazy and wasn’t expecting much but it is decent on 2m/70cm and PMR.. The wideband RX on the modded fw is nice, just don’t attempt to TX on CB frequencies - the harmonics are bigger than the fundamental! Not really a surprise having no HF LP filter! But for the price I am sure it cannot be beaten.
Just ordered mine from Amazon £25.Not sure about uploading channels so I will watch your other vids on the subject.Thank you for a great breakdown of the unit👍
I use these radios when shooting video's on large locations. If you have to get the crew together or someone needs something it is nice to have a radio with you. They work really really well, they sound fantasic battery life is well enough for a days work, range is sufficient as long it is not too much buildings around. Just select a frequency on 2meter, clip the radio on your belt and you are good to go! Brilliant little things!
@MarkPentler well no, I use it when we are out, so these radios just suit their purpose brilliantly... besides, if I had to by 5 Motorola's ot would set me back 10x... no these will do!
All things being equal, the Quansheng UV-5R Plus gets my vote due to it having the larger battery. Same radio with extended battery life. You CAN buy a larger battery for the other versions, but the UV-5R Plus can be had for $4 more than the cost of the larger battery.
I got the retivis first and it came with everything the Quansheng did. They are identical except for the name. The wireless radio clone works perfectly with the two.
Yes it always amazes me how inexpensive some of these radios are for what we get but I guess largely with low labor costs that makes sense. Good video Fred. Fun little radio
I bought two of these radio's From aliexpress the first one I paid £12.56p with free shipping I was so impressed by it and the build quality I bought a second one for £13.54p again with free shipping (don't forget they will add about £4 pound vat) better that than it getting stopped by customs on the way in. At the prices I got them for how can you refuse ? I am even considering a third one 😂😂 the prices on Ali do fluctuate so if you are in no rush keep an eye on them and grab yourself a bargain when they drop. Yeah coming from China you will have to wait but mine arrived in about a week so that was no real issue or deal breaker. Air band is awful if that's what you want them for but from what I have seen on RUclips this improves with the firmware update and opens the radio right up, I have not had time to do this yet but plan on doing it tomorrow. All in all for the price I've paid what can I get for that money ? These little radio's are well worth it and I am looking forward to playing with them and opening them up with the firmware, It's a no brainer if you ask me get one while they are cheap as chips.
This a great video I have one of the radios after this video I will be ordering 1 more...i watch all of your videos thank... had the big eclipse today here in the USA...
At 05:40 - You can buy clip-on UK plug adaptors, which enclose the Euro plug and include a fuse, to comply with BS1363, and you will not need to cut any cable. I have bought equipment with that adaptor fitted by default.
The NUNU firmware is better, does everything that egzumer does but also has messaging and encrypted messaging (with meshtastic like message sharing), also spectrum analyzer, SSB etc I got my UV-K5(8) for £14 delivered in the UK.
@andyf104 oh, I totally agree with you on his ways, he was super disrespectful to the original modders on some telegram groups, but...his package does have a lot of functions.
You are right - 40 minutes of video is too long. But there is nothing without an exception. And your present masterpiece is one of those exceptions. I do have a Ham Licence and enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you, best 73
I've had mine for a year now. I've not modded it yet. Still deciding on which firmware to go with. It will be good to get better quality on airband though as the stock radio is not so great.
hey fred did you know you can safe fm radio frequenties also go in fm radio mode,select your favorite fm radio station,hit the menu button it ask if you wanna safe it hit menu again done,then switch to memory mode by holding ,the 3 button 73,s 19ct031
I've found that the "gun-metal" 06:30 type coatings on plastic cases tend to wear VERY quickly and you end up with small to large wear spots on them that soon look pretty bad. Perhaps this item somehow avoids this problem...and I hope it does...but I've never seen it not happen. Sometimes there's even a white layer of some sort of coating (perhaps something to help the metalized coating adhere better?) beneath the "gun-metal" layer so you end up with 3 colors (gun-metal, white, and then finally black), but again, it still looks really cheap IF the wear starts showing up.
Definitely worth the money better with software upgrade mine is completely death on CB though tried other antennas etc and have seen other people pick up what I cant, my baofeng has less noise on PMR and 7cm etc but still recommend it for a £18 Ali express just for the airband alone.
This is great. I was looking for how to change the firmware purely to use as a scanner without bricking it but there are many "experts" on the net and I wanted a reputable source of the information. Mamy thanks.
Just because you have a radio set to PMR446 frequencies, and you have the power down to half a watt doesn't make them legal. The spec for legal PMR446 includes a non-removable antenna with 0db gain. 0db meaning it's not improving the range of the transmit radius. All this said, no one in most CEPT PMR446 countries is going to bat an eye at it, but it does matter if you are radiating spurious RF outside the acceptable limits, something that is possible if the antenna is unsuitable for the band being used and the radio is only just in the spectrum designs.
