October 2019 Global Digital Repeater Round Up

Twice a year, HVDN tracks the total growth of digital voice repeaters.  Since 2016, there has been a tremendous increase of repeaters that support DMR, P25, NXDN, Fusion and D-Star digital voice amateur communication.  All but one of these modes are showing fantastic growth. Lets find out which...


October 2019 Global Digital Voice Repeater Roundup


According to repeaterbook.com data, DMR is the first digital voice mode to surpass the 3,000 repeater mark globally.

Just as long as those updating this website do so with accurate details, if you were traveling somewhere today and could only take one radio with you, a DMR radio along with its legacy analog FM capability would be the best choice followed by Yaesu Fusion and Icom D-Star. 

The chances are also higher that an area with more of one type of digital voice repeater may also have more simplex activity or non-internet connected digital voice repeaters, so it could not hurt to program appropriate digital voice channels or scan around for even more repeaters than what repeaterbook.com may list.

The P25 and NXDN commercial mode amateur radio repeaters are too limited on a global scale, but may have pockets of high activity in certain geographies. Any example of this from a NXDN perspective was covered in an HVDN article entitled "NXDN: What is it and where is it?" which may be be updated in the coming year.

Considering that both of these modes do not have any amateur market only equipment available, its still interesting to see higher percentage growth over the same time period compared to Icom D-Star, which is the oldest digital amateur voice mode currently available as detailed in a presentation on Digital Modes and Hot Spots given by Joe, N1JTA at the Trenton Computer Festival.

In a three year span from October 2016 to October 2019, here are the growth percentages of digital voice repeaters:

• Yaesu Fusion = 80.43%
• Icom D-Star =  17.64%
• DMR = 101.94%
• P25 = 108.45%
• NXDN = 52.43%

Even though DMR is the most popular, Yaesu Fusion is close behind.  The best "audio" according to many is found on Fusion and also translates the best to other modes via Pi-Star, including P25.

It would also be wise to travel with one of the MMDVM Pi-Star "hot spot" devices which can fill in gaps where there is no repeater coverage, but where there is internet access.

The DMR and Fusion modes also offer the most flexibility for mode translation, which means that you can use a DMR or Fusion radio with a hot spot to "talk through" other mode networks such as all those listed here with little exception. Further detail on this can be found on the Pi-Star website.  Thanks to these two modes, we may see a growth of P25 and NXDN as a result. 

What drives digital voice repeater growth?


To access a repeater, you need a hand held or mobile digital voice radio.  Since a repeater is expensive, those who decide to install one often know that there are users with radios that may access the repeater.

Another driving reason for digital voice repeater growth is a wide array of equipment and cost points.  DMR has seen success because of lower cost "entry level" radios selling for as little as $60 USD such as the Baofeng DM-1801 or Radioddity GD-77, but also higher end equipment thanks to better quality radios marketed to both the amateur and commercial user too numerous to list here. 

Many vendors are also selling DMR equipment which creates more choice for buyers and this competition is a good thing should someone have had a personal bad experience with one vendor for one reason or another. 

Yaesu Fusion is the only mode that has only one vendor behind it, but offers equipment at various prices and incentives to entice buyers. This strategy has certainly helped Yaesu since prior to 2018, it followed the same "hold the price high" strategy that Icom has adopted.

Both Yaesu Fusion and DMR also offer different accessory options such as microphones, chargers and batteries to ensure a buyer stays within a particular brand of equipment. Yaesu generally has great fan's of its equipment and this was a smart move to ensure brand loyalty. A recent example of this was the same battery pack can be used with the FT-2DR and its latest FT-3DR model.

Icom is the majority equipment vendor for D-Star with only Kenwood having a single radio capable of this GFSK based digital voice mode.  The cost to license the underlying technology from the JARL is very high and has prevented other vendors from embracing this technology.

