When Chinese manufacturers came up with the Baofeng UHF/VHF hand held radios, the preparedness community gobbled them up like Potassium Iodide pills after a nuclear melt down. These affordable hand held ham radios gave a much needed boost to the amateur radio community as well, despite many hams denouncing them as garbage. Now, China looks positioned to shake up the HF market as well.
Introducing the uSDX 8 band multimode QRP transciever. This little radio puts out up to 5 watts and covers the 10/15/17/20/30/40/60/80M bands. Modes include c/w and ssb (lsb and usb) and can also be used for digital modes such as FT8, JS8, and more when combined with a computer. The uSDX is a SDR (software defined radio) driven unit controled with an integrated Arduino. I just knew those little Arduinos would e useful for something!
The unit comes with a microphone that sports the familiar Kenwood style connector and runs on 13.8 volts (minimum 9vDC) but you will have to provide your own power supply. Measuring only 3.3″ X 1.1″ X 4.3″, this little radio fits easily into a cargo pocket for those dad types that insist cargo shorts are fashionable as well as handy. A built in LCD display helps tune to the frequency required.
Preppers that passed their Canadian Amateur Radio Basic exam with a score of 80% or better can now afford to get onto the HF bands, further improving their comms capabilities.
Reviews on the unit are mixed, but most come up with the “OK for the price” determination. Many reviews complain about audio quality from the speaker. Understandable given it’s tiny size and price point. It also has a built in c/w decoder for the dit-dah illiterate.
The uSDX can be found all over the internet (Ebay, Amazon, etc.) for under $200 CAD landed at your door.