I have the UV-K5 and it's a very fun little radio. I'm hoping Quansheng will release a UV-K7, a little larger radio with a larger speaker, larger battery, and a lot more memory. 👍
Hi Fred thanks for showing us that . I've got the same handheld and that's great showing us all what it can do, great handled I love it.just listening to the airband now,sorry but one more little question, when I look at some videos about how to put up a Arail I sometimes see especially in America that they always put a a copper rod in the ground , I've never done this myself. EVER, But going out to buy a ss99000 series 4 , and putting up a sirio signal keeper. And just wondering what your thoughts was on grounding a Arail, I understand about lightning, but always make sure I put out the cable out the window and ground it that way,if I'm am at home, sorry for the crazy question considerate about handheld.just wandered what your thoughts were , thank you so much for all you do because it's so good to just go back and look at someone else who knows what can happen and, to avoid that, right sorry for the big letter Alan from NR LUTON 💯👍
Mine was a pretty good radio, that was until I bought a bigger battery for it and from what I can tell fried something important. I switches on and gets to the main screen then just locks up, I tried to re-flash it a bunch of times with different firmware and the original firmware which seemed to go well, but after it restarts it just locks up on the main screen still. I tried to do the factory reset, but that requires you to go into the menus, which just freeze when you try to get to them. It's a shame, but remember not to buy the bigger batteries for this radio.
The SMA connector on my radio is an EXTREMELY weak point in the hardware design. It's far too easy to severely damage, even destroy the tiny and fragile SMA bit by applying side forces that really aren't all that strong. I found this out when I had to obtain a small SMA-BNC adapter to use any one of a dozen of my older antennae. Saved me from having to replace the radio (easiest way to "fix" it). But, if you shop carefully, you can find similar SMA-to-Whatever antenna adapters with a fantastically mechanically superior radio connection point. It protects not only from strain, but provides what I'd call a HARDPOINT reinforcement at the antennae base. It's so strong that the RADIO'S connector is highly unlikely to be damaged even by extreme laterally applied forces, while adding about 1 cm to the _overall length_ By unexpected experience, I found that the antenna itself is basically destroyed before the radio's SMA connector shows any sign of damage.
I'm a foundation licence holder but also interested in CB. So far have failed to pick up any CB at all on any radio including this. I use homebrew/ stealthantennae as I have a landlord etc. Not sure if it's my QTH or whether CB is more sensitive. I can use other modes like 2m,20,30 and 40 m band ok. Thanks M7JZW
Fascinating video, thank you. Just one tip... and please don't take this the wrong way, but the 8th letter of the alphabet is spelled aitch. There is no H at the start of the word. In other words, it is pronounced 'aych' and NOT 'Haych'. I know that a lot of people get this one wrong, but it really is always wrong to say haytch. Thank you for taking the time to read this comment.
I'd take one half of my new Kenwood TH-D75 over 200 of those. These types of radios are known to transmit dirty spurious signals/strong harmonics. Not saying for sure this reviewed radio does have that problem, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't. They are also known for receiver sections that are just direct (single) conversion. Whereas my Kenwood is double conversion on A band and triple on B band. I have a direct conversion Baofeng and when I scan the same 113 simplex and repeater memory frequencies as my Kenwood (and my Yaesu) have, it can't get through all the memories even once without stopping due to interference from intermod, overloading signals from nearby AM and FM broadcast transmitters or interference from LED bulbs, WIFI, Bluetooth or some other modern QRM generator. You get the picture. But both my Kenwood and Yaesu can take all that and not stop scanning unless they find an actual signal. Clean transmitters and great receiver sections! It might be the best a person can buy if they can't afford a better radio though. In amateur radio, you generally get what you pay for.
Hi. Thanks for your comment. Your not wrong in what you say. These china radios when reprogrammed are wide open to all manner of interference. I ve covered the harmonics before and they are not suitable in anyway to transmit away from their intended bands. However i really dont think you can compare these £20 radios to a Kenwood TH-D75 as they sell for just under £800 at Martin Lynch and are out of reach for a lot of people inc myself. These china radios are simple cheap fun that we can all afford to play with in very difficult and challenging financial times and may encourage people to join the wonderful hobby of radio.