Impact 2020: The latest digital voice radios

There are two very exciting new digital voice radios just about to come to market directed at the amateur radio community. Both offer features not just for digital voice mode users, so these create two great ways for people to expand interest in different parts of the hobby.

The Icom IC-705 is the first highly portable D-Star radio that combines 2m and 70cm capability along with HF for long range communication.  This new radio also allows the Icom ID-51 handheld radio battery to be used with the IC-705, so for those that have this other radio and its accessories on hand, buying this radio for portable use could be a good long term decision.

The main market Icom is looking to gain market share in with this radio clearly is the market category that the Yaesu FT-817 expanded back in 2001 .  Both radios and the 2018 refresh version of the original FT-817 named the FT-818 have competition from Xiegu, Elecraft and a few others that sell portable QRP power HF equipment. Icom could make the IC-705 a real winner, but for every reason not related to D-Star.

There are many other reasons that make the IC-705 interesting, but are outside the scope of this article.  However, it was worth mentioning that Icom does appear to be trying to maintain ecosystem users since the Icom ID-51 has proven popular and could be a good way to sell many IC-705.

Looking at the DMR ecosystem, the long awaited Anytone AT-D578UVIII is going to offer a 2m/70cm model for outside of North America and a version with the 220 MHz 1.25m band in the United States and Canada.  Expected availability for purchase is now late October due to manufacturing issues given the current economical climate or other factors.

This mobile radio will also be the first DMR radio to offer true dual band. dual receive capability. While this radio lacks a remote head for more flexible installations in a vehicle, this radio will certainly become popular for many reasons, including use from a home location.

With the only other mobile DMR radios being somewhat limited, if Anytone has learned from past education, this radio is going to become very popular, very quickly.  Since a mobile radio offers extended range while mobile, this single radio may influence even more DMR repeaters to come online in 2020.

Digital Voice Repeater Outlook

Based on a global estimate of 19,500 analog repeaters, in time this number will shrink as equipment becomes not worth repairing or being able to be re-purposed for digital modes.  Digital repeaters may reach the total number of global analog repeaters one day, but will never truly replace nearly 40 years of analog advancements.  The official estimate of HVDN is that by the end of 2021, there should be over 11,000 digital voice amateur repeaters globally. 

Past Global Digital Repeater Round Up Articles

• May 2019 Global Digital Repeater Round Up
• October 2018 Global Digital Repeater Round Up
• May 2018 Global Digital Repeater Round Up
• Basic Digital Voice Infrastructure Round Up (Q1 2018)

Event: Poughkeepsie Mini Maker Faire 2018

November 18th 2018 is the Poughkeepsie Mini Maker Faire right here in the Hudson Valley!

The educational event for all ages runs from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and is located at the Poughkeepsie Day School located at 260 Boardman Road Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

 There will be many presentations and vendors demonstrating:

3D Printing

Bag Pipe Playing

Basic electronic soldering

How to make yarn

Cheese making

Radio Communications 

Tickets can be purchased in advance through Eventbrite

The Official "NOT" Review of the Alinco MD-5 Series

The Alinco MD-5 series of DMR radio first appeared as a "Coming Soon" model in 2017.

Not long ago, official "for sale" release dates were announced by vendors such as GigaParts, Universal Radio and DX Engineering as being late October 2018, early and late November 2018.

Some vendors made a pre-order wait list available to help understand product demand and guess what?

The first Alinco MD-5TGP's have not only started to appear in the United States in late September, but have already sold out!

First is the worst, second is the best?

HVDN has been lucky to secure one of the first batch of radios and will be a source of  a detailed review inside and out as we did with the TYT MD-UV380 Part 1 and Part 2.

However, we will not release this until it is supposed to be officially for sale later this month or possibly early November once market supply of the product is stable and potentially available to everyone.

The now FCC certified the Alinco MD-5 series as covered in our
article "FLASH NEWS!: Alinco MD-5 Series Cleared by FCC" on September 10th 2018.

