Quite a few members (myself included) have been tempted by the new QYT KT-8900D.  $109AUD (shipped) buys you a Dual Band Quad-Standby Colour Screen Mini-Mobile rig that puts out a healthy 25W in a tiny package, complete with little cooling fan, a great little speaker and (from all the ones we’ve used) good quality transmit audio.  I was fortunate enough to get mine with a $20 discount coupon (thanks eBay!) that made it a $90 purchase.  How can you say no?

Side note: Yes, these model numbers are getting ridiculous.  How many 8900 radios can there be?  As many as there are 9800s?  What about the 7800s?  Argh!

Lyle VK2SMI spotted an interesting accessory specifically for this radio today – a Bluetooth Radio Speaker Mic!  Integrated Bluetooth options in higher-end radios like the Icom ID-5100A and the Yaesu FTM-400 aren’t uncommon these days – but if you opt for those (stupidly) expensive options you get yourself a Bluetooth headset – not something in the form factor of a traditional radio mic.  $59.99AUD (shipped) is the right price too!  Check out the BT-89:

Included is a 1400mAh battery in the mic giving a quoted 2 days usage (with 1 week standby).  Usable range is quoted to be 10 meters from the supplied dongle, and the dongle gets its power from the radio itself.  As pictured, the unit is supplied with a USB plug pack and a USB to 3.5mm cable for charging the mic.  No more mic cables in the car (or less cables across the bench) sounds enticing doesn’t it?  I’m not sure how good the radio will look with that short dongle cable leaving the dongle dangling 2cm in front of the mic port though…

Compatible radios are listed as the QYT KT-7900D, KT-8900, KT-8900R and KT-8900D (see aforementioned comment about model numbers).

Conversation turned to how easy it may be to adapt this unit to other radios – different mic pinouts would be one hurdle to overcome (which should be relatively easy with a small home-made adaptor), supply voltage from the radio to the dongle may be different (less easy to overcome, but doable) and finally the impedance/output that the Bluetooth receiving dongle presents to the radio’s mic input may also be an issue.

Food for thought.

Now if someone could get to making an adaptor that lets you use your in-car (factory) Phone Bluetooth connection with (any) mobile rig (along with a nice cordless PTT), I’d be eternally grateful!