BUYER BEWARE - NEW UPGRADED ARDV10 - IS IT TRUE?

[marlbrook]

There is a rumour that AOR are releasing a new batch of AR-DV10's in 2020, with ALL the problems fixed, including the hardware related frequency drift.

I HOPE that is true, but anyone considering buying an AR-DV10 should be VERY careful.

AOR have not been exactly truthful or helpful about the original problems so far. Unless the latest DV10's have had stable frequency compensation hardware (not firmware) modifications built in, that problem will always remain. It can be very significant, particularly when dealing with (or rather missing completely) medium or weak Digital Signals.

I am going to WAIT until independent Reviews appear (NOT from Retailers), which specifically address whether new 'hardware' modifications have been made. If it is true I will buy another to replace the one I returned. Except for the AR-DV10 I have always praised and supported AOR in the past, as demonstrated by my many positive posts about them.

IF AOR have changed some components to stop Frequency drift, (which should NEVER have been present from the beginning), it raises a question for those who have already purchased DV10's that frankly were unfit for purpose. Will AOR do the decent thing and replace or upgrade those Receivers?

Of course those Owners who insist the problems never existed will not have to worry, except ask themselves just why AOR have (or may have) made the necessary hardware changes.

I can answer that though, it is because several of us discovered the faults and made them public, and suffered the retaliation from AOR in the process.

 

[vagrant]

What is your source or sources on this upgraded ARDV10 in 2020? Could you be confusing a different radio from them due out in 2020?

 

[G7HID]

Like most rumours it is not attributable, but it might be worth asking your AOR reseller for comment..

Mike

 

[rumcajs_tr]

The DV10 would need a complete redesign of the front end, not just drift elimination. This radio can be used only with rubber duck antenna, connecting anything external will overdrive the SDR based receiver inside. Overloading, mixing transmissions together, etc... Similar problem as with Uniden's SDS line... Lot of features, digital modes,... But the receiver itself is crap.

 

[marlbrook]

Today someone posted this on the AR-DV1 Facebook Group stating they had received an email from Waters and Stanton, one of the main Radio Retailers in the U.K. :-

"Hi all just some info. Got an email reply yesterday from W&S saying the initial issues and frequency drift problems have been resolved and that a new batch is being shipped out from Japan to there store in the new year. How true this is, I am unsure, but time will tell and hopefully I will grab one in the new year".

He is a new Member, so I can make no judgement about how accurate this is, but others will read it no doubt, and may be influenced by the content.

The email is ambiguous of course, in that W&S have supported the AOR line before, and they may just mean the problems have already been fixed previously (which they have not, been except for a firmware solution that makes the frequency drift less under some circumstances), OR it may mean the new batch have been properly modified with improved hardware to prevent any drift.

I hope it is the latter.

Only time and independent testing will reveal which is true.

 

[G7HID]

If true this would at a stroke devalue the DV10 currently in the hands of users and make a mockery of the DV10 resellers who either denied or remained tight lipped about any problems..

Mike

 

[c0ne]

I doubt it's true. Anyways, the current firmware has a portion of code to compensate for the drift based on the CPU temperature. This code has to be disabled in such newer version, this can either be done by a different firmware like done with the 2 versions of the DV1 or they have to add a check in the firmware which checks the current serial number and based on that disable the compensation algorithm.
Both ways wont stay unnoticed and could cause them more headache, therefor i'm pretty sure they just continue on the "everything is fine" attitude like they alway had, otherwise they would have to explain why they introduced a silent fix and why they previously always ignored the existence of the problem.

If AOR comes with new device and firmware they probably do this to add encryption to the bootloader, not to fix anything they always refused to.

 

[woodpecker]

AOR have been *trying* to get the DV10 to work for the best part of 3 years now, in all this time they have failed to even get the firmware to process memory related remote control commands without locking the radio solid.

I doubt they have changed anything becuase AOR say there is no problem with it, to change it would mean admitting the issues do exist and they are far too arrogant to admit that.