Tariffs, Certification & Type Acceptance Situation

Lately in the news, there has been an FCC ruling that states:

"Two-Way VHF/UHF radios may not be  imported, advertised, or sold in the United States unless they comply with the commission's rules"

Moreover, this also pertains to the actual users of these radios as well.  The full text of  FCC Public Notice DA-18-980 can be found here.

HVDN wants to focus on being purely neutral and objective and takes no political leanings, but this FCC ruling is related to the long list of Chinese imports affected by the 1,333 product categories reduced from a much larger list proposed in Docket Number USTR-2018-0026.  

Where could I NOT get one?

Based on some vendor polling the day this article was posted, at least 350 units of Alinco's MD-5TGP have been sold in the US and were imported directly or through some other means rather than the official distribution channels most vendors usually adhere to.

So, how were these radios imported into the United States and able to be sold to amateur radio operators is the big question.

Give a listen to some of the popular DMR talk groups and chances are that you might just hear someone using one of the 350 or so radios that have supposedly already been sold in the US.

Looking at the "Call Statistics" page on Brandmeister can help users
determine when may be the best time to find activity on interestingly focused
talk groups such as "Burning Man" , "Reddit" or "The Guild"

There have already been a few people in the Ohio, California and Texas areas that have made it known that they have one of these radios "On The Air", but do not seem to really know what they have or do they?

Impacts on the US Amateur Radio Community

Even though Alinco is a Japanese company, there are Chinese origin components and manufacturing  related to the Alinco MD-5 and thus affected not only by impending tariff laws but also by  US law on what equipment is permissible to be operated by an amateur radio operator within the amateur radio spectrum in the United States right now as of October 4th 2018.

Is this one reason for the delay from manufacturer to distribution to re-sellers and finally into the hands of end users?

Third is the one with the hairy chest!

The amateur radio punchline to the rhyme is that right now it is:

100% illegal to use the Alinco MD-5 by amateur radio operators in the United States because even though it has FCC certification, it is not Part 15 type accepted and able to be used under Part 97 rules.

This radio and many others like it are capable of transmission outside the amateur radio spectrum making them "technically" only operable by those with a commercial license.

Users covered under an umbrella license such as those for public safety, schools, businesses or some other organization that has permission to operate on certain licensed frequencies are not amateur radio related, so why are amateur radio vendors selling this radio to those not properly licensed to transmit with it?

Even if you are one of those people who hold a "General Radio Operator License" or "GROL", that will not allow you to use this radio currently on amateur radio frequencies.

FCC Rules

Part 15 certification mostly deals with radios capable of "scanning" or wide frequency operation. Part 95 is focused on certification for little to no interference to other devices. Part 97 pertains to amateur radio governance.

These are just high level summaries of a few FCC rules that often come up in amateur radio discussion.

At some later date, the Alinco MD-5 will likely be properly certified, so maybe there is nothing to worry about, or is there?

Competing single and dual band DMR radios of foreign origin that were previously
reviewed in our "Comparison of Entry Level DMR Radios (2017 Edition)"

Certain vendors such as Retevis, TYT, Radioddity, Baofeng and others seem to already by looking for loop holes to still sell radios in the US and for users to remain in compliance of US law. These loopholes include setting up US address headquarters as noted in relation to the BTECH 6X2 and also that the Radioddity GD-77 was just a re-branded TYT model

Alinco clearly is trying to do the right thing through certification, but will it succeed as it relates to Part 15, 95 and 97? Chances are it will and this could be a reason why Kenwood, Icom and Yaesu have not yet tried to sell a DMR capable radio because they will likely also want to do it 100% the right way also.


The Virtual Green Wire

Up through the mid to late 1990's any radio sold in the United States and marketed towards the amateur radio community could not have any "out of the box" capability to transmit outside the FCC Part 97 spectrum which overs amateur radio.

Some radios also had/have restrictions covered under Part 15, 47, 80, 90, 95 to reduce the ability to receive certain frequencies as well as to transmit on frequencies licensed to other services such as marine VHF, MURS (154MHz), FRS, GMRS, and CB frequencies in the US.

