tommcb6016 Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Our flying club has had enough of PMR radios and have made the decision to go to 2M I was looking for cheap ones looking to buy 3 or 4 to start with, had a look on ebay for Jing Tong but couldn't find anything. Are there any other cheap-good 2M radios around OR does anyone know where I can get hold of Jing Tong stuff ? Thanks Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Found these Tom but don't know what they're like: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WEIERWEI-V-1000-F ... uipment_SM Cheers, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommcb6016 Posted August 25, 2010 Author Share Posted August 25, 2010 Thanks Alan, Does that look ok for the money ? I've found some Puxing PX-888's on ebay a bit cheaper they look like the same type of thing (cheap-Chinese) As long as it VHF and will do between 144-146mhz then it will cover the 2M band right? Cheers, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Hi Tom, Yes that's correct. Having looked in more depth it seems there are loads of offers at the £40 to 41 mark, all wierd and wonderful Chinese names Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewD Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I have quite a lot of experience from running these far east radios for bike comms, they do tend to be good value, but I've had issues with build quality and consistency. One of the bike guys has just nabbed a VHF/UHF radio so he can listen to the marshals on 2M at race meets and also flick to the PMR channels for talking the rest of us. I run a WINTEC PMR that runs at 4w not the 0.5w and it works very well, but I can see me getting a UHF/VHF as it would be and ideal solution to clubs (not that I know any more than I have read here!) that still run PMR, clubs that now use 2M (because of the poor range of 0.5w I guess) and civil aircraft channels for XC. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WOUXUN-KG-UVD1P-DualBand-Radio-VHF-UHF-Earpiece-USB-/140405961861?pt=UK_ConsumerElectronics_SpecialistRadioEquipment_SM This is the one he has, even has an FM radio (that mutes for RX) and a torch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibbio Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 I have some of these wouxun radios and hey are brilliant, fm radio vhf uhf, so ya dont really need another radio. build is good compared to the other china stuff, i can comunicate clearly 15 mile away from home , it is line of sight more or less with these radios, but 15 mile inside house to inside house would take some beatin from a 5 watt hand held. i got kenwoods which dont come close Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommcb6016 Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 I don't need UHF as I don't intend doing my FRTOL any time soon, so I'm going for the Puxing P888's http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150477294278&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT Going to order 3 later on so will let you know what there like when they turn up! Just hope my MA headset will work with this.... might have to adjust some dip switches.. Oh and hope I don't get stung for import duty! Cheers, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewD Posted September 1, 2010 Share Posted September 1, 2010 I don't need UHF as I don't intend doing my FRTOL any time soon, so I'm going for the Puxing P888's http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150477294278&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT Going to order 3 later on so will let you know what there like when they turn up!Just hope my MA headset will work with this.... might have to adjust some dip switches.. Oh and hope I don't get stung for import duty! Cheers, Tom If you think one has a dud mic, it's just they forgot to make the hole in the case, common mod on the 888's, but you don't know while you use a headset so might not affect you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommcb6016 Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 Well the radios came and I avoided paying import duty I have a question though... when I plug in my headset the radio goes straight to transmit (I may have been nieve thinking it would just work) can I change dip switches in my MA headset to solve this and if so how do I figure out which ones to change ? Also the two other people I got them for don't have dip switches so I need to figure out how to make and adaptor for them I think I've seen something like this before on another post. Any help would be very appreciated as I currently have three nice looking paperweights sat on my desk Cheers, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 This is the post you're thinking of viewtopic.php?f=45&t=4835&start=0 I'll help if I can tomorrow, Cheers, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommcb6016 Posted October 17, 2010 Author Share Posted October 17, 2010 Thanks for the reply Alan I will read through that and see if I can digest it enough to try and sort it ! I can't find the manual for my head set so don't know which ones do what Thanks again Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommcb6016 Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 OK... I found the manual for the headset and tried a few settings but the radio still goes straight to transmit when I plug the headset in I guess I need to make an adaptor to re arrange the wires ? I'm ok with a soldering iron and can get the plugs from maplins but I have no idea how I need to wire it to make it work. As far as I can figure the MA jack has a 3 part 2.5mm jack and a 2 part 3.5mm jack (excuse the lack of technical terminology) the Puxing has 3 parts to both the 2.5 and 3.5mm jacks, having disassembled the mic/speaker that came with the radio I've found... speaker on the back and tip of the 2.5mm not sure what the middle (ring?) does. The 3.5 is mic on the middle (ring?) and ground on the back when ptt is pressed on my mic/speaker the two speaker parts and the ground are connected