An unfortunate luck x4 | TYT TH-9800 Quad band ham radio
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- Опубліковано 26 гру 2021
- In this video I speak with you about my experience with the TH-9800 radio, as I have had 4 of these. TYT makes some great radios, but I can't say the same for the 9800. I like TYT and I'm not telling anyone not to buy or use one, just sharing my experience. Please note that 3 of 4 of these were PLUS versions and also PRE-2018 purchases. It's very possible the latest productions are more stable. So take this video as more of a advisory of considering used models and pre-2018 units.
Video of the "beep" : • TYT 9800 plus malfunction
#hamradio #K5YVY #TYT
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Yeah, Joe, you’re not the only one to have such “great luck” with this unit. Mine lasted a year then on with the busy tone as you mentioned. I’m not quite as forgiving as you have been, one brick and I’m done with the brand and products. Thank you for the video!
Yeah that sucks 😒
Thanks for sharing this video... Glad I found your channel because I was just About to Buy one of those radios... You saved me not only a few bucks but also the headache and frustration that comes along with it. Thanks again! 73s from KJ4BGW
Thank you, I’m not telling anyone not to buy one, but weigh out your options and risk. I wouldn’t mind testing out a new current model to see if any of those problems still exist, but it could take a year or two to determine that. Thanks for stopping by! 73
@@K5YVY one of the other commenters posted about the D model having a fix for the squelch issue. Had to do with hardware on the faceplate. We shall see if it holds up when I get mine. If you have echolink, I'm reachable at my home node, KO4AXL-L.
Okay nice, I’ll try to check the EchoLink sometime. Mine is K5YVY-L as well. 👍
Great advice, thank you for sharing all of these experiences! Still a great deal by the specs, just QC issues over time.
Thanks for commenting, I agree for 4 bands , crossband repeat, and other specs you can’t beat the price. I guess that’s why I ended up with 4 of them lol. 73
Thank you for the update Joe.
Thanks for the comment Liberty. Listened to your Handom thoughts interview while traveling today, great job I enjoyed it.
Hey Joe! merry Christmas brother! Thanks for the info. Hate you’ve had such bad luck.
Hope to catch you on the air soon! 🤠👋🏻
Hey Todd! Hope you and yours had a good Christmas. Yeah I hate doing any video or speaking of anything negative about a product, but after 4 of them it would be nice to know if I’m then only one or if there is any know way to fix such issues. Thanks for commenting Todd 73!
Thanks. I ordered AND canceled an order 2 times because I couldn't make up my mind. You helped alot!
I’ve heard from some that have had no problems and those that have. My personal feeling is if it hasn’t, it will 🤷🏼♂️
Another alternative is the IC2820h or an older IC2720h. Two of my TY9800’s have blown audio A-D and D-A conversion chips. There’s a chip for each channel and the one chip handles both transmit and receive audio. On early versions like mine… the chips are rated for 3.8vdc but have 5vdc hitting it; they don’t have heat sinks so after some continuous use they overheat and blow.. chip is the CMX1383… a surface mounted device that requires a solder rework station. I’m finally getting ready to “try” and repair them both as they’ve been sitting for 2 years on my bench… while, my 30 year old IC 2720h is still going strong. I say try cause what the heck, they’re just boat anchors at the moment. Thanks for the overview… cheers K5KUE
Oh man I got you come back and let us know how that repair goes! 😎 not sure I got the soil or start hand to do that kind of work lol.
I had to return a 9800 plus as well as it simply stopped communicating with repeaters, I could hear them but no one could hear me…so, like you I tried another radio and no problem… I tried to reset the entire radio and reload the repeater frequencies and no luck…it worked great for about 6 weeks
Yeah, some how it loses the PL tones or suffered tone shift to where it’s not correct anymore.
Hi I bought a 9800 new and when it arrived I was unable to test it because I had heart issues I was dealing with. But when the good lord gave me a new lease on life after open heart surgery I got back into the hobby. I had forgotten about the radio so when I found it I programmed it and try to use it but all my radio pals said the audio was distorted and horrible to listen to. I tried reprogramming it to narrow band to see if it would work that way but it was only a minor improvement but not enough to be usable. I still have the radio in the box hoping someday there will be a domestic repair shop I can send to for repair. This problem came right out of the box. To bad I like the radio but totally unusable. So here it sits till the radio techs show up in this country to fix em cause like you I’m not sending it overseas for repair. Good video and sorry for all your issues but I wish I had got to test it when I first got it I would have sent it back. But like it’s owner I needed repair first lol. So I can’t complain. 73’s thanks for video!
