Review: Wuxun KG-UV3D Dual Band Handheld

Wuxun KG-UV3D Dual Band Handheld Review

Review: Wuxun KG-UV3D Dual Band Handheld
Buy at Amazon (Not the Same Radio as Reviewed)

Now for those that care about these things, I have not received any compensation of any type for this review. I am reviewing this device because I think EVERY prepper should have at least one ham radio, and with the quality/price ratio this radio is worth looking into.

First strike against the Wuxun KG-UV3D radio is that is Chinese made. Some don’t care –some do, personally I’d rather buy American made, but a simple internet search will show you how hard it is to find a American made ham radio.

First positive comment is that it’s around $100 bucks. This is in a world where almost all other handhelds start at 5 times that amount. I first learned about this radio from a group of ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) volunteers in East TN. These guys all had at least one and they were of the opinion that it was good enough, and sturdy enough, and if they broke the thing it was only a $100 radio.

As I said in the video my intent was to buy one, try it out, and if mine was as functional as the ones I was shown in Athens then I would buy a couple more for the wife and for storage. My wife is now expecting, so I had to add another prepper tier to my list, so the extra radios were bumped back, but I still intend to buy a couple more once I stockpile a lot of diapers and bottles…

I am not going to get into too much detail on these radios, as a ham will just go dig up the spec sheet and it may cause informational overload to a non-ham. But basically:

Wuxun KG-UV3D Features

  • Dual band monitor (VHF/UHF, VHF/VHF, UHF/UHF)
    • You can monitor two different sets of frequencies at the same time
    • The radio comes in different flavors so you can almost pick which two bands you want.
  • Selectable high/low power settings (VHF: 5W high/1W low) (UHF: 4W high/1W low)
    • You can select more time or more power
  • 13 hour battery life
  • Includes intelligent desktop 3-4 hour rapid charger
  • Loud speaker audio output (500 mW)
  • Bright flashlight illumination function
  • Meets IP55 waterproof rating
  • English female voice prompts enable non-sighted operation (can be turned off)
    • The Chinese lady scares me so I turned mine off
  • 128 memory channels (shared)
  • VOX Function
  • Digital FM radio (76-108MHz) with automatic tuning and storing, radio frequency display, 18 FM memories in 2 banks
  • Wide/narrow bandwidth selection (25 or 12.5 kHz)
  • Power on display: show battery voltage, 6-character customizable welcome message, or display test
  • Windows PC programmable, free software available for download. Optional low cost cable
    • This is the selling point for me – I found the manual programming wasn’t as bad as some reviews claimed it to be, but I liked doing it from my computer even though
    • There is some bugs in the setup and you may have to try more than once to get your radio to connect to your computer
  • The program is limited to a “legal” frequency band and not actual – meaning I can listen to the weather radio and FRMS and GRMS frequencies (among other things) but I have to put them in manually.
  • Radio to radio cloning with optional cable
  • 105 groups DCS/50 groups CTCSS
  • DTMF encoding (includes ABCD tones, continuous with button press duration)
  • CTCSS encode/Decode (no decode delay)
  • Stopwatch function
  • SOS function
  • Low-voltage voice prompt
  • Busy channel lockout
  • Selectable transmit over timer (from 15 to 600 seconds)
  • Selectable step sizes of 5, 6.25, 10, 12.5, 25, 50 or 100 kHz
  • Multiple scan modes including priority scan
  • Keypad lock (auto or manual)
  • Programmable by computer or keypad
  • High contrast white backlit keypad. All keys are backlit (except A/B & TDR)

Conclusion

That’s a lot of stuff, add in that you can unlock the radio to get additional channels* and that it feels like a Kenwood (very sturdy feeling) transmits clearly and loudly and you can buy an adaptor to run a longer antenna makes it (IMHO) a very good buy.

*about that unlocking;

1. It’s most likely illegal, and I am not suggesting you break the law
2. With the advent of trunking and other digital radio advances just because you can transmit and receive on the local law enforcement channels on the Wuxun KG-UV3D or other radio does not mean you can communicate with them.

