Teardown: Alinco DJ-MD5XTG (2nd Generation DMR)

What can I cay, I have always liked Alinco products going back to my first ever HT, the credit card sized Alinco DJ-C1T.  

Much has happened in  the world of amateur radio since and Alinco continues to do interesting things via its latest DMR handheld offering, the DJ-MD5XTG. 

This article details from the inside out, what makes this model different than its predecessor. 

Alinco had different DJ-MD5 radios?

Let me first start out and dispel a rumor I created that the latest Alinco DJ-MD5XTG would support the 220 MHz band. It does not or at least officially, which makes the band coverage on par with the popular Anytone AT-D878UV, available from vendors such as Bridgecom.

At the time of this article, the second generation Alinco DMR DJ-MD5XTG is available in the United States by DX Engineering.

When purchasing an Alinco DJ-MD5 series radio, there are now three versions that have been created and the most basic DJ-MD5T is discontinued. The major difference between it and the Alinco DJ-MD5TGP is the inclusion of GPS functionality.

 If you are looking to sell your original DJ-MD5 series radio to offset the cost in buying the new radio or are looking for a deal, please think about some of the following based on the teardown of the new DJ-MD5XTG.

The major differences

I did the hard work so you do not have to by doing a basic tear down of the DJ-MD5XTG and comparing it to the DJ-MD5TGP, which I also tore down back in November 2018. The below non-RF major component  table will help guide us along. 

Both versions main PCB interestingly both show that they are both considered revision 2.0, but with different date of manufacture codes.

1st Point: You get a faster MCU with more memory

Really the only major difference is that the Alinco DJ-MD5XTG upgrades to a 1024k flash and 96k SRAM memory configuration which is identical to that of the Anytone AT-D878UV.  

The older Alinco DJ-MD5TGP and DJ-MD5T (Without GPS) has the 512K flash and 64K SRAM memory configuration. The GD32F3030 (VGT6) is what is found inside the latest Alinco DMR radio.

The extra memory, like in the competing Anytone radio, allows for Alinco to support a few new features in the software which we will talk about later such as roaming and analog transmission of AX.25 based APRS. There is also a GPS/Baidou toggle, weather alert and few other changes.

If you have really good eyesight, you may notice what appears to be sloppy soldering on the MCU, but this is intentional. 

Alinco has bridged the shown pins on purpose, just like as found in the earlier Alinco DJ-MD5 radio as well as the Anytone AT-D878UV and the earlier AT-868UV. 

I just want to point this out that there is no bad workmanship inside this radio, especially since many find it easy to question construction capabilities of radios made today to save costs because of frugal or entry level customers.

The Alinco DJ-MD5TGP is indeed a high quality product and assembled/manufactured in Japan and not China like most, not all Alinco communications equipment.

However, the absolutely useless instruction manual which is little more than an instruction guide on how to attach the belt clip, connect the battery, screw in the antenna and turn on the radio along with some basic operation instructions is indeed printed in China, so take that for whatever value you want to place on that.

For what the manual is, it is rather well made and laid out, but just lacks any major value.

2nd Point:  Newer versions of other major components

Beyond the MCU (Micro Controller Unit), the baseband vocoder which helps your radio become a DMR radio, has a new production code and but is identical to the 2018 version of the SCT3258TD. 

Everything else is the same too and the only other differences which have not yet been thoroughly  tested  on the the main PCB are some slight changes in the RF front end and filtering compared to the older radio.  The below photo shows the main PCB along with the two RF shields removed on the DJ-MD5XTG.

3rd Point: What does the FCC have to say?

The Alinco DJ-MD5XTG does carry the FCCID of  PH3DJ-MD5, which is the same as its predecessor, so we may see an update on the FCC website in the coming months, but it does not seem like it may mean much from an RF perspective. Here is the Alinco DJ-MD5XTG fully disassembled.

Hardware:  DJ-MD5XTG instead of the Anytone AT-D878UV?

What attracted me to the Alinco DJ-MD5TGP back in 2018 are the same reasons as the DJ-MD5XTG.

Starting with how to program the Alinco with the Computer Programming Software (CPS) is that you use a common USB micro cable used with smart phones instead of a dedicated cable like that of the Anytone and other radios like the TYT, Radioddity, Lanch HG-UV98, Baofeng and Ailunce radios that have been covered across past HVDN articles plus the much higher end Kenwood TH-D74.

