AOR 5700D 2023

[G8OEO]

The only thing I have found a bit annoying about the 5700 is its DMR decoding.
Every transmission begins with a very noticeable click which certainly doesn’t occur when I’m using DSD PLUS or my Anytone radios.
The dynamic range that the 5700 DMR decoder can cope with is also a bit limited. Anyone transmitting with a louder than average voice causes severe clipping distortion in this receiver. Again the Anytone simply produces louder audio without the severe distortion.
I’m guessing these niggles haven’t been addressed in more recent firmware releases.

 

[RichardMorris]

I just took delivery of a brand new AR5700D direct from Japan via eBay (yokamonmarket). Total cost was $3792.00 delivered to my home in Fairfield Texas. I was concerned about the additional cost due to Pres Trump and his tariffs but I got lucky and ended up with no tariff cost at all. I ordered it on April 26, 2025 and got it May 17, 2025.

Firmware Version (using AR5700D editing software) is
Main_403AR D3N5A P403A

Has anyone come across better editing software? (The only programs I have are from AOR).
The AR-IQ-III program looks nice but I am guessing that AIRSPY might make it obsolete.
I also bought the SDR# hardware from AIRSPY but have yet to set it up.

Rick KG5IZF

I spoke too soon about the import tariff. I got a bill from FedEx for $400 plus change. I went ahead and paid it.

 

[RichardMorris]

@RichardMorris

I have within a few months had my 5700D upgraded to the latest Firmware. Mine reads:

Main_403A D4NCA P403B

Did you mistype when typing your Firmware? You write you have Main_403AR. According to the latest Firmware release sheet from AOR, there is no _403AR.

See attached file.

Sorry on the version. Here is a picture

 

[RichardMorris]

@RichardMorris

I have within a few months had my 5700D upgraded to the latest Firmware. Mine reads:

Main_403A D4NCA P403B

Did you mistype when typing your Firmware? You write you have Main_403AR. According to the latest Firmware release sheet from AOR, there is no _403AR.

See attached file.

I did mistype the D3N5A (I put a 4, not 3).
I bought directly from Japan (yes, got all docs printed in Japanese).
I can get video out since it not USA, and nothing is blocked.
I saw the manufacturer date somewhere and it was December 2024.
There must be a way to update it. But does anyone have it? (Either read existing or load new)?

 

[RichardMorris]

I bought a new high end Rizen 5 computer, but I can’t get the radio to connect to it. The AR-ALPHA driver is working. So I hooked my old slow computer (Win 10 professional) back up and it works well. I configured the port for 115200 and com5. Works good on old computer, but not on. The new computer (Win 11 professional)
Anyone put it on a new computer successfully?

 

[AOR-262]

@RichardMorris

It would appear from your screenshot that your Firmware is out of date.

You can view the latest update here; click the link below (you must be logged in to RadioReference to view the file) ...

AR5700D - AOR 5700D Release Notes (Feb 2025)

AR5700D Firmware Release notes (since December 2019) - AOR official release Last updated: February 6th 2025 See attached file below ...

forums.radioreference.com

There has been an alleged issue with the Firmware upgrade procedure where official AOR dealers were only upgrading the Firmware if the receiver was purchased from them. I'm not sure if that was the case or if it still applies?

To upgrade your 5700D Firmware, I would suggest looking online for a AOR authorised dealer nearest to you. You may be lucky and live just an hour drive from their location and you can take it there in person -- otherwise, you will have to box up the receiver, making it safe for a journey via the postal system. Wherever the AOR dealer is located, either give them a call or send them an email. I'd suggest you call them.

Who sold you your 5700D from Japan? Was the seller an AOR dealer? There are a few sellers on eBay located in Japan that sell the receiver considerably cheaper than purchasing from an official AOR dealer. I ask these questions because out of curiosity, I would be interested to know if an official AOR dealer (obviously a USA dealer in your case/location) would perform the upgrade on the receiver which has been purchased outside of the United States.

p.s. I have a Windows 11 Pro PC here running an Intel i9-14900K processor. No issues.

 

[wb4sqi]

I did mistype the D3N5A (I put a 4, not 3).
I bought directly from Japan (yes, got all docs printed in Japanese).
I can get video out since it not USA, and nothing is blocked.
I saw the manufacturer date somewhere and it was December 2024.
There must be a way to update it. But does anyone have it? (Either read existing or load new)?

The only way to update firmware is ship it to AOR Japan. U.S. dealers do not update firmware on products bought direct from Japan. There is no procedure for owners to update firmware, supposedly due to complexity.

 

[AOR-262]

The only way to update firmware is ship it to AOR Japan. U.S. dealers do not update firmware on products bought direct from Japan. There is no procedure for owners to update firmware, supposedly due to complexity.

@wb4sqi

Ouch for @RichardMorris

That's gonna cost some BIG $$$ sending that back to Japan.

