Feb 7 2014

Intek KT-980HP: The Power Baofeng

KT-980-1You could call it a Baofeng UV-5R with a punch: the Intek KT-980HP. Rated at 8 Watts output on VHF and 7 Watts on UHF this is arguably the most powerful dual-band HT on the market.

This new radio has been developed by and produced exclusively for Intek. The radio has a newly designed die-cast aluminum front panel, new transmitter circuit design using the powerful RQA0011DNS Silicon N-Channel RF power MOSFET semiconductor. Transmitter power is adjustable at three levels (high / mid / low).

Specifications :

Frequency range VHF: 144-146 MHz (136-174 MHz)
Frequency range UHF: 430-440 MHz (400-470 MHz)
TX power VHF: (8W High, 4W Mid, 1W Low)
TX power UHF: (7W High, 4W Mid, 1W Low) (*)
128 Memory channels
Back lighted LCD Display with selectable color
Dual Band, Dual Frequency, Dual Display
Digital Battery Meter / Digital S/RF Meter
CALL / TOT (Time-Out-Timer) / LOCK
Dial multi-function knob
Multi Scan : Channels, CTCSS, DCS
VOX / Dual Watch / Roger Beep / Emergency Alarm / SOS
1750 Hz Repeater Tone / Shift Repeater / Repeater Sound Response
DTMF Signaling / PTT ID
Steps 2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25 KHz
Adjustable Squelch Level / Selectable RF Power (Hi-Mid-Low)
50 CTCSS / 106 DCS tones
Selectable Wide/Narrow mode
Busy Channel Lockout / Offset / Emergency Alarm
FM Radio 88-108 MHz
Battery Save / Tail Tone Elimination
PC programmable (with optional PC cable)
Dual band SMA antenna
Dimensions mm 58(L) x 110(H) x 32(D)
Weight 205 gr.

(*) Maximum transmitter output power in the Amateur Radio bands.

Measurements

Intek VHFIntek UHF
Suggested retail price in the Netherlands: € 70, seen for € 65,99 at Digvoshop.nl

23 comments on “Intek KT-980HP: The Power Baofeng”

  1. Nice review, Hans.
    I just checked online and it doesn’t appear that this radio is available in the US yet. I hope to maybe find it soon.
    The Tonfa UV-985 also advertises 8-watts on transmit, but I have my doubts as to weather or not this is the case. I need to plug it into my wattmeter and test it’s transmit power.

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  3. Interesting….the rest of the specs are similar to the (lacklustre) BF-UV5R?
    Thanks for the heads-up.

  4. They cranked up the output power. Great. Did they make the battery larger so that the greater output doesn’t shorten the operating time to just a couple hours?
    Did they fix the squelch? Can we turn off the alarm button? Birdies? TX audio?
    Did they put a notch in the drop-in charger for the belt clip so you don’t have to futz around just to charge the darn radio??

    How come they can make a whole new case design but can’t be bothered to fix these ongoing issues?

    • Personally I thought “What’s the point?” Doubling the output power translates into a gain of 3 dB (half an S-point). There is a 3600mAh battery however, which fits on the Intek.

      Squelch might or might not be ‘fixed’ – too early to tell, but I seriously doubt it. The Baofeng squelch system is noise-based, anything close to full-quieting will be treated as it were the same carrier strength. You can’t, for example, set a threshold of S9 with this system, regardless of the firmware. This can only be done with carrier-based squelch systems, which is common on conventional (and more expensive) radios.

      I’ve never seen issues with the belt clip. It appears to be an isolated incident with some early GT-3’s.

  5. It appear they kept the case the same, looks like we might be able to use UV-5R extended batteries, which would be great at these power levels. Did they fix the antenna on this model or does it still have the highly regarded dummy load duckie? Any idea if this has all the “upgrades” of the GT-3?

  6. Pingback: Intek KT-980HP: La puissance du Baofeng | Radioamateurs-France

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  8. Is anybody else disturbed that the radio is hanging off the scope? It seems like that’s an awful lot of stress to on the connectors.

  12. Well I am so convinced of the device does not (I have since yesterday).
    Only more power …
    Measured I have about 6.5 watts (fully charged battery) on 2 meters and about 5.8 watts on 70cm.
    Transmission mode with the bad Orginal antenna with high power outside the band limits is that device very warm …
    Dear except the antenna resonance at Middle (about 4 watts) program!
    Antenna from B5 / 6 or UV 82 is better!
    Modulation is a little bit better, but for the modulation of the Wouxun UV6D still missing a lot.
    Speakers from the UV 82 is also better and the Intek has the same problems with the crosstalk attenuation as UV 5R.
    Software also has some problems (you have to hire ocx files under Win 7 register so that the software runs …
    I’d rather stay with my UV 82, cheaper and more robust …

    Walter

  13. 8 Watts from a Baofeng? Ok, I could only take so many of these on April Fools Day!
    As for John (K3NXU), I completely agree with the UV-82 comparison. I own four of them, plus a UV-82X (222 MHz) and a UV-89 (nothing more than a mis-labeled UV-82), and they all perform the same, which is to say that they outperform any other Boafeng, although I have yet to try the GT-3. And comparing my UV-82 with my Yaesu FT-60R, I must admit that the Yaesu seems to have a slightly better Rx sensitivity and slightly better audio, but not by much. And the UV-82 has a lot more bells and whistles (dual-PTT, flashlight, Tx on GMRS, Tx on 420 MHz, etc.), but the Yaesu has ARS, which I love, and its memory storage is more straightforward. After all that, the price is the final nail: the Yaesu FT-60R costs five times as much as the Baofeng UV-82.

  15. mine is already broke after 3 months use i did not have any power anymore yes a little bit abou 0,3 watts on 145.00 and 0,2 on 433.000 that,s a whole lot !!!! have to go to the seller …..again

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