This may be a benefit to some people if you have a habit of misplacing things and need an instant replacement. It is also worth noting that while the Kenwood D74 can be programmed wirelessly via Bluetooth, it can also use a standard USB micro cable as well.

Another reason I like the Alinco over the Anytone is that it is a perfect radio for taking hiking. The speaker/microphone connection uses a 3.5mm jack for the speaker/headphone function and the smaller 2.5mm jack for the microphone. 

While this is now considered opposite of what used to the standard, this lets me use a regular pair of wired 3.5mm stereo headphones or earbuds with the Alinco should I wish to listen to communications or music privately.  While its common to have Bluetooth earbuds these days, sometimes a wired version is helpful to have since they do not require rechargeable batteries!

One thing I did learn with the original Alinco MD-5TGP is that using a speaker microphone seems like a burden, even with the nicely made Alinco EMS-76.  

Alinco and its resellers caution every user to only use this microphone with this new DMR radio, but if you have an older microphone wired the same as the EMS-76, it will work just fine. 

Just avoid trying any of the speaker microphones meant for other radios as they will damage your radio due to incompatible wiring.

I say a speaker mic might be a waste since the microphone is nearly the same size as the radio itself. Instead, while hiking as an example, I just clip the radio upside down on my pack strap such as pictured below while visiting Red Hill Tower last September as part of the Catskill Fire Tower Five Challenge.

The Anytone AT-D878UV still offers Bluetooth capability for remote PTT and for pairing to external audio devices.  It would be nice to see bluetooth added in the future to the Alinco DJ-MD5 series, but battery life may then become an issue.

My personal opinion is that I do not see this as any shortcoming. Please also be aware that the SMA-J style antenna connector is used on the DJ-MD5XTG like its predecessors, so this is NOT the same as what is used on the Kenwood D74 for comparison.

Software:  This needs another article or three, maybe four?

There are some new features found in the Alinco DJ-MD5XTG which will really make it appeal to those that enjoy an active converged lifestyle and some future articles will cover:

• What is roaming and do you really need it?

• Analog APRS:  This is the original, not the new APRS or D-APRS

• GPS: How do you set it up and actually use it

• Proof is in the programming:  Basic US Alinco DJ-MD5XTG code plug

• Talking about the band options in the Alinco DJ-MD5XTG

Keep an eye on the HVDN Notebook for future articles all December long about the Alinco DJ-MD5XTG or bookmark this handy link. https://hvdnnotebook.blogspot.com/search/label/Alinco%20DJ-MD5XTG 

Frequency Expansion: Alinco DJ-MD5TGP

The Alinco DJ-MD5TGP can now easily be expanded to receive up to 520 MHz which is helpful to those that live in areas that use frequencies above 480 MHz such as New York City.

After upgrading the Alinco from FW 1.00 to the not 100% publicly available FW 1.04, I decided to try some key commands that did not work before while trying to reach the same frequency expansion results in the past.

Given that the Anytone AT-D868UV, AT-D878UV and BTECH 6X2 all share certain design elements as the Alinco this not all all too surprising with the latest firmware update rolled out to the Alinco DMR dual band radio.

How To Expand

Step 1: Hold down the 1 key, PTT and the side button directly underneath PTT while turning the radio on will show "DJ-MD5 TEST MODE" quickly followed by the Alinco splash screen.

Step 2: Rotate the multi-selector knob on the top of your radio to the desired operational mode and then turn off the radio.

Step 3: Your radio now will function as the mode you selected.

Using with CPS

If you read the data from your radio using the "Model" function, it should show which of the 14 options available through the test mode with the latest CPS v1.03.

Its now safe to start writing a new code plug or importing channel data again back into your radio.

Please note that you will need to inhibit or enable the transmit function on a per channel basis per your legal requirements.

Enjoy your new "receive" capability if you were looking to access frequencies above 480 MHz with a much smaller DMR capable radio compared to the Anytone or BTECH models.

Looking for interesting discussion about getting the most from digital voice communications?  

Check out www.northstardigitalnet.us for details

Digital Voice Capable Radio (DMR) Made In South Dakota?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website has all sorts of interesting information.

You can find out where certain frequencies are licensed to be used, look for information on who should be using certain frequencies and also learn about what RF equipment is certified for use in the United States to name just a few.

Over the past few years, not every device that gets sold in the United States seems to be 100% certified under rules such as Part 22, 90, 95, 97 or many other FCC laws that determine things like "acceptable interference", "operation on amateur radio spectrum" and "equipment regulations for specific services".

