I am looking a good Ham DMR Radio.
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Big Thanks
DMR
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kayn1n32008
ØÆSØ Say it, say 'ENCRYPTION'
Hytera PD682u covers 400-512mhz
Blackbox radios, model Zone (full keypad and dispaly) is another commercial grade receiver with a friendlier price tag.
Blackbox radios, model Zone (full keypad and dispaly) is another commercial grade receiver with a friendlier price tag.
The Anytone AT-D878UV (or the previous model AT-D868UV) is an excellent choice at an affordable price-point. The radio is solid, the battery life is incredible (not kidding here), and it has tons of features, if you're into bells and whistles. It's a solid, dual band DMR / FM handheld that does the job, and does it well.
I second the XPR7550e as a handheld. If a moble is required, I'd go for the Motorola XPR5550
N4KVE
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Nothing better on planet earth. If you want, & can afford the best, this is it. The Chinese radios are less $, but remember, you get what you pay for. If money is tight, get the Anytone.
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I agree, BUT, the major issue with Motorola products is access (and cost) of the RSS software.
N4KVE
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Many of my friends have Moto radios, & do not have the CPS. But their friends do. So once, or twice a year, they drop by and have their friends make any changes if they are necessary. Heck, I have CPS, & on average every nine months I program my radio with any changes. Sometimes it’s more than a year.
That’s why I don’t even look at them anymore for anything. I’m looking for a simple VHF radio for work and for the cost of the RSS alone, I can get a radio and programming kit for just about any other brand.
N4KVE
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Since it’s for work, make certain the radio is part 90 approved for commercial freq’s. The FCC is cracking down on non approved radios.
I was just going to get some secondhand Icom off of eBay for about $100 and the programming stuff is another $50 or so. I’m apprehensive though because I already have a radio that works (Anytone 868), I already use it infrequently as it is, we’re only using a single itinerant frequency and I only use it for a period of about two, one month periods a year.
N4KVE
Member
Icom makes great equipment, & part 90 approved. Can't go wrong there.
Just remember if you should incur a NAL ,a Motorola and CPS will look like pocket change ,but hind sight is 20/20 20 year paid mortgage seized and sold to highest bidder in 20 minutes to satisfy monetary forfeiture .
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I'm pretty sure that (at least) the Anytone 868 is a part 90 approved radio. Not sure about the 878. even though I have one and like it, I don't think I'd use it in a work environment (e.g. fire or PD work) It might be okay for a desk bound operator. If Motorola is out of the question, Icom and Vertex both sell DMR radios. All that aside, the OP didn't say he was using it for work. He stated that he was using it for ham use.
I got thrown off by another poster ,talking about work .
As aside note the Alinco DMR is on sale at giga parts interestingly enough in the add it declares it's part 90 approved ,yet the display clearly has a frequency in VF O A ,so either they are pulling a Chinese or somebody was high when they wrote it.
To the OP ,i do not know if you are going direct or thru a hotspot ,if your going thru a hotspot, hands down for a great radio that's at a ridiculously good price look at the Yaesu FT2DR for HT or FTM400 For mobile it does both analog and digital (DMR, APRS,Yaesu system fusion ) hot spots can transcode DMR & Fusion ,its the only dual/triple digital mode on the market.so it's feature packed and unlike many cheap DMR imports it doesn't sound like a tin can on analog. Yaesu also did us favor and kept the same batteries between the late VS series into the FT series ,so extra batteries ,that out perform the OEM as well as drop in fast chargers can be had thru Batteries America , i have vision problems so I have an FT 1 it's a great radio the FT 2 improves on that like it's new PDN firmware allows it to work as both it's own fusion hotspot and radio at the same time (Fusion is digital mode similar to DMR however it was designed as a ham mode DMR was cheap commercial junk that we made something usefull out of)the HT FT2 is around $300 & Mobile is around $400, definately worthy of consideration.
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bill4long
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I have several Chinese DMR radios and they all work great. In fact, I think most of the Chinese radios I hear on DMR sound better than Motorolas. And by better I mean the AMBE compressors are configured better for natural ragchew voice instead of commercial environments. I've got a GD-77 ($70), MD-380 ($95), Anytone 868 ($170), and several others. I've never heard a good argument from anyone why expensive Motorolas and Kenwoods are to be preferred for the average DMR ham radio user. Change my mind.
Spurious emissions, poor receivers that just get blasted by strong adjacents, etc. Don't get me wrong, I have a MD-380 and GD-77 as well, and they are phenomenal for what they are. In fact, the receiver on my GD-77 is almost as hot as my XPR7550e, which is arguably the hottest receiver of any radio on the market. But the two just can't compare overall.
Ok, who in the Farmington, Mo Uses the DMR. Also would like to meet up with you and discuss which radio to get.
Major thanks.
Major thanks.
w2xq
Mentor
Not to say meeting others--an amateur radio club?--isn't a good idea, but with all due respect you are overthinking the issue of buying a DMR radio. Buy an Anytone 878 or, for less money, the new TYT MD-390 (replacement of the MD-UV380 and forge ahead. Good luck.
Sorry, I was talking about using my 868 for work. It is (or at least was when I bought it) part 90 approved. We only use a single itinerant VHF frequency at about 5 watts. It’s for a silage company (I’m a truck driver). I mainly use it to just listen to what the crew bosses and chopper drivers and sometimes when they need me to do special work (move equipment or delicate maneuvering around obstacles). The only reason I was thinking about changing out to an icom was supposedly because anytone was going to force us (with an upgrade via firmware) into only amateur bands. Come to find out, it’s not true but the setting can’t be changed via keypad, but in the CPS.
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