Hello... Very good video. I have the QuanSheng UV-5R Plus with Egzumer firmware and they are an excellent combination. This radio is a box full of tricks. Thank you for sharing. 73's
Hi Fred.... excellent review on the little radio , looks rather neat there seems to be loads of variations of these now coming out of china.... amazing what they can produce for so little money,..well done on taking the time to produce some great reviews certainly gives an insight into what you get for your money..,does your 305 net find their way onto zello ? .. pity conditions are not good enough to reach my neck of the woods ....easyer to get into the states than short skip. Keep up the good work ..love what you're doing and humble attitude far to many are a tad full of themselves 😂😂 👍 Ps...the race prep castrol honda used to live on a paddock stand in the kitchen 🤣🤣🤣lucky we have a big kitchen
Paused the vid a few seconds in to comment this post. I have 3 of these radios. I'm licensed. They are bloody amazing. The best firmware is IJV, of which there are now two different versions. Egzumer is good, the scope thing is a gimmick though, it's not necessary with scan function. The on board memory for the firmware is extremely small. All these different firmwares have to make decisions on what they want to include, against what they want to sacrifice. So yes you can have a scope you don't need on one, but it will be lacking in other areas OR you can ditch the scope and get the better features.
Choose wisely 😂
Awesome radio, I'm buying more because the hardware mods are only just beginning to arrive.
73 😊
Thanks for the IJV tip. Many are using that version now.
@@CB-RADIO-UK I have one radio on IJV2.9r5 that is the latest stable version of that firmware and they left it there. It works brilliantly.
I have another on IJV3.12 which is now a completely different radio. It's an early build of a completely new software
, so I'm positive it will be developed quickly based on previous firmware updates.
It's really brilliant to have radios with these capabilities built-in from the factory and to be so hackable.
Hardware mods and fixes are beginning to arrive which open up even more possibilities.
For the unaware, transmitting within the bands the radio was designed for, the radio is clean and doesn't produce unwanted interference by harmonics on other bands. Even though in some circumstances it will be illegal to TX, for eg PMR446.
The hardware architecture of the radio means that if you TX on 27Mhz or "out of band" not only will you have an incredibly weak signal on your intended frequency - you will also be producing stronger harmonics right on the edge of the airband.
Well I am not sure if I agree with your, it may depend on what you want the radio to do, I initially rejected the IJV and went with Egzumer. Your passion is going to make me go back and try IJV. Being able to switch firmware back and forth is a GREAT feature.
@@0zebede 👍 remember to enter the services menu and perform RESET ALL when switching any firmware. Enjoy
I use mine to monitor and transmit via my PC was a great experience I have two K5 and a UV 5R+ both just plug ib and go so relaxing Dock XVFO + AIOC
Sorry for my english (I'm Italian) but I'd like to say thank you for your clever explanetion makes me able to follow you at 100% and now I have more features on my radio for an amazing scanning option!
You are welcome!
you type prefect English. Ciao from a British Rossi fan #46
Your English is great! 👍 from Colorado, USA.
Subbed, I am old Skool AM CB user from the late 70s/early 80s, love your material and excellent presentation to the point that I went out and bought a new rig and brought my old rigs out of the attic.
Thanks for the sub!
I bought the Quanhsheng TG-UV2 around 2010 I use it for my portable work out on the hills round where I live in West Yorkshire..all the contacts I work all say how punchy the audio is..well pleased with it over the years..
I have been wanting a more specialist radio for a while. After watching this, I've just bought one with the cable to change the firmware for £19 all in from Ali. Thanks, sounds like just what I wanted at a great price! Really looking forward to recieving it. Cheers for the vid!
Following on from my journey so far with this radio, I now have two, with Egzumer firmware, and about to get one of them modded with the v2.1 with pre-amp, HF full band pcb mod! I went from not knowing or caring much about radio, to now being quite passionate about it and considering it one of my hobbies thanks to this video. Thanks again Fred.
@@hawkinsdaniel7144 cool, thanks for the follow up. I'm looking to buy two radios for me and my sister...
@@hawkinsdaniel7144
You're amazing! 😍
I "don't dare" to open up & solder the new board (yet?), but I definetely will try to buy an UPCONVERTER for the UV K-5 😊
Excellent video I've now learnt how to scan between high and low frequency and then put that on the spectrum, thanks
Glad it helped!
Thank You for all your time and effort in making these videos. You’re through but easy to understand walkthrough of the radios and all their functions, is much appreciated.
One of the best videos on basic operations of this little gem. Thanks 🎉
Glad it was helpful!
Have one of those fanatic radios quansheng I also have two Quansheng UV-5R plus these have a much larger battery than the k5(8) has, these radio all take the main fireware uprades IJV ver 2.9R5, EGZummer0.22, and Facgi mod 1.1.2 ssb lite test,
the big battery can be used on the K5(8) with simple mod which involves removing a small piece of plastic.
The one I use most is IJV, And the Facgi 112, the EGzummer is more for Ham radio licence operators.
have, great channel.
Thanks for the info esp about the battery mod.
The K5 firmware mods work on the 5R plus (color lcd) radio?
@@user-sq8xt9gk7u Yes
Which big battery?
