HF SDR Transceiver RS-918 mcHF

Here we take a look at the RS-918 HF SDR Transceiver, a typical clone of the mcHF.
Purchase RS-918 here: www.banggood.com/custlink/vDD...
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[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

I've done a lot of searching through KZbin and your video is the best in-depth review I've seen on this radio. I recently did a video on my channel with the RS-978 that is less technical and just an quick operation review. I mentioned this video in my video and added a link to this video in the description. I really enjoy your channel, thanks for your great work! 73, Walt K4OGO

[@Beevalover]

Nice one Matt, excellent production & VO quality as always ;)

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

👍Thanks for sharing. You certainly get a lot of radio for the money with these mcHF clones. All band HF SDR QRP transceiver for less than £300 - astounding!

[@michaelcarey]

Thumbs up to the designer having the UP/DOWN arrow buttons oriented intuitively. So many cheaper radios out there with the button the Left having an UP arrow and the button on the Right being DOWN. I've always been a Clockwise/Right = UP & Counterclockwise/Left = Down person.

[@Bootyhunter1971]

Those are configured that way ro be held like an ht for use. Still weird but at least its for a reason i guess

[@eduardogarciamontesdeoca5935]

I have built 2 of them (the original mcHF from M0NKA) and I can’t be more happy with both of them.

[@dennisjoiner3717]

Greetings, N9XFX Dennis here, and I have one of those little radios. I really like mine. Still learning. I bought mine second hand. I think I need to play with the AGC settings some, it seems to be overloaded on audio on 80 meters. It's going camping with me for a week in July. I haven't used it on digital modes, my Yaesu FT-817 is my digital rig, and it'll go with me too. Your radio's knobs really pop in that color.

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

This looks interesting at a good price too. Thanks for your video.

[@jimgraham6722]

Thanks for the video, mine was delivered in just 6 days. Testing so far has been quite favourable with good signal reports although suggestions the audio is a bit 'flat'. This could be just due to mike settings out of the box. I think the battery pack in mine is 3S. If replacement comes due shouldn't be difficult to source, or even roll your own from 18650s. On max power setting the measured output of my unit was 14 Watt on 40m. Haven't checked other features yet. In addition to having a good portable QRP+ I hope to explore the digital possibilities of the radio.

[@kennylapham4295]

I loved mine ,I just ordered another one....with a good speaker the Kenwood ts 870 and it sounded so similar listening at 6 khz on ssb the Kenwood's widest b.w. the RS 918 does 10khz Rx and does it well.

[@melvynburchell]

I have built 2.5 MCHF v0.6's and they are indeed great little radios, especially with many of the mods carried out (the eeprom mod is a must).. I also have an RS928 plus which has the built in battery, I picked this up as faulty and spent an hour or so fixing it... Be aware if you opt for a Chinese clone of the MCHF that they have a habit of changing the design and compromising on the filtering... For example the RS928 Plus uses a different oscillator IC so cannot use any of the standard firmware images, it requires special patched versions... It is also worthy to note that the clones do vary considerably in terms of build quality, so do some research before opting for the cheapest...

[@PU5MLF]

Nossa d++, SDR realmente fantástico. Quase cai pra trás quando percebi que daria para fala mais de 1500km

[@dronesgyn]

JA FALEI COM 5W NA ITALIA.. O QUE MANDA É UMA BOA ANTENA E PRINCIPALMENTE PROPAGAÇÃO...SE NAO TIVER PROPAGAÇÃO NEM COM 1000 W VC FALA... JA PEDI O MEU, AGORA É ESPERAR SER TAXADO 100% NA ALFANDEGA NO PARANA BR.. TUDO PRA GENTE É CARO...LA FORA VC TRABALHA E PODE COMPRAR TUDO SEM SE MATAR E PASSAR VONTADE.. BRAZIL LIXO

[@deweystace]

Very nice review. Ex ham wanting to get back on air after 40 years. 73’s

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Cheers! And welcome back to the hobby!

