AOR AR-DV1

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UKDMRUser

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Hi there folks.

I am both a business user and home listener of radio and more recently dmr. I firstly want to thank all who have given the wealth of information in this post which has been very helpful to someone looking at this receiver. Second I want to thank the forum for being here. Since ordering the DV1 which I am awaiting to be delivered any day now I have scoured the internet and no where has information or input about this receiver like this site which I am very grateful for. The £700+ I paid for this was a lot of money for me so I'm very nervous and apprehensive about this scanner though I have to admit that is far outweighed by my excitement which is like a kid on christmas eve.

One question, and sorry to start on my first post with a question but I promise to post all my future experience with the DV1 here with you guys and help with what I can. I have bought the AR-DV1 on ebay from a Singapore seller. It is advertised as the unblocked version. I figure unblocked is better as it has more features though in reality I think it just means the cellular bands are unblocked which makes no difference here in the UK as all mobile phones are GSM which cannot be monitored on any scanner including the AR-DV1 and those bands are mostly unused here in England. In fact, watching the video of the AR-DV1 being used in the states amazed me at the 800 megz being used by law enforcement as here in the UK there is nothing in the way of PMR above 463 megz.

The question is though, this radio strongly relies on firmware updates as it is in effect an SDR. As the firmware updates are public will me doing a firmware update change the firmware from a blocked to an unblocked version?
 

AA6IO

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UKDMRUser,
I hope you enjoy your new AR-DV1. I have not used mine for a while, hopefully waiting for software from Butel. Your question is very interesting, and I have no idea if changing the firmware would alter the blocked/unblocked status. You may want to contact Taka at AOR USA. I presume he would know.
 

UKDMRUser

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Thanks for the reply. I will try contacting AOR and hopefully get a reply and let you know here what they said. It is due any day now so I will post my initial findings here as soon as it does.
 

AA6IO

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UKDMRUser
Taka from AOR saw your posting about this and e-mailed me. He told me that the changing the firmware on the AR-DV1 will not affect the blocked/unblocked status. If it is unblocked, it will remain unblocked. Firmware has no effect according to Taka. Hope you enjoy the new receiver.

Steve AA6IO
 

ASAD

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I read in one of the posts here that AOR AR-DV1 decodes encrypted NXDN traffic - the traffic that uses the built-in digital scrambler in Kenwood or Icom radios. Out of curiosity, is that right?

Please know that I have no intention to even buy this receiver. I'm just curious to know.
 

MStep

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...........On the surface this looks like it will be the final straw for me. It is unfortunate that AOR has not or won't establish a presence here at RR. It's been noted that perhaps Taka or someone there has been following these threads. That list leads me to believe that we may not be taken seriously. I could well be wrong, but some communication that acknowledges the issues we have presented along with a "yeah, we're working on that and it'll be available at some point" or "no, go pound sand, you're never getting that" would be nice. I've always been one that would rather be told to go screw instead of being left wondering if I should..........

Hi guys-- have been following with much interest your reports on this AOR receiver. What struck me was the paragraph above-- for the most part you could have changed the name and just dropped it into the Uniden forums, however, I think your friend Taka is probably not ready for the type of abuse that Paul Opitz takes on a regular basis regarding the 436/536.

I know the frustration of love/hate relationships with radios, and after 60 years of monitoring, I would agree with previous posts that there will never be a "one size fits all", at least not in my lifetime.

But I wanted to thank all you guys for the great work you have done in supplying information about the AOR AR-DV1, and it's wonderful that you've had a way to put this unit through it paces in the real-world environment without having the commit to a purchase. You have likely saved many of us from the bit of disappointment we would have probably felt had we gone ahead and put more wear & tear on those already abused and overused credit cards. To be fair, it certainly sounds like the receiver has its share of pluses, and perhaps the firmware is taking things in a more positive direction, but I guess right now, not quite ready for prime time.
 
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EricCottrell

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I read in one of the posts here that AOR AR-DV1 decodes encrypted NXDN traffic - the traffic that uses the built-in digital scrambler in Kenwood or Icom radios. Out of curiosity, is that right?

Please know that I have no intention to even buy this receiver. I'm just curious to know.

Hello,

If you push the main tuning knob, a D-CR ENC.CODE parameter is displayed. I suspect it is for the encryption used by Digital Convenience Radio (D-CR). It may be the same as the scramble encryption used in NXDN.