@@user-sq8xt9gk7u The "Quansheng UV-5R" has a bigger battery than the "Quansheng UV-K5". If @robmay3570 is right, then the big battery of the "Quansheng UV-5R" (NOT the same as the widely known Baofeng UV-5R!) will work on the "Quansheng UV-K5".
Internally, they have the same hardware. By Quansheng's own report to the FCC, "UV-K5, UV-K5(2), UV-K5(6), UV-K5(8), UV-K5(9), UV-K5(11), UV-K5(22), UV-K5(66), UV-K5(88), UV-K5(99), UV-5R, UV-5R PLUS, UV" are the same radio, with different names and cover designs. Source: fcc.report/FCC-ID/XBPUV-K5/6401581.pdf
I love my wee quansheng i live near glasgow airport i see the planes from my window coming in to land and listen to them .11 meters i check to see to see if my old vintage radios are sounding ok and on frequency and conected it to a dipole and listned on usb .listned to a few nearby amateurs on 2 meters .Great build quality also
Excellent video thanks! I just got mine for $19USD with Nagoya 771 and Baofeng programing cable included, free shipping
from where?
@@mailtopps1 Aliexpress problably
AliExpress
Dude i am so thankful for your video i wasnt sure if to buy this radio but now i def will (update i ordered it yesterday im waiting now.. okay another update i got it today and im blown away)
Having fun with mine,I have a couple. Built a quad telescopic array,with wound toroid, on a dipole centre,mainly for airband,but it's amazing across 2m, getting vertical and horizontal at same time. Lots of fun.
Just received my UV-K6 early this week. Played with it using the original firmware, but today I put egzumer v0.22 on it this morning and WOW! What a difference! Much clearer RX especially on Airband which is what I wanted. Played with the band scope, and was really impressed. I will, however, keep a set of instructions nearby for some time. The Wiki is online, but can be downloaded. There are so many functions, and so much fun. All of this for only $30 USD including shipping. I, too, will probably by another one.
Thanks for sharing
I love this radio more and more every week! Great video.
I bought the Quansheng TG UV 2 back in 2010..didn't fancy the Baofeng..so got the quansheng..
All the contacts I worked all said it had great audio..so I stayed with it...even bought a second one..still using them.
I've just stumbled across this, I know nothing about radios but how you explained it made it really interesting. Thinks I might look into this abit more.
be carefull broadcasting on the wrong band can land you in trouble and even jail . when the tech isnt smart you need to be so just learnthe bare minimum basics at least before you press any buttons . not the kind of tech you learn to use by messing around aimlessly for sure . but a great hobby for sure and not that complicated
Fred I’ve had mine about 6 months and use it every day without any issues 👍🏻
Just caved and bought one of these. I got my RTL SDR just a few weeks ago and ive been totally fascinated with radio. Glad i found your channel, thanks for the great review
Great to hear!
This is the most informative video I’ve watched up to now and I feel a bit more confident to try use mine as there too many videos that are too complex and I’m not too techy so for me it’s a lot to take in..
Thanks thats what i tried to get across. You should find this program guide helpful. ruclips.net/video/nlLaNIq6nBo/видео.html
Great little radio, I have several, I bought the last 2 for £11.50 each in the sale including delivery to Romania. If you can restrain yourselves, wait until the next sale, if not they're still a great buy
I ordered the same radio and it arrived with the exact same damage to the box and inner tray. Spooky. Still works fine.
FWIW my first one was under £11 including taxes, the second was £17, certainly a lot of bang for the buck particularly with aftermarket firmware. I have to agree that the radio has a quality feel to it. There is an aftermarket board (fiddly to fit) that can extend HF receive further. When buying from Aliexpress it pays to clear your cookies, they tend to ramp the prices up for repeat purchases.
Thanks for taking the time to make this. Great stuff .
I have a bunch of different radios including the K5 and K6. I saw the K5(99) the other day and had to order one. Will be here tomorrow. It says it transmits from 20-1000MHz but have heard it’s really 18-1100MHz. Should be fun. I find it great that you can flash cool firmware modes on these Quansheng radios. Thanks for an in-depth video on the K6!
Long press the 4 (FC) key will change the scan rate, 7 (VOX) key will change the step rate on the scope, that's how it works on my radio. Another neat menu feature is Menu #44 /1 Call, you can set a priority channels such as a repeater channel or channel your family or friends use on a regular basis using that menu setting. Once that is set, you can get one touch access to that channel by long pressing the 9 (Call) button on the radio.
Frid in the shed my hobbies are painting pictures and listening to shortwave and ssb iam thinking about getting my Grms license
Hi Fred, I mentioned in a comment on your other channel that I'd gotten hold of a pair of "unbranded" Quansheng k5's I noticed they have the all black keyboard like your retrevis.
Anyhow, I'd just like to confirm that despite having No Branding stickers on the front, they work absolutely fine!