[@RookieLock]

Verry cool lil SDR.. Would be great for budget minded people just getting into HF. One thing that would make it soo much better.. A video line out ! Man that would be awesome! Thanks for sharing buddy!

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

Yes it would be a nice feature to be able to connect it to something like an HDMI display. Although, with the IQ outputs and CAT control, you could connect it to a PC and control it from there using a larger display.

[@RookieLock]

@@Steve-GM0HUU Cool!

[@georgealbertacanadaeh1038]

hello from Alberta Canada. You mentioned that you can connect to a pc, does it present the same waterfall projection as shown on the radio? Does it duplicate the waterfall and the band as a separate receiver would? What features does it have when connected to a pc?

[@arniep740]

Thanks for this informative video. Does this have CW decode on receive?

[@26DR715]

Used to have one but the one without the internal battery, but sold it as i whated to tx on 11m and there was no way of opening this up to tx outside of band even though there is a menu option to do this it did not. But did enjoy using it listening to hf on it.

[@antonisxenos1053]

Thanks for the great video. May I ask what antenna were you using? Thanks

[@F5VMJ]

I notice you said that it goes up to 32MHz (which is backed up by the banggood ad)... but you managed to change bands to 6m and 4m at one point of the video. Are they not implemented??

[@randywinters5609]

I just got one but my waterfall and scope is not as snooth ns fast as yours, also my frequenfy line when i tune the signals dont line up with it

[@sniperwolf1484]

Hi thanks for the video but how do you charge the battery for this radio. Because mine is flat as a pancake got it yesterday??

[@tru7602]

Will this modify to transmit and receive 11 meters on an/fm and ssb?

[@OPIXdotWORLD]

thanks

[@tommycheshire5508]

What external battery did you use? Thank you for your help.

[@bobygonzales6043]

Does this radio transmit in the CB Radio 27.Mhz band?

[@RobMacKendrick]

Can anybody comment on the CW performance of this rig? Keyer doesn't really matter to me, but how's she sound on key-down? Any thumps and bumps? What's the signal tone like? How about the sidetone? These are corners that often get cut in these kinds of xcvrs.

[@tru7602]

Is this modifiable for the Cb and ssb ?

[@trevorputterill]

Hi you should have a look at the RS 978 /Aliunce HS1

[@homebrewham2786]

just watched this video again be fore buying one..... did i see 6 and 4m matt?? at 9:35

[@clarkdavis2880]

Will this radio transmit on 11 meter band?

[@CanadianPrairiesShortwave]

nice radio

[@a.k.3659]

New RS-918 named RS-918 Plus on Banggood now! Waiting for your review!

[@ThinklikeTesla]

How suitable would the be for portable or SOTA or field day operation? Are there convenient ways to add a handle or similar hardware?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Perfect for SOTA! I actually forgot to show in the video but there are two little handles that came in the box, they attach to the sides.

[@georgealbertacanadaeh1038]

hello and happy New Year! Three month's back as seen below I asked a question but did not receive a reply? Based on your recommendation I have ordered this radio and when it arrives am looking forward to seeing how it works. Will this radio work with HamRadio Deluxe and if so how is it connected? George, Alberta Canada 31, Dec -35c

[@digitalmediafan]

Very very nice design just a shame the power isn't consistent on all bands but guess it can't be

[@gerrykavanagh]

There are modifications to the output transformer that can make it more consistent, but generally speaking the Chinese clones don't implement these mods.

[@PelenTan]

I'm curious what you did to piss of youtube. They have this video basically blocked where I'm at in the US. Is there someplace else I can look at it? It's really got my interest.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

There’s no block on KZbin, maybe your ISP?

[@FunInSC]

I'm in the US...works fine.

[@jamesraykenney]

It is probabally a block on mobile KZbin(which includes everything including TV based players not browser based). This has been a problem for YEARS on KZbin, and I have never heard an explanation for why they ban a LOT of videos from playing on any KZbin app but not on computers...

[@kishoreroy2759]

Available in India?