They have most likely just been busy botching the next dog of radio together, the AR7400

 

[G7HID]

There is a good chance that the email from W&S was misinterpreted by the recipient, he would not show us the original. I think the original question to W&S was: had the problems with the DV10 been sorted out and did they have any sytock?

"Hi all just some info. Got an email reply yesterday from W&S saying the initial issues and frequency drift problems have been resolved and that a new batch is being shipped out from Japan to there store in the new year. How true this is, I am unsure, but time will tell and hopefully I will grab one in the new year".

And the meaning of the email could be that initial problems had already been resolved and that they would be re-stocking in the new year...

mike

 

[Blane66]

What is W&S ?

 

[G7HID]

What is W&S ?

Waters & Stanton, AOR distributor in the UK..

Mike

 

[marlbrook]

A MUST READ
Here is a copy a Facebook Group member just received after contacting his local Retailer saying he had decided not to buy the DV10:-
-------------------
The manufacturer is constantly working to improve the performance of the receiver.
Most problems with decoding quality are fixed in firmware 1903D 2019/04/08.
Frequency stability is improved in firmware 1912A (BETA) 2019/12/16, however, at frequencies below 25 MHz instability of more than +/- 5ppm is possible.
In the 2nd quarter of 2020, an updated version of the DV10 receiver and a new firmware are expected.

Sincerely, Yuri Kutepov Saykom Firm 115230, Moscow, Warsaw highway, 46. Phone: (495) 665-7337 Web: www.sicom.ru
---------------------
I hope this proves to be accurate. Very sceptical because of the way AOR denied the problems. AOR punished some of the people that brought the faults to the Public and I doubt if they will ever forgive them, or compensate those who have bought the original DV10's, believing the Specs were correct.

Personally I will not rush to buy the DV10 MK2 until I have seen a few positive, independent Reviews, but if the original faults have been corrected, especially the hardware temperature Frequency drift, then I will no doubt buy another, providing this time it really matches its advertised specs.

This does raise important points though.
1. Will we be able to definitely distinguish between the MK1 and Mk2?
2. If not, how will we know we are buying the truly new version, with the hardware faults REALLY fixed?
3. What happens to the 'old stock' of Mk1's?
4. Will AOR take the sold Mk1's back and exchange them since they did not meet the stated / expected Specifications? AOR's damaged reputation will depend very much on the way it treats those Customers.

Finally we should all be very appreciative of the 'few' that made these issues Public. Without their efforts a MK2 and 'fixed' DV10 would never have appeared (if it does).

 

[G7HID]

Will we be able to definitely distinguish between the MK1 and Mk2?

If the models use the same case, you will be able to hopefully tell by the serial number..

Mike

 

[marlbrook]

If the models use the same case, you will be able to hopefully tell by the serial number..

Mike

Depends on whether we are actually informed of the new Serial Numbers, by the trusty AOR Retailers and AOR.

 

[c0ne]

2020.03.04

CAUTION REGARDING FAKE NEWS! AOR Ltd. would like to raise your attention regarding an alarming increase of fake news regarding its products, circulating on radio related forums, social media groups such as on Facebook, and on fake AOR websites. The most recent fake news claims that a new AR-DV10 "MK2" version would be released this year. That is totally false. As a general rule and for the sake of common sense, we ask our dearest and honest customers never to trust rumours circulating on Internet. The only sources of information to be trusted regarding AOR products are www.aorja.com and the websites of our network of official AOR distributors as listed on INTERNATIONAL DEALERS & DISTRIBUTORS | AOR,LTD. Authority On Radio Communications US. . source: What's new ? | AOR,LTD. Authority On Radio Communications ------------- It's worth to mention AOR tried to debunk everything said about their products and that nothing on the internet should be trusted regarding their products. Says the trustworthy company that had to fix the specification page of the DV10 because the internet said it drifted.

