TYT TH-9000D Plus 1.25M Amateur Radio, 200CH Mobile Transceiver Car Radio 222-225Mhz 45W

I was skeptical with how well this radio would be with the low price, but I am very pleased. Easy to use and program. build well. The sound quality is pretty good. Could use a little more high end, but I am fairly pleased with it. 220 band radios are less common but this is a great option in a small market. Radio size is great for both base and portable use.

NOTE: I have a replacement en route so this may be modified at some point. I really hope it is, because this thing, at this point, doesn't live up to the hype.I probably spend more time on 1.25m FM than all other bands and modes combined, so I take my 220 seriously. I can hit any repeater I want within 50 miles or so with my AT 578 / Comet CX-333 but I wanted to have a "dedicated" 220 with more juice (the 578 only does 5.8 watts on 1.25m). This radio seemed to be the one to have, so I gave it a shot.Straight up, the audio is awful. There's a compander circuit - on this particular unit, that particular feature is horrible. Volume is either "almost nothing" or "jet engine" volume. I'm usually not crazy about companders on FM anyway, so it was easy to just disable that. But even when it's off, I'm getting regular RX volume issues. Giant swings in level. Sounds like "compander lite" going on and it's just wrecking the whole thing.I'm told my TX audio is fine (if not "a bit compressed sounding" but that's okay). On top of that, the RX audio in general is VERY muddy overall. I can deal with "Yaesu" warm where it sounds like it rolls off at 1.5 or 2kHz, but this thing sounds like there's a blanket over the speaker.Was told my several others that this radio is [the stuff] and they don't have these issues. I'm truly hoping the replacement unit is satisfactory. And if it is, know that I'll be here to modify this review. But if the other one is like this, I'll return it also and just get an Alinco or something.On the bright side - It seems solid, it doesn't heat up much (even with long QSOs at higher power). The output wattage is considerably different than published - Low power (10w published) is more like 17, mid was somewhere around 31, high was close to *web* reports of 45, but the manual says 60. Not that I care that much about it - I do perfectly fine on the 5.8 watts from my AT. It's all about the antenna - and with that, I have no complaints. My "default" on just about anything is 10 or 15 watts. Or 5.8 in the case of my other 220 radio.Speaking of the manual - There were other reviews I read that mentioned that the manual may have been written for a different radio and to that, I agree. The manual had little to do with what I had on the screen. Not a big deal there either - I have plenty of CCRs and you eventually figure things out.But long story short - although I'd really like a dedicated 1.25m radio, I'd like one that actually performs at least somewhat better than the "5 watt afterthought" 220 on my 578. Truly hoping to replace this with a glowing review at some point soon, because all the cool people (especially The Good Guys) are all hanging on 1.25m.

What more could you ask for? The thing does the thing. Easy to program, loud speaker, good radio.

I like this radio a lot! Easy to use, easily modifiable if you want to add port in the pack for digital modes. I liked it so much I bought a second one after only using it for several days! Only negative is you really have to use the TYT software, which is somewhat buggy. I tried Chirp, and it seemed to work Ok But then it sounded distorted, I reloaded some test freq using both to confirm chirp will not work, even if the upload to radio seems ok. This is priced just right for what many to consider is an under used band (1.25 meter version)

Easy to program from the front panel buttons, built solid & lots of heat sink surface.

The radio worked fine for just over a month. Yesterday the audio failed (sounded like broken up digital, this is an analog radio). Checked compander settings, squelch settings and several others. No luck. Chatted with Amazon suppoprt and they did me a solid by accepting a return just over 10 days from the window closing.

Bought this radio for VHF contests. Worked great! The manual is tricky as it has errors. We just write in it when we figure out what it should be. I use the radio with a j-pole antenna at the house. I’ve also used it with a few repeaters. The mic doesn’t feel as nice as the icom or Yeasu, but it definitely does the job.

Talk over two weeks to arrive and then upon opening the box find out that this radio must’ve been shipped to somebody else they modified the power cord and already had frequencies programmed. It must’ve been returned and put right back in stock with that being checked over will be sending this back.