[@G7VFY]

It would be interesting to see a comparison of all the different versions of this radio. I would rather buy this from the designer but my kit building skills are not up to that level. I want to get one, assembled, but I want the ongoing support provided by software updates. I understand that some/many of these radios are not upgradable. G7VFY

[@i.p.8967]

I received one from banggood a few days ago. Screws rattled in the device, which I removed. The sensitivity of the transceiver is very bad. banggood does not adhere to its warranty conditions and will postpone a complaint until the item is returned at my own expense.

[@markphillips8019]

You should try a firmware update. It _should_ use the mcHF firmware but many buyers have found that the 918 clone cannot be upgraded. Did you also test the Digital Voice facilities? It has built in CODEC2 Digital Voice encoders.

[@markphillips8019]

@@RodLittle How about simply updating to the latest revision? Typicaly these clones come with old firmware.

[@markphillips8019]

@@RodLittle Dunno. It's your essay. You research it.

[@matthewlyle4417]

Don't update, the radio will not work with the standard firmware. I did and now I only have white screen. Lost the backup firmware. If anyone has a copy of the original backup please send to me. [e-mail].

[@ErnestGWilsonII]

I just want to say I really appreciate your videos, thank you for making them and sharing them with all of us! I am of course subscribed with notifications turned on and thumbs up! 73 W3GUY

[@kishoreroy2759]

License free?

[@escalibu]

Mobile antenna link please

[@dxscotland5901]

Hi Matt I know this video is old but I just got a Rs828 plus 2nd hand which works great..in wsjtx hsve configuration for mchf an cat control works but when rig goes to tx no output present on ft8..received an decode no problem but when switching to tx no output? Any help appreciated.73 Gm4zji Chris

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Hey Chris, I dont have this radio any longer. I would suspect its an audio input issue, assuming it transmits okay in SSB with the mic etc?

[@dxscotland5901]

@@TechMindsOfficial got it Matt! A couple of presses on the screen where mode display is an it changed to data ext which means I’m using the rigs built in sound card for tx an Rx with cat control 😁73 Gm4zji Chris

[@georgealbertacanadaeh1038]

hello, I picked one of these up, Chinese clone, the first thing I noticed was the waterfall is going up, instead of down such as falling lol. I checked the setting and the firmware. The firmware was out of date from 2018 so I updated the firmware but still noticed the the water is not falling and was going up? I know the display is correctly installed as everything that appears on it shows correctly, not upside down (as I say with a smile :) ) So what is going on with this? Never seen a backward waterfall on a radio? Is there anything that can be done to correct this this? Could you please respond? Have contacted you before but never received any replies? Are you still alive? lol George, VA6GBN Alberta, Canada

[@klausbrosche7080]

Hi Mat, good video! The unit you are presenting looks like a BS188. How did you get rid of that center "carrier" (LO?), to be seen at the intro picture, not to be seen in your presentation of the radio.

[@f4exb06]

I recently bought one of these and can confirm that indeed this looks like very very much a BS-188 with these orange knobs. It actually displays "BS-188" on the splash screen. The downside of it is that you cannot upgrade the firmware with the UHSDR updates. This will brick the display due to a different screen or display chip. However you can always revert to the original firmware. So if you don't want/need/like to tinker with these radios this seems to be a rather good one retaining all aspects of the main RS-918 / mcHF. Additionally it seems to support 6m (50MHz) and 4m (70MHz) with no guarantee on the operation (yellow frequency numbers). Maybe because it uses a different LO chip (Si5351a) instead of the Si570. Mine had no battery. The wires were actually cut short as if someone withdrew the battery but at least it shows where you should connect one and it seems an easy operation as shown in the video. Just take care of the size it will not fit a battery larger than 3 cells (hence 11.1V nominal and the highest capacity I found was 3800 mAh). A nice addition to the RS-9x8 line (I think) is the PTT by pushing the tune knob and internal mic making it a very compact radio almost a HT if you so wish.

