Monday, November 19, 2007

Quansheng TG-K2AT/K4AT Programmable Handheld Radio


Quansheng TG-K2AT/K4AT Programmable Handheld Transceiver

Kenwood TH-K2AT housing design clone Quansheng TG-K2AT/K4AT is a Compact Two-Way Radio from in China.
It covers K2AT VHF/136~174MHz, K4AT UHF/400~470MHz with 39 CTCSS codes, able to store TX/RX independent frequencies, repeater shift, CTCSS code in 99 channel memory. Output 4W/1W with 7.2V Ni-NH battery pack. Bright green backlit on LCD display. It has a voice reminder instead of keypad beep. Very good physical construction quality.

Solid Build Quality
Physical built quality is good, so some cons on this radio stick out more.

No Squelch Control
One major flaw on this radio is no squelch control. There is a Monitor button to open squelch like FRS radios.
Reception is good, you may not need to adjust squelch but not having control is a bit strange.

Voice Reminder
Unique feature on this radio is "Voice Reminder", instead of keypad beep it speaks key being pressed. Sounds great? no, it's too loud and no control on sound level other than turning it off. Sound is injected to audio circuit after volume control, turning volume down has no effects. Quansheng's specification says language available in English / Chinese (Mandarin) / Thai, but it's not user selectable. Though it really doesn't matter because the first thing you do is turning "Voice Reminder" OFF by [F][5].

Channel Mode
This may be a Pros or Cons depending on how you're going to use this radio. No changes can be made to memory settings in Channel mode. CTCSS on/off and its frequency is locked with TX/RX frequencies. You can see current CTCSS frequency by [F][8] or [F][9]. Power output Hi/Low can be changed in Channel mode.

The radio should have Direct channel number input from keypad. Navigating 99 channels with up-[A] / down-[B] buttons is very difficult.

LCD Dispaly
LCD backlit is bright (maybe too bright), 0.5KHz shows on display but design of display itself could be better. Battery indicator / Signal level meter (looks just works as on/off) is using "»" character in dotted line, it's not legible especially with perforated background pattern. Simple block pattern could be used for this indicator. Also it's minor, typeface of letters on LCD is not consistent, as if someone modified LCD display artwork using a typewriter.

▼ Key Layout
This is a housing design clone of Kenwood TH-K2AT. Location of orange button is Power button on Kenwood TH-K4AT which makes sense. The orange button is "Function" key on Quansheng, this is awkward to setup several functions, it's too far from others.

A button marked as "LM" below "Monitor" button is a fake, no switch inside. This could be used as a backlit button. Leaving non functional element upon design changes (or provision for future functions) isn't good.

▼ Desktop Charger
LED Indicator on desktop charger is not accurate. Simple circuitry in charger just detect voltage. You may want to leave the radio on green for awhile but don't leave the radio too long.

39ch CTCSS Codes
The radio has 39 CTCSS tone settings, 69.3Hz is inserted at Ch2.
Shift one channel up if you need to communicate with standard 38ch CTCSS radios.
ex:TG-K4AT CTCSS ch3 = Standard 38CTCSS ch2.


Remote Mic/Speaker (Kenwood Compatible)

Quansheng TG-K4AT Function List

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