Nicky glad you got that second lease!!!! The audio was a big complaint with these radios, you can get some of the mobile yeasu mics to work with the 9800 but it’s very hit and miss, only one out of 3 of my mobile yeasu mics would work, I programmed all my channels with Med bandwidth (which is actually mic gain). I had also done the mic element mod on it, but nothing seemed to make it sound as crisp as a name brand radio.
I'm sorry you had all these problems you seem like a nice guy it's a shame I hope they compensate at you and gave you some another one😮
Thank you Joe, I purchased all my 9800’s from eBay or Amazon vendors back then. And the radios each lasted one or two years before having any issues, therefore I did not expect any obligation for the seller to compensate me, as I knew using the eBay or Amazon platforms I had well exceeded the platforms return or warranty policies, although the seller may have very well made compensation or replacement directly with me, I did not seek such actions. For me personally it wasn’t a devastating loss and was able to purchase another new unit rather than deal with returns or repairs.
One of the radios I sold cheap to another ham that was able to fix the squelch issue and get full expected use again, couple of the other radios I sold working parts off of, so they still were useful in some ways to others.
Must be one of the lucky ones, have not had a problem in about 3 years with mine.
Maybe so! 👍
Thanks for the heads up Joe. KO4HPC 73
Thanks Adam, I don’t want to discourage anyone, but after 4 of them I felt like I should talk a little about it.
Nice use of a radio body as a hotspot!
Thanks lol, I used a cardboard box for a long time, thought it would be neat to use a radio body for a little while🤷🏼♂️
glad i found this video i was considering buying one. I know yaesu used to make a model like this and was popular. Not sure if it still does but if it doesnt it should.
The Yeasu 8900 is discontinued unfortunately. I know a few folks that have the TYT 9800 and it has and still is working just fine for them. So makes me curious if the newer models are more stable. When I made this video it was in mind of operators that might purchase a $200 radio and if it failed didn’t have the finically means to take a $200 loss and then have to find another radio. I’m a poor fella where it comes to radio money.
But it, 99.9% of them are trouble free for years.
Love the radio! Just bought TYT #5 Flawless! Making a Fool out of Yeasu FT-8900 Love it! No More $500 radios for me!
Maybe they will continue to treat you well 👍
Firmware reset fixes most issues with the 9800. I have had mine for 4 years and its been great!
Unfortunately resets / reloading firmware did not fix these. But definitely worth anyone else trying that may encounter an issue. All mine were purchased 7 to 10 years ago, I'm sure things have changed with these since then and may be better 👍
There is a design flaw in them to save on money. They were supposed to be fixed in the new "plus" version, but I have no idea if they actually fixed any hardware or not.
A few IC chips in them get too much voltage, and eventually, it kills them. It's a shame.🤷♂️
Thanks for sharing all the info, JB.
Oh, ... awesome new hotspot, though.👌🤠
3 of the 4 I had were the “Plus” models. 👍
I have the Yeasu FT-8900 and love it. But its getting old. So I bought the TH-9800+. The first unit installed in the car. Wouldn't turn on when if was cold. Amazon sent me out a new unit. It has been good. Made some 29.600 FM 500-1500 miles simplex contacts. So get it from Amazon with a return.
Thanks for the report, hopefully your current one will last you well. I mean there is a reason I ended up with 4 of the 9800's , they were the cheapest Quad band and had one for the shack and one for the mobile and replaced each once when they messed up. They were fun and I did get some good contacts on 6 and 10 FM at home and while mobile. I just can't personally invest into them any longer after 4 failed units. 73 David and thanks for the comment!
I agree with you. I've had good luck with my 9800 but you're right. If you can afford the Yaesu, go with that one instead. You just can't compare the build quality Yaesu vs TYT.
I did think of one issue I had with my 9800. I plugged an external speaker into the rear port and the sound stopped coming out of the built-in speaker once it was unplugged. A quick internet search told me what the problem was and that it was a fairly common issue. Easy fix, but of course it happened after warranty so i had to crack it open.
You get a lot of feature for the price, but I agree with you, it's a gamble. The only other TYT mobile I've considered is the dual-band waterproof one.
Well, thanks for sharing. Sorry you've had such bad luck.
True, but now that Yaesu discontinued the 8900 , a person now has to decide of buying a used name brand not knowing its history or buying a new budget brand that is prone to have some issues over time. Either way is a gamble now, I think it comes down to the price before you and if either one comes with service after the sale from where or whom you purchase from. 🤷🏼♂️ I still have my 9800’s and will get them out to play with them sometimes. Only thing wrong with one of them is the PL tones don’t work, so it’s still okay for simplex use.
