Abell A-80 Honest Review

It's been a while since I last posted here. Quite a number of things happened involving me and were well written in other blogs who I featured. Regarding on the Hj Jamain Family gathering at Kuantan and the latest was the PEMANCAR visit to Gunung Senyum. You could view the blogs on these two from my Blog List. Both events were extraordinarily fun and hope we could do it more often.

As for the above title, I had the chance to test out this new model for a week or two. I got it from my supplier and I intended to market this model and currently as their sole agent for Pantai Timur. Here is the review, an honest review from my personal point of view:

When I first got the package, the first impression was, the packaging featured a typical China made product. The item came with a transceiver, a lanyard, a rechargeable battery, a desktop charger set and an operating manual. One thing that I noticed from the manual, the English was well written and easy to understand, but too simplistic.


At the first glance of this item, the product built quality of its transceiver is solid, and having a good size, nice for the grip on my medium sized hand. The weight is just nice where it is not too heavy nor too light. It does not have the "plasticky" feeling on my hand.

The markings of the channel (16 channels) are very clear and sharp printed for easy reference and the printings looked well placed and aligned with the channel marking on the knob. Talking about knobs, the feeling while rotating them were good and not as flimsy as some other China made handhelds.

The volume knob on the other hand, does not have the volume level marking on the knob itself making it little hard to determine the volume of the radio while in operation. That is a bit of a downsider for this model where they should put at least a tiny dot on the knob to show its volume level indicator (imagine Motorola GP328 volume knob). Though it can be solved through DIY method.


The Push To Talk (PTT) button and the other two buttons are like normal buttons from other handheld models from other maker, just that pressing it felt solid and convincing. Not too hard or not too soft. Juts nice.

The battery fits snugly on the body with just one latch to lock and release. Once locked, it was very sturdy and we cannot see any gap between the body and the battery. The battery too won't budge if you try to move it back and forth when it is locked in place. This is a good thing to ensure proper contact to the battery power. The belt clip is like regular clips, can be pull out in case you need to do that. It has some kind of a small hook at the end of the clip (bottom part) so less worries from the risk of this radio falling off from your waist belt.


Beside the antenna (at the back) there is a small latch to fit your lanyard. More towards cosmetic I would say. Nice though if you want to have extra safety in case you don't want it to fell off during harsh usage.

The power comes with a nice 1600 mah Lithium Ion standard rechargeable battery. Lithium Ion means no memory effect and you don't need to discharge the battery in order to fully charge them. It's like these days mobile phone. The battery life was very good too. I did a 80% monitoring and 20% TXing and it basically would last 3-5 days. There were one day where I forgot to turn it off one whole night. Though this is purely subjective, at least you can get some idea on the battery life per full charge. The full charge duration (from its standard charger) should take you around 2-4 hours only.


The voice output could be better. The sound quality coming out from this radio is loud and solid enough for me to hear. It must be a better quality control to produce this radio and the speaker performs quite well. It can be improved on the production side to eliminate slight vibration of the body during a loud volume operations though.

The voice heard on the other party (when using this A80) was very clear and vivid. I was worried about our voice being like "talking while pinching your nose" kind of sound (like most China made radios) but this one proved I was wrong. It is as clear as Yaesu's VX7R's I might say.


The TX power of this radio is supposed to be 5W at high and 1W at low. The method for changing its TX power is pretty awkward; you have to turn off the radio, then by pressing the PTT, turn it on to have the other TX power. Do it again to change to other level. This was pretty annoying and it does not have any indication (like beep or so) to indicate whether it is in high mode or low mode. This should be changed by the manufacturer - it's cumbersome!!

One of the best part about this radio is, it's SIRIM approved! Yes, I saw the certification letter from SIRIM and this one has passed the test. This basically means, this item is legal to be sold in Malaysia without having to worry being interfered by the authority. If I am not mistaken, only Kenwood and Motorola having the SIRIM approved sticker for VHF radio in Malaysia at the moment. Correct me if I am wrong.


This radio is designed for professional use, so it is not field programmable by user. It means that we can't change the settings from the radio itself. It must go through programming with the computer using the right cable. Fret not, the software is free and the price of the cable is just around RM100.00 each.

I think that's about it. Its just a short review from my own point of view. Should any of you need more information, do contact me from the numbers given at the top right part of this blog. I am currently selling this item for UHF and VHF. It is fully covered with local warranty (1 year for radio and 6 months for battery & charger). Spare parts are available too.

Some of the highlights:

Pros
- solid built quality
- clear voice input (as heard by the other party)
- very good battery life (per single charge)

Cons
- volume knob without proper marking
- power output TX cannot be determined (low or high?)

Ham Guys in Eco Ride 2009

With the help of our ham friends, I managed to 'sneak' myself into this inaugural Eco Heritage Ride 2009 which was held in Kuantan Pahang. It was a mountain bike off-road challenge, 36 kilometers ride from Gambang to Sungai Lembing. Yes, you heard it right, off-road, 4x4 kind of ride with bicycles.

