Dual Band Tier 2 DMR VHF/UHF Thread

[Tyrbiter]

The new firmware does work and adds some useful features to the radio such as VFO. However I would recommend waiting a while as there are still a couple of problems.

Some people have reported that under some circumstances the radio goes into permanent transmit on its own and gets very hot. I haven’t seen that on mine but I am watching out for it.

There is a problem in the CPS with setting up scanlists. Some channels are getting corrupted.

I expect there to be a fix for these problems soon, then it would be worth updating. However you would have to build your codeplug again (or at least modify it) as the layout has changed and old codeplugs won’t work with the new firmware.

Thanks for that Colin, I don't yet have the radio but a parcel did arrive at home today which may be it. I will keep your comments in mind.

Still waiting for GB7PY to come on air, I see that GB3PY now has the NoV for its frequency change so with luck it will be soon.

[g4eml]

I think you will enjoy it. I think it is a good radio, especially considering the price. There are a few firmware problems but that’s not unusual for a new radio and radioddity seem to be working hard to improve it. I am very happy with mine. (I don’t really need it as I have lots of DMR radios but couldn’t resist after I had played with one that someone else bought. )

[Tyrbiter]

I think you will enjoy it. I think it is a good radio, especially considering the price. There are a few firmware problems but that’s not unusual for a new radio and radioddity seem to be working hard to improve it. I am very happy with mine. (I don’t really need it as I have lots of DMR radios but couldn’t resist after I had played with one that someone else bought. )

Yes, much the same with me. I decided that at the price it had to be worth a play. If memory serves it's the 6th DMR handheld I have purchased, 2 of those are dual band.

[Tyrbiter]

I received my GD-77 yesterday and had a brief play with it, deciding in the end to put in the v3.0.6 firmware and to use the v2.0.5 CPS.

Slightly odd that it appears as a HID device but the software seems to find it OK.

I have started creating a codeplug and will finish that off and fully program it later today.

So far it seems quite nice and solid physically, not had much chance to assess the RF performance yet.

[g4eml]

The only strange thing about the GD77 is that you have to have a RX group on every digital channel. On most radios you will always hear the group you are talking on. On the GD 77 you will not hear anything without a RX group. So if you are talking on TG235 you need a RX group with 235 in it.

[Tyrbiter]

The only strange thing about the GD77 is that you have to have a RX group on every digital channel. On most radios you will always hear the group you are talking on. On the GD 77 you will not hear anything without a RX group. So if you are talking on TG235 you need a RX group with 235 in it.

Yes, that's a bit different, I wonder if Radioddity intend to fix this because it means that you run out of RxLists if you want to limit what is heard on a per channel basis.

I wonder why Radioddity did this...?

[g4eml]

I am pretty sure it was not a deliberate decision and I would have thought it was a simple thing to fix but they seem to be saying it is not. In fact they increased the number of RX lists to 128 to improve the situation.

[Tyrbiter]

I am pretty sure it was not a deliberate decision and I would have thought it was a simple thing to fix but they seem to be saying it is not. In fact they increased the number of RX lists to 128 to improve the situation.

It's a bit odd, but I don't know how similar the GD-77 is to the other lower cost radios so I am not entirely sure how things are implemented regarding any hardware/software split as to when audio is enabled.

No matter, I have enough other radios to listen with while I play with this one.

[Tyrbiter]

Still waiting for Radioddity to sort out some aspects of their firmware so I decided to add to the mix with an Anytone AT-D868UV while I wait.

It's rather fun! Has space for 4000 channels and 150,000 contacts from the DMR Marc db. Also loads of zones and quite a lot of Tx power. 3.1Ah battery pack too.

I am currently creating an all-UK codeplug in terms of channels and TGs, will add zones as needed.