DMR Radio

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jeepsandradios

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OK. I am sure I'll get 50 different ideas and I have read thru about 200 threads but i am in search of a DMR radio to play with. The goal will be a Motorola radio in the end, but about 5 years ago i bought a Motorola and a repeater and could not get anyone local to get on board. I finally sold all the gear ad shifted to P25 as my APX could be on both public safety and HAM stuff. At this point i am traveling alot and would like to play with DMR a bit before sinking alot into a new mobile for my truck....

So which of all the others offers a reasonably priced portable, ease of programming and all in all a starter radio.
 

jaspence

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I have several DMR hts., from Hytera professional to the MD 380. My suggestions is the GD-77. The price is under $100 and it is dual band. The software is free and there have been needed firmware updates. It is not a Moto, but the receive audio is good and I have had not any complaints on the transmit quality.
 

jonwienke

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If reasonably priced is a consideration, probably the TYT MD-380 or MD-390. The dual-band MD-2017 is still teething out some firmware bugs and isn't quite ready for prime time yet, but in a few more months will likely be a viable option. The 380 and 390 have been out for a while and have stable firmware and CPS. The 390 has an IPX67-rated case, the 380 does not.
 

uli2000

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The cost of Moto portables on the secondary market has come way down. XPR 6550s can be found for ~$200 (I recently purchased a like new one for $180) and new XPR 7550s I've seen in the $400-500 range. Is it the <$100 Chinese portables? No, but for the price of a dual band Chinese dual band radio you can probably get a 6550. 90%+ of DMR repeaters worldwide are 70cm, I think the majority of VHF DMR repeaters are located in areas with PAVE/PAWS restrictions on UHF. Unless you live in or near one of these areas, I think a dual band DMR radio is a waste. I'd rather have Moto quality than the VHF side that will never get used for DMR.
 

razorseal

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The cost of Moto portables on the secondary market has come way down. XPR 6550s can be found for ~$200 (I recently purchased a like new one for $180) and new XPR 7550s I've seen in the $400-500 range. Is it the <$100 Chinese portables? No, but for the price of a dual band Chinese dual band radio you can probably get a 6550. 90%+ of DMR repeaters worldwide are 70cm, I think the majority of VHF DMR repeaters are located in areas with PAVE/PAWS restrictions on UHF. Unless you live in or near one of these areas, I think a dual band DMR radio is a waste. I'd rather have Moto quality than the VHF side that will never get used for DMR.

Dual band DMR radio isn't a waste, because you get to work DMR on UHF, and get to tune all the analog (and vhf DMR) repeaters that utilize VHF.

Even if you don't use VHF DMR, there are plenty of analog VHF repeaters around.
 
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