Skills Beat Stuff

Prepper Precepts #12 Skills Beat Stuff

 

27 Prepper Precepts #12
Buy at Amazon

Today’s addition to the Prepper Precepts is that “Skills beat stuff”.

While I love gadgets and new toys as well as anyone.  This is tempered with the knowledge that stuff can be stolen, lost, or broken.  What you carry in your mind and heart are things that cannot be lost.

It is this precept that guides much of what we do here at the Shepherd School.  This site documents a personal journey to gain skills and is for the author as much as it is for the reader.

The more you know the less you carry is a very smart concept from the bush craft community.  This is true for any skill

Having Skills is Better Than Having Stuff

Rules of Civility: The 110 Precepts that Guided Our First President in War and Peace

These precepts are my creed, and having prepper precepts guides me when I face tough choices.  A wise man once told me that when facing a moral problem, the right choice is usually the action you don’t want to take.

I am not a pollyanna person that is wishy washy or blindly follows rules, heck I have a little rebellious streak and love to know the WHY of rules, but I do respect and understand the need for law and know how vital it is for a society to have a moral code.

By knowing what I believe in you can know how I will act. This is very important in times of stress.  If you don’t want to read these precepts one by one, the completed list can be found here: Completed 27 Prepper Precepts.

How to Make a Family Disaster Communications Plan

How to Make a Family Disaster Communications Plan

 

Communications Plan
Buy at Amazon

As an emergency manager I rely on the planning process to ensure that nothing “falls through the cracks”. One of my main worries is that my wife and I work in different counties. I travel a lot for work, and neither of us have family near our homes or our jobs.  What If a “no notice” catastrophic disaster occurs during the day. How am I going to communicate with my wife to ensure she can get home safely?

Your family may not be together when a disaster occurs.  This make a communications plan important to have. You need to know how to contact each other.

Here are Some Tips Based on Emergency Management Field Experience

  • Identify an out-of town contact.  It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so an out-of-town contact may be in a better position to communicate among separated family members.
    • During the 2011 Alabama tornadoes my in-laws were not able to communicate via phone even though they all were in the same county, but since I had a Tennessee cell number, the system allowed me to call in. Every couple hours I made “health and welfare” calls to each member of my family and passed messages back an forth. This works because sometimes phone companies limit phone traffic by area code to keep from overwhelming the system.
    • Once you have identified an out of state contact, make sure everyone knows the number and has means to contact it. Older plans call for everyone having coins or a prepaid phone card, but how many pay phones have you seen lately? A better plan would be a prepaid cell with the number programed as “ICE” or in case of emergency.
    • Make sure you tell your contact they are listed as your emergency contact.
  • Teach family members how to use text messaging (also knows as SMS or Short Message Service). Text messages can often get around network disruptions when a phone call might not be able to get through. This is because it takes a lot less bandwidth to send a text than it does a phone call.
  • Subscribe to alert services. Many communities now have systems that will send alerts to inform you about local issues like weather alerts and road closings. Tennessee makes great use of sites like twitter and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency website to inform the public.
  • Consider social media. As learned from recent revolts and social uprisings Facebook and other sites are great for sending sitreps (Situation Reports) but please take into consideration that others besides your family can see whatever you post.
  • The red cross has a service known as “safe and well” in this service family members that have went to a red cross shelter can register online so that individuals with personal knowledge can look up family members to see that they are “safe and well” at a shelter.
  • Consider ham radio. Amateur radio is a large part of my family’s communication plan. A license is very easy to get and costs less than $20. In a later post I will review a ham radio that costs around $100. At that price most anyone can afford to get a couple for family communication.

Make a Plan That Works for Your Situation

In closing, a plan should reflect your personal circumstances, should be specific, and realistic. An actual disaster situation may make your plan obsolete.  However, the activities required to make a plan, train your family on it, and then TEST it will make the plan invaluable in a disaster.  Best of all, a communications plan will end the “I could not get a hold of you” excuse teens love to try.