[@glynnhm0lsg308]

been looking at this, with my banggood pts would cost about £285

[@supersaiyanrhydon1308]

Would this be able to decode NOAA satellites if I had a decoder hooked up such as robot36 for Android tablets? I'm just getting into ham and I'd like a travel radio for camping trips with no cell service that I can decode noaa images and use the radio for communication to other ham users (my local search and rescue has a ham shack)

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Unfortunately this wouldn’t receive satellite because it doesn’t cover the frequencies of satellites. Maybe look at SDR dongles for receive and then VHF radios for local search and rescue.

[@supersaiyanrhydon1308]

@@TechMindsOfficial thanks for the reply! Was hoping to stay away from the dongles but looks like it's best option... might have to try making your dipole you posted a vid of. (I'm looking at the noolec satellite combo on Amazon but the antenna they sell in the combo takes up about $150 CAD of the $250 system everything needed besides decoder but they recommend Linux operating system for the free decoder and I was having problems gaining root access to my tablet to change the operating system finger crossed 🤞 robot 36 will work free on Android playstore)

[@glenwoofit]

The knobs look really bad. I was interested in one of these but not bright orange. What went through the minds of the people planning the look of this radio? I'm interested to hear how you get on with the FreeDV, I've played with it but only with a computer so it's nice to see it on a SDR radio.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I guess the knobs could be pulled off and replaced if you didn’t like the look of them. I’ve seen other variations of this radio with different knobs. You’re right, I think the FreeDV will be interesting to see how well it works.

[@juergennoetzel988]

I agree. I got mine a few weeks ago and immediately changed out the main tuning knob with a solid metal knurled knob. Easy fix

[@glenwoofit]

@@juergennoetzel988 Have you tried the FreeDV?

[@juergennoetzel988]

@@glenwoofit Not yet. So far I have really only used WSJTX and have hit all coasts and into Canada. Haven't gone voice yet.

[@marcreynolds7948]

There's no accounting for taste, but I like the knobs. It gives the unit the look of audio gear found in professional recording studios (not to be confused with high end consumer audiophile gear that shoots for a refined appearance).

[@chadlpnemt]

I'm stumped on this rig. I have spent several hours with it since two days ago, and I have it talking now to my tablet so I can run FLDIGI which is a feat unto itself, but while it's showing me 7 watts output, the ALC doesn't show up at all an no one is responding to me which tells me there's another adjustment I need to make somewhere. Where would I find that? I also do not have the "SSB" option in the little blue column just above the battery voltage, I have digital, RTTY, FREE DV...I've searched the menus but maybe I missed where to change that, but how do I get a SSB option and set whatever it is that gives me some ALC reading? Any help is appreciated. I feel like I'm pretty close to getting it dialed in.

[@kenmcfarlane226]

Hi.what is the part no. on the battery?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

If you pause the video where I take out the battery you can clearly see the part number 11:36 It starts with NCR.

[@francismcclaughry3794]

I wonder if it will be sale in the U. S>?

[@gerrykavanagh]

These are 'unofficial' clones, i.e. not sanctioned by the designer. One or two vendors in the UK stocked them briefly a year or so ago, but as soon as the designer got in touch, they withdrew them from sale.

[@ronalddaub9740]

Nice how much?

[@keithhitchman1034]

Hi, can this radio work on 11mtrs?

[@ecutechltd]

With different FW, yes or you are limited to 50mw without.

[@BriKuz]

Would love to aquire this unit from M0NKA... but they seem to always be out of stock

[@gerrykavanagh]

They do come in and out of stock. I got mine from him and it's a great little radio and such a fun project to build.

[@marklowe7431]

This puzzles me a bit. The PCB's are so cheap to make and it's not like these won't sell anytime soon.

It will not be possible to update/upgrade the firmware UHSDR on this radio :(

[@gerrykavanagh]

Why is this?

@@gerrykavanagh It uses SI5351a circuit for VFO instead of Si570 and some other changes... So you need a specific firmware for it. UHSDR releases will not work. Be careful while flashing bootloader. I would call this version a "RS-928", instead of a RS-918. Cheers!