@@K5YVY Good point, I forgot they aren't making the Yaesu anymore. If I knew someone that wanted to purchase the TYT I would suggest purchasing it from Amazon and paying extra for the 3 year protection plan.
No doubt
I got my TH-9800 in 2018 and I haven't had any problems with it. I also added the 4 meters band and it works fine with a hand made dipole tuned in 70.200 MHz.
I think that the only weakness of this rig is the cooling system. The factory fan is very weak but I fixed it by attaching a bigger fan to the radiator of the bottom.
It wuold be funny if it was all-mode.
73 from EA7KVH.
Glad to hear your 9800 is still going, maybe the extra cooling is the trick. Yeah if it was a all-mode at its price then it would be something. Thanks for your comment Jose! 73
I replaced the factory fan with a Delta high CFM and its been rock solid.
I have only had mine a few days, but I haven't had any problems and am enjoying it so far. I was aware some people have had problems, but it was the only radio with cross-band repeater function I could afford. The only thing I can complain about is that the separation cable looks really flimsy and I am betting it won't last long. I have also had problems trying to unlock the frequency range, but this seems to be a problem with information changing since last release and I am sure I will be able to solve this in time. 73, N8BJ
Bill thanks for sharing your comment. I do hope your radio is good as gold to you. The separation cable should hold up well, I have used the cable with it and now other radios for awhile. Your right shot the cost plus features, you can’t get a quad band Radio with crossband repeat for less new. I can’t really help with the unlock, Mine we’re wide open from purchase and I agree about you having a hard time finding instructions that work, not uncommon for these type of electronics to have different boards/components/firmware sometimes in the same box. 73
I currently have 3 and zero problems
Awesome, maybe you won’t have any issues. Thanks for the comment👍
i have 2 and 1 hard problem
This seems to be consistent with my TYT experience. I got a couple of the 9000D 2 meter versions. They have an "alarm" feature that likes to go off randomly. Nothing like driving down the road in the mountains and suddenly a siren sound fills the cab of the truck. My wife was not a fan of it doing it to her. The best was when the one in the car did it while parked and killed the battery.
Those radios are sitting in a box with the hope someone has a fix for this. Maybe the proper fix is to use them as wheel chocks.
TYT don’t seem to have problems with their HT models, but the mobiles are definitely full of bad surprises. That stinks.
I set some up for the local rural fire brigade. They love them and outperform their primary Motorola. In theory, the primary Motorola is now used as their backup and they default to their Th-9800D radios.
Nice mod with the pi.
Thanks bill, I have also put in a Cobra 29 and a Motorola cdm , just neat to repurpose things for fun. 73👍
My 9800 will be here tomorrow. If it lasts a year, then I’ll be happy. It’s just a stop-gap radio for me while I figure out my comms plan. After that, I’ll be in the Yaesu & ICOM realm since I cannot afford a Lab 599
Nothing wrong with that 👍 good thing about the hobby is you can find your way of enjoying it, it don’t matter what others say about this or that, cheap or expensive, if your enjoying it that’s all that counts✅
I purchased one of these 8900 clone's when they first released them, after about 7-8 months mine too developed the issue where the left side VFO squelch would stay open no matter what you do. I still have the radio because I just can't give it up lol, I have researched the issue extensively and it turns out it is the faceplate itself. There is a capacitor that ties the squelch circuit to ground that I guess go's bad and causes this issue. It is repairable however it is SMT and very difficult to get too. I also cannot identify the specs for this capacitor so I can replace it. There are now replacement faceplates available on aliexpress and they run about $100.00. I did confirm that is was the faceplate by using another faceplate from a friends radio and mine worked like new again. (tried not to give it back but I guess I'm not that kind of guy lol) I need to source parts to see if I can find a faceplate cheaper. Great video, it is really hard to find video's or even blog posts about people having issues because people just don't seem to either have the issues or talk about it if they do lol. great video thanks and 73's from N0MLP
P.S. I'm told they have fixed this radio's tiny issue's with the new 9800 Plus and 9800D Plus models.
Yep that sounds just like what the guy told me he fixed on the radio I sold him that had the squelch issue. He owned a smd company so easy for him lol.
brought mine in 2017 and not had any issues touch wood . I have never used it on high power , mostly on low or mid1 power. I have used it a lot as a base radio.... when I say alot I mean daily since day one. Never used it on 10meter or 6meter band.... not even tested it to see if it works there. I must say it's been a fine radio for me but I have just upgraded to another radio so im now selling the 9800..... I hope it works as well for the new owner as it has for me.
