Pofung UV-6R Dual Band Handheld

Pofung UV-6R 136-174MHz & UHF:400-470MHz Dual Band Handheld FM Professional Two-way Radio

              Lots of radio in a small package. Built well and performs well.

http://www.radioddity.com/

              http://www.radioddity.com/skin/frontend/default/lanting/download/UV-6R%20User%20Manual

Brilliant Easy to read display

The first thing that impressed me aside from the size and quality was the brilliant and easy to read display of this radio. The two line display and the choice of display color make this radio easy to use and navigate through the menu system. The various option for screen color lighting also make the radio easy to read. The fact that the display lighting can be changed to suit the operator is a nice feature.

Superb audio quality

I have to say that after owning a few of the big 3 brand of radios I was thrown back by the outstanding and loud audio this radio has. I was not sure what to expect at first with such a small radio but the audio is outstanding, sounds great and no distortion even at full volume. 

Features and Specifications:

·         Dual Band Transceiver

·         Brilliant L.C.D. Display

·         D.C.S. and C.T.C.S.S. encoding

·         VOX function

·         Flashlight/Alarm feature

·         FM radio band receive

·         128 memory channels

·         Dual watch

·         Menu driven programming

·         Software available for programming (cable sold separately)

·         Drop in Li-On charger

·         7.4v 1800mah Li-On battery

·         High (5w) and Low (1w) power settings

·         Accessory ports for adding speaker microphone (sold separately)

·         Belt clip ( Soft case also sold separately)

·         Selectable frequency steps

·         Selectable repeater offsets

·         Adjustable squelch via menu

·         Adjustable TOT (Transmission Timer)

·         Cross band receive/transmit

·         Dual VFO

·         Narrow and Wide FM selectable

And much more to even include in features.

The radio itself is great little performer. Battery life on receive is fantastic, battery life on transmit has yet to be determined. Looks rugged and fits nicely in the hand. 

For the price of this radio (under $50.00 with free shipping to Canada and U.S.A.) you cannot go wrong for a radio to throw in your shirt pocket or your backpack as a take along radio to listen to N.O.A.A. weather stations, FM stations and monitor local repeaters. Accessories are all about one third each of the cost of the radio, which makes the low price of this radio even more impressive. The small antenna with SMA connector though lacks in receive performance of course, but other antennas can be purchased and used with this radio to get out of those fringe areas.

The Pofung UV-6R is a great introduction to the increasing line of radios on the market. It makes it affordable for the first time user and easy to operate; it also performs well and gets great audio reports into the repeaters. It’s light weight and long battery life make a great emergency radio for that go-kit or to have on hand when needed for that last minute hike.

Fred Lesnick

VE3FAL

**** (4 out of 5)

Plagued with noise in radio room, culprit? Battery (Smart) Chargers

I do not do much operating in my radio room in the house, most of my operations are done portable. But for some time now I have been plagued with some major noise to my rigs, the noise is about S9 or more at times and varies on certain frequencies and sometimes with odd sounds.
Not too long ago I had rebuilt my 24v battery pack for my PRC-104 with NiMh batteries, what I had found when the charger was working was the noise was atrocious, once battery was charged the noise would subside but I guess it was never totally gone. So one day when all of our power was down for a tree on the line I tested the radios with battery and found zero noise levels, none what so ever, so it lead me to start searching a bit deeper, looking at TV noise, routers etc, but still no luck nailing the problem.

So I continued to do a bit of more pulling of plugs and seeing what and where the noise could be coming from. I own many types of battery packs and chargers, batteries for radios, cameras and scanners, so I had to start one at a time. I leave the chargers always plugged in ready to go, so never really anticipated that this would be my issue. But I was very surprised when I found two of my chargers that were the problem.

The one charger was indeed my smart charger for my NiMh battery pack for my PRC-104.

 

The other charger that turned out to be an issue was a Duracell battery charger that I use for my camera batteries. It was amazing at how quiet things got once they were unplugged. The noise on my VX-1700 with these chargers plugged in and not being used would be a solid 9 and more, once I unplugged both of these units the noise dropped to a 3 and I could hear stations once again. I need to look at some of the other chargers in the house that are used for routers and other items in the house. 

The NiMH charger when charging makes all bands useless when it is actually charging, the charger for my VX-1210 is the same, very loud noise levels emitted from these units.

So I am glad I did a bit of unplugging and checking and have found some of the issues that have plagued the home shack. Many of today's electronics is just plain noisy and does emit all kinds of stray RF and noise.