I know I can make my own now that I have the programming cable and CPS software for the Baofeng 1701, but sometimes the colours don't match what I have added to the colour palette. They are vastly different for some reason. Maybe its a glitch with the software, I don't know. Anyway, theme files can be shared among users. The files are in .gtm format, and some users have made some amazing colour themes for the Baofeng 1701. And the .gtm files are very easy to add to the radio with the software.
Problem is, one of the only places where users have openly shared the majority of these themes, which are technically free to download, has been left unworking due to the owners claiming that people / bots etc have been hacking the website, and they have disabled important parts of the website because of that. So no one else can register to the website, and the themes can't be grabbed / downloaded.
Pictured above. A screenshot from the thread "Post your creations here" on the OpenGD77 forum, where nothing can be downloaded and no one can register to the site anymore. The colour theme above reminds me of the old Ceefax screen which used to show on TV in the UK back in the day.
Despite the themes being visible as thumbnails with download links on the site. As mentioned above, that website is the OpenGD77 forum. As a result, none of the shared .gtm theme files at the thread linked to above can be downloaded anymore. I'm not sure if users who are already registered on the forum still have access to the site and are able to download files. I did manage to find 3 other gtm files online but that's it. The best ones are on the OpenGD77 forum.
Does anyone know of a website or download link that has all the .gtm theme files in one place. I could not find one. The files themselves are tiny in size, literally under 1KB. So a full download of all the files on that forum would probably be less than 1mb to download. So frustrating to be able to see them all in the forum thread and not be able to use any of them.
Here are some quick reception comparisons between the new UV K1 Mini Kong and older K5 in airband. There are two videos below. The first one shows the older Quansheng picking up air-band better than the K1. And the other video shows the reception of the K1 when the stock antenna from the older K5 is switched over the the newer K1. With that we see an improvement in reception on the K1 Mini Kong. This leads me to believe the small stubby antenna supplied with the K1 isn't great in airband frequencies. And probably isn't as good In general as the standard antenna that comes with the older K5 / K6's.
Here it is with the antennas switched over
Overall, I think the older K5's and newer K1 are basically the same radios internally. With a very similar reception strength and reception sound quality overall. I believe they have the same chip inside. Both great radios, but I personally won't be buying a K1 at this time though, as there doesn't seem to be much difference between them when compared to the K5 / K6. So, as much as I like the look of the newer K1, I'll stick with my K5 and K6 for now. It seems like they are still the best cheap Quansheng radios for the price in my opinion.
Quite an interesting test / tear down of the original stock Quansheng K5antenna and one of the many fake Nagoya antennas that are out there for sale. Don't get me wrong, just like what's said in the video, some of the fake Nagoya's actually work very well. I should know, as I have a few which I believe are not genuine. So yes, some are excellent. But some are also terrible. Problem is, genuine Nagoya antenna's are so popular and well thought of, that every tom dick and harry is ripping them off. So its luck of the draw as to whether you end up with a good one or not. Interesting video.
The new Quansheng UV-K1 and UV-K1 (8) are available to order on Banggood and AliExpress. There are a few people that already seem to have this radio, so pre-order deliveries shouldn't take that long to be delivered. Although on some listings it does say around 30 days. Both the Quansheng UV-K1 and UV-K1 (8) have the same features. The only difference is, I believe, the way they look. Which isn't all that different really. I think they both look great. Under the shell they are very similar to the Quansheng UV K5 8 with the stock software. Same frequency range, TX / RX etc. The one big difference between the older models and newer models is the flash memory capacity.
It has been increased in these two newer models to 2mb. That might not seem a lot, but in terms of firmware text code for a little analogue Quansheng radio, that is a lot. This means that these two radios can be modified to have even more features and different types of firmware installed than the older Quansheng's were capable of having. Only problem is, those firmware's need to be developed for these radios.
So there will be a wait for that. But the maker of the F4HWN firmware is already on the case and should have something ready to be released soon. So that will be great. And I'm sure in time other developers will follow suit. Some may already be working on it.
The battery options are a bit like what's available for the Baofeng UV-5R. You have the shorter, smaller capacity battery [1400mAh] which doesn't add any extra length to the radio. And then there's the larger capacity battery [2500mAh], which does extend the radios length.
Some radios extended batteries are just fatter, making the radio thicker. But with these two it's longer, just like with the Baofeng UV-5R. Still though, the UV-K1 and UV-K1 (8) are small radios, so even with the longer life battery the overall radio size is still not huge.
Many of the older radio scanners are quite limited in how many kHz steps they have. A lot of them just have the basic ones. So it has been quite interesting messing around with a modified Quansheng K5-8 [here] to see what can be found hiding under the many different kHz step types it has. My latest step number has been 8.33kHz. I think a lot of people, me included, always associate 8.33kHz with airband. Those who love listening to aviation frequencies always want scanners that have the 8.33kHz steps available. But I have no interest in airband, so I've been using the 8.33kHz step size to scan through all the frequencies not airband and have found some interesting "hidden" frequencies.
