Wouxun KG-UV8D Disassembly
I recently disassembled my Wouxun KG-UV8D in hopes of helping out the low audio reports I’ve been receiving when using this HT. I found hit or miss articles stating that enlarging the mic hole would help so I thought I would give it a shot. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to disassembling this HT.
Disassembly:
To start off remove the antenna, battery, and the two phillips screws that attach the belt clip to the frame.
Next pop the volume/power and channel knobs off using light pressure. They should slide off easily but you can gently pry up on them with a small flat screwdriver if needed.
This exposes the volume pot nut and antenna connector nut. Remove these carefully with a small pair of needle-nose pliers or snap-ring pliers. Under the nuts and on the channel pot you’ll see orange dust seals. Remove these with a small pick or something similar.
Now remove the 2 T-8 Torx screws on the back near the battery latch. (The bit shown is a hollow model for tamper resistant screws, you just need a standard T-8)
Next gently pry the small top-rear cover upwards and towards the top of the radio. This will expose the final screw on the battery connector.
*Note: I’m not 100% sure this screw needs to be removed. I removed it on my radio and didn’t have any issues.
You should now be able to gently lift the radio assembly out of the case starting with the bottom near the battery latch. This shows the small hole and dust cover for the mic. I enlarged this hole to 3/32″ using a drill bit. This does puncture the dust cover but that shouldn’t be an issue unless you are using the radio in a very dusty environment.
Conclusion:
Enlarging the hole seemed to help a very small amount but nothing drastic. These radios just appear to have a much less sensitive mic than I’m accustomed to on Baofeng HTs. So far this is really the only downside to this radio in comparison to the Baofeng line. I’ll do a review and comparison later once I’ve had plenty of time to work with all of the Wouxun KG-UV8D’s features.
