HFU HF Underground
Technical Topics => Equipment => Topic started by: Elf36 on August 23, 2021, 1643 UTC
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I was looking at the Anytone AT-778UV for a possible shack radio or even mobile for repeaters and satellites, it should program easy like the couple cheap Baofeng handhelds I use to mess around with LEO sats. The reviews seem to be decent as well for the price. Then I saw the AnyTone AT-D578UVIIIPRO tribander is $399.00. Seems like a steep price for an off brand rig, even though it supports 220. Just wondering why there would be such a large jump in price compared to all of their dual band mobile under $125.00 ? I guess I should add that it does provide more output power than the standard 25 watt models. I have never heard of much 220 activity where I live. I do remember it being a bigger deal in the 90's. A friend of mine monitors the one 220 repeater in our area and says he only hears the same 2 guys chatting from time to time.
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Well, if I read the features right, this rig includes DMR, (Digital Mobile Radio.), digital voice format as well. That in itself would drive the price over. And, from what I see, it's the only VHF / UHF tri-bander to have that. Here's eham reviews on it, https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=14493 My questions are on the RX-side of this rig. The only modern Chinese multi-band rig that I've tried is the B-Tech UV-25X4 rig, and my biggest gripes there is that the IMD and front-end overload of out-of-band signals suck. I had to take that rig back out of my truck, the IMD on RX was so bad. Now, if the RX IMD on this rig is decent, then you have something there. For the same price, you can get a used, all analog, Kenwood TM-714A, with the 222MHz modual. That's what I did in 2009, and still have that rig. And, the IMD RX is superior to the B-Tech. That said, if you are in a rural, or even semi-rural area, that's not an RF getto, then bad IMD may not be a problem for you.
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Those are valid points. Still would feel a bit risky though. Other than satellites, I don't mess around on VHF/UHF much anymore, so I guess I'll stick with what I have for now.
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The 578 was reviewed in the June 2020 issue of QST. There wasn’t anything remarkable in terms of problems with the radio. The worst comment I saw was that the sensitivity on 220 was slightly worse than on the other bands (it was .31 uV). That is not surprising as 220 was probably an add on.
Several of the locals here have this radio. I have heard no complaints. Apparently there are different firmware loads available. The ham version adds 220 MHz. The commercial version gives you a FCC compliant radio for business purposes.
You also have to pay close attention to the model number of the radio you are buying. Different models of this radio had different features. I saw one version recently that included aviation band receive (including an AM decoder). Other versions did not include GPS. Pay close attention - if the price seems too good, then you might not actually be buying the model you think you are.
All of the major dealers sell the 578 (HRO, R&L, etc) and there doesn’t seem to be any difference in price. One dealer includes access to training videos if you buy from him, but I seem to remember that he charges for shipping, so your best deal might be elsewhere.
This is a DMR digital radio, which also has analog FM. That is why it costs what it does. The radio is small and the display is small.
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Yes. I just went back and read the eHam.net reviews. Folks seem to be quite happy with them. I had forgotten also that Anytone has been around for a good while now. I remember a 10M All mode rig they made years back that seemed to hold up well also.
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On the more terrestrial side of comms, I suppose feel thankful if you have any appreciable local VHF/UHF activity. 2/220/440 are largely open spectrum if skimming those bands using a rubber duck or small discone in my immediate area.
Admittedly, I might fair better receiving something if going to the effort of pointing a multi-element yagi directly into Tampa proper, but it has not been much a personal interest since I am not licensed anyway.