I've put the Egzumer 0.21 into them and "chirped" them without issues.
I think I'll play around with the latest update later today.
👍👍
Nice one.
Just picked mine up for £11 on ali !! cant wait to get my hands on it and get that egzumer firmware on there.
should have gotten the one for 25 that has all the accessories. you wont find those for that cheap haha .
Just got the Quansheng UV-K5(99) and it's absolutely mental. Crazy you can get this type of stuff for such little money these days.
If you plan on changing the antenna on a regular basis, I recommend BNC connectors to simplify the changes. My two cents.
Frid in the shed your RUclips videos are awesome my friend
Same, I don't bother with other chans I stick with my favourite Fred. I have the exact same Quansheng UV-K5 but I think my cable is a dud, CHIRP won't connect to the radio at all. I don't think it's a driver issue. I got my cable on Aliexpress (not many vendors on ebay deliver to Ukraine). Should i just buy another cable elsewhere, maybe Banggood & should I be steering clear of Aliexpress cables ?
I think that non branded cables can be hit or miss. Rem that for the cable to work it will need a driver and wont work when simply plugged in. See this video for a free download Retevis driver that i use and works with all my cables. ruclips.net/video/nlLaNIq6nBo/видео.html
@@CB-RADIO-UK Oh, thanks Fred. I got a mini Cd with the cable (that had drivers on it, I presume), but my macbook is only a slot loader and can't use mini-CD's. I need like a regular laptop with a tray loading DVD drive to use it, haha, Stupid Apple with their slot loading nonsense!
Fred, I finally worked out what was wrong, I was not pushing the cable in hard enough, it felt like it was seating, but it was not in all the way, online other people had this problem, you really have to push it in HARD, then you feel it click and seat. Now it works on both the Mac version of CHIRP and Windoze too!
Frid in the shed your new Quansheng uv-58. Ham transceiver is awesome my friend
Hi. Thanks. Stay safe.
A year and a couple of months back i bought aa UV5R and now i really like this one because of the bands it can pick up.
Beofeng is now finished. Quensheng is the new Beofeng
You know i think your prob right.
Far from it, see the new UV17 and UV18 GPS, and the new UV5 RH Air band rx,
and genuine 8 watts, the UV5 RH is also avalable as a Quanshang take off
called the Baofeng UV K5
Same company...different name
Anysecu?
Nice Video, Does this radio have Spurious emissions like The H3.
Excellent comprehensive video there Fred. I remember the first time I tried mine last summer i was super impressed and that was before the soft and hardware mods arrived. I have a good few of these now in various state of mods and to this day they impress me. Probably the only downside is that little speaker but for the money it is ace.
I was amazed about the IJV firmware. You can create memory group lists, scan preset lists, Radio freq can now entered into the freq list using Chirp, popup menus and way more nice stuff. No spectrum analyser.
Thanks for sharing
@@CB-RADIO-UK My pleasure.
Had this radio for two months. It's far better than the baofen but attaching another antenna causes out of band interference. The ham 2m band is totally desensed same as the Uv5r. We have commercial radio sites around us. Uhf is ok, but vhf wiped out. Now used as a handheld is ok. It does what it's supposed to. I only paid £13 for mine on AliExpress. I also bought the Tidradio h8. That's packed up already. Only the uhf working now. I factory reset it as it overcame another problem. Was working very well. Suddenly it went death. No TX at all on vhf 2m now. Uhf ok.
Thanks for putting these together. I've just bought one of these so the sensible thing was to give you a sub!
Thanks for the sub!
A great video this will save me having to explain these basics on a daily basis on Facebook user groups, only thing I would add is the USB is only for emergency charging and never charge and have the radio switched on, another 'pea in the pod' is the Quansheng UV5 Plus not to be confused with the Baofeng, the UV5 Plus has nice blue display and a 2200mAh battery which can easily be modified to use on all three models. I have tried many firmwares and have settled on ine called Kamilsss which is like egzumer on steroids much faster spectrum, scanner etc. keep up the good work Fred
Hi big thanks for the information. I have the UV5 plus will it run Egzumer then ? Ta.
Hopefully there will be a successor with a chip capable of below 18MHz and extended memory for more firmware modifications. Otherwise it is anbelievable how this quality can be delivered for that price. It is always a joy to take it in your hands. Doesnt´t feel like 20 bucks.
The sad thing in my position is living in Finland with awful import taxes and such I paid 45€ for my UV-K5(8) with free shipping mind you
Going to buy one too! Suosituksia mistä tilaan?
