Manual Frequency Control! Menu Easy to Operate & see in Full Daylight! Secure Belt Clip
Honestly, there is a lot to like about this JINGTONG radio and very little to dislike. Let us start with:
The Positives:
(refer to photos) RF power output rated, on high, at 10 watts and on low power, at 5 watts, after testing is as stated on the product page (refer to photos testing/confirming power output claims). Moreover, the unit has a good operating feeling & a quality that is pleasantly surprising at this modest price point. I do not think you will be disappointed in the construction/assembly of the unit. Very nice. Additionally, the speaker and microphone are also a great accessory that seems durable and sounds very good. Likewise, the desktop charger has a firm base and a solid connection with the radio unit. Programming with the menu is very straightforward and better than some I have tested that are more expensive.
The battery life is very good and a strong point. The JINGTONG arrived not fully charged but after approximately 30-40 minutes, the battery was fully charged and ready to use. Knobs are also sized well and I particularly like the manual frequency control knob that is often omitted on radios at this price.
The antenna connection for both of the included antennas is good, not great, at this price point, and adequate to the task. The screen is easy to read in full daylight except for one glaring (bad pun) exception...the red on black font scheme (refer to ‘negatives’ below) is very difficult to read. I would also add the volume db is sufficient for my older ears, and the audio quality was surprisingly good direct and via external speakers. The radio also comes with a belt-clip and the belt clip is strong with a secure feel. And, perhaps a trivial thing but the boxing and packaging looks good and would be a nice gift to give a burgeoning ‘ham’ or a veteran looking for a new portable amateur radio.
The Negatives:
As I alluded to above, the red on black background & font, viewed together, is quite difficult to read on some of the menus. And, perhaps a trivial point but the strap is a bit flimsy and was difficult to attach to the radio where specified. The antenna resonance is adequate to poor (refer to associated photos) with high VSWR on respective amateur bands for 2 meters and for 70 centimeters. The two-meter resonance on both of the included antennas (the 8” and the shorter SRH 8055) was unexpectedly poor. However, these are trivial taken as a whole. In fact, I think because other elements of the radio are so good it, ironically, it highlights what are minor problems especially when compared with other radios out there...
As such, it is easy for me to give the radio a 4 out of 5 rating. At this price point, a very nicely made radio, a thought out menu when navigating, great construction, Nice overall layout, and that earns it a solid and respectable 5 out of 5 stars. I hope this review is helpful to you. Please refer to the attached photos testing included antenna’s etceteras.
Grant Fritchey
★★★★★
Nice Multi-Band Radio
I'm seeing more and more of this general type of radio. Nominally, it's a bog standard UHF/VHF handy-talkie (HT). However, where a lot of the older radios covered the two bands, and that's it, the modern radios seem to come with lots more bands. This one transmits on 220 as well as the other two bands. It receives AM in the air band, and does a decent job of it (I sat it side-by-side with a Tidradio H3 and Baofeng UV-17 Pro GPS, the JingTong kept up with the H3).
Construction is of good plastic. Seems tough enough. I like the feel of the rubberized buttons. You get two knobs, one for power & volume, the other to control frequency or channel. I don't like how close they are in size. It's too easy to pick the wrong one. However, turning them, the channel knob clicks into place, while the volume knob adjust easily and smoothly, so you can feel the difference. It has a color screen that's decently sized and pretty easy to read (although, I've seen much better screens on the Radtel 495 & Tidradio H3, just to name a couple). It does wash out some in sunlight (unlike the others I mentioned). Still, it's a pretty screen.
The radio is not currently supported by Chirp, which hurts. However, I found the software on the JingTong web site (jteradio.com). It installed pretty easy, and it's a fairly common Chinese programming software I've seen with several other radios. I used the supplied programming cable, which worked out of the box, no special drivers or setup needed (WIN!). It's not a great piece of software, but it's functional straight forward to use.
After programming, I was able to transmit to local repeaters with no issues. Signal reports were good, so the microphone works well. I tested the remote microphone that comes with the kit too. Signal reports were that it was much more quiet than the radio itself. I also found the volume and sound quality on reception to be good on the radio, but quite poor on the remote microphone. Transmission to the repeaters was well over twenty miles, so the radio works nicely.
Testing the radio, the transmission power I saw was not 10 watts. I got just a little over 7 watts on both 70cm and 2m. Using unprofessional equipment (NanoVNA) measuring the antennas included, the longer whip antenna had an SWR around 2.6 on 2m and 5 at 70cm. The stubby antenna came in at about 5.8 at 70cm and, well, pretty sure this isn't right, but 224 on 2m.
The package comes with the radio, a battery, a remote speaker/mic, belt clip, lanyard, programming cable, dock, wall power connector and a USB-C cable. Because, yeah, you can charge this with USB-C. This is something I'm starting to simply expect from new radios. I like it. Speaking of, on the side of the radio, where you plug in the programming cable or speaker mic, there's a cover for the k-type connector. There's also a cover for USB-C, but it's blanked off inside the radio. There's a cover on the battery that lets you use USB-C to program the radio directly.
Overall, this is a good radio. I'm starting to take it for granted that all new radios include the air band and others, but it's cool.
Adam Conrad
★★★★★
Great
One thing I found odd was that the clip on the back of the radio screws in instead of clips in. It also screws into the radio itself instead of the battery. That can theoretically help to prevent the battery from falling out, but it also makes it harder to remove the battery. As this is a large battery that shouldn't need replaced any time soon, that's a minor gripe.
I put in our radio frequency and it picked up traffic right away. I wasn't able to transmit though. I found that our radios use DPL. This doesn't have that, but it does have something called DCS that does the same thing. After I set it, I was able to transmit and receive normally with our Motorola radios. What I love most about it, is that I was able to do all of this right in the radio menu. I didn't need to hook it up to a computer or install any software.