Good to hear you had one of the good ones. Sounded like you took care of it as well. Which radio did you upgrade to?
@@K5YVY brought a Q900 V4..... HF 6meter and 2meter 70cm shack in a box.... already have a Q900 V2 which works well for mobile opps.... got the second one to replace the 9800 on base...... bit more expensive but worth it for the other bands.
@@cookiebeariscool nice 👍
Thank you sir , wish I had those for parts lol just getting into gmrs
Wrkl886 73s healthy alternative to 11 meter cb for us in the midwest
Thanks for commenting ridge runner! I grew up around CB, but all the family I had that was still in it has passed so I don’t mess with it much. GMRS isn’t used around locally for me that I’m aware of, I do know a local that has his GMRS for when he goes to the mountains where it’s popular, I plan on getting into it myself before long. 👍
I still use my cb and cb is still big today on the cb I go by 2007 northeast Missouri the ridgerunner
I was known by little hollow point , as my dad was hollow point lol. I’ll sit there and listen to ch6 when the bands are open trying to decipher the lingo, that’s a different creature right there lol.
@@K5YVY oh ya we call on channel 17 and have a call in every wensday night at 8 pm central standard time
Me and my friends have been through a dozen of these peaces of crap. 7800 also has problems. If you cross band repeat with them they definitely gonna mess up.
Hate to hear y’all got bit too. I was definitely using crossband repeat on mine.
Every one that we used to cross band failed we have three that are ok that have never cross banded. @@K5YVY
HEAT HEAT HEAT !!!
Years ago, I built a computer for a guy. He had nothing but problems with it. I'd go to his apartment and it wouldn't boot properly and the thing was a nightmare! Then I'd haul it back to my place and get it working again, take it back to his place and within a day or two it would start acting up again. This went on until I just gave him his money back. I got it working again, then I sold it to a friend, telling him to call me if anything was amiss.
Two years later he was still using it and he'd had no problems with it at all. Being somewhat of a computer expert, I diagnosed the initial problems as being evil spirits. (Actually, it may have been an irregular voltage issue, though the computer he subsequently bought worked flawlessly.) The voltage was spot on when I was there, so I honestly have no clue as to what caused the problem. I personally witnessed them, so it wasn't anything I could pinpoint. Motherboard was fine. Hard drive perfect, sound card the best I could find. Video card was a usual suspect, but it seemed to work flawlessly (I even replaced it, but the blasted thing continued to act up).
To this day it's a mystery. Evil spirits.
The same damn machine worked perfectly once I re-sold it. I got it home and it booted up just fine, but I sat by the phone waiting for a call that never came. Like many times before it worked perfectly, so I sold it. Hours turned into days, days into weeks, and you get the picture...the computer worked just as it was supposed to.
So evil spirits was the best thing I could come up with.
On Amazon, buyers of the 9800 Plus complained that it wouldn't transmit on GMRS, FHS or MURS. Could this be intentional? TYT tends to do squirrely things like locking its radios. Did you have to unlock your 9800? If so, how would one go about unlocking theirs? I've seen a lot of reviews on this radio, but few reviews were two years old plus. Oh, and if someone wanted to turn their 9800 into a base radio, what kind of connections would one need? And could one get them from Amazon?
Thnx!
I completely agree with the evil spirits, sometimes it happens. Couple area repeaters developed what we could only call a gremlin. Because everyone they took it to the repair shop they couldn’t find anything wrong. Intermod possibly.
I never used my TYT’s outside the ham bands but they were factory unlocked at the time I purchased them. I used a couple as base radios. All you need is a 12v power supply and coax to connect to a antenna. You can find them on Amazon but generally radios are more expensive on Amazon and by the time mine developed problems(between 1-2 years) the return windows would have been will closed, probably non-returnable that length of time no matter where you purchased. Any repair work that requires replacing parts is very likely to have to be done in China.
@@K5YVY » I've not hooked mine up yet as I'm very new to this. I first need to get it up and running. Would the Universal Compact Bench Power Supply - 5 Amp Linear Regulated Home Lab Benchtop AC-to-DC 12V Converter w/ 13.8 Volt DC 115V AC 70 Watt Power Input, Screw Type Terminals, Cooling Fan *Pyramid PS7KX* work? It goes for about $35 on Amazon. The thought of having to send this thing back to China if it doesn't work is dismal, to say the least. I've bought a number of HTs in the last year and have been fortunate. in that they've all worked. I bought two TYT TH-8000s and both have worked flawlessly, so I pretty much figured it was a good company.