Many vendors had simple modifications that could allow "out of band" transmit capability and were often called the MARS/CAP modification.  Clipping a certain color wire or soldering two or more pads together are all it took to enable this functionality.  

With Military Affiliate Radio Service (MARS) or Civil Air Patrol (CAP) no longer permitting radios not capable of narrow band (N-FM) or tight frequency tolerance (<0.5 PPM) operation for digital modes, most "modified" radios while possible to operate out of the amateur bands could no longer be officially used under MARS/CAP because of how those two service changed how the treat the use of radio equipment.

Have a look at websites such as Mods.dk and other clones of it that share helpful tips on how to modify radios for different manufacturer unintended features.

Has any vendor been in trouble?

Back when Radio Shack was in operation, they got in major trouble for releasing a radio named the HTX-204 that was so easy to modify, it got pulled from stores in less than a week and most of the stock was physically destroyed.

Since that time in 1997, there has not been such an infraction, so how have certain vendors avoided the same issue since?

The HTX_204 is considered a rate collectors item
thanks to its "easy modification" to allow out of band operation

Baofeng was one of the first Chinese radio companies to sell inexpensive analog radios in the US and were capable of "out of band" operation with no modification and there was also no easy way to restrict operation to only the amateur radio bands.

With many of the DMR radios, they come fully capable to operate out of the amateur band, but can be restricted in the software to only amateur radio spectrum.

The very popular TYT MD-380 is one such radio that can be restricted this way through modification of one file that can then be uploaded to the radio. This was partially covered in the past "Radioddity GD-77: Frequency Expansion".

In mid 2018, it has been rumored that a slightly different version of this TYT radio has started to turn up with some sort of "changes" but has not been verified by HVDN. Could this be part of a start to better control radios being sold to the amateur radio community?

The Alinco MD-5TGP right now is being sold by amateur radio vendors and clearly we know who is buying these radios.  

However, this Alinco radio is not being marketed by the sellers to the amateur radio community. One vendor explicitly states:

Other vendors do not have this clause, so what we will likely learn when HVDN does its official review includes:

• Is the Alinco MD-5 radio able to only transmit between 144-148 MHz and 420-450 MHz in the US and receive on other frequencies such as the rest of the 136-174 MHz and 400-480 MHz range?

• How does the version 1.01 Alinco programming software compare to what is offered that comes with other radios?

• How easy is it to "front panel program" the Alinco MD-5 or can you only do this in software only?

• Are there are "green wires" that need be be clipped physically or virtually in the MD-5?

• Anything magically different inside the Alinco MD-5 compared to other DMR radios?

HVDN will publish the first part of the Alinco MD-5TGP the first week of November and a second part shortly there after.

Register for updates to not miss

                                 this and other HVDN Notebook articles

FLASH NEWS!: Alinco MD-5 Series Cleared by FCC

Alinco will now be the first mainstream radio vendor as part of the "Big 4" to release a dual band DMR handheld radio. 

It was awarded FCC certification in early September and should start hitting vendors in the next 30-60 days.

Further details are below. HVDN (Hopefully!!) will be the first to complete a review, so be sure to subscribe for updates and get the appropriate SMA to SMA-J adapter or other SMA-J antennas now to use with this radio. Reason why below.....

Alinco MD-5 Series DMR Radio with possible dual polarity display
(Black on white and white on black?)

FCC ID Details

Alinco MD-5 Series FCC ID is PH3DJMD5

Alinco MD-5 Series FCC ID is PH3DJMD5

Preliminary user manual and other photographic details below main summary

Built-in GPS Receiver -Transmits and receives GPS coordinates automatically, and displays the distances between you and other users. (TGP,EGP models) 

Clear Voice and Powerful Audio - Utilizes DVSI's AMBE+2R vocoder for Crystal clear DMR digital audio for use in noisy environments like construction sites and malls. Powerful 1W audio output to insure loud crisp sounds. 

