Chinese H/Ts
Yeah, prob'ly makes sense to try one before we get too critical. I've been using a Chinee H/T - Wouxun KG-UV1D - as my exlusive H/T for quite a while, daily, and it does more than okay.
The big names are for the most part labeled as "Made in Japan" and back in the '80s to maybe 2000 that was alright because of "Kaizen" and a national adherence to Demming's QC laws. But now the Japanese manufacturers are more into profitability and Keynes and they sub out one heck of a lot of sub-assemblies and components to - - oh yeah, CHINA! Or maybe Korea or Vietnam. (No love at all between Japan and China, or Korea or Vietnam for that matter - an historic racial thing, but money is money.)
Largely, the quality of all Asian goods is very, very good. Final assembly can be an issue in China as there is no real emphasis on training of assemblers. It is important for China to employ millions of people to assemble millions of parts and OJT can go something like: "Here are the parts and there is where they go." Also, a lot of the price advabtage of China and some other Asian countries is from their government ownership or subsidies keeping the prices low to dominate markets. The quality can be deceptively good even when the price is low. Our depreciating dollar is going to add price USD globally, though, and we'll feel that big time very soon.
Yes, I do have extensive experience dealing with Asian suppliers for a large US manufacturer. Retired engineer for a major US mega-business. We "branded" a heck of a lot of Asian products and used even more Asian components and sub-assemblies. You would not want to pay for our stuff if it was all made here, and even Japan has pretty much priced itself even with domestic manufacturers. (Notice how much stuff is now made in China and labelled "Hecho En China"? That's to tell the Mexicans they, too, have priced themselves out of the market!)
I do have criticisms of Wouxun but they're minor. Programing issues and some minor design changes they might have made for very little cost. I've even bounce-tested mine off various surfaces and it came through fine except the time I dropped it on the rubber ducky thing and made that "horizontal" until the $14 replacement came in. That goofy antenna socket is one of my gripes!
The Baofengs I tried I like but they have that low power issue of only 2W output. That's probably okay in a city like where I live with a triple handful of local repeaters within 5 miles. But for reaching out it isn't good. The low 70cm power is probably okay (2W same as early Wouxun) since 70cm just seems to penetrate buildings and plow dirt a little better than 2m. Sometimes higher power on 70cm can cause some bothersome reflectence. Low TX power does help battery life some and in an H/T that's critical.
They probably will be great for the "s--t 'n' git" bag or the car trunk, being better than yelling loudly. Nice dual-channel FRS-like walkies with just enough power and the right frequencies to be fun and useful.
If I get one to seriously wring out I'll report on it from a non-EE perspective. Hopefully, Moleculo will get to that first 'cause he actually knows things and that makes for a better review!
