Chinese VHF radios

[Refueler]

Suspect the days of the single use plastic item (including cheapo electronics) are now numbered.
The sheer waste of resources getting that cheapo radio over here from halfway round the world,simply to be thrown away when it fails, will soon be over.
Ships and aircraft until very recently not been the subject of examination regards carbon emissions. , world governments simply turning a blind eye, the days of shipping stuff in for a few pennies will be over.
Perhaps in the fullness of time the following legends will be written on the box.


We guarantee this item will work a minimum of 300 cycles.
We guarantee to have the facilities and staff to repair it for 3 years.
We guarantee to take this item back and recycle the bits.
We guarantee this item will have instruction manual in a language you can understand.

Do not forget that EU is enacting the Repair ruling ... where items should be repairable without having to go to dealer. No idea how that will be implemented with todays miniature circuitry etc.

But in last few years - Chinese production has had to change. Not only due to environmental pressures, but also social and workplace reforms that have come in. It is now no longer necessary to supervise by sending outsiders in for most manufacturing, they have realised that the days of dumping shoddy gear on the market is over.
I run a department in one company and own 2 others which all have serious business with China. If China was producing as it did 10 or more years ago - we would have to monitor closely. Today we receive products that a) are on time, b) meet specs, c) are cost effective, d) have near zero reject rates.

 

[oldgit]

Do not forget that EU is enacting the Repair ruling ... where items should be repairable without having to go to dealer. No idea how that will be implemented with todays miniature circuitry etc.

But in last few years - Chinese production has had to change. Not only due to environmental pressures, but also social and workplace reforms that have come in. It is now no longer necessary to supervise by sending outsiders in for most manufacturing, they have realised that the days of dumping shoddy gear on the market is over.
I run a department in one company and own 2 others which all have serious business with China. If China was producing as it did 10 or more years ago - we would have to monitor closely. Today we receive products that a) are on time, b) meet specs, c) are cost effective, d) have near zero reject rates.

Good to hear.
We started dealing with ICOM UK in 1982.
To date cannot remember a single unit that did not work out of the box.

 

[Refueler]

I agree that you still find Chinese Tool Kits that pliers bend as you use them ... open end spanners that just widen as you put pressure on ... etc.

But China also produces good gear ... so one cannot just stamp all Chinese gear as cr*p.

And lets remember that all the big brand names are cutting costs by having major manufacturing out there.

Take IBM for example .... for years a Chinese company was manufacturing their Thinkpads and Desktops ... they were labelled as the ones to set standards by ... people honestly believed they were getting a product built in the west.
Later of course IBM rationalised their operations and transferred the PC biz to a company called Lenovo. The truth was out ... Lenovo had been building all those IBM PC's

 

[Bilgediver]

There are a bunch of marine handhelds VF's on Aliexpress. Different brands, but look like the model is RS-36M. e.g. Socotran or Shiqun.

Anyone tried one? What do you think? Do they look like they have all the channels we need for Europe/UK?

They are aimed at the USA with NOA with Canadian and international channels etc however they offer a programming cable in their list of accessories so they could be programmed to operate on M1 and M2 if Chirp or others provide the program.

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

They are aimed at the USA with NOA with Canadian and international channels etc however they offer a programming cable in their list of accessories so they could be programmed to operate on M1 and M2 if Chirp or others provide the program.

I only wanted to put the few marine channels on mine, and so it wasn't a big deal to enter and save the frequencies in using the menu and keypad.

 

[Bobc]

All I can hear is "harrow, harrow!"

 

[Bilgediver]

pvb ......

That ID rings bells with me for some reason ....

Being sold as ham radios elsewhere with the buttons marked appropriately

 

[NotBirdseye]

Do not forget that EU is enacting the Repair ruling ... where items should be repairable without having to go to dealer. No idea how that will be implemented with todays miniature circuitry etc.

Modularization. So when looking at say a phone... to make a phone more repairable you'll have to use screws instead of glue, the screen, speaker, microphone should be independently detachable. Important chips that are most likely to fail would become detachable (processor, EMMC). That way you just buy the new component, install and away you go. No soldering etc required.

 

[Easticks28]

You do realise that, being Chinese they will be using them to spy on you?

 

[NotBirdseye]

I've yet see a case proven where they've done anything worse than the Americans so...

 

[GHA]

This way to the ..

*THE* place to be for irrelevant rants

 

[NotBirdseye]

Not sure why irrelevant? Do yachties not take communication security seriously? We're talking about a hand-held device used for VHF... and other uses (would double up practically as a CB) and about whether such communications would be secure (within reason) based on where the devices were manufactured or rather where the company that authorizes the manufacturing is based.

Seems quite an apt and relevant discussion.

 

[Skylark]

I've yet see a case proven where they've done anything worse than the Americans so...

I’m always amused by the spying charges laid at China’s door by the same people who happily and willingly use Apple products, Siri, Smart Speakers, Google, Amazon etc etc ?

Immediately after downloading the latest iPhone software it usually takes a good hour or so to disable all of the spying features, turned on again by the new software.

 

[goeasy123]

I’m always amused by the spying charges laid at China’s door by the same people who happily and willingly use Apple products, Siri, Smart Speakers, Google, Amazon etc etc ?

Immediately after downloading the latest iPhone software it usually takes a good hour or so to disable all of the spying features, turned on again by the new software.

iPhone.... made in China