(Dengan bantuan beberapa rakan ham, saya telah dapat 'menyelinap' ke dalam acara yang julung kali di adakan, "Eco Heritage Ride 2009" yang telah berlangsung di Kuantan Pahang. Ianya merupakan satu cabaran 'off-road' secara berbasikal sejauh 36 kilometer dari Gambang ke Sungai Lembing. Ya, perjalanan jenis 4x4 punya adik-beradik ni, dengan basikal!)

See what I mean? Off-Road! (Kan dah kata...) 

I was the photographer that time, piggybacking one of the marshalls with motocross. It was very thrilling to have get such excitement! Scary at first but thanks to this very talented and experienced young cyclist who brought me up and down safely. Kudos to you Nik!

(Saya sebagai jurugambar hari tu, menumpang salah satu mashal bermotosikal. Memang satu pengalaman yang sangat mengujakan. Mula-mula takut, tapi pengendali motosikal ni, Nik nama dia, memang mahir betul. Naik turun bukit, selamba je dia - tahniah Nik!)

 

Me while on the bike. (Semasa di atas motor)

The event was cool and wonderful, with lots of beautiful jungle sceneries, fresh flowing rivers and of course action packed with cyclist jumping, falling and laughing!

(Acara ni menempuhi kawasan yang mempunyai pemandangan hutan yang cantik, sungai yang mengalir jernih berserta penunggang yang melompat, jatuh dan penuh dengan gelak ketawa)

 

Fun filled rides (Menyeronokkan!!)

Congratulations to the ham friends who helped out in communications and marshalling, namely 9M2MZR, 9W2BKH, 9W2NNA, 9W2VMS, 9W2ALU, 9W2SXM, Nik, Along & Kassim. We also had some ham friends as participants, 9W2FRD, 9W2KBM and SWAL Didi. There might be more that I am not sure of. We had like 200+ riders that day!

(Tahniah serta syabas kepada rakan rakan ham yang membantu dalam bentuk komunikasi dan mashal, antara lain 9M2MZR, 9W2BKH, 9W2NNA, 9W2VMS, 9W2ALU, 9W2SXM, Nik, Along & Kassim. Ada juga beberapa rakan ham yang menjadi peserta, antaranya 9W2FRD, 9W2KBM and SWAL Didi. Mungkin ada lagi yang tertinggal, saya tak perasan, maklumla ada lebih 200 perserta hari tu.)

 

9W2FRD enjoying. (9W2FRD seronok gile..)

More Pictures (Lagi Gambar).

Copy you 5 and 9 (Terima anda 5 dan 9)

We often hear to the above quote by ham radio. "I copy you 5 and 9!" is a common report on transmission received by one party from another. In voice transmission, we basically use this 'audio report' on daily basis as a simple information that the transmission can be read, or not.

(Kita biasa dengar perbualan seperti di atas. "Saya terima anda 5 dan 9!" adalah satu laporan audio yang biasa kita beri kepada rakan dihujung jaluran. Laporan audio ini kita biasa gunakan dalam sesi QSO harian kita sebagai pemberitahuan adakah maklumat kita diterima atau sebaliknya.)

But unfortunately, we sometimes hear friends who made mistakes in this basic understanding of Readability and Strength usage. I'm sure they did not realised it. For example, how often do we hear people giving reports of "4 and 8" in a QSO through repeater? I am pretty sure that what he/she meant was "4 and 9" most of the time, knowing that he/she is actually within the strong coverage of that repeater at the moment.

(Tetapi malang sekali, kita kadang-kadang mendengar kesilapan dalam pemberian laporan audio ini yang dilakukan oleh rakan-rakan dan saya percaya mereka tidak menyedarinya. Sebagai contoh, biasa tak dengar laporan "4 dan 8" dalam sesi QSO menggunakan repeater? Saya pasti dia sebenarnya maksudkan "4 dan 9" pada kebanyakan keadaan, lagipun dia sebenarnya berada di kawasan liputan yang kuat pada repeater yang terbabit.)

Readability, in my opinion is more important for voice transmission rather than signal strength. An extremely strong signal of 9 doesn't give any use if the readability is 1. I usually report readability without giving any signal strength indication. I don't look at the S Meter while I'm driving anyway.

(Kebolehbacaan, pada pandangan saya adalah lebih penting di dalam transmisi audio berbanding kekuatan isyarat. Kekuatan signal yang sangat kuat pun tak guna kalau kebolehbacaan 1. Saya biasanya melaporkan kebolehbacaan saja, tanpa memberikan kekuatan isyarat radio tu. Saya kalau tengah memandu, tak tengok kat S Meter pada rig saya tu!)

I hope this information is useful, and please correct me if I am wrong. I am no expert in this issue, just sharing my opinions.

