Importing radio to Malaysia .. my experience

I did an ebay shopping early of the week and won a second hand radio from a seller in the US. It is a bit hard to buy directly from QTH.COM or QRZ.COM since many of them won't ship outside CONUSA (Continental USA). The shipping cost is surely makes most of us think more than twice when buying things from the US.

Anyway, was told by the seller that my radio has been shipped via USPS Priority Mail yesterday, so off me go to SIRIM today. SIRIM QAS International is the body which produces the AP and certifies the telecommunication equipment too. Since the radio that I'm importing is already in the MCMC approved list, I don't need to pay the RM180++ for certification etc. The cost of the import permit (AP) is RM70, increased from RM30 which I was told the cost before they were going into ePermit.

What I brought along when applying for the ePermit:

1. A copy of my AA

2. A copy of my IC - front/back

3. A copy of an invoice from the seller/ebay

4. A copy of the brochure

What I need to fill up there:

1. Application for ePermit

The girl at the counter went up to see the techie guy twice, once coming back because she wasn't sure that I've AA and the other time, because they don't have the current list from MCMC. So, I told them to check it out and the techie guy couldn't find it from MCMC website either, but later said that, OKlah, just pay the RM70 :)

Now, am suppose to wait for 24Hrs to see if my ePermit application is approved (or the girl said, call them back in hour time, probably done by then). One thing, there is no AP paper given to us. Customs just need the online ePermit thingy..

Anyway, will update this page again with any progress after this including the customs process. Hopefully it will be a smooth sailing.

Update 1: Tracking the radio:

International Dispatch, May 06, 2009, 9:15 pm, ISC CHICAGO IL (USPS) Electronic Shipping Info Received, May 05, 2009 Acceptance, May 05, 2009, 4:15 pm, FLINT, MI 48532

Update 2: Called up SIRIM QAS and I've got my ePermit approved. Just need to wait for Customs to send a yellow card asking me to pickup the radio from the airport clearance office.

Update 3 13/05/09: Received a POSLAJU notification from POS MEL & KURIER saying that the package is stuck at Customs. So, I guess I need to go to KLIA this afternoon to pick it up. Hopefully no hassle whatsoever since I've the necessary ePermit etc. Are they going to tax me? Hope not..

Update 4 13/05/09: Went to pickup the radio from KLIA, I had a wrong impression that there will be no tax, yes, no duty tax but they still impose 10% sales tax. Anyway, the radio is with me and have not much done to it. Need to read the manual .. and need to fabricate the mic connector too. Anyway, I was wrong about the AP thingy.. ePermit is by SIRIM but when you reached the KLIA POS Malaysia/Customs clearance centre, they'll need to print a JK6 (the paper AP) and need to bring it to the Customs for clearance and tax calculation. So, we still have the paper AP as proof that we're importing the radio through proper channel.

Update 5 14/05/09: My previous mic connector didn't work, I couldn't key the radio. Found out that I'm missing the GND and the M-36 mic connector that I have does not have GND, probably it shares with the MIC GND. So, did another one this morning using a patch cable, tested and it was wrong once again. The colour coding was not standard.. so, arming myself with a multimeter, I traced the wires one by one.. and yehaa.. I could use my MH-31 that I've for FT897D with this new rig. Now aiming to get Yaesu MD-100 .. but once again, need to think more than twice if I were to get if from US.. again, the shipping charges really kill.

The result as above .. a proud owner of a pre-owned excellent condition FT-920. The previous owner has his callsign at the back of the top cover.