This feature is potentially only useful to monitor the user's own scramble encryption radios, since the code (32,767 combinations) has to be known. I do not have any NXDN trancievers, so I cannot test if it works on NXDN. Maybe AOR did not block the feature because it only works on D-CR, and not NXDN.

73 Eric
 

UKDMRUser

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UKDMRUser
Taka from AOR saw your posting about this and e-mailed me. He told me that the changing the firmware on the AR-DV1 will not affect the blocked/unblocked status. If it is unblocked, it will remain unblocked. Firmware has no effect according to Taka. Hope you enjoy the new receiver.

Steve AA6IO

Many thanks Steve that is good news.

The radio had arrived, to be honest I'm not too impressed as DMR that can be heard clear on other receivers and scanners is weak on this using the same antenna making most distant signals un encodable. Close by users on DMR are decoded well though. I hope it will improve with a firmware update. It came with a 4gb SD card. I can't find what firmware version it is by using the menu? Is it fairly straightforward to do a firmware update?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 

SCPD

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Many thanks Steve that is good news.

The radio had arrived, to be honest I'm not too impressed as DMR that can be heard clear on other receivers and scanners is weak on this using the same antenna making most distant signals un encodable. Close by users on DMR are decoded well though. I hope it will improve with a firmware update. It came with a 4gb SD card. I can't find what firmware version it is by using the menu? Is it fairly straightforward to do a firmware update?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Press the function key then #7 use the down arrow to firm version.

Firmware update procedures | AR-DV1 | RECEIVERS | AOR U.S.A., INC. Authority On Radio Communications
 

DSC45

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Firmware 1508B

Hi!

Haven't posted for a while, but very happy with the latest firmware update 1508B. Audible output much better. AOR is chipping away to make the DV1 a great receiver.

It's really ashame but I'm not using this receiver. I had big plans when I purchased it, but I'm so assumed with the P25 system here in Somerset County that I haven't touched the DV1 in weeks.

Probably was not a good idea to make this acquisition, possibly thinking of a liquidation here! I really like the receiver but just can't find the time for it.

Well, for now we're heading in the right direction. Looking forward to hear everyones findings with the firmware updates. It's been kind of quiet on the forum.

Thanks,
 
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UKDMRUser

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Many thanks.

I'm happy to report the update was easy, for anyone reading this I simply downloaded the latest update file from the AOR site. I unzipped the folder which contained 3 files. Two were PDF and the other was the update (1508B) which I transferred to the SD card and followed the easy install as shown in the link above.

When I turn the AOR on now it says 1508B on the lower right of the screen which is nice to see the version when turning on.

At first it was a little disappointing as the receive sensitivity/quality is not on par with my other scanners, ie on a Realistic Pro 2006 and 2 Unidens I can hear VHF stuff that can't be heard on this but the digital side does work very well, I have quite a bit of DMR local and the decode is very good. It would be nice to have a faster scan speed but I have 9 channels in at the moment which it comfortably scans without missing much. I am hopeful AOR will keep up with the updates and the radio will evolve over time to something even better.
 

jcardani

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Voice Time Slots

Hi All,

How does the radio decode audio if both time slots are simultaneously used for voice? Does it unmute both voice slots or only one?

thanks!
 

unsigned

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Sep 4, 2015
Messages
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firmware upgrade (unblocked)

Hello - just wondered if you successfully upgraded the firmware and kept the DV-1 unblocked?


Hi there folks.

I am both a business user and home listener of radio and more recently dmr. I firstly want to thank all who have given the wealth of information in this post which has been very helpful to someone looking at this receiver. Second I want to thank the forum for being here. Since ordering the DV1 which I am awaiting to be delivered any day now I have scoured the internet and no where has information or input about this receiver like this site which I am very grateful for. The £700+ I paid for this was a lot of money for me so I'm very nervous and apprehensive about this scanner though I have to admit that is far outweighed by my excitement which is like a kid on christmas eve.

One question, and sorry to start on my first post with a question but I promise to post all my future experience with the DV1 here with you guys and help with what I can. I have bought the AR-DV1 on ebay from a Singapore seller. It is advertised as the unblocked version. I figure unblocked is better as it has more features though in reality I think it just means the cellular bands are unblocked which makes no difference here in the UK as all mobile phones are GSM which cannot be monitored on any scanner including the AR-DV1 and those bands are mostly unused here in England. In fact, watching the video of the AR-DV1 being used in the states amazed me at the 800 megz being used by law enforcement as here in the UK there is nothing in the way of PMR above 463 megz.