So maybe I'll get lucky. The Baofeng UV9RPlus has an undersized antenna well that won't take most of my third party antennas. I used adhesive sandpaper on one of my spare stock antennas to open it up so I could use a 20W Retevis antenna. I also found that the Naagoya NA-24J would fit, as also the Signal Stick. But that's the only problem. Then I read TYT 9800 users complained that the radio would not transmit on GMRS frequencies. That would be unacceptable. But who knows, maybe I'll be lucky. If the radio CPU tends to go bad over time, that would be distressing.
That power supply I would not recommend, the 9800 requires a supply that is at least 12 amps or more.
I see that since they have FCC certification now they are sold locked. There is instructions on how to unlock the radios transmit at www.radioddity.com/products/tyt-th-9800-quad-band-mobile-radio-programming-cable
There is many 9800 users that haven’t had problems with the radio, maybe you won’t either. You can’t beat the price for features this radio has.
@@K5YVY I'm having problems finding a 12A output. Do you have one you'd recommend off the top of your head? Thnx.
@@johnroberts6695 I’ve seen many people use these types - amzn.to/3wPWAqz
You can also look at www.gigaparts.com/nsearch/?q=power+supply I would say any 15a or higher supply will work. You could get a 30a and it would allow you to use one supply as your hobby may grow into HF radios etc. HF radios typically can use 18-20+ amps at 100watts.
Great video. I had one for 6 months and suddenly it would not transmit on any band, sent it back to company I bought it from they sent me a new one, the new one has very poor receive audio, sounds like a blown speaker and is currently on its way back to company I purchased from.
Ah Randall hate to hear that, unfortunately not surprised though. These would be great radios at their price point if they were more stable. Thanks for commenting! 73
@@K5YVY thanks for the response and your right, they would be great radios if they were dependable. Love my yaesu radios. You just never know what your gonna get with the chinese stuff. 73 ko4kad
I've had the same extension speaker problem, I think it's just a socket replacement, isn't it? I've jiggled mine about and it's OK at present... but you shouldn't have to fix new rigs! Apparently the Woxun version is better.
Thanks for video. Was gonna buy one but not now lol. Would love to see your shack. Not sure if u have video of it. 73's N2WFK
I hate to discourage anyone from getting one, but it’s only fair to share my experiences. S far as the shack I haven’t made a video just showing the shack, but I have thought about revisiting my current audio and radio setup, when I do I will include a shack tour 👍
@@K5YVY that would be awesome. Audio setup too be great. 73's
It’s 2024 and o bought another tyt9800 . I have had 2 others. But sold them off to buy a base station. The problem i have and had is bad audio reports. Muffled audio. So I have swapped microphones and even did the yaesu clone hack. Not much different. All my bad audio reports come from a group of repeaters across the state. Can figure it out. One of the other ones had it also. But i thought i fixed it with a brand new mic. I have played with the wide mid and narrow settings with some improvements on mid. I wont be buying another ..
I've had a 9800 plus for a little over a year and my only issues have been the mic volume is low unless you play with some hard to figure programming settings and I have YET to be able to make any contacts on 6m (including repeaters) even after trying various tri-band antennas I made. What kind of antenna were you using, a single quad-band one or something else?
The mic gain was common complaint I seen, big misconception of what “Low, Mid, High” stood for was transmit bandwidth when it was actually referring to the mic gain. I believe I remember mine being set to either mid or high. I also replaced the Mic element once and also used a yaesu mic on one.
For a mobile antenna I was using a Diamond HV-7a, in the shack I had a 6m Cushcraft vertical and a hygain vb214fm yagi with a switcher.
@@K5YVY was that for the settings in the factory software or in Chirp where it has FM/NFM? I WISH my QTH would allow a switch for 2-3 antennas but I'm down in a "hole" with poor TX/RX and my coax run is 170' long up a Fir tree, a bit cost prohibitive to run 400 series coax x3!
Menu option #34 - WID.MID.NAR - mic gain and deviation.
Yes one run of coax usually isn’t so bad, but when running multiple it’s like dang that adds up (multiplies) quick.
I was thinking about getting one of these but I didn't because it doesn't have SSB and as a technician I can only run SSB on 10 meter also if I understand it correctly a lot of 6 meter is also on SSB
So I'm glad I didn't get it. Anyway it sounds like you have the same luck with this radio as I did back in the day with alpine stereos
Any way I just got my license last Thursday I'm waiting on my antenna to come in ( man I miss the days you could go to radio shack and get what you want right now 😂) then I will be installing a icom ic 208 in my car but for now I've been enjoying echo link on my phone Kj5GTB 73
Congratulations on getting your license! Yeah the quad band confuses some techs sometimes because they see 6 & 10 but then figure out privileges is in SSB. Radio shack was convenient but somehow I still managed to raise eyebrows and confusion when I had a “idea” lol. That ic 208 will probably be nice, looks like the same family line as a ic880 I have and it’s been good to me.
