24 comments on “Wouxun KG-UV8D”

  1. I can not wait for a good review.
    I think this is surely going to be my next ht.
    Also very curious about the PUXING 973 review.

    Greeting martijn PD1MOH

  3. This radio looks promising. Can’t wait to hear more on this. As for the Puxing 973 don’t waste your time or money.

    • Todd – let’s be honest, since we are all hams. The Puxing 973 you purchased from me worked exactly as advertised. And you were offered on more than one occasion full refunds and I even sent you – without you ever asking – money for return postage. You declined my offers. You expressed buyer’s remorse – which is fine. But please be honest with how the radio actually performs.

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  7. Alinco couldn’t get sub-band RX sensitivity workable in V/U / U/V modes for sat work at the $250 price point … keeping my fingers crossed for this one!

  8. Does the Wouxun come free with a useless s-meter and a deaf FM broadcast receiver that has audio problems ?

      • Nah, it will be just a UVD1 in a different box, just like all other Chinese rigs 😉

        I’m getting bored now of these Chinese rigs and looking more favourably
        at the Japanese rigs again. Strange but true.

      • I have never understood why some insist on S-meters on HTs. I mean, in 2m, 220, and 440 line of sight comms, you are either making it or not. If someone is holding the repeater and is understandable, that’s successful. What does it matter if it’s a 6 or 7 or whatever?

  10. An accurate S-meter would be nice, but by using the latest developments in radio technology the art of measuring exact values has been lost.

    Currently most ‘S-meters’ on FM radios derive the signal strength from noise levels, not by looking at the voltage on the receiver input. This causes these meters to slam into the corner as soon as a certain level of quieting is reached.

    It’s proof that using the latest technology is no guarantee for improvements on all counts, but it did cause a significant price drop.

    • This one is a little better. As long as the signal has noise, it grades in 4 steps.
      Once it gets to Full Quiet, it’s full scale.
      Better than the Baofeng Karate Kid S-meter. Squelch On, Squelch Off.

  11. I find the s-meter does help in peaking the signal up in marginal areas.
    If I can peak it up on rx, then it’s usually reciprical for tx.

    I often find that I can be mislead by hearing a reasonably quieting and assuming
    that I can make it into the repeater. Sometimes it’s not good enough, and using
    a rig with an s-meter to choose the best spot to talk from has the edge.

    I mean, if a $30 radio like a Baofeng UV3R can do it properly, why can’t the rest ?

    The s-meter on the UV3R is actually very good, and works on FM broadcast, AND
    it’s the cheapest radio on the planet !

  15. Thanks for the review, John K3NXU

    I gave it a spin and here’s what I came up with regarding Wouxun KG-UV8D Cross Band Repeater operations

  16. Well, This looks like an excellent radio, but I have questions.
    Currently I have a Baofeng UV-5R which works great except the squelch is awful compared to my Icom IC-91AD. And the Icom audio is low and hard to hear in my work truck, however the audio is strong compared to the Baofeng. That being said, how is the audio on the Wouxun KG-UV8D and is the squelch as good as the Icom. When I talk about squelch I am referring to the Baofeng’s squelch going to picket fencing as I move away from the repeater, very annoying. This compared to the Icom’s squelch which just fades into noise as I move away from the repeater.
    I am very interested in a new handheld and am looking for the Chinese bells & whistles and the Japanese performance. Can the Wouxun KG-UV8D meet these expectations?

  17. Well, This looks like an excellent radio, but I have questions.
    Currently I have a Baofeng UV-5R which works great except the squelch is awful compared to my Icom IC-91AD. And the Icom audio is low and hard to hear in my work truck, however the audio is strong compared to the Baofeng. That being said, how is the audio on the Wouxun KG-UV8D and is the squelch as good as the Icom. When I talk about squelch I am referring to the Baofeng’s squelch going to picket fencing as I move away from the repeater, very annoying. This compared to the Icom’s squelch which just fades into noise as I move away from the repeater.
    I am very interested in a new handheld and am looking for the Chinese bells & whistles and the Japanese performance. Can the Wouxun KG-UV8D meet these expectations?

  18. Warning !!! Had my uv8d for 3 weeks & can report that it’s junk. It is in no way an upgrade from the uvd1p that I have owned for a year. The uv8d suffers from front end overload & intermod that is not present on the uvd1p. This radio is unusable in my two local towns using a dual band mobile whip on a magmount. It picks up pagers & other digital transmissions all over the 2 m & 70 cm ham bands & in the marine band. It also picks up a signal that the radio is generating internally on 156.000 which happens to be the coast guard private rescue frequency here in the uk. This signal is not present on the uvd1p.The 156.000 MHz signal is only present using a whip attached directly to the radio like the supplied antenna which shows poor internal shielding & filtering. Week signals on the radio seem to be noisy as though they are suffering from desense even in low RF saturated areas. Very dissapointed

  19. I have an UV-8d now. The FM-Radio is aktiv but how can in change the Radiofrequency? It is by me default on 76MHz.

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