The question is though, this radio strongly relies on firmware updates as it is in effect an SDR. As the firmware updates are public will me doing a firmware update change the firmware from a blocked to an unblocked version?
 

UKDMRUser

Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2015
Messages
14
My experience so far...

DMR decoding works well which is good as it was the main reason for getting this.

Analogue is OK, though not what it should be for a unit of this price.

AM VHF airband sounds very good.

There is a constant whistle type sound while the unit is on, quite annoying as it's similar to a dog whistle sound.

The charger (supplied) gets pretty warm in use but not too bad.

Entering memories is quite straightforward. The scan speed is slow so if you have anything more than say 8 or so channels programmed in then you are likely to miss bits, when a user has just finished talking on DMR the scan function has an annoying habbit of holding on the next channel rather than the one in use before resuming scan. I have set a hold delay of 3 seconds which helps but I often miss sides of the conversation because of this.

The discriminator 3.5 Aux jack on the back works very well and it was nice to use DSD today from it without the need for SDR# or a dongle.

Receive is still a little lacking. UHF is pretty good but on VHF I get a bit of noise and unclear signals (not good enough for a decode) where as my Realistic Pro 2006 and 2 Unidens can hear the same transmissions clearly on the same antenna.

Searching through bands is a bit of a pain, it isn't as easy as I'd hoped so I search for digital signals on my realistic and then just punch them into the AOR and select the right mode. AUTO works pretty well at detecting and displaying modes.

All in all I am liking it a lot more and am very hopeful there will be often firmware updates available.
 

BamaScan

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Nov 27, 2008
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15 miles from Florida Line in Alabama
I have been hand programming my AOR DV1. still no software out there yet. I have been able to program in Shortwave Frequencies and FM Radio Frequencies in. It is a little tricky just remember what bank they need to be in, The first channel starts with 00. For example 05-00 would be in bank 5 and channel 1.

I have been able to hear Shortwave Frequencies on a Discone antenna that covers 30 MHz to 900 MHz with no problems. I thought I would have to put up a wire antenna but I don't need it.
 

harrytheham

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Sep 6, 2015
Messages
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Panadapter / Bandscope for the AR-DV1

Is there a way to install an external bandscope / panadapter for the AR-DV1 especially for VHF and UHF? I've done this using SDR receivers such as the Afedri SDR-Net, RFspace SDR-IQ, FunCube Pro+ and RTL dongles with HF transceivers. It would be great if something similar could be done with the DV1.

I don't see an IF port and unsure if the AUX port could be used. If not, they may be a simple way to internally tap one of the receiver's IF.

Thanks...Harry WE1X
 

UKDMRUser

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Aug 17, 2015
Messages
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Hello - just wondered if you successfully upgraded the firmware and kept the DV-1 unblocked?

I have not tried the descrambler yet but can confirm that it has no gaps all the way up to 1300MHz after applying the latest update (1508B)

I also read on a UK scanning forum that there is an expected update in the next few days which will increase the scan speed so I'm hopeful about that.
 

EricCottrell

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Hello,

Another update. I noticed the problem with scan not stopping when the squelch opened. It seemed to happen after scanning for awhile.

Code:
AR-DV1 FIRMWARE UPDATE v1509B RELEASE NOTES

(c)2015 AOR, LTD.

Sept. 4, 2015

AR-DV1 firmware update:
The new firmware version: 1509B is now available for download from the AOR website.

Following features have been implemented:
*Scan speed in digital mode improved
*Alarm, timer and recording can now be set simultaneously
*MM (last channel and settings save) command has been extended as follows:
MM2: Saves memory and search channels/groups
MM3: Saves both as MM and MM2.

Following bugs have been removed:
*D-STAR sometimes lost synch on repeater signals
*White noise sometimes detected as D-STAR signal
*AUTO-STORE funtion saved duplicate frequencies separately.
*For timer recordings, the receiver now starts recording initialisation 30 seconds ahead of set time in order to be ready at the exact set time.
*Scan sometimes not stopping on active signal when squelch was used
*Several minor command bugs removed

73 Eric
 

UKDMRUser

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Aug 17, 2015
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It seems this update has actually slowed down my scan speed when scanning memory channels. :(
 
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