Hey I’m glad you have been utilizing Echolink! I have always encouraged new hams to give it a try, great way to talk near and around the world. Seen many get discouraged when their HT wouldn’t talk far or they see how much money getting into mobile vhf/uhf and HF can be. With Echolink you don’t have to wait on buying a radio to enjoy radio!
73!
@@K5YVY man I had a ranger 2970 100w 10 meter radio back in the late 90s that I used for cb I sold it back in 05 or 06 I'm really kicking myself now I looked at one the other day and the guy was wanting the same price for his used one that I gave for mine new in 97 😂
@seandrake7534 yeah that’s how it is on used gear mostly. Selling one of my radios is a last resort option cause I know I’ll always miss having it lol.
@@K5YVY there are 3 things I have learned you never sell 1, tools 2, guns , and now radios 😂
You will always end up regretting it
Good information! I just purchased one of these TH-9800 and it is brand new. I tested the power output on the 2 meter and 70 cm. The output power on the 2 meter did match the radio description but on the 70 cm, the radio is supposed to put out 40 watts on high. My radio puts out 26 watts on high on 70 cm. Is this a common problem with power output?
Thank you for your video and keeping other hams informed about these problems with this radio.
Hey Ramsin hope your radio does you well! Did you measure the power output with a dummy load or antenna?
@@K5YVY I used a brand new 100 watt DL-30A dummy load made by Diamond. 50 ohms impedance.
Good deal, glad your vhf power out was as expected. We don’t have any UHF around here unless it’s a digital repeater, so I don’t use it much, but it don’t surprise me to see a lower than rated power on uhf. Still disappointing when it don’t meet specs though.
Have you checked Menu 3 (Auto Range Transponder System) ARTS? Pg 34, 35 & 38 in a manual I found online for the TYT TH-9800. Looks like a feature I would neither use, nor want.
The Arts feature is something I’ve never used either, it’s suppose to be a feature that if you and I both had it turned on and we got close enough to each other it would signal us that we were in range to talk simplex. If it was widely used it would be fun to turn on during travels. But I think aprs is obviously better established and suited to this as well.
What quad bander did you replace it with?
I did not replace any of them with another Quadbander, I just took a loss on them. But if I was determined to get a quadbander I would be trying to find a used Yaesu FT8900 at a swapmeet/hamfest for sure. I have a couple Yaesu mobiles dual and mono band (and icom) and never had a problem in years. Yes they cost substantially more, but the reliability and years of service you will get makes the extra money worth it in my opinion.
I don’t know man I just got my tech license and I’m digging the looks/features or the 9800. Yeah people say mixed things about em. I might say f it and get one for my first mobile.
Hey man congrats on getting your license! 🥳 I’m not telling anyone not to buy them, just be cautioned. I bought 4, but if I had to do it over personally I would have went with the yeasu ft-8900, but the price difference made the TYT hard to resist.
What did you get and how has it been?
My TH-9800 stopped transmitting voice about 50% of the time. PL opens squelch on receiving radio but no one can hear what I am saying. Very frustrating.
Ooof, yeah there so many different issues that goes wrong with these radios. Hate to hear you got hit with an issue.
HELLO, the output power of my TYT TH9800 is between 45-50 Watts; that is, if I choose LOW or HIGH, it does not change. SWR-POWER METER always shows the highest output power. I did ALL RESET, reprogrammed it but it didn't change. Does anyone have this problem, if anyone has a suggestion for a solution, I would appreciate it. TB'PGB. Gurkan Bacak
I don’t have a suggestion, but I do hope someone might. I would suspect a circuit failure that is not adjusting power out, Since you have done a reset, that eliminates firmware settings. But that’s just a guess.
Made in China! LOVE IT! No more $500 radios!