 

[to2way]

Mine is from HRO
As for firmware updates, I have been advised from AOR themselves in CA, USA that they can do updates.? So whether or not its only US sourced units or all.....who knows?

I assume the FW updates require opening the receiver and using a flash cable into a JTAG port on the main PSB or something.....and that is a procedure that they don't wanna let every owner attempt. Thats my guess.

 

[RichardMorris]

@RichardMorris

It would appear from your screenshot that your Firmware is out of date.

You can view the latest update here; click the link below (you must be logged in to RadioReference to view the file) ...

AR5700D - AOR 5700D Release Notes (Feb 2025)

AR5700D Firmware Release notes (since December 2019) - AOR official release Last updated: February 6th 2025 See attached file below ...

forums.radioreference.com

There has been an alleged issue with the Firmware upgrade procedure where official AOR dealers were only upgrading the Firmware if the receiver was purchased from them. I'm not sure if that was the case or if it still applies?

To upgrade your 5700D Firmware, I would suggest looking online for a AOR authorised dealer nearest to you. You may be lucky and live just an hour drive from their location and you can take it there in person -- otherwise, you will have to box up the receiver, making it safe for a journey via the postal system. Wherever the AOR dealer is located, either give them a call or send them an email. I'd suggest you call them.

Who sold you your 5700D from Japan? Was the seller an AOR dealer? There are a few sellers on eBay located in Japan that sell the receiver considerably cheaper than purchasing from an official AOR dealer. I ask these questions because out of curiosity, I would be interested to know if an official AOR dealer (obviously a USA dealer in your case/location) would perform the upgrade on the receiver which has been purchased outside of the United States.

p.s. I have a Windows 11 Pro PC here running an Intel i9-14900K processor. No issues.

This is from my 1st message"I just took delivery of a brand new AR5700D direct from Japan via eBay (yokamonmarket). Total cost was $3792.00 delivered to my home in Fairfield Texas. I was concerned about the additional cost due to Pres Trump and his tariffs but I got lucky and ended up with no tariff cost at all. I ordered it on April 26, 2025 and got it May 17, 2025." Now add $400 for Trump tariff

 

[wb4sqi]

Mine is from HRO
As for firmware updates, I have been advised from AOR themselves in CA, USA that they can do updates.? So whether or not its only US sourced units or all.....who knows?

I assume the FW updates require opening the receiver and using a flash cable into a JTAG port on the main PSB or something.....and that is a procedure that they don't wanna let every owner attempt. Thats my guess.

AOR USA will only service the domestic sourced radios. FW update is complex due to several CPU's in the radio. UK dealers no longer can update FW. You might want to confirm with AOR USA they can perform updates since AOR Japan took that option away from UK dealers.

 

[to2way]

AOR confirmed they could do updates to my 5700D back in October 2024 fwiw

 

[AOR-262]

UK dealers no longer can update FW. You might want to confirm with AOR USA they can perform updates since AOR Japan took that option away from UK dealers

@wb4sqi

Waters & Stanton are AOR authorised UK dealers and will upgrade the 5700D Firmware. Cost is £120 GBP (approx. $162 USD).

AOR AR5700D FIRMWARE UPDATE

Waters & Stanton began in 1973 as a partnership between Peter Waters & Jeff Stanton. From a small lock-up shop in those early days, they grew to become one of the largest retailers & distributors of radio communications and accessories.

www.hamradiostore.co.uk

 

[wb4sqi]

@wb4sqi

Waters & Stanton are AOR authorised UK dealers and will upgrade the 5700D Firmware. Cost is £120 GBP (approx. $162 USD).

AOR AR5700D FIRMWARE UPDATE

Waters & Stanton began in 1973 as a partnership between Peter Waters & Jeff Stanton. From a small lock-up shop in those early days, they grew to become one of the largest retailers & distributors of radio communications and accessories.

www.hamradiostore.co.uk

A former user from UK reported that W&S were not doing upgrades and he paid to ship his to Japan for upgrades and repair. I guess at $162 to upgrade is a bit cheaper than sending back to the mother ship. I had my 5700 for one week and returned it to Japan. It would reboot for no obvious reason at times.

 

[G7HID]

@wb4sqi

Waters & Stanton are AOR authorised UK dealers and will upgrade the 5700D Firmware. Cost is £120 GBP (approx. $162 USD).

AOR AR5700D FIRMWARE UPDATE

Waters & Stanton began in 1973 as a partnership between Peter Waters & Jeff Stanton. From a small lock-up shop in those early days, they grew to become one of the largest retailers & distributors of radio communications and accessories.

www.hamradiostore.co.uk

If you follow the link and read the advert... It looks like it is just the Tetra GSSI PRO activation key

Mike

 

[EricCottrell]

I came across this page with the right description from Moonraker.