If you have a device that transmits some form of RF energy in the United States, it should have an FCC ID.  But, as it turns out....not every FCC ID is real or are they?

The new Yaesu FT-818 FCC ID is real, but what makes
it real and how can you tell?

There are a number of manufacturers that sell equipment that list an FCC ID, but do not often follow the correct format or procedure that the FCC manages, so this article will cover a few examples of this.

Where is this on the FCC website?

The Office of Engineering & Technology is responsible for the certification of devices at the FCC among other tasks, many amateur radio and electronic hobbyists should be aware of prior to "experimenting" with different devices.

Here is the current link to where all sorts of searches can be run:

https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm

Many different searches can be run on the FCC OET website, but you need to
know a few things in order for it to work

Using the FCC OET Search Tool

Every manufacturer is assigned a 3 or 5 digit grantee code. This is the most important part in finding out information about a vendor. Some vendors have multiple grantee codes for different product types, but many only have one.

In the case of Yaesu of Japan, they have been assigned "K66" and doing a search for that will return the following results of 642 devices. You can further filter things by date range, frequency range and also how much information is shown in a table or what you can export as a file.

Yaesu had an FCC Grantee code of K66. There are 642 devices in the FCC database for this
grantee code, but the FCC site will only allow you to see 500 of them until you filter to a smaller date range.

Details For Each Device

If a piece of equipment is capable to operate in different parts of radio spectrum, the FCC must approve everything.

The Yaesu FT-818 radio for example lists four different areas of certification and there are many details that can be found by looking at the files attached to each.

While Yaesu is a company of Japanese origin, they do have a US office in Cypress, California and known as Yaesu USA  and this is widely accepted by most of the amateur radio community in the United States today.

Proper FCC ID process for the FT_818 Yaesu radio

You can usually find operating manuals for most amateur radio equipment, smartphones, Wi-Fi devices and so much more which is a handy thing to have.

You can also find some internal and external photos as well as a number of certification documents. This represents a milestone achievement for the United States government in offering a clear benefit beyond spectrum allocations to the amateur radio community.

The FCC OET database is also a great tool for finding out about near future release products since a manufacturer is supposed to have an FCC ID and all the related testing completed prior to selling an RF emitting device in the United States.

Some Strange Results...

Sometimes there is a small gap where a product is already for sale, but the FCC ID process has been delayed. If doing a search for an FCC ID or even just the grantee code and not coming up with much, what could that mean?  It could mean a lot and here are a few examples of this.

TYT MD-UV380

HVDN has reviewed the new dual band TYT MD-UV380 DMR handheld radio back in May 2018 when it was first released. As of August 16th, the FCC ID still is not listed.

Searching for the grantee code of "POD" does not show this. Much of this radio is based on the MD-2017 released a year prior under the FCC ID of "POD-DMR2" and everything you should find is easily accessible on the FCC OET website.

TYT MD-UV380 released in April 2018 

It is not clear if TYT needed to apply for a new FCC ID for the MD-UV380 or have they just been able to "sort of" use the MD-2017 one to cover the MD-UV380. 

Compared to Yaesu, the FT-818 is an updated version of the FT-817 released over 15 years ago. Both radios are identical, but because of a need to source updated components, some efficiency was gained in the FT-818 allowing 6W of power output instead of the 5W in the FT-817.

It is not clear if this is why the FT-818 has a new FCC ID of K6603770X30 and the older FT-817 has the FCC ID of K66FT817.

Could the RF parts of the MD-2017 and MD-UV380 be so similar to not require public listing in the FCC ID database?

So the question remains about why the TYT MD-UV380 still can not be found as a certified device on the FCC website even though it lists an FCC ID of POD-DMRUV very clearly as shown in the HVDN MD-UV380 teardown.

The TYT MD-2017 under the FCC ID of  POD-DMR2 was easily found when looking up the POD grantee code.  Other products were listed too, but not the MD-UV380

Ailunce HD1

Ailunce is a premium brand assigned to another dual band DMR radio that is manufactured by Retevis.

Retevis offers product that look identical to the TYT or legacy Tytera branded radios prior to being forced to re-brand and re-certify due to patent infringement situations between Hytera and Motorola Solutions.

For example, the earlier mono band VHF and UHF versions of the Tytera or TYT MD-380 also go under the brand of Retevis RT-3 and RT-82.

Looking for the grantee code of 2AAR8 lets you easily find more information about Retevis, who incidentally according to the FCC is really doing business under the name of HENAN ESHOW ELECTRONIC COMMERCE CO., LTD. out of China.