 

[marlbrook]

Interestingly it is one of those AOR named Retailers who sent out the email saying there would be a Mark2 later this year.

However this follows the way AOR have dealt with the very real problems of the AR-DV10. Just deny everything, and attack the people who brought the facts to the attention of the Public.

Some of us have learned not to trust AOR at the moment. Without a doubt AOR would deny a MK2 at this stage, because sales of the DV10 MK1 would stop almost instantly.

Hiding behind calling the truth 'Fake News' is the new reality, sadly. Perhaps it should be called 'TRUMPing' the Truth. It works for Politicians in different Countries who have jumped on that band wagon. AOR are just following the trend, to their further discredit.

The one and perhaps ONLY positive thing about this is that it shows AOR have been reading Facebook Group and Forum posts, even if they ignored the facts those produced.

 

[SandBagger1]

I have been watching this tread for months now. Because of the comments here I have held off buying an AR DV-10.

After watching the two videos’ on AOR’s website, which I noted they didn’t post on YouTube, I sat back and shock my head. It reminded me of a local Amateur or (Ham) who many years ago purchased two 23cm Handheld radio’s so he had somebody to talk to. He too always got SOLID copies when talking to himself. And I don’t stand out the front of places I’m monitoring or nearby a transmitter.

Seriously AOR please do some “Real World” video’s proving you make a quality product!

 

[prcguy]

With the release of this fake news warning, AOR has cemented its fate in not selling any new DV10s. If and when they actually come up with a replacement that addresses all the complaints will they start selling again and only when that new model has been tested by the public and reported as worthy of purchase.

2020.03.04

CAUTION REGARDING FAKE NEWS! AOR Ltd. would like to raise your attention regarding an alarming increase of fake news regarding its products, circulating on radio related forums, social media groups such as on Facebook, and on fake AOR websites. The most recent fake news claims that a new AR-DV10 "MK2" version would be released this year. That is totally false. As a general rule and for the sake of common sense, we ask our dearest and honest customers never to trust rumours circulating on Internet. The only sources of information to be trusted regarding AOR products are www.aorja.com and the websites of our network of official AOR distributors as listed on INTERNATIONAL DEALERS & DISTRIBUTORS | AOR,LTD. Authority On Radio Communications US. . source: What's new ? | AOR,LTD. Authority On Radio Communications ------------- It's worth to mention AOR tried to debunk everything said about their products and that nothing on the internet should be trusted regarding their products. Says the trustworthy company that had to fix the specification page of the DV10 because the internet said it drifted.

 

[c0ne]

With the release of this fake news warning, AOR has cemented its fate in not selling any new DV10s. If and when they actually come up with a replacement that addresses all the complaints will they start selling again and only when that new model has been tested by the public and reported as worthy of purchase.

What i find funny, is that besides the MK2 news(fake or not) they also tried to label other reports as being fake news without having the guts to say specifically what the other fake news is. Do they meant the drift? are crashes and memory corruptions fake?

Calling something fake news without proofing it's fake is just a sign of weakness in my opinion. Personally i think selling a device that does not works as advertised is fake news in its purest form.

Now days AOR claims the DV10 works within the specifications, which is actually true. But what they neglect to say is that they changed the specifications. This might work for new buyers, but not for the people like myself who bought the device first hour trusting them that what it said on the brochure was correct!

AOR still sells DV10's but maybe not as much as they hoped for. They always had the capability to turn this around by simply making sure the device met it's initial specifications.

 

[cherubim]

The way a company behaves gives insights into corporate culture. In the case of AOR, one senses an attitude of denial and ignorance when it comes to admitting faults. Adopting a head in the sands mentality and refusing to acknowledge design faults with ones own products shows a gross disrespect to their customers and is a shameful black mark on company goodwill.

If AOR doesn't get their act together they will lose big government contracts. As of now, the company is still "Awful Old Rubbish" in my eyes and I will not be buying any AOR gear ever again.