I'm looking at the following system for a mobile/base what are your thoughts... Zastone Quad Band Transceiver 10M/6M/2M/70cm VHF/UHF MP800 Two Way and Amateur Radio 50W/40W Full Quad Band FM Twin Display Amateur Mobile Radio Transceiver! Full Twin Display and Receive, Cross Band Repeater mode too! Features CTCSS, DCS, DTMF, 2-Tone/5-Tone, Alphanumeric Display, & more! Transmits 10M ( 29Mhz ), 6M ( 52Mhz ), 2M ( 146Mhz ) & 70cm ( 440Mhz ) Bands, FM, 50W/40W, Receives additional frequencies too! (AM mode selectable on VHF receive freqs for AirBand recption) Remote Mountable Faceplate, Full Direct Entry Keypad mic, 800 channels & More!!
For a quad band FM radio you will see some activity on 6M and even less if any on 10M FM. I like 6 meters FM I have talked hundreds of miles on 6 meter FM and there are 6 meter repeaters but it is not that active. You may be better off with a dual band 2 meter/70 CM radio.
Brochure looks nice... Specs are Ok... Big Issue is, no one makes a Single Antenna that will work on those Four Bands, from a Single Coax Feed... Nice that it has the Remote ControlHead Option... I like that idea, ALOT... Price is nice, as well.... Wonder if it can be opened up to include the CB Band @ 27Mhz?
Most can be modified to transmit where they can receive. It appears to "new" for any of the sites to have mods.
SInce it's in the ~$220 price range, it's an attractive starter package for mobile use. I'll mention a few things: AFAICT, the rig only transmits FM. There's still a lot of AM on six, and more on ten meters. The spec sheet says that 220 can be added, but doesn't give details. If there are 220 repeaters in your area, you'll probably want to check that out. I didn't see specifics of AM reception for the aircraft band. A quarter-wave on two meters will work on 70cm, more-or-less, and if your vehicle can handle the load of a quarter wave (1.5m) six meter whip, that could be used for six, two, and 70cm with a little tuning and a good ground plane. I didn't see mention of auto-SWR adjustment and/or power foldback, so check that out. Unlike the Baofeng HT's, $220 isn't in my "groan and buy another one" range. In other words, if it breaks, you're out the price of separate HT's for Six, Two, and 70cm. Of course, HT's won't come close to this rig's power, but you could break one and not break your budget at the same time. HTH. William Warren
I'm contemplating making it a easy to remove mount so I can bring it in for a base station... Thinking on using two meters for mobile... I did find a quad antenna but didn't see many reviews... Hh-9000 10/6/2m/70cm High Gain Quad-band Mobile Radio Antenna for Tyt Wouxun GAIN:2.15DB(10/6M) 3.0DB(2M)5.5DB(70CM) Frequency:29.6MHZ/50.5/144/435MHZ Total length：1.27 m （3 parts are 46CM,50CM,32CM） POWER RATING:60/150W IMPEDANCE:50Ω VSWR:UNDER 1.5 CONNECTORL-259 or COMET UHV-4 QUAD-BAND MOBILE ANTENNA
I did that for years with an Icom IC-230. I stopped when I switched to an HT, but I never liked all the time it took to hook up the power and antenna. There are slide-in trays for CB sets, and they work OK, but at VHF and UHF, you'll need a much better RF connection than some slide mounts provide, so shop carefully. William Warren
do you know what the activity in your area is like on these bands? You can get a lot of these frequencies on a NASCAR scanner. Listen around, look up the repeaters in your area. At least two of those bands are likely to be completely useless. The brand is untested and likely inferior to the "mainstream" manufacturers. The FM limitation will remove most of the HF benefits of 10m which are sporadic anyway. A full spectrum HF all-mode transceiver that uses at least 80-10m is useful. A 2m FM transceiver is useful. Having them in the same box is indifferent. Everything else is fluff. [ETA] ...that ought to get some fur ruffled not kidding though. If you know enough about ham radio that this is a serious question, then you're not going to get anything useful out of a 6 or 10m FM rig. The 70cm band is probably no more useful to you. It would depend on whether this rig is capable of crossband repeat as to whether it matters.
Question: Are you really going to use all those bands? 10 and 6 are a big empty. 70cm is not too much more. I call radios like this "Swiss Army knife" radios: They do all things sort-of well, but no one thing exceptionally well. If you are regularly going to run 10-6-2-70, then it's a decent, not great but decent, radio. You will need at least two and preferably four antennas which will add quite a bit to the cost. You might end up spending more on antennas than you did on the radio. If you are like most hams and use 2 meters 95% of the time, then get a Yaesu 2900 for almost half of what that Chinarig costs. You'll have a radio that is far superior on every possible level (plus 75 watts out) and still have enough money leftover for a decent antenna. Quad band just for the sake of having it is a road to nowhere. The more they stuff into one box, the less I believe in it.
Unless you live in an area that has repeaters on at least three of the four bands, I can't recommend a quad-bander...especially a knock-off clone. Personally, I'd get two rigs. HF/6m and a 2m/70cm and call it good. Then you'd have a usable setup.
Not necessarily: the "Pacific Rim" radio industry has been making "OEM" units for years, which have been sold under major brand names. Now, they're putting their own brands out there, but the expertise they picked up as OEMs is still in their files. Also, keep in mind that RF circuit design has been done on computers for ~twenty years now, and a lot of the expertise required during the "discreet" years has been coded into the software, so there's less value in having experienced layout men, circuit designers, etc.: it's just a matter of choosing from the same chipsets available to everyone. William Warren