I wish Yaesu still made the 8900
Yeah that’s a good radio
Oh please don't tell me that my friends have them and they have no problem matter of fact I'm buying one too because it's a great price point it offers a lot of features😮
No doubt a good price for 4 radios in one unit. I think that shows with me having had 4 of them total. And they were great, until they was not. I’ve heard from several that hasn’t ever had an issue and several that eventually had the same luck I did. This video’s purpose is simply for awareness to those that may rarely have a budget to buy new radios that they might consider saving little more for a more stable brand name rather than have the 9800 go bad and it take them awhile to save money for another purchase. 👍
You seem like a really nice guy making this video thank you for responding to my Gmail it saddens me I hope tyt does a lot better quality control make sure the radios are working properly because they'll go out of business real quick especially if people make videos about their company like this I was going to buy one but I'm scared to now until it gets their shit straightened out😢
@JoeFramo-uw9fp this is where I get mixed feelings about my videos of products, positive or negative, because the radios I had and spoke of in this video are now quite aged, I owned and used these many years before the major chip shortage. It’s very possible with any product that changes could have been made for current productions, in this case maybe they use to use unreliable chips and since the shortage have been forced to use better 🤷🏼♂️. This is where it is important to have these engagements in the comments so others may see possible more up-to-date conversations. If I were in your shoes, and was wanting to purchase a 9800. I would find as much information and discussions online that I could, see if I found more positive thoughts about it than negative, knowing friends that haven’t had a problem, ask them where they purchased their radios from, and specifically the name of the seller so if you felt good of buying it, you could get it from a seller you know has sold some good lasting radios so far.
Please don’t take my personal thoughts as me telling someone to not buy a 9800, I just want fellow enthusiast to hear honest dealings.
Where did you buy them from? And what did the seller do and say about the problems you've had with the TYT-9800?
Back then when they came to market they were purchased from eBay from a US seller. They each lasted a year or longer before problems, so there was no expectation of warranty or seller responsibility.
Maybe it's something that links all of them. Like the power supply causing them to have problems.
On a couple of them, maybe, but the other two were mobile. And I’m still using the same B PSU’s I always have with my Kenwood, icom, and yeasu with nonissue 🤷🏼♂️
I had one for several years and had a blast with it but it suddenly stopped receiving on all four bands one day.I attempted to find someone to repair it but I found that nobody in the USA works on them so if I wanted it repaired it would need to be returned to China.I don’t even know if it would ever have made it there and back due to so many issues with imports already so there is a real possibility it would be lost forever.Just know if you have a failure that you will be in the same boat.
That’s why I just ordered more instead of paying lots of money to ship it to China and back. And yes not knowing if it would make it there or back was a thing to. They are good radios when they work, they just seem to have a short life span.
@@K5YVY very short.
Maybe there were some bad batches in certain production runs. If you can compare your rig's serial numbers with the rig's serial numbers of rigs that other hams are having issues with, there might be a common link to a batch of serial numbers connected to a particular production run. As to why the radios are failing? I don't know. Could be bad components or bad solder traces that are causing it.
True and good points there, I didn’t make the video to bash the radio but rather open discussion about it, it would be interesting to compare S/N’s with others that may have issues, but it don’t seem to be a real common problem. But on the other hand each of these radios was purchased at least a year apart. But also I didn’t purchase them from a store retailer, rather a online purchase, maybe I should investigate possible tyt counterfeit ? 🤔
This is the problem with Chinese VLSI chips not made in Taiwan or USA and why I can't afford to spend my little bit of cash.
Can I operate with a Yaesu 2980? I've been laid up for 3 months and if I don't get on the air all the studying to get back on thr air is wasted. Any other affordable dual band or DMR besides TYT? I'm stuck in paralysis by analysis. I still need to get a switch, patch cords, SWR meter, etc...
Still want to know what your mic setup is. KD9UQE
You could still operate with a Yaesu 2980 for sure, if you got the 2980R it's a 80w radio as well. Either way 50w or 80w is plenty to operate 2m locally and some tropo when conditions are right.
The current Mic setup is a Presonus Revelator USB dynamic mic. I use voicemeeter potato to send the mic audio to either the 7300 or 705.
@@K5YVY Presonator! I've been looking for a Resonator from a few weeks ago. lol
Phonetics and callsigns are an old man's friend. Thanks brother!
First one I bought just beeped continuously with no fix, sent it back. Second one the external speaker jack won’t reconnect the internal speaker. Definitely quality problems. Works well otherwise. Good for full duplex cross band FM sat work
Yeah all four of my developed different problems, definitely quirky.
I wonder if the Plus version has eliminated a lot of these issues? N5ACX
Hilman, 3 of 4 of these were the Plus version, BUT i should note that they were also all PRE-2018 purchases. I now know that K8MRD(Mike) and KG5AHJ(Tank radio) which are youtubers also have 9800 plus versions and they haven't reported any problems with theirs. So it's very possible the newest versions have worked out stability issues.