AOR AR5700D FIRMWARE UPDATE

Moonraker was established in 1978. Since then we have become the largest manufacturer of Amateur, CB, and Scanner antennas and accessories in the UK We are also the largest local authorised dealer for Alinco, Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu and Wouxun

moonrakeronline.com

I though the same style of webpage was interesting. Different numbers for Moonraker (Milton Keynes) and Waters & Stanton (Southend-on-Sea), but similar Woburn Sands address. I came across a message thread talking about a Nevada Radio, Waters & Stanton, Moonraker, and Sharman merger in 2023. It created a Ham Radio and Electronics Marketing Group according to a Waters & Stanton video about the move on Youtube.

Sharman is trade only connected to Moonraker, but the others have similar looking retail websites. Moonraker defaults to US pricing and seems focused on International Orders.

 

[G7HID]

................Sharman is trade only connected to Moonraker, but the others have similar looking retail websites. Moonraker defaults to US pricing and seems focused on International Orders.

Maybe pricing defaults to where it thinks you are connecting from, I see everything priced in UK Pounds..

Mike

 

[EricCottrell]

Yes, I noticed Moonraker had selections for Euros and UK Pounds besides US Dollars. The other retail ones only had UK Pounds.

I have an AOR AR-Alpha, but the receiver is unsupported by SDRSharp for IQ Output. I decided to upgrade as the AR5700D seems a better receiver. I find it interesting that the US price is still over 6K, but the rest of the world has discounted them to mid-3K.

I decided to go with Moonraker since they showed prices in US Dollars. I am in the Northeastern US, so the UK is closer than Japan. They are up front about it taking longer for international shipments because they use "Delivery Duties Paid" (DDP). It was interesting going through and selecting shipping methods as some were cheaper, but increased the Duty & Taxes to total about the same amount as the more expensive shipping options. I ended up going with DHL Express Worldwide for $100 and change for shipping plus $386 and change for Duties & Taxes.

The update procedure for the AR-Alpha is explained in the manual and I have successfully done it. I suspect the AR5700D uses a similar method and I can see why AOR restricted updating as it is complicated. It uses a SHBOOT utility and the serial port. Some disassembly is required. The setting of two jumpers and two dip switches on one of the PCBs determines what gets updated. There is a boot file and firmware file for each board (Main, Panel, Decoder). The AR-Alpha can only decode P25.

 

[AOR-262]

Waters & Stanton are part of the Moonraker Group.

W&S still use old/original address and website.

 

[EricCottrell]

I got it! I got it! It was a good thing I was up early and dressed as DHL delivered about 1/2 hour before the start of the delivery window. I guess traffic from Boston was not as bad this morning.

I ordered from Moonraker UK on Thursday June 19 with the shipping label created on Friday. The package was picked up in the afternoon Monday and left the UK about 11 hours later. It arrived in New York on Tuesday and cleared Customs yesterday. Boston is just an overnight from New York, which is why I think DHL used their NYC Gateway instead of their main US international hub near Cincinnati. Six business days from ordering to delivery is pretty good.

Firmware is up-to-date (Main_403AR D4NC P403B). Since the firmware release information indicates a firmware variant to handle a new RFU board, and my serial number is greater than #09680531, I suspect my receiver has the new RFU board and the firmware variant for the new board has a 'R' at the end of the version.

The width of the receiver looks to be about half-rack. The power supply is an universal 100 - 240 volt model. It came with an UK cord, but I can use one of my C13 to NEMA 5-15P cords.

It was nice to have a printed manual and addendum sheet. I have several other AOR receivers, so I know their UI schema. It can be a learning curve for some. Some minor differences due to receiver features. I found it interesting that AOR used a full size SD Card slot, but supplied a micro-SD card with an adapter. They also used full-size USB-B sockets.

The local entry under the config menu was set for USA with JAPAN and EUROPE being the other selections. The radio is unblocked which does not really mean much these days. I wonder if the bandplan can be modified like some other AOR receivers.

I really like the 'ALL' selection for Tone and DCS, which makes it great for searching for tones. Most of my other radios will search for Tone or DCS, not both at the same time like this receiver. Two downsides are the receiver does not open squelch for signals without a Tone/DCS, and DCS has a tendency to sometimes display false values and open on digital signals. The decode is pretty fast.

The AR-IQ-III program comes on a USB dongle that is so small I hope I don't lose it. The program runs from the USB dongle. It should work with my AR-Alpha as well. I easily got the drivers installed and the program running. It only receives analog modes. The next step was to get SDR# working. The advantage of SDR# over AR-IQ-III is the plugins. The AR-5700D front panel is disabled when it is in remote mode and two USB Cables (supplied) are needed. The Icom IC-R8600 has IQ data and remote commands over one USB cable and higher sampling rates.

I have only tried a small sample of the receiver's capabilities, but I like it so far.