Radioddity QT80 HF Radio Review

--By Moleculo

I was recently afforded the opportunity to evaluate the Radioddity QT80, advertised as an 80 watt 10 meter all mode mobile radio. After using it for a few months, I'm ready to give my thoughts on this unique rig. When I first contacted Radioddity about the QT80, my first question was if the main "channel" knob could be used as a regular VFO, and when the response was "Yes!", I knew I had to try it. While these types of relatively inexpensive 10 meter radios are appealing to new hams that may only have 10 meters HF privileges, one of the main issues is that they continue to operate as a CB with channels, which has no applicability to the HF ham operator. This radio is different.

When the radio ships, it comes as a 10 meter radio with 40 channel "bands", much like every other radio in this category. This pic shows the radio on channel "G", channel 12":

From here, you can activate the VFO feature, by just pressing in on the main channel knob and it will activate the ability to change frequencies. Pressing it multiple times allows you to step from Hz to MHz to change the step. This is a lot better functionality than most of these radio, but with the QT80, it gets better. If you long-press the BAND button (or change the setting via the CPS software), you can change the UI to "VFO" mode, which gets rid of the channel UI altogether, like this:

Now the dial operates as a true VFO! You can still press in on the VFO to change the step. When altering the step, it changes from right to left across the frequency, meaning from Hz to MHz. I wish there was an alternate way to make it change from left to right (MHz to Hz), but this is hardly a big issue. There is a menu option to set the default step for the VFO, which makes this feature even more useful.

If you have more HF privileges than 10 meters, the next thing you're going to want to do is to open the radio frequency range for more bands. There is a menu option to change the radio from "HAM BAND" to "HF BAND".

If you change the radio to "HF BAND", it opens up the frequency range from 10-12 meters, including all of 11 meters:

But if you want to do this, you should probably go ahead and open up the bottom cover of the radio to reveal a jumper, which you should move to the 2&3 position to open it up for use all the way to 15 meters. Now, the QT80 frequency range is 21.0MHz- 30.105MHz.

The size of this radio is slightly smaller than a traditional full-size CB or 10 meter radio. Here, you can see how the overall size compares to a Uniden Grant LT, but keep in mind that the radio height of the QT80 is a little shorter:

As you can see above, the radio has a HUGE heat sink to address the heat generated by this radio at full power:

The radio comes with an Electret mic, but you can also use any dynamic mic by wiring it up and changing the mic menu entry where you choose the mic type. I used my Elecraft K4D to monitor my own TX audio and the QT80 sounds really good with the stock mic - it is articulate, clear, and has just the right audio balance where I just sound "like me". On air reports from DX stations, even as far away as Australia confirmed that this is a good sounding radio. The rear speaker output doubles as both a speaker and a PA, which is a little odd. But the audio output of the internal speaker is so loud, I doubt that most will feel the need for an external speaker. As is typical, you can also change the display color to suit your desire. Even though this is a smallish screen, I don't have any issues reading anything on this display, especially when it's in VFO mode.

So why does the radio need such a large heat sink? It's because it does every bit of power output advertised and maybe a little more (at least my radio does). On 10 meter SSB, I measured a full 100 watt PEP output using a Bird 43P with a 100 watt slug into a dummy load. CW shows 22 watts, FM 53 watts, and AM produces a 22 watt carrier that swings to nearly 100 watts peak. These power output readings are with no modifications to the radio.

The QT80 comes with quite a few interesting features, including both RX and TX adjustable digital Noise Reduction. I've used the RX Noise Reduction quite a bit and it performs surprisingly well. The rig supports all of the necessary features to use it with 10 Meter FM repeaters, including easy setup of offset, CTCSS, and DCS. In fact, I think the UX might make this might be the easiest radio in this class to operate the 10 meter FM repeaters. You will probably want to adjust the FM Deviation menu to select the Wide setting if you're going to operate the repeaters.

For AM operators, there is an "AM NPC" menu option to turn Negative Peak Compression on or off. NPC is a method that has been around forever to compress the negative peaks of an AM modulated signal in an attempt to produce louder sounding modulation. In order to see how effective this setting is, you really need an oscilloscope, which I no longer have. I couldn't detect any difference on the monitoring radio, but that's not really the correct way to test AM NPC.

If you're a CW operator, you use the mic PTT like a key. Radioddity has posted a mod to put a 1/8" female jack into the mic to accept a key input, and there are several youtubers who have posted videos showing this mod. In my opinion, this mod is way too time-consuming. It would be far simpler to just buy the correct 6 pin mic connector off Amazon or Ebay and wire up your key to the PTT and Ground pins. You could literally search '6 PIN Microphone Plug' in 10 minutes and get the correct connector for under $10 from Amazon or ebay.

Now, I'm not a very good CW operator, but when I tested with the stock mic, I found that the default break in time was set too long. I also found that I wanted to change the default side tone. There are settings for both; I settled on 250ms for CW break-in (I may change this):

I did find an issue with this radio while operating CW: It produce very bad key clicks, which is a common problem with inexpensive CW or home-brew rigs. I will post a video of this issue that demonstrates it well. So if you're going to use this as a CW rig, perhaps don't use it with an amplifier or in a pile-up with other stations near by. I have reported this issue, so we'll see if anything is done about it.

There are several youtubers who have tested the QT80 for spectral purity, and have noted that it passes. After watching the methods shown, I don't find any reason to doubt them and decided to not do my own tests. The manual states that the SSB 3rd order IMD performance is -25dB,which isn't great, but is about the same for all these types of radios. I could test this, but I don't typically find any variance from the published performance numbers, so I didn't bother.

There are youtube videos and other online reviews that claim that this radio is FCC Certified, because it has the FCC ID sticker on the bottom of the radio:

However, it's very important to actually look up the FCC ID to see what certification was applied for and received. In the case of the QT80, the radio was submitted for certification under FCC Part 15 Subpart B, which is the "scanning receiver" certification.

Certification under this FCC section is irrelevant for Amateur or CB use in the U.S., so don't be fooled by the sticker. If you choose to use this radio, know your local laws and make your own decisions.

This is the best radio I've ever used in this class. It is a powerful little radio and I love that you can use it in "VFO" mode like a regular HF rig. Operating 10 meter FM repeaters is a breeze and it's full of useful features such as a very good Noise Blanker and digital Noise Reduction. Built-in SWR protection and Voltage protection all work as described. The box includes a programming cable, CPS software is available for download and make setting this radio up painless. I hope they can clean up the CW output a bit with a firmware update. If you intend to try the digital modes, follow the procedures outlined on the website to wire up a sound card interface and use VOX mode. There are a lot of other features such as Auto Squelch described in the product listings; every one of them I've tried works as advertised, which is pleasantly surprising. The QT80 is a neat little radio that I intend to keep for a long time. It is currently about $300, available direct from the manufacturer.