(Jadi rakan-rakan, saya harap maklumat ini berguna, dan sila tegur jika ada kesilapan. Saya bukan pakar, hanya nak kongsi pendapat saja.)

Programming cable for Motorola GP338/328 - USB

Some of my friends and customers asked me about USB version of GP328/338 programming cable. In my website, I only have the 9pin RS232 type which might bring some problems connecting to computers. The problem is where some new computers do not have the 9pin slot anymore. Some refer it as COM1 port.

(Ada rakan dan pelanggan yang pernah bertanya kepada saya tentang kabel untuk memprogramkan GP328/338 yang menggunakan USB. Jika anda perasan, dalam website saya, hanya jenis RS232 9pin yang ada, yang membawa sedikit masalah apabila ingin disambung pada komputer. Sesetengah komputer baru takde slot atau port 9pin tu lagi, jadi masalah pulak la.) 

The USB version shown in the pictures are available and can be purchased at RM90.00 per unit. Take note the COM1 (RS232 9 PIN) is RM95.00 per unit. Please contact me if you need it.

(Dalam gambar di bawah, adalah kabel yang jenis USB, boleh didapati dengan harga RM90.00 satu. Yang jenis COM1 tu pulak, RM95.00 satu. Sila hubungi saya kalau berminat.)

 

For those who bought the COM1 version and realised that their computer does not have the COM port, fret not, there is an adapter solve this issue. The USB to RS232 converter usually can be found in computer shop near to you. I think the price is around RM20-RM30 per piece.

(Kepada yang mempunyai jenis COM1 tu, dan dapat tahu yang komputer dia tidak ada port COM yang sesuai, jangan risau, ada penyesuai yang boleh membantu. Penyesuai USB ke RS232 biasanya boleh dicari di kedai kedai komputer berdekatan. Rasanya harga dia dalam RM20 ke RM30 satu.)

Sponsorship by RadioMeal.Com

OK, it's quite an old story, but I do remember it vividly.

(Cerita lama, tapi masih segar di ingatan)

We took a trip with the "Kejohanan Lumba Basikal Piala Tengku Mahkota ke 3" which, as the title says, a bicycle championship that took place within the state of Pahang. Some people quoted this event as "Jelajah Pahang" or Pahang Tour.

(Kami ada menyertai satu kejohanan lumba basikal Piala Tengku Mahkota ke 3, yang berlangsung di sekitar negeri Pahang. Ada orang panggil acara ni, Jelajah Pahang.)

RadioMeal.Com was one of the sponsors for this event that covered mainly on the communication. Be it equipment for the committee ('comissaire', technical & etc.) and also communication support for the whole event. It was a small part and small sponsorship, but we thought it was worth every energy and RM spent.

(Kami RadioMeal.Com ada menjadi salah satu penaja di kejohanan ini, yang menumpukan pada bantuan komunikasi dan alatan komunikasi untuk petugas petugas (seperti pihak komisar, teknikal dan lain lain). Sumbangan kecik je, tapi kami rasa sangat berbaloi dengan titik peluh dan wang ringgit kami.)

Above is the picture of me showing off with pride our RadioMeal.Com logo stamped clearly on its main banner for the event. This was taken on the stage in Laman Kerayong, Bera, Pahang. In case you can't see it, here's another picture. Take a good look of the logo, not the model OK!! ;). Of course, see a bigger picture by clicking on it. I know you want to do that!

(Atas tu gambar saya menunjuk-nunjuk logo RadioMeal.Com dengan bangga sekali. Ia terpampang di satu sudut pada kain rentang utama untuk acara ini. Gambar ni diambil masa kami di Laman Kerayong, Bera, Pahang. Nampak tak logo tu? Kalau tak nampak, tengok yang bawah ni, mesti nampak punyalah! Logo tu ye, bukan model cun tu... heheheh.... Klik gambar untuk melihat versi yang lebih besar.)


Last but not the least here are the guys (and also a lady - my mum!) who helped each other hard to make this a success. Thanks guys! You rawks!!!

(Akhir sekali, ini adalah kekuatan anggota kami dalam memberikan yang terbaik untuk acara ini. Terima kasih semua!! Anda semua hebat belaka!)


From left to right (dari kiri ke kanan) :
Maza (9W2AZA), Robi (9W2RBY), Sham (9W2SXM), "Abang" Vizal (9W2VMS), Adha (9W2ADH), Saidin (9W2TWH), Mazru (9W2MZR), Acai (9W2BKH) & Firdaus (9W2FRD).

BTW, those models far behind were not included in this, they only are for eye candy. Heheheh...

(Sekilas gambar para model kat atas tu, buat nyibuk je sebenarnya, jadi pemanis... hehehe)

Let me try this out

I actually already have a slow and almost dead blog at my very own domain. I don't really do blogging so I can easily be without any idea to write any entry.

Hope this one can work, using this popular blogspot.com's 'network'.

All the best to me!