Comments by "knoxieman" (@knoxieman) on "Zastone UV-8DR - Yaesu VX-8 Clone | Long Range Simplex Test - 23 Miles!" video.

  1. Performance of this radio/Antenna isnt very good, its a shame as it looks the part and I like the charger base and the software, if you can get another antenna to fit might be an option? on mine the battery also self discharges very quickly in the radio when not being used, all my others radios are the exact opposite and hold their charge for in some cases over a few years! Your UV5R might be suffering from the plastic moulding covering the mic input some people have reported having to dremmel the cases on some of these cheap radios to improve audio quality. All that being said 23 Miles with you sat in a car isnt bad? I presume your friend had an external antenna on his Icom? the reason it isnt opening the repeaters might be down to poor tones being generated in the radio? I will have a play with my radio and if I find anything I will share on my channel.
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  2. I was given the radio by a family member else I would also have dropped it in a bucket, sadly I dont think the radio is going to be one I use very much, as most of my radios sit on the shelf not charging and need to be ready for action, If I get chance I will measure the battery drain when its switched off using my current meter, I reckon it was only a week and it was flat which is not acceptable, It might be that the battery monitoring circuit built in to the battery is doing it or it could be the radio, either way I will find out. Im looking forward to seeing the water test though, make sure its on when you dunk it :-)
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