@@alexoja2918 Ite tilasin amazonista radion ilmaisella toimituksella ja ohjelmointi kaapelin aliexpressistä kun sattui olemaan alennuksesta 0.50€
They are a belter of a radio - one of mine was £13 delivered, absolutely crazy and wasn’t expecting much but it is decent on 2m/70cm and PMR.. The wideband RX on the modded fw is nice, just don’t attempt to TX on CB frequencies - the harmonics are bigger than the fundamental! Not really a surprise having no HF LP filter! But for the price I am sure it cannot be beaten.
I wonder how many people are just going to hit PTT without considering filtering at all?
Just ordered mine from Amazon £25.Not sure about uploading channels so I will watch your other vids on the subject.Thank you for a great breakdown of the unit👍
Hope you enjoy it!
It's 37 now ...
Have a fair few Quanshengs, absolutely insane value especially with mods. I think the uv5r is finally obsolete in the value sector! 73.
Yes i would say your spot on.
Thanks for this. I'm new to Ham Radio and this was a great tutorial. Time to play!
Have fun!
I use these radios when shooting video's on large locations. If you have to get the crew together or someone needs something it is nice to have a radio with you. They work really really well, they sound fantasic battery life is well enough for a days work, range is sufficient as long it is not too much buildings around. Just select a frequency on 2meter, clip the radio on your belt and you are good to go! Brilliant little things!
Are you using 2m for commercial use? Would you not be better using something more suited to that?
@MarkPentler well no, I use it when we are out, so these radios just suit their purpose brilliantly... besides, if I had to by 5 Motorola's ot would set me back 10x... no these will do!
All things being equal, the Quansheng UV-5R Plus gets my vote due to it having the larger battery. Same radio with extended battery life. You CAN buy a larger battery for the other versions, but the UV-5R Plus can be had for $4 more than the cost of the larger battery.
Been waiting for this fred thankyou my friend
Thanks for the video Fred, just ordered this little rig on Ali Express £13.92 all in, cheap as chips!
Hi Fred in shed hope yer well nice tooo see u bk doing yer vids just purchased 1 of thos radios😊
Have fun
Found these on Aliexpress for £16.63 with free 5 day shipping. May have to grab one...thanks for the video Fred :)
You'd be crazy not to say that price ! There's a lot of profiteering going on !!
I got mine on Aliexpress for £12 a few months ago. Brilliant radio for the price. And yes, I am a licensed amateur.
7 3.
Just bought 2 on Amazon for 30 USD
I got the retivis first and it came with everything the Quansheng did. They are identical except for the name. The wireless radio clone works perfectly with the two.
Yes it always amazes me how inexpensive some of these radios are for what we get but I guess largely with low labor costs that makes sense. Good video Fred. Fun little radio
Have you seen ..Quansheng uv-k5/k6 radio modification module..Add long wave, medium wave and short wave FM function.
Regards Mac
No not seen that.
Isn't that a video from om0et Paul ? he had a module he put into one of these Quansheng ht to make it QRV in 20m.
I bought two of these radio's From aliexpress the first one I paid £12.56p with free shipping I was so impressed by it and the build quality I bought a second one for £13.54p again with free shipping (don't forget they will add about £4 pound vat) better that than it getting stopped by customs on the way in.
At the prices I got them for how can you refuse ? I am even considering a third one 😂😂 the prices on Ali do fluctuate so if you are in no rush keep an eye on them and grab yourself a bargain when they drop.
Yeah coming from China you will have to wait but mine arrived in about a week so that was no real issue or deal breaker.
Air band is awful if that's what you want them for but from what I have seen on RUclips this improves with the firmware update and opens the radio right up, I have not had time to do this yet but plan on doing it tomorrow.
All in all for the price I've paid what can I get for that money ? These little radio's are well worth it and I am looking forward to playing with them and opening them up with the firmware, It's a no brainer if you ask me get one while they are cheap as chips.
The new Quansheng K5 (99) is out, its a recased k5 with RX unlocked and Black , red, yellow,
or blue side panels
This a great video I have one of the radios after this video I will be ordering 1 more...i watch all of your videos thank... had the big eclipse today here in the USA...
If it had noise reduction like a Malahite it would be a dream come true.
holy cow! thats increadible! just the scanning speed and functionality is worth 30!
At 05:40 - You can buy clip-on UK plug adaptors, which enclose the Euro plug and include a fuse, to comply with BS1363, and you will not need to cut any cable. I have bought equipment with that adaptor fitted by default.
Thumbed and subbed. Thanks. 🙂👍
Might have to get one of these! Dont know what I will use it for but its cool!
Got a 2200mAh battery on a K5, even better
Thanks for the talk through, learned a lot
That's so beautiful, i'd love to be a part of the ham lobby, it's sad transmitting radios are illegal in my country
Fear a government that fears its citizens transmitting and chatting on radio. What are they afraid of? Wow, total enslavement.
Sorry to hear that.