I don't know what the tip is on the 3.5mm Does that make sense? I need to find out how the MA headset is wired so I can make an adapter (or three ) Hope someone can help Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommcb6016 Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 Ok having just read the other post that Alan had linked I think I've answered my own question... Puxing 3.5 sleeve is ground so that goes to MA 2.5 ring Puxing 3.5 ring is mic so that goes to MA 2.5 tip Puxing 2.5 tip and sleeve are speaker so they go to MA 3.5 Tip and sleeve (does it matter what way around?) MA 2.5 sleeve isn't connected to anything? This is where I got a bit lost.. on the Puxing when ptt is pressed the two speaker (2.5 tip&sleeve) and ground (3.5 sleeve) are connected, to activate the ptt circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Not quite right Tom, just working on a diagram and instructions to replicate Fanmans setup. Cheers, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Here is the diagram of how the adapter needs to be wired up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanman Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Tom, PM me your email address and I will send you something that will solve all your problems. One of the outputs from the Puxing is 5V DC. You don't want to put this through you headset as it has it's own power supply already. I have several PX777's on VHF and UHF that work perfectly with both my MicroAvionics headsets thanks to Alan K's help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommcb6016 Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 All done and it seems to all work OK had a bit of trouble soldering the small wires up! and when I got it all working and realised I hadn't put the plastic covers over the wires *~#!!$ Thanks for taking the time to help me out Alan it's very appreciated Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommcb6016 Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 Fanman, I cut the 5v (black wire) off and put some small heat shrink over the end. I wont know for sure if it works until I have a chance to use it in anger My next mission is to try and make a cable for the aux input on the headset to take an audio input (ipod) It's some kind of locking bayonet plug but couldn't find anything in maplins and don't have a clue what pins are what on that one maybe I'll leave it for now Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 All done and it seems to all work OK had a bit of trouble soldering the small wires up! and when I got it all working and realised I hadn't put the plastic covers over the wires *~#!!$Thanks for taking the time to help me out Alan it's very appreciated Tom I've soldered a few connectors in my time and it still catches me out not fitting the cover occasionally They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I thought the wiring diagram would be the best approach, no probs. Cheers, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poz Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 I've been looking at all the cheap chinese 2m radios on Ebay (some of the makes look like a rack of Scrabble tiles). Has anyone got any experience of any of these radios that have connected to a Microavionics headset without having to resort to electrical surgery? I'm looking at Puxings but don't like the thought of having the same problems Tom had with his. Yaesu's are too expensive for me and are full of features that I don't need. Cheers Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 This reply is for Dan specifically but of interest to others. I have been having a long look at the ads for all the cheap Chinese radios Puxing/Weierwei/Wouxun/TYT/FDC and have concluded the original radio that they have all been copied, sorry developed, from was of Kenwood origin. A lot of reviews on various sites of these radios refer to 'Kenwood' copy. Kenwood is a long standing name in amateur radio (more years than I care to think). The point is that Kenwood were always back to front with their speaker/mic connections, bearing out what has been found on this thread. So an adapter is needed to interface with Microavionics and equivalent headsets that meet the Yaesu/Icom arrangement of 3.5mm plug for speaker and 2.5mm plug for microphone. I also notice that all these radios use the small SMA type connector for the antenna, which is a bit of a drawback in my opinion. Kenwood was very much USA oriented and I have recently discovered that that Bendix-King handheld airband radio is also back to front with speaker/mic connections. I wonder if this is/was a USA-Europe difference all along? Cheers, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poz Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 This reply is for Dan specifically but of interest to others.I have been having a long look at the ads for all the cheap Chinese radios Puxing/Weierwei/Wouxun/TYT/FDC and have concluded the original radio that they have all been copied, sorry developed, from was of Kenwood origin. A lot of reviews on various sites of these radios refer to 'Kenwood' copy. Kenwood is a long standing name in amateur radio (more years than I care to think). The point is that Kenwood were always back to front with their speaker/mic connections, bearing out what has been found on this thread. So an adapter is needed to interface with Microavionics and equivalent headsets that meet the Yaesu/Icom arrangement of 3.5mm plug for speaker and 2.5mm plug for microphone. I also notice that all these radios use the small SMA type connector for the antenna, which is a bit of a drawback in my opinion. Kenwood was very much USA oriented and I have recently discovered that that Bendix-King handheld airband radio is also back to front with speaker/mic connections. I wonder if this is/was a USA-Europe difference all along? Cheers, Alan Thanks for that Alan. It seems to me that we're the ones with it back to front Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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