It has a strong signal, and receives cleanly. The remote mic is a little on the quiet side. That can make it difficult to hear in a noisy environment. I'll likely upgrade to a headset or something of that nature.
It feels very well made. The whole thing feels heavy duty. Even the knobs on top feel premium and without slop. I'm not sure how well the rubber buttons are going to hold up in a harsh environment, but only time will tell.
I also like that it came with 2 options for antennas. I haven't been able to detect a difference in reception, so I'll be sticking with the stubby to make it a more compact radio.
Overall I'm very happy with it.
Highly recommended.
D
Dave
★★★★★
Meets FCC specs on 70cm and 1.25m, but not on 2 meters. Also, about 8 watts, not 10.
My review of this Jingtong JT-3988 radio will focus mostly on the technical aspects of this radio. When you key up a radio, it should transmit on one frequency, but other frequencies are generated, and these other unwanted frequencies are called "spurious signals", and should be kept to a minimum. The FCC has specifications that limit how strong these spurious signals are allowed to be, and this radio does not meet those specs on the 2 meter band. As you can see from my spectrum analyzer output, the 2nd harmonic (a type of spurious signal), is only -23dB below the main frequency, and this should be below -40dB. The 3rd harmonic is -57dB below, which is good (within FCC specs). The 440Mhz, and 220Mhz bands are well within FCC specs. Also, as weird as it may sound, higher power gives you less spurious signals.
Here are the list of how many watts each band and power setting actually output (tested with a full battery).
146MHz: Low: 2.9W, Mid: 5.5W, Hi: 8.7W
223.5Mhz: Low: 2.1, Mid: 2.2, Hi: 1.7 (this is not a typo, "Hi" gives you the least power on 220MHz)
435Mhz: Low: 2.4W, Mid: 4.2W, Hi: 8.0W
I only have a sample group of 1, so my readings may not accurately represent the average radio, but I expect it does. When a Chinese radio says "10 watts", I know they mean "Chinese watts", and it will usually be about 8 "American watts".
Overall, this radio has a nice feel to it. It's larger battery pack is a nice feature, since not only does it allow the radio to run longer, it also feels better to my hand. The display looks nice, but like most color display, it is not easy to see in direct sunlight. This radio operates exactly like a Baofeng, and I suspect that is what it's internals are, with just slightly different firmware. The keys have letters on them, instead of the corresponding menu function, printed on Baofeng keys, but it operates the same way. When in the menu, "2" will take you to the power settings, like on most Baofengs (I use that menu option a lot in my tests, so I know the hotkey for it off the top of my head). This radio is not frequency locked, so it will transmit all over the place, so be careful not to transmit on random frequencies, if you don't want the FCC knocking on your door. Even though this radio only outputs about 2 watts on 220Mhz, it's nice that this supports that neglected band.
Should you get this radio? I don't know. It depends on what you want/need. The Retevis RA89 is about the same price, but doesn't come with all the accessories this one does, but it meets all FCC specs, and it puts out a real 10 watts (but to be completely honest, you will see no difference between 8 and 10 watts, so don't let that color your decision), and it also uses a standard normal antenna, unlike this JT-3988 radio.
Yoda Bee Toy
★★★★★
Another great HT radio
Here's another great HT radio. This one is packed with features and broad band spectrum. This radio can pick up NOAA stations, air band (cannot TX), 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, and GMRS.
Another radio that has a broad frequency coverage. I tested the radio output with a Surecom SW-102 with a 50watt dummy load at 50ohm.
The frequency tested was on 2m national calling frequency, 70cm national calling frequency, 220Mhz, and GMRS Channel 16.
Wattage output is very close to the claim of 10 ways, with the exception of the 1.25m band (220Mhz). Look at the uploaded photos. On 220Mhz, it's around 2 to 3 watts respectively and it's enough to make contact with any 220Mhz repeaters.
On 2m and 70cm wattage is very close to 10 watts and on GMRS frequency it's around 8 watts. Plenty of power and honestly I wouldn't anymore especially if you're holding this against your head.
This radio comes with literally everything you need to start talking. The kit comes with 2 antennas (Diamond stubby & small whip) cradle charger, USB Type-C charging cable, and a 110v adapter. It also comes with a wire mic (feels very cheap, almost toy like) and a programming cable.
I also tested both antenna with a Sysjoint NanoVNA-F V3 analyzer. The Diamond stubby seems to be a 70cm/GMRS antenna. Though it will work on 2m, the SWR is super high and I don't recommend using the 2m/1.25m band in the short Diamond stubby.
The small whip appears to be a tri band antenna with a respectable decent SWR. Check out the photos I uploaded to see where these two antenna resonate.
The supplied instruction is actually well written and is pretty straight forward. I did mentioned the radio comes with a programming cable but I can't find the CPS anywhere on the net. Tried Jingtong homepage and still couldn't find it.
With that being said, I had to manually add each of the 2m, 220Mhz, 70cm, and GMRS repeaters and was able to conduct a audio and signal check. All come back with full quieting with no static in the background. All of these repeaters are about 44 to 60 or so miles away. Test was conducted while standing outside in front yard with the small whip antenna. And surprisingly the small whip antenna works really good.
So what's my take on this radio? I definitely like it and recommend this HT over the well know "B" brand. Best of all this radio comes with a channel knob which is a super plus feature for me. It makes something channel super fast and easy. Once you set your channel down, it's a matter of turning the knob and you don't even have to look down.
Overall this is a great radio. Pack with features and one fo the very few radio in this price range that comes with a channel knob. I'll update this review once I get a chance to test the radio harmonics.
