Exciting news via the Lanch reseller, Venus iTech, that updated APRS firmware for the HG-UV98 has been released.
The original manufacturer, no longer has a website which is curious, but there are many radios still in inventory at Venus iTech ready to be purchased by anyone looking for a full featured dual band analog FM and 1200bd APRS radio with built in Bluetooth and GPS for well under $200 USD.
The only function that this long over due update corrects is the calculation of the users grid square. This is helpful for calculating distance between contacts, but that already worked based on GPS location.
At least this is a step in the right direction since no other updates have been issued in about a year, but other issues like standard/metric and a few spelling issues plus better explanation about some features and easier to use APRS configuration software have not yet been addressed.
These are all minor issues in an otherwise really great product.
The firmware is available on Venus's website here. For anyone interesting in purchasing this radio, shipping is very quick to the US from China and the seller is very good at communicating with customers.
Based on fellow amateur radio operators who have followed my advice to purchase this radio in my local area of the Hudson Valley, all received the radio from China in less than 10 business days. Most others across the US have similar delivery experiences.
A back up copy of the September 23rd 2020 firmware and update instructions are below.
The previous version plus programming software and USB drivers can be found in our previous review article.
A long awaited APRS specific review/update will publish in October plus setup for APRSdroid or Pinpoint APRS details for those that are struggling. A rumor that a new radio from Lanch may be available in the future and little else is known about it at the time of this articles publication.
It would be great if someone could figure out how to add messing to the radio so we didnt have to use blue tooth and phone
ReplyDeleteI have found one bug - Your APRS path MUST have a hop including "0" making the radio unable to use the DIGI on the ISS which has a path of ARISS - the radio wants ARISS-0 or another number.
ReplyDeleteit doesnt look to me like anybody is keeping this site current. But just in case I just did the KT update and now its locked up in HOSTDATA.... mode. Any ideas how to fix this?
ReplyDeleteWhat updates on what site are you looking for?
DeleteI downgrade to this version APRS from version oct2021... And now APRS speed is not compatible. I have no backup. Reason for downgrade - not correct work with coordinates. Maybe, hardware problem, because after downgrade problem has not gone away. But now all APRS not work correctly - speed is slow
ReplyDeleteWould you guys still recommend this as a cheap aprs radio?
ReplyDeletesort of. latest batches have had quality control issues, so not sure if you will get a dud or not. sad to say this....
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