17 Aug 2010

Chinese SSB and CW transceiver kits/built

YouKits of China is advertising a new 6 band HF SSB transceiver, the TJ6A that is available both in kit form and ready built. Prices look very attractive for a 10W transceiver. Well worth a look at their website.  This last year we have begun to see Chinese ham products appearing. It is only a matter of time before a Chinese manufacturer will produce quality transceivers to seriously rival Icom and Yaesu, and at unbelievable prices.
at 22:19
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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks very nice. I have no problem with a Chinese competetor to the Japanese product. I only wih that we in the west could do the same. When TenTec ceased production of their last Argonaut, I knew it was all over.

Tue Aug 17, 10:37:00 pm GMT+1
Unknown said...

In appearance it looks remarkably similar to the Juma TRX2 10W transceiver kit though it appears to be a conventional design.

It also appears to be an SMD kit so its for advanced constructors only. The support that builders receive will be critical, which is why Elecraft has been such a big success.

Wed Aug 18, 09:39:00 am GMT+1
Anonymous said...

Roger,

The transceivers are from China but Youkits operates out of Canada. Yan from Youkits will be attending Maplecon 2010 this weekend. As I also will be going I will try and get some more information from Yan about the kits.

It looks to me that their HB1 (now discontinued) is very similar to the new Ten Tec QRP rigs. The HB1 was three band but the Ten Tec rigs are dual band.

73
Alan, VA3STL

Wed Aug 18, 03:37:00 pm GMT+1
Danny Clayton said...

Is it true this rig doesn't contain an RIT?

Wed Aug 18, 06:08:00 pm GMT+1
Anonymous said...

* First of all, except for the DDS this radio design looks like a ghost from 20-25 years ago.

* I don't see any RIT. It may be implemented by "locking" down the tx DDS frequency with a mode button, but I don't see a dedicated Tx lock button. So if RIT Tx lock is even implemented, it is going to be annoying to use. No RIT is a deal killer.

* It should have a switchable receive attenuator for the lower frequency bands.

* Receive sounds really wide in the YouTube video. Wait... now I see they have an "improved" IF filter upgrade for something like an extra $40 USD. I would consider this mandatory.

* So the radio is $335 USD with the "improved" IF filter. Meh... I saw a used but low hours Yaesu FT-450AT for sale for around $550 last week. A brand new FT-450 (no AT) is $720, and that gives you a real HF/6m all-mode 100W transceiver with general coverage receive and DSP; almost the same price as two of these Chinese radios.

* No 10 meters.

* Should have a pre-amp for the higher frequency bands, especially if 10 meters is covered.

* Lots of boards and wires! Those vertical boards are going to shake loose and fall out.

* There's no part number on the schematic, but just by looking at the schematic I can tell it's another LM386. It even has the high-gain cap installed. What a shame.

* There should be (at-least) a switchable narrow AF filter for CW mode. A SCAF would be better, but as they're pushing the poor old LM386 so hard, that would require another AF gain stage.

* No mic AGC, ok - so at least provide a mic gain control.

* I think that socketed SMD part on the front board is a weird (to me anyway) STC branded 8051 knock-off Chinese micro-controller. Good luck trying to hack that thing!

* The IF amp with AGC is an ancient Sanyo LA1201 AM/FM radio part. I can't even find a data sheet for it any more. Amazing.

* Why use a DDS and not an Si570? Maybe because it is so darned hard to get Si570's from SiLabs?

* Only 10W - Meh. At-least 40-50W would be really interesting, especially for mobile operation.

Otherwise, it is a nice radio ;-)

73's David WB4ONA

Thu Aug 19, 01:40:00 am GMT+1
Anonymous said...

* First of all, except for the DDS this radio design looks like a ghost from 20-25 years ago.

* I don't see any RIT. It may be implemented by "locking" down the tx DDS frequency with a mode button, but I don't see a dedicated Tx lock button. So if RIT Tx lock is even implemented, it is going to be annoying to use. No RIT is a deal killer.

* It should have a switchable receive attenuator for the lower frequency bands.

* Receive sounds really wide in the YouTube video. Wait... now I see they have an "improved" IF filter upgrade for something like an extra $40 USD. I would consider this mandatory.

* So the radio is $335 USD with the "improved" IF filter. Meh... I saw a used but low hours Yaesu FT-450AT for sale for around $550 last week. A brand new FT-450 (no AT) is $720, and that gives you a real HF/6m all-mode 100W transceiver with general coverage receive and DSP; almost the same price as two of these Chinese radios.

* No 10 meters.

* Should have a pre-amp for the higher frequency bands, especially if 10 meters is covered.

* Lots of boards and wires! Those vertical boards are going to shake loose and fall out.

* There's no part number on the schematic, but just by looking at the schematic I can tell it's another LM386. It even has the high-gain cap installed. What a shame.

* There should be (at-least) a switchable narrow AF filter for CW mode. A SCAF would be better, but as they're pushing the poor old LM386 so hard, that would require another AF gain stage.

* No mic AGC, ok - so at least provide a mic gain control.

* I think that socketed SMD part on the front board is a weird (to me anyway) STC branded 8051 knock-off Chinese micro-controller. Good luck trying to hack that thing!

* The IF amp with AGC is an ancient Sanyo LA1201 AM/FM radio part. I can't even find a data sheet for it any more. Amazing.

* Why use a DDS and not an Si570? Maybe because it is so darned hard to get Si570's from SiLabs?

* Only 10W - Meh. At-least 40-50W would be really interesting, especially for mobile operation.

Otherwise, it is a nice radio ;-)

73's David WB4ONA

Thu Aug 19, 01:40:00 am GMT+1
Anonymous said...

Roger,

I met Yimin who runs Youkits at Maplecon and recorded a conversation I had with him and Fred, VE3FAL, who works for Youkits. You can find the recording on my blog here.

Mon Sept 20, 07:05:00 pm GMT+1
WA4A said...

I see no problem with a simplified front panel and lack of controls on this fairly inexpensive QRP HF transceiver. One of my favorite rigs was an HW8...no RIT, no fancy filters or great band coverage but it was FUN! Operating skill makes up for lack of features. This rig is different from the rest and I'd try one.

Sun Dec 05, 04:08:00 am GMT

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