Quansheng UV-K5, Anysecu, Radtel. New entry level starter CHAMP.

This radio comes under many brand names, the most popular being Quansheng. Except for Radtel, they all call it the UV-K5.
How does it compare to the UV-5R? which is the model it is running against. About the same price with many many features more!
Affiliate link: amzn.to/3DNW0vZ
Affiliate links to tools I use when testing for review:
NanoVNA (antenna tuning) : amzn.to/47glgbF
Power & SWR Meter: amzn.to/43S5OiZ
Multimeter: amzn.to/43Xft8b

[@miguelgamero5677]

Thanks for this comparison! Good one!

[@fittoat9261]

Thank you! 73

[@kb5elv]

Also, over the air cloning. Very cool feature if you have more than one.

[@royholmes9010]

Waiting for mine from across the sea, hopefully by mid month!!

[@kb5elv]

As with the Baofeng, all menus and submenus can also be accessed directly from the numeric keypad. The voice prompts could be better implemented with other audio cues for easier use by blind operators, but even so, it's very usable eyes-free. Hopefully they'll address some of my suggestions in a future firmware upgrade (which this radio will do...and the Baofeng will not.)

[@custisstandish1961]

A great little, very well priced HT. I have 2 of the AnySecu versions. Well built, great reception. My only complaint is not with the radio, which is easy enough to manually program, but with the programming software and the fact that you cannot program it with CHIRP.

[@fittoat9261]

Many newer radios are not accessible to CHIRP. YET! I imagine that sooner or later, as they become more popular, they will be!

[@DeLorean58]

With the NOAA mode, if you leave it on one of the channels but keep the squelch closed it will monitor in the background and will go off if the emergency tones are detected.

[@fittoat9261]

Thank you for pointing that out!

[@VA2DXR]

great review, you sold me looking to buy one now

[@fittoat9261]

Thank you!

[@archangel9114]

I bought one a couple of weeks ago and I like it 👌 Can you tell me if I can manually program the name of channels/ frequencies on it? Sometimes I press (* scan) and a long line appears,than I press any keys to get that out of there but simbols and numbers appear 😆 I can't get angry at this thing yet so I laught it out 🤣

[@fittoat9261]

I have not been able to. I program on my PC with a cable.

[@CMP-TV]

A short press of *scan allows you to input DTMF numbers to be transmitted on the next PTT key press.

[@fittoat9261]

@@CMP-TV yes, thank you for bringing that up!

[@jensbaath]

I guess you need a different antenna for airband, any recommendations ?

[@fittoat9261]

I just use a Nagoya NA771!

[@justin6125]

I got mine in and the receive on the thing is crap regardless of where the sqeltch is set

[@evandro37]

much much better than uv 5 i have one and order moro one

[@fittoat9261]

You saw the video, you be the judge!

[@Ross13ful]

How is the reception on the air band ?

[@philipsimisker9742]

Terrible ,sounds off frequency on am very disapointed

[@Ross13ful]

@@philipsimisker9742 oh ok I see well that’s dissapointing

[@raphael.casari]

Terrible. You can’t understand anything. The sound is not good in general.

[@rickymcdaniel6708]

Unless you are close to a airport the air band is Unless. I cant get anything but static. Its poorly on am reception unless you are close to an airport..

[@badd.syntaxx]

what is your goto radio?

[@fittoat9261]

Right now I carry my Ruyage unit until I finish testing the UV17Pro (all reviewed on my site)

[@philipsimisker9742]

Rt 85

[@googlacco]

its programmable under chirp now

[@heywm]

What make/model does it use in CHIRP?

[@joma659]

No

[@kernow24]

​@@heywmquansheng k5, also works with the k5 (8) / k6

[@eddiedowning2571]

I got mine on Amazon for 29.99

[@fittoat9261]

That’s about right! If you don’t mind waiting a couple of weeks, they are about 16-18$ on Aliexpress.

[@full_metal2452]

Interesting

[@alphalunamare]

I was using one the other day under the noonday sun and it went awol on me, I think the keypad doesn't like too much heat. Here's a video I sent to the supplier ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYjCZWSkaLR7f80

[@kitobi10660]

i seriously looked at these, until i saw a review looking at the harmonics, they are terrible at the harmonic ranges and totally not within your licence parameters either in the US or UK

[@92pavelow]

You can’t TX on airband.

[@fittoat9261]

Of course NOT!

[@dutchbeef8920]

Handhelds that rx and tx on airband cost hundreds not 20 bucks lol

[@dutchbeef8920]

Still baofeng is not doing air band yet but then I’m biased because im an airband guy

[@mre9593]

I like it, especially the airplane frequencies. but I have one small problem. what if I want to listen to local police/fire. but I don't want to transmit on these frequencies?. if I lock out the band then I can't talk on murs. On the UV5R you could turn off transmit (duplex) I can not seem to find a similar mode on the UV-K5. (I could set the freq. to frs but I'd rather not)

[@fittoat9261]

Totally agree. I have not found a way to do that. So I enter some unused frequency from MURS which will not have any consequences if I accidentally trigger the PTT button.

[@ImperiumLibertas]

Most (actually all that I know of) departments use digital talk channels that an analogy radio is incapable of decoding. You can look into a scanner or digital radio to fill that gap.

[@steveh2963]

I cant believe how much advertising this radio is getting.. on the face of it its a good radio... but when you start playing with it the audio quality is diabolical.. in Fm seems ok but very harsh in Am well what can i say its not worth a light.. distortion to the point of "its crap"... !!!!! that's my opinion (yes i am licensed)

[@fittoat9261]

A new ‘Toy’ to play with!!

[@VirtualLunacy]

You lost me when you called the UV 5R "the king of the hill" and "the very best product that is out there".

[@fittoat9261]

I was just quoting what everyone else is saying! I am not partial to anything! I use what I like.

[@stealthmanofthewoods2570]

les câbles baofeng UV-5R ne sont pas compatible Windows 11 raison pour laquelle je ne pense pas acheter ce model QUANSHENG UV K5 tant que les chinois ne feront pas de câble Windows 11

[@kernow24]

Cables work fine, if you download the quansheng CPS software it has USB drivers with it that work with baofeng cables

[@ncphotos]

Great video! de W2CSI

[@fittoat9261]

Thank you! Waiting on UV-5R+ from Quansheng for new three way comparison!

[@Chandra378]

friend, please compare baofeng uv17 pro vs quansheng uv k5 please. which one has better RX and test power meter. thank you sir. I already subs you

[@user-oi3zi8rr9x]

uv-k5 is $11 in China,not $25

[@fittoat9261]

Ummm ... maybe so, but when it came out, and when this video was published they were about $25.