The NUNU firmware is better, does everything that egzumer does but also has messaging and encrypted messaging (with meshtastic like message sharing), also spectrum analyzer, SSB etc I got my UV-K5(8) for £14 delivered in the UK.
@andyf104 oh, I totally agree with you on his ways, he was super disrespectful to the original modders on some telegram groups, but...his package does have a lot of functions.
You are right - 40 minutes of video is too long. But there is nothing without an exception. And your present masterpiece is one of those exceptions. I do have a Ham Licence and enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you, best 73
Nice of you to say. Thanks.
I got a yaesu 450D as well. I have it setup to use a raspberry pie with touch screen and RSP sdr for pan adapter with rig control. Great radio.
Thanks for the video Fred, I paid £8 for mine (same version) from Aliexpress
Could you refer me to the one you bought?
I've had mine for a year now. I've not modded it yet. Still deciding on which firmware to go with. It will be good to get better quality on airband though as the stock radio is not so great.
hey fred did you know you can safe fm radio frequenties also go in fm radio mode,select your favorite fm radio station,hit the menu button it ask if you wanna safe it hit menu again done,then switch to memory mode by holding ,the 3 button 73,s 19ct031
I've found that the "gun-metal" 06:30 type coatings on plastic cases tend to wear VERY quickly and you end up with small to large wear spots on them that soon look pretty bad.
Perhaps this item somehow avoids this problem...and I hope it does...but I've never seen it not happen.
Sometimes there's even a white layer of some sort of coating (perhaps something to help the metalized coating adhere better?) beneath the "gun-metal" layer so you end up with 3 colors (gun-metal, white, and then finally black), but again, it still looks really cheap IF the wear starts showing up.
Definitely worth the money better with software upgrade mine is completely death on CB though tried other antennas etc and have seen other people pick up what I cant, my baofeng has less noise on PMR and 7cm etc but still recommend it for a £18 Ali express just for the airband alone.
Another great review.The radio looks very nice.
Thanks 👍
I'm hoping for a similar radio with p-25 phase I and II DIGITAL capabilities. Thanks and well done!
Only thing I would change on this radio is to switch volume and B and C buttons. It would be much faster to move about with volume button.
This is great. I was looking for how to change the firmware purely to use as a scanner without bricking it but there are many "experts" on the net and I wanted a reputable source of the information. Mamy thanks.
Very welcome.
Just because you have a radio set to PMR446 frequencies, and you have the power down to half a watt doesn't make them legal. The spec for legal PMR446 includes a non-removable antenna with 0db gain. 0db meaning it's not improving the range of the transmit radius.
All this said, no one in most CEPT PMR446 countries is going to bat an eye at it, but it does matter if you are radiating spurious RF outside the acceptable limits, something that is possible if the antenna is unsuitable for the band being used and the radio is only just in the spectrum designs.
Fred, you should use the SMA to UHf jumper made from RG-8x vs RG-316 it stands up better and its not much more in cost. Krisy - N6KV
I still havent learnt everything I should now about my Baofeng UV5R. And now I need to get one of these! Oh dear.
As always, very interesting. Thanks Fred! 73
I have the UV-K5 and it's a very fun little radio. I'm hoping Quansheng will release a UV-K7, a little larger radio with a larger speaker, larger battery, and a lot more memory. 👍
Hi Fred thanks for showing us that . I've got the same handheld and that's great showing us all what it can do, great handled I love it.just listening to the airband now,sorry but one more little question, when I look at some videos about how to put up a Arail I sometimes see especially in America that they always put a a copper rod in the ground , I've never done this myself. EVER, But going out to buy a ss99000 series 4 , and putting up a sirio signal keeper. And just wondering what your thoughts was on grounding a Arail, I understand about lightning, but always make sure I put out the cable out the window and ground it that way,if I'm am at home, sorry for the crazy question considerate about handheld.just wandered what your thoughts were , thank you so much for all you do because it's so good to just go back and look at someone else who knows what can happen and, to avoid that, right sorry for the big letter Alan from NR LUTON 💯👍
Thanks Alan. It did turn out a very long video even for me :-)
@@CB-RADIO-UK sorry Fred must have missed that one, thanks for letting me know, Alan 💯👍
I have many radios but this is my fave. I have two active and 6 still in the box for later days.
Mine was a pretty good radio, that was until I bought a bigger battery for it and from what I can tell fried something important. I switches on and gets to the main screen then just locks up, I tried to re-flash it a bunch of times with different firmware and the original firmware which seemed to go well, but after it restarts it just locks up on the main screen still. I tried to do the factory reset, but that requires you to go into the menus, which just freeze when you try to get to them. It's a shame, but remember not to buy the bigger batteries for this radio.
