AnyTone AT-D878UVII Plus vs. Yaesu FT-60R/70DR

[KQ7D]

I'm looking for a Baofeng upgrade. I have yet to find anything better than my UV-82HP in terms of price, functionality, or capability. However, I'm very interested to try a new HT that has good RX/TX for 2m and 70cm. I'm also open to considering digital down the road, which could be near or longer term.

How does the AnyTone AT-D878UVII Plus work on regular analog? Looking for general and specific experience-based opinions. Primary use will be daily 2m/70cm repeater and simplex use. If I go digital, Fusion is probably my most likely, but I know that AnyTone gets great reviews...

 

[AB4BF]

I'm looking for a Baofeng upgrade. I have yet to find anything better than my UV-82HP in terms of price, functionality, or capability. However, I'm very interested to try a new HT that has good RX/TX for 2m and 70cm. I'm also open to considering digital down the road, which could be near or longer term.

How does the AnyTone AT-D878UVII Plus work on regular analog? Looking for general and specific experience-based opinions. Primary use will be daily 2m/70cm repeater and simplex use. If I go digital, Fusion is probably my most likely, but I know that AnyTone gets great reviews...

I've shied away from fusion and Dstar for the simple reason that there are no fusion or dstar repeaters anywhere near me. There are 4 dmr repeaters I can access quite easily and although I could use a hotspot to use a dstar or fusion radio, right now its not worth it. I may still get a hotspot of some kind in the future.

The Anytone is excellent and the programming is a learning curve to use correctly. I have 2 Anytones, the 578 and 878. So far the programming has become second nature. It took me alone 3 months to learn it (the 878) properly and I am still learning nuances that crop up every time I change something in the program. I get very good remarks and comments about the audio and frequency transmissions when I use either one, so far. The price is not bad but Anytone keeps adding bells and whistles to it and the price keeps going up it seems, lol. It is a good radio regardless of it's pedigree. Or in spite of, maybe...

 

[sallen07]

How does the AnyTone AT-D878UVII Plus work on regular analog? Looking for general and specific experience-based opinions. Primary use will be daily 2m/70cm repeater and simplex use. If I go digital, Fusion is probably my most likely, but I know that AnyTone gets great reviews...

I have an Alinco DJ-MD5, which is the 'cousin' of the Anytone. (Different form-factor but pretty much the same radio.) It's a nice little radio, and works well on analog and DMR. As @AB4BF said, programming one is a challenge at first. One nice thing about DMR radios is the concept of zones so you can have groups of frequencies that you can select based on location or activity.

If you think you might get into Fusion then I'd go with the FT-70DR. No sense in buying a DMR radio if you aren't interested in DMR.

On the other hand, if you are just looking for a good analog dual band radio right now, the FT-60 is an excellent choice. Yes, it's an older model and has a Ni-MH battery. The fact that Yaesu still makes and sells a ton of them is testament to how good a radio it is though.

 

[doc62]

I have both an 878 as well as the FT-60. I use the FT-60 when supporting events in the field (ARES/RACES, Etc.). I mainly use the 878 with my hotspot. Not to say its not good in Analog, but I just prefer the solid feel of the FT-60 when supporting events.

 

[alcahuete]

The 878 is a fantastic radio, both digital and analog, and has some great features. That said, it is still a CCR...albeit an expensive CCR. You still run into some of the desense issues from time to time, etc. depending on the RF environment. But a very good radio.

 

[KQ7D]

Thanks for the responses and my apologies for the delay in responding myself.

I suppose it does come down to DMR vs. Fusion. As much as I think I might want to try DMR, Fusion is more likely. And more likely than that is 2m/70cm.

So does the FT-70DR sound as good as the FT-60?

 

[popnokick]

I have both the Anytone and an FT-70DR. One clear difference between the two is the battery life. A charged battery in the Anytone lasts much longer than the FT-70 does when charged. Also, the batteries cost less for the Anytone. I have three of them I use in rotation.

 

[mrweather]

I too own an FT-70DR and while it works just fine, it was built to a price point. My biggest complaint is the atrocious battery life. I also wish Yaesu had an alkaline pack for it.

The FT-60 is a tried-and-true analog handheld.

 

[K6GBW]

DMR is much more popular across the country and because of it's use in the commercial world it won't be going away anytime soon. The Anytone 878 is relatively easy to program via computer and does analog FM really well. Another radio you might look at is the TYT MD-UV390. I have one and for a $120.00 radio it is built really well. The battery life has been good and the audio reports I get on analog and DMR have been good. A plus is that you don't really have to play around with it to get it to do out of band stuff as it's a 136-174 and 400-480 MHz radio. With the Anytone you have to play around with the "Modes" and it can get frustrating. Worth a look for sure.

 

[EastCoastSunrise]

As some one who has used both as a daily driver radio, I prefer the 878. You really can’t go wrong with either however. If all the local repeaters are YSF or Wires-X the Yaesus are what you want. But if DMR is in your area or you don’t mind running on a hotspot the 878 feels like the better daily radio. My problems with the FT-70 stem mostly from hardware interface annoyances, rather than RF or durability ones. The biggest of my gripes with the FT-70 was the in my opinion silly choice to make volume adjustments require holding both a button on the side of the radio below the ptt and turning the top dial. Making it a very awkward thing to adjust audio once the radio is on your belt. Also the top knob will change channels by default so you can easily find your self making unintentional channel changes. The 878 has independent volume and channel knobs and a better screen. If you can swing for the 878 go for it, I think it is all around a better radio then the FT-70, and unless you really want an analog only Yaesu I'd pass on the FT-60 (I know it is a beast) as there are more feature packed radios out there.

73

 

[k6cpo]

I have both the Anytone and an FT-70DR. One clear difference between the two is the battery life. A charged battery in the Anytone lasts much longer than the FT-70 does when charged. Also, the batteries cost less for the Anytone. I have three of them I use in rotation.

I too own an FT-70DR and while it works just fine, it was built to a price point. My biggest complaint is the atrocious battery life. I also wish Yaesu had an alkaline pack for it.

The FT-60 is a tried-and-true analog handheld.

I didn't locate a AA pack for the FT-70, but I did find this. There might be something in there that would help with the battery life.