Read on for the two ways to turn your Quansheng Radio flashlight, or just jump to the video.
The Classic Way to Turn on Your Quansheng Flashlight
Assuming your radio is already on, to turn on your Quansheng radio’s flashlight, just press Side Key 2. If you’re looking at left side of your radio, Side Key 2 is the bottom-most key and has two small squares on it:
If you’re in the pitch black or are visually impaired, feel down along the left side of your radio. From top to bottom, the first, long, button you feel is the Push To Talk Button.
The next two buttons are called Side Keys. Their functions are programmable, but by default Side Key One (on the top) turns on and off the Monitor function – kind of like toggling Squelch from high to low and Side Key Two turns the flashlight on and off.
Once you find Side Key 2 – the bottom button on the left side – press it once to make the flashlight turn on. Press it again to make the light blink. Press it a third and final time to turn the flashlight off again.
The Incognito Way to Turn on Your Quansheng Radio Flashlight
Some Quansheng Radios talk to you every time you press a key, like the screenreaders someone might use with their phone or computer if they’re visually impaired.
Unfortunately, there might be times you want to skip the “narration” when you turn on your flashlight. For example, if you’re out camping and need to make your way to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you don’t want to announce your departure to your tentmates as you turn your flashlight on!
In order to turn on your Quansheng flashlight without making any noise, your radio needs to be OFF to begin with. Then:
- Hold the Push to Talk (PTT) button
- And turn the Radio ON while still holding the PTT button.
Magically, instead of the whole radio turning on, only the flashlight turns on. Pretty neat, huh? (You can let go of the PTT button now).
So far I’ve tested this on the UV-K5 and UV-K5(99) and it works exactly the same way on both, so I ASSume it works the same way on the UV-K5(8) (UV-K6) also. Once I get a chance to test the UV-K6 and TK-11 I’ll come back and update you guys.
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Quansheng Radio Flashlight Video How-To
Frequently Asked Questions
How Bright Is the Quansheng Flashlight?
Not very bright. The flashlight on top of your Quansheng won’t be as bright as the flashlight on your cellphone, but it’s better than nothing in an emergency situation.
Last night I turned off all the lights in my basement and threw the Quansheng manual on the floor to see how well I could see it in the dark using the flashlight on my Quansheng UV-K5(99). If you want to see what it looked like, see my test picture here.
As it turns out, I was able to see the manual very easily. The flashlight made enough light to let me walk around in the dark without stepping on or tripping over anything, despite there being toys all over the floor.
The flashlight throws a pretty small cone of light off the LED so it wouldn’t work very well as a reading light, but you could definitely use it to find your way around your house at night if your cellphone is dead or out of reach.
