Wouxun KG-U3VD HTRoger Reini, KD8CSE

March 8, 2012

Overview

Wouxun (O-Shing) is a Chinese electronics manufacturer that has made a name for itself with low-cost commercial and amateur HT transceivers

Popular items at Dayton Hamvention, vendors sell out

Overview of KG-U3VD

Dual-band transceiver

Available in 2m/220 MHz or 2m/70cm models

Receives from 76-108 MHz, 136-174 MHz, 216-280 MHz (220 version), 350-470 MHz (one 440 version), 420-520 MHz (other 440 version)

Power: VHF, 5W/1W; UHF, 4W/1W

Features of KG-U3VD

1700 mAh battery

128 memory locations

A bright LED flashlight

VOX

More info: http://www.powerwerx.com/wouxun-radios/kg-uv3d-dual-band.html#desc

Quirks of KG-U3VD

Antenna connector is SMA but reversed: male is recessed in body, antenna uses female

3rd-party accessory availability increasing

Manual programming VERY difficult; most resort to programming via computer, which is fairly simple

Programming the KG-U3VD

Windows-only software

Bare-bones, but gets the job done

Table format makes it easy to enter the frequencies, PL tones, etc.

Again, offsets are not automatically calculated

Screen Grabs

Screen Grabs pt. 2

Screen Grabs pt. 3

My Experience

Manual programming is very difficult (I wouldn’t bother, frankly), but programming via PC and USB cable is easy

Have to program the offset frequencies yourself; you can program incorrect offsets if you’re not careful

Default value on time-out timer (60 s) is too short; affected my net participation. Can be changed, though

Performance is good on 2m and on 220 MHz

Price point makes it a very attractive buy

More information

Wouxun site: http://www.wouxun.com/

Powerwerx (distributor): http://www.powerwerx.com/wouxun-radios/

A link to how difficult manual programming is: http://tinyurl.com/6njtwun