Today, TYT is doing business under the name of  TYT ELECTRONICS CO., LTD  of China but when they sold product under the name of Tytera, they were known as Shenzhen Tianjian Telecom Technology Co.,

The Ailunce HD1 created by Retevis has an FCC ID that is not found in the
 FCC database, but has been on the market for over a year

The FCC ID for the HD1 as printed on the radio is 2AAR8AILUNCEHD1 and was released for sale almost a year prior to the TYT MDUV380, but still does not appear in the FCC ID database and it is not clear why that is the case. There is no other radio similar in design cosmetically or electrically to explain this currently.

Anytone AT-D868UV

Anytone released a dual band DMR handheld radio for sale in the United States and the official business name of Anytone is Qixiang Electron Science& Technology Co., Ltd and lists different  addresses in China, just like Retevis and TYT do as where they are headquartered.

Anytone has the FCC grantee code of T4K. The Anytone AT_D868UV FCC ID of T4KD868UV is listed and it appears that Anytone has gone to great length in certifying this radio for different services covered under FCC Part 90 as well as Part 22.

This company even registered for separate  VHF and UHF only versions which is interesting and who they say it will and will not be marketed to which shows a focus of compliance not found with other Chinese brands.

The Anytone AT-D868UV, TYT MD-UV380 and Ailunce HD1 are the three current dual band DMR/FM radios that seem to be most in demand by the amateur radio community a the time of this article, but there is a new radio offered by BTECH called the 6x2 that has some even more background than many might be aware of.

BTECH 6x2

Every DMR radio mentioned in this article clearly has Chinese origins just by looking at the addresses listed as part of the FCC ID listings. Even the engineers that certify the products are of Chinese origin, so it does show there has been mostly great care in trying to follow US FCC related regulations, but some interesting points to be discovered.

BTECH is sort of the new name for the Chinese company that made most people aware of amateur radio equipment that was low cost named Baofeng.  Baofeng started to release product in the US market as early as 2010 and got many people into the somewhat expensive amateur radio hobby.  Analog dual band radios before Baofeng came to market were mostly over a $200 USD price, but Baofeng was able to offer a fairly capable radio for under $60.

The inexpensive Baofeng UV-5R that has helped
 get more people interested in amateur radio since 2010

Recently, companies like Baofeng have been in the news for manufacturing products that are capable of transmitting on frequencies in use by licensed public safety  and GMRS or other unlicensed services such as PMR, FRS and MURS. Certain re-sellers have gotten in trouble for who they have sold these radios to because the Baofeng radios are not certified to be used on frequencies other than those used by amateur radio.

BTECH is based in Arlington, South Dakota now according to the FCC OET database.
  Here is where they are on Google Maps

It is an interesting discussion to have when talking about who is liable since a manufacturer can not enforce who its sales channel sells its product too, so this gives some companies a bad reputation.

Many well known amateur radio brands such as Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu and Alinco have always had the capability for out of band transmission, but required a modification to do so. Baofeng and other companies like it could have taken this precaution, but have not.

Radios reviewed in the 2017 entry level DMR article on HVDN. 
An updated article for release for 2018 will appear in September or October 2018

All of the DMR radios mentioned all are capable of out of amateur radio band transmission and require no modification, so what makes the BTECH 6x2 different? Its still possible to transmit where you are not supposed to, so that is not it.

For starters, its "identical" to the Anytone AT-D868UV. Most people already figured that out, but there are some "special" functions that help make it different like a store and forward voice recorder also known a a "simplex repeater" and also some more convenient scanning/priority options.

BTECH 6x2, designed in China and certified for the US market.

What many may not be aware of is that BTECH now technically is a company based in South Dakota, United States.  This was learned by looking at the FCC OET database.

The BTECH 6x2 hails from South Dakota, but with permission to rebrand it by Anytone.

Here is a letter found  by clicking for "details" for a change of ID request between BTECH, formerly sort of known as Baofeng Technologies and Qixiang Electron Science& Technology Co., Ltd. who is better known as Anytone.

Now What?

Its clear that there is a lot of confusion on who designed a radio, who really owns the brand and if it is legal to operate certain equipment on certain frequencies in the United States. The FCC website can help determine legality by doing your own research instead of believing what others may say or report on.

If there are any errors in this article, HVDN wants to know about them and hope you enjoyed this article. Please rate this article below so we know we are doing a good job or not.