Don't get your hopes up, I haven't found anything top secret or anything. Just things like workplaces, people talking, etc. Still, it's interesting that if I was using a scanner that had no 8.33kHz step size, I don't think I would have ever know anyone was there. And I get the feeling that by the odd frequencies that these companies and people are using, they wanted it that way and are trying to stay undiscovered. Some of the communications are quite rare and sporadic, so I think there was some luck involved in finding them.
Anyway, if you have a radio capable of searching using 8.33kHz steps, start searching if you haven't already. A modified Quansheng can search using 8.33kHz steps, as well as many other steps. Some radio receivers can still go to frequencies that use 8.33kHz, even though they don't have that step size.
One example is the Baofeng 1701, which is digital and analogue. I use the Quansheng to find the frequencies scanning in 8.33kHz steps, then type in the frequency on the Baofeng. 9 times out of 10 the Baofeng has been able to listen to the found frequencies if I type them in manually, even though it does not have the 8.33kHz step size / spacing.
This is a quick post that will explain how to scan frequencies, save frequencies, and then scan them. This post is for the Baofeng DM 1701 with OpenGD77 installed. If yours has the stock / original software, this process will be different. If you are just interested in receiving signals like I am, and finding as many DMR frequencies as you can, make sure most filters are turned off. The only filter I have on is CC scan. All the rest are turned off. Or to "none" as they are called on this radio. On some radios and to some people, it's referred to as promiscuous mode.
How to find / scan for new frequencies
When it comes to scanning for new frequencies, the user has to set a low frequency and a high frequency. Then scan in between the low and high frequency setting. To do this press the red button to get into VFO / manual frequency mode. Long press the up arrow and two frequencies [or two blank spaces for entering frequencies] on the left and right should appear at the bottom of the screen.
Then, type the frequency you want to start the scan from, which would be the lower frequency. Once done press the green button. Now do the same for the high frequency on the other side. Once done press / long press the up arrow and the radio should start scanning within the frequency range you have just set. Example: from 430MHz [low] - 440MHz [high].
How to save frequencies
If you find a good frequency while scanning and want to save it, first press the green button once so the scan stops / stays at that frequency permanently and doesn't continue scanning once the signal is no longer being received. Now press the highest button on the side of the radio, the one above the PTT button. There you will see a menu. Scroll down until you come to "VFO --> New chan". Select that [green button] and it will ask you to confirm that you want to save the frequency to a new channel. Press Yes [green button]. And that's it, the channel has been saved.
Scanning saved frequencies
To scan the frequencies that have been saved, toggle between VFO and channel mode by pressing the red button on the keypad. Once in channel mode, perform a scan by long pressing the up arrow. The radio will now start scanning through the channels you have saved. Hope this helped you out.
The Sparkelec DP-666 TEF6686 ESP32 RDS FM Radio. This has got to be one of the nicest looking radios I've seen for some time. it looks superb. And going on many of the reviews out there, it's FM performance is excellent. It does shortwave, longwave, medium wave, all the commercial FM radio stations etc. It also has AM, but if you wanted to use the AM for airband, you may want to find another radio. Reports are that it cannot pick up airband at all. I seen a great comment from a user on YouTube that I think pretty much explains what the issue is with airband. See it quoted below.
"In short. The AIR band is converted to shortwave, it only works with a converter that is purchased separately and connected to the antenna. So don't try to listen to it without a converter, the tef chip is not for the AIR band :) The donut antenna is made incorrectly, the coils are in antiphase (useless). They need to be modified to be in series and in phase (the modification is on the internet). That antenna is very good in longwave and part of mediumwave, it is useless in shortwave, its sensitivity decreases after 1200khz and above."
So yes, I think this commenter is correct in that it will only work with a converter on airband. But anyway, back to FM mode. Some of the sensitivity tests I have seen have been impressive. It picks up FM really really well. The colour screen is IPS. Which if you don't know what that means, is that it can be seen clearly when viewing from any angle. It doesn't fade or wash out if viewing from side views etc. And the speaker is also very good, nice and clear.
Something not so great that surprised me, was that I thought from looking at the Sparkelec DP-666 TEF6686 only in the product description images, that it was made of metal. But its actually plastic, which is a bit disappointing to be honest. The nobs / pots at the top are metal, so that's something I suppose. But I still think they should have made the Sparkelec DP-666 TEF6686 with a metal body. Still, it's such a nice looking radio. I love it.
Some quick specifications. It also has lots of customization options, touch screen, 5000mAh battery, SMA antenna connection, USB-C connection port for charging the battery and performing firmware updates. It also has a 3.5mm headphone jack. It does remind me a bit of the Malahit DSP2 just in the way it looks, square in size and with a very similar screen. I don't believe the Sparkelec DP-666 has the same noise reduction feature that the Malahit DSP2 has. But not many radios do! Still a great radio for FM lovers. But do note - it does not have SSB.