[@gerrykavanagh]

@ ok. Didn't know that. So I guess whoever made these changes have not contributed back to the project. Unsurprising I guess. I have a genuine v0.5 mcHF, so no worries my end :)

@@gerrykavanagh Some "clone" sellers do warn about the changes, its all a matter of cost. And unfortunately not everyone has the skills or tools to assemble or tune a genuine kit, making the assembled unit even more expensive. I just commented it because I know a case where the wrong firmware already bricked one of these banggood units [display is now blue, but it RX].

[@gerrykavanagh]

@ thanks for making the comment. Hopefully it will save some people.

[@car4sale556]

Chinese clones are awesome!

[@timbookedtwo2375]

Looks like an Icom IC-705 killer

[@Lugeix]

too bad it doesn't have an internal ATU.

[@apartmentamaturen2dbi176]

Can this run on software on pc

[@TechMindsOfficial]

You can use HDSDR via the IQ out from the radio.

[@apartmentamaturen2dbi176]

Thanks

[@erer5355]

How much this one ?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

around $300

[@nine7295]

11.1 V should be 3 cells, not 4 cells

[@TechMindsOfficial]

You’re right, it’s 3 cells

[@daveycrockett9447]

$450???? No thanks- i would just by the Xiegu G90. Not sure what advantage this radio provides over the Xuegu G90 for around the same price.

[@j204ever5]

Not 59, it was 57!

[@MrPINKFL0YD]

It looks cobbled together

[@marklowe7431]

Some parts being open source and others not can't support thieves.

[@SWRadioConcepts]

These chinese QRP SDRs are way too expensive. Makes little sense to buy one IMO.

[@gerrykavanagh]

Why do you think this? I have an mcHF (genuine) and it compares favourabley with my KX3 in all but the most challenging of conditions.

[@daveycrockett9447]

Completely agree!!!! I wouldnt pay more than around $200- $250 tops.

[@daveycrockett9447]

@@gerrykavanagh KX3 is a bad comparison- yea rhats a company that just thinks a little too much about their radios- way way way overpriced.

[@gerrykavanagh]

@@daveycrockett9447 fair enough. They are the only QRP HF radios I have though, so the only comparisons I can make

[@SWRadioConcepts]

@@gerrykavanagh how much did yours cost once it was all said and done? Also, as far the KX3 comparison, under most average conditions I cant tell much difference between a $20 RTL SDR and my IC-7300. It's under challenging conditions where the differences show themselves.

[@jamesmk2003]

Like usually ugly Chinese design. I could buy it and change the box. Red light is too bright. When you open battery at the back electronics are exposed. There should be power supply that can be inserted instead of batteries. I guess they do not have proper connectors in China. Newark has some better options. Good think about this radio in not a touch screen that I hate. I also wish I had possibility to my own screen design. Nobody is really considering it.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

This is actually based off a FULLY open source project by a UK Ham, link in description to the original designer. :) As it’s open source, you can modify screen design.

[@adrianoragazzo1321]

No offence but it's more than clear that you're totally wrong . The design (and the original ) is from the UK . Second, China folks are around the moon and they already have theyr own space stasion main module on orbit , wich mean if they want, they are good builders / engineers . Comments like this one already makes me smile, because usually it came from folks who get ripped by a 7300 or a 705 . Wich also makes me smile . Last but not least : nobody is really considering it . You sure ? I won't talk about the original but there are 2 or 3 chinese versions and this since couple years . And they sell .

[@jamesmk2003]

@@adrianoragazzo1321 Sorry I did not know it was design in UK. Usually British people have a good designer taste, The worst designs always comes from China and Italy.

[@marcreynolds7948]

@@jamesmk2003 I have a Xiegu G-90. Amazing compact transceiver.

[@jamesmk2003]

@@marcreynolds7948 Fantastic design. I use to put electronics in a square boxes when I was a young kid. Xiegu did not even mount the board to chassis. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pX3FYn-rp8ymeKs