The SMA connector on my radio is an EXTREMELY weak point in the hardware design. It's far too easy to severely damage, even destroy the tiny and fragile SMA bit by applying side forces that really aren't all that strong. I found this out when I had to obtain a small SMA-BNC adapter to use any one of a dozen of my older antennae. Saved me from having to replace the radio (easiest way to "fix" it).
But, if you shop carefully, you can find similar SMA-to-Whatever antenna adapters with a fantastically mechanically superior radio connection point. It protects not only from strain, but provides what I'd call a HARDPOINT reinforcement at the antennae base. It's so strong that the RADIO'S connector is highly unlikely to be damaged even by extreme laterally applied forces, while adding about 1 cm to the _overall length_
By unexpected experience, I found that the antenna itself is basically destroyed before the radio's SMA connector shows any sign of damage.
I'm a foundation licence holder but also interested in CB. So far have failed to pick up any CB at all on any radio including this. I use homebrew/ stealthantennae as I have a landlord etc. Not sure if it's my QTH or whether CB is more sensitive. I can use other modes like 2m,20,30 and 40 m band ok. Thanks M7JZW
Fascinating video, thank you.
Just one tip... and please don't take this the wrong way, but the 8th letter of the alphabet is spelled aitch. There is no H at the start of the word.
In other words, it is pronounced 'aych' and NOT 'Haych'.
I know that a lot of people get this one wrong, but it really is always wrong to say haytch.
Thank you for taking the time to read this comment.
Thanks for the tip :-). Been said before but I am heading for 60 yrs and cannot change the way i talk now.
I'd take one half of my new Kenwood TH-D75 over 200 of those. These types of radios are known to transmit dirty spurious signals/strong harmonics. Not saying for sure this reviewed radio does have that problem, but I'd be surprised if it doesn't. They are also known for receiver sections that are just direct (single) conversion. Whereas my Kenwood is double conversion on A band and triple on B band. I have a direct conversion Baofeng and when I scan the same 113 simplex and repeater memory frequencies as my Kenwood (and my Yaesu) have, it can't get through all the memories even once without stopping due to interference from intermod, overloading signals from nearby AM and FM broadcast transmitters or interference from LED bulbs, WIFI, Bluetooth or some other modern QRM generator. You get the picture. But both my Kenwood and Yaesu can take all that and not stop scanning unless they find an actual signal. Clean transmitters and great receiver sections! It might be the best a person can buy if they can't afford a better radio though. In amateur radio, you generally get what you pay for.
Hi. Thanks for your comment. Your not wrong in what you say. These china radios when reprogrammed are wide open to all manner of interference. I ve covered the harmonics before and they are not suitable in anyway to transmit away from their intended bands. However i really dont think you can compare these £20 radios to a Kenwood TH-D75 as they sell for just under £800 at Martin Lynch and are out of reach for a lot of people inc myself. These china radios are simple cheap fun that we can all afford to play with in very difficult and challenging financial times and may encourage people to join the wonderful hobby of radio.
Frid in the shed I learn lot from you about bying cb radios and power supply and antennas for cb radios my friend
Very informative video just subbed and I have just ordered one from Amazon.
Welcome aboard!
I Love This Radio, Cant Believe It Works From 108Mhz, Thats Just CRAZY !
So Cool, Coolest HTT I Had, Seriously ANd Its Only Second Day I had It !
Brilliant, well presented, informative. Top man. gonna spend some money now ;-)
Hello... Very good video. I have the QuanSheng UV-5R Plus with Egzumer firmware and they are an excellent combination. This radio is a box full of tricks. Thank you for sharing. 73's
You should get a commission, I brought one after seeing 2 mins of your vid 👍
Fantastic and beautiful radio 📻, congratulation thank 👍🆗️
Cheers
@@CB-RADIO-UK happy day, 73,s👍🆗️
I spent more money on a take away on Saturday night just gone, I'm very tempted.
Software is so similar to the Baofen, that it's obvious there is a common link between them all.
Hi Fred.... excellent review on the little radio , looks rather neat there seems to be loads of variations of these now coming out of china.... amazing what they can produce for so little money,..well done on taking the time to produce some great reviews certainly gives an insight into what you get for your money..,does your 305 net find their way onto zello ? .. pity conditions are not good enough to reach my neck of the woods ....easyer to get into the states than short skip.
Keep up the good work ..love what you're doing and humble attitude far to many are a tad full of themselves 😂😂 👍
Ps...the race prep castrol honda used to live on a paddock stand in the kitchen 🤣🤣🤣lucky we have a big kitchen
Thanks. Great radio and new software coming out each month. Some works and some dont.
Hi Fred..I wonder with the software mods ect do these now actually Rx on 70mhz ? Ie the 4m band ? I assume they can .
Regards Mac
im about to buy this radio when i get my money 🙏
Excellent Video, thank you for sharing this.
Glad it was helpful!