Baofeng Baofeng DM-1801 Questions

[gman1971]

Sure thing.

LOL, 7550... thats the other side of the spectrum in terms of $$$... the only downside of the XPR is that it can only do one band... I settled for the Alinco MD5... Is not as low performing RF as the 1805 but its certainly no XPR7550

G.

 

[K9RPL]

I used the DM-1801 as a beginner DMR radio since it was inexpensive. I still like it and I think it's better now with OpenGD77 in it. I eventually wanted a high quality DMR radio and happen to have the cables and my company is a MSI partner so we have access to the licensed CPS and I got the 25KHz entitlement.

I found the 7550 for a good price in pristine condition with brand new battery and charger and a 90 day warranty so I grabbed it. It's become my favorite radio hands down. I use it more for analog than digital and the audio is outstanding. I see it as an investment.

I've pretty much put the BF's I have in storage as backups and using primarily the 7550, but bring along the 1801 as well. I much prefer how the 7550 and 1801 are programmed. The concept of Zones makes it much easier to use and they're similar enough that I can transition between them pretty easily.

 

[gman1971]

I use both bands, UHF for GMRS and VHF for LMR so that ruled out the 7550 for me. If you only need one band, the 7550 is real nice radio.

The OpenGD77 is nice, I'll probably take it for my 1801s at some point...

G.

 

[K9RPL]

Understood. A dual band would certainly be nice.

 

[kd4qfh2]

I have a Baofeng DM-1801, I am using the Baofeng program to program the radio. There is a DMR repeater here that uses both time slots, how do I fix the issue. I hit the Dual Capacity Direct mode box and don't hear it.

 

[K9RPL]

DCDM is for simplex, not repeaters. To use a repeater you'll need the color code, time slot and talk group information for the various groups you want to talk to. Talk groups are on specific time slots. That's how a repeater can support two simultaneous conversations. One on TS1 and another on TS2.

 

[kd4qfh2]

In the Channel box how do I set it up for both time slots? The radio shows the transmission coming in but I do not hear it.

 

[K9RPL]

You don't set up both time slots. You only set one. Either slot 1 or slot 2 depending on what talk group you want for that repeater.

For example, in my area a popular talk group is called Illinois Local 2 which is on Slot 2 on most repeaters. You need to create a Group Contact for the talk group so I created a Group Contact called Local 2 and set the contact to 3166 which is the talk group number. The repeater I use is on Color Code 1 so to access Illinois Local 2, I program the channel for Color Code 1, Slot 2 and set the Contact to Local 2.

I suggest you find sample code plugs for your radio so you can see how it works.

 

[kd4qfh2]

Why is it, I programed a repeater with TS 2 and CC 2 I can't connect to it, but with TS and CC 1 I can?

 

[K9RPL]

Repeaters listen on only one Color code, sort of like Receive and Transmit PL tones. The key is to *exactly* match the CC, Slot and Talk Group. Color Code and Times Slot are part of the Channel program but Talk Group (Contact) is in a separate list, then added to the Channel when you create it.

It's important to look at the repeater listings for your area. RepeaterBook is one source for example. If the Repeater is owned by a radio club they may have a website that lists the details for the repeater including what TG's are supported.

 

[deadite66]

Hi, i tried programming my 1801 via the cable and the interface has reset to chinese, anyone know how to change to English?

never mind figured it out with help from google translate on my phone.

 

[K9RPL]

At the top of the page, the tab third from the right is Language if you're using the standard Baofeng DM-1801 CPS.

 

[deadite66]

i was talking about the radio not the cps software., seems everything you write to the radio it resets the language to Chinese. annoying.

 

[K9RPL]

Ah. sorry. I misunderstood. I don't remember what the menu items were on the DM-1801. I reflashed mine to OpenGD last year.

 

[deadite66]

no problem, i suspect i will reflash mine to OpenGD if it keeps resetting to chinese.

 

[K9RPL]

OpenGD is way better than the stock firmware. I highly recommend it. It has it's own CPS as well and is actively supported.

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