For kicks, I bought an Anytone D868UV DMR handheld radio. Here are a few observations and opinions.
The cost was $179 for the bundle I got from Bridgecom Systems, which included a Nagoya 701 antenna (as well as the stock antenna) and the extended 3100mAh battery. The radio can be had for less from other sources.
DMR is a digital communication standard. It works by you using your radio to hit either a repeater or a hotspot to talk with others. The repeater or hotspot are connected to the internet and permit you to communicate with many thousands of other folks all over the world. If that's your thing, DMR is a great option. Repeaters can be very limiting, so I recommend buying a personal hotspot. This is the one I'm getting and it comes highly recommended: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Voic...2&sr=8-3&keywords=dmr+hotspot#customerReviews You can bring your hotspot with you as you travel and link it to your phone. However, to me, DMR is nothing more than an old-style internet relay chat using radios at the last few yards.
This radio also transmits/receives on conventional analog FM on both VHF and UHF. Frequency range is 136-174MHz and 400-480MHz. There are four power levels: 6W, 4W, 2.5W and 1W.
The free programming software is functional, but not as good as chirp. Unfortunately, this radio is not (yet?) supported by chirp. The radio has 4000 memory channels, 10,000 DMR talk groups and 150,000 contacts. In other words, it has a reasonable amount of memory! The software lets you create up to 250 "zones" with up to 250 channels assigned per zone. I've got all the analog VHF and UHF FM repeaters in New York State (except New York City-area repeaters which I don't care about) and some northern Pennsylvania repeaters with each county its own zone. This makes it extremely easy to find a group of repeaters that I should be able to hit, depending on where I am. Each channel name can accommodate a reasonable number of characters. I'm able to get the name of the city or town plus the call sign displayed without issue. The zone names are similar - no problem with full county names.
The LCD display is pretty nice. It's a 1.77" color screen and it can clearly display two channels plus the zone names they're in at the same time. (The active channel appears slightly larger than the passive channel. You can toggle which is active by pressing the P1 key.)
The radio itself is a good size, very solid, the keys and buttons are excellent, as are the knobs on the top. I'm using a Signal Stick (https://signalstuff.com/antennas/) with mine since it's on a bag I keep with me all the time. Signal Sticks are excellent antennas - very flexible, won't get kinks easily, and they work really well.
DMR functionality is excellent - very good audio reports. Memory is sufficient to hold up to 150,000+ individual DMR users' radio IDs. When you talk to a DMR user, their ID, call sign and name are displayed.
The bundle I got from Bridgecom Systems included a 3100 mAh extended life lithium ion battery which will operate ~35 hours between charges, a desk charger, a pretty bad dual-band antenna, belt clip, a free USB programming cable and a readable user manual. Software is freely downloadable.
This radio is FCC Part 90 Certified. It is IP54 rated - it will withstand limited dust and moisture.
This is my new everyday go-to HT. I don't use DMR much at all, but it is a step up from the Baofeng UV series. I prefer it over my Kenwood TH-F6a as well - the display is much better on the D868UV.
The cost was $179 for the bundle I got from Bridgecom Systems, which included a Nagoya 701 antenna (as well as the stock antenna) and the extended 3100mAh battery. The radio can be had for less from other sources.
DMR is a digital communication standard. It works by you using your radio to hit either a repeater or a hotspot to talk with others. The repeater or hotspot are connected to the internet and permit you to communicate with many thousands of other folks all over the world. If that's your thing, DMR is a great option. Repeaters can be very limiting, so I recommend buying a personal hotspot. This is the one I'm getting and it comes highly recommended: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Voic...2&sr=8-3&keywords=dmr+hotspot#customerReviews You can bring your hotspot with you as you travel and link it to your phone. However, to me, DMR is nothing more than an old-style internet relay chat using radios at the last few yards.
This radio also transmits/receives on conventional analog FM on both VHF and UHF. Frequency range is 136-174MHz and 400-480MHz. There are four power levels: 6W, 4W, 2.5W and 1W.
The free programming software is functional, but not as good as chirp. Unfortunately, this radio is not (yet?) supported by chirp. The radio has 4000 memory channels, 10,000 DMR talk groups and 150,000 contacts. In other words, it has a reasonable amount of memory! The software lets you create up to 250 "zones" with up to 250 channels assigned per zone. I've got all the analog VHF and UHF FM repeaters in New York State (except New York City-area repeaters which I don't care about) and some northern Pennsylvania repeaters with each county its own zone. This makes it extremely easy to find a group of repeaters that I should be able to hit, depending on where I am. Each channel name can accommodate a reasonable number of characters. I'm able to get the name of the city or town plus the call sign displayed without issue. The zone names are similar - no problem with full county names.
The LCD display is pretty nice. It's a 1.77" color screen and it can clearly display two channels plus the zone names they're in at the same time. (The active channel appears slightly larger than the passive channel. You can toggle which is active by pressing the P1 key.)
The radio itself is a good size, very solid, the keys and buttons are excellent, as are the knobs on the top. I'm using a Signal Stick (https://signalstuff.com/antennas/) with mine since it's on a bag I keep with me all the time. Signal Sticks are excellent antennas - very flexible, won't get kinks easily, and they work really well.
DMR functionality is excellent - very good audio reports. Memory is sufficient to hold up to 150,000+ individual DMR users' radio IDs. When you talk to a DMR user, their ID, call sign and name are displayed.
The bundle I got from Bridgecom Systems included a 3100 mAh extended life lithium ion battery which will operate ~35 hours between charges, a desk charger, a pretty bad dual-band antenna, belt clip, a free USB programming cable and a readable user manual. Software is freely downloadable.
This radio is FCC Part 90 Certified. It is IP54 rated - it will withstand limited dust and moisture.
This is my new everyday go-to HT. I don't use DMR much at all, but it is a step up from the Baofeng UV series. I prefer it over my Kenwood TH-F6a as well - the display is much better on the D868UV.