@K5YVY Amateur Radio Thanks for the fast reply! I'm on a very high fence about whether I should pull the trigger. I would use it for a base unit at the lake house and it would not be in constant use. This looks like a coin flipper.
Well in good faith let me say this. When I’m at a coin flipping situation, I would look across the web, not just UA-cam , for what I’m interested in. If I find more good than I do bad then I’m more inclined to take the chance. My concern when making this video was the ham that barely could afford a radio and if the money he/she spent on a radio that might not last would take him/her a long long time and struggle to save up money for a replacement since you can’t readily get these repaired, then my suggestion to those would be keep saving for a top name brand that has service shops and warranties. 👍
@K5YVY Amateur Radio Excellent advice. 👍🏼
I ordered 3 before Amazon sent me one that would turn on.
Works on repeaters with PL tone but will not transmit on a repeater that doesn't have a PL tone. I've been changing every setting for 2 weeks but I can't transmit. This radio is driving me crazy!
Also, doesn't transmit on FRS or GMRS, that's a real disappointment.
That’s aggravating, guess this is a hit or miss category Radio. That’s for leaving your comment👍
@@K5YVY
Definitely not a good first radio. It's my first mobile and I don't yet know what I don't know so trouble shooting is tough. Thanks for the video. Guys like you are a great resource for new hams like me, I appreciate it!
73
Thank you very much, I always feel like I leave so much out of my videos like this, but my approach is being simple, even if it’s just talking about it. I don’t have fancy test equipment and stuff, but I think it’s nice to come across a video sometimes that’s just a simple approach like it is just a couple folks talking about something and trying to work through it, without fancy equipment. 😎
I just bought a tyt th9800D.....wonder what the difference is between this one and the D version?
De KO4AXL
Hey Tim, that’s a good question, and by features there don’t seem to be any difference. Looking at radioddity’s website it appears the D just indicates their latest firmware. 👍
@@K5YVY good deal! Guess we shall see what happens. My radio of choice has been the qyt kt8900s. I have two of them. They can do crossband too but only if you have two and a special cable.
I hope it works a long time for you! I had a lot of fun with mine where they were still reliable, crossbanding and having 6/10m fm mobile.
Son, you are snakebit!
Them radios did bite me, hate it too cause I liked them, and still like when I hear they are treating others well. I don’t know how I got so lucky.
I have one of them with the outputs have blown
You might be able to replace the finals Without too much trouble if that is all that is wrong with it. 🤔
i have 2 and 1 is beeping every second with no reason as i didn't use it for a long time so OUT of order
Dang, hate to hear, but not surprised. Best wishes
Don't buy #5 LOL. I still have my first, had it for 7 years and it still works but I don't use it often.
Lol Wes I hear ya. Glad you got one still going along.
@@K5YVY 73's
That's some bad luck.
Yeah it is, I really liked them radios, for that price point, 4 bands, and cross and repeat. 🤷🏼♂️
I remotely mounted the head unit on the dash, left the rest of it under the seat. The display blacked out, a third of it at first, then one day the entire display was solid black. So, don't do that.
Ouch….. DO you still have the radio? do you need a new display?
The way you fix these radios is to buy a new one on Amazon, put the broken one in the box, and return it to amazon.
That falls under part swappers right? Can not condone that, and if someone checks the S/N….🫣
@@K5YVY it's called the commie warranty.
You like pain? 'cause that sounds like pain.
I’d rather not, but all my life I been told I do things the hard way.
Check your set up .
Not impressed with TYT radios myself. I had a TH-9600 DMR radio that went long continuous beep after an update of the DMR database. Won't buy another TYT.
Thank you for sharing Kerry. Their HT’s I probably would, their mobiles not so much unless I was proven other wise in new stable productions.
Unfortunately Yaesu killed the 8900.
Oh man that stinks. I didn’t realize that.
@@K5YVY yeah it’s been about 2 years now. The used market knows what it has and they ain’t cheap. Since 6m and 10m are only FM I was never really interested.
Yeah and the asking price on the used market is outrageous provided that you can even find one.
Thanks to your bad experiences turn to be other's good advices.
I just constantly see people talking shut these and thought I would share, not to tell people not to buy, but be prepared to maybe replace one sooner than intended. 👍
You don't know what in the Hell you're doing, or you would not destroy that many models...
No way these could have been bad quality imported electronics, can't believe I didn't think it must have just been me.
😂😂😂 thank you for your quick judgment of others.
You can continue moving along the internet and find somewhere else to be miserable to people.
Not very good odds, I’ll stick to yaesu or Icom but about bought one of these
Yeah no doubt the ft-8900 would be the better investment.