Large, Full-color Display - Features 1.77 inch display with a menu-driven interface, icons and large, easy-to-use keys for comfortable operations and message reading. 

Real Two-slot DMR - The DMR Tier 2 two-slot TDMA technology doubles your communications capacity! 

Mixed Mode Operation - The DMR Tier 2 two-slot TDMA technology doubles your communications capacity! 

Digital Voice Recorder - Up to 14 hours of recording communications and sounds/voice using an internal or optional microphone.

Other Versatile features - Common to both Digital (DMR) and Analog (FM & N-FM) modes

• Selectable output power 5W/2.5W/1W/0.2W

• 4000 channels, 250 zones, 250 scan lists

• Displays DMR ID, Call sign, Name and Geographical info.

• VOX built-in

• Allows CSV export/import of setting parameters

• Easy import of DMR contact database (entire world wide)

• Single or dual channel selectable

• FM Broadcasting receiver with 100 memory channels and VFO

• Manually programmable Side and Hot keys.

• Automatic date and time calibration by GPS (TGP,EGP models)

* Digital mode Exclusive Features

• 10,000 Talk Groups, 250 Radio ID, 160,000 contact lists

• Displays the Caller ID and name

• 32 preset encryption codes

• Selective calls including Individual, Group or All

• Digital Monitor function to receive signals without matching ID or color codes.

* Analog mode Exclusive Features

• Variety of signaling; CTCSS/DCS/DTMF/2-TONE/5-TONE encode and decode

• Four different Tone-burst tones

• Programmable Auto Repeater Shift (VFO)

Preliminary Alinco MD-5 Series User Manual

Many if not all DMR radios do not require much of a manual as the menu system is vastly superior to other analog radios, so certain details are left out and will likely be covered in a user manual for the CPS application.

Download copy of Alinco MD-5 Series manual here

Additional Photography

HVDN will perform a higher resolution tear-down, much like has been done with the competing TYT MD-UV380. Here are some low resolution photos to aid with pre-purchase clarity.

Alinco MD-5 Series will include desktop charger, battery, belt clip as one would expect.
Battery is 7.4v 1800 mAh and no extended version is available at time of launch

The Alinco MD-5 will have 3 versions with or without built in GPS. The speaker is a
dual port design similar to some Alinco analog radios such as the DJ-S40 no longer for sale

The Alinco MD-5 Series will use the non standard SMA format as found on all Alinco, Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu and TYT radios. The  Ailunce HD1 uses the same antenna connector as well as the low priced Baofeng or similar radios

Knowing When To Hold'em and When to Fold'em: Timing The Sale of Ham Radio Treasures

Ham radio as a hobby can get expensive and is also easy to accumulate too much stuff over the years. Since this hobby is part driven by technology, certain items get outmoded or outdated.

Knowing when to buy and sell something is a part of this hobby that needs a little open discussion.

Kenny Rodgers is known for his song "The Gambler", but its not clear if he gambles when it comes to ham radio related purchases or not.

Finding ways to keep ham radio manageable and affordable is something I have always tried to do while at the same time trying to have some of the latest and greatest toys to get on the air with and talk with other radio amateurs.

This is an example of modern amateur radio with many technologies ready to experiment with

Today, technology is moving much quicker than it was just thirty years ago and I wanted to quantify a few things based on some recent on and off the air discussions with other amateur radio operators.

When it comes time to decide what projects to fund and decide what is worth hanging on to or selling  off,  its become apparent that more people or loved ones do not want to get caught with a basement full of ham radio treasures that not many will see a value in.

The beauty is in the eye of the beholder with this messy basement "ham shack"

A Ranking Of Sorts

What I set out to do was find what were some of the most influential, affordable and most widely used amateur radio equipment put into the market between 2018 and 1988, which is a 30 year window to cover and do a little bit of a ranking for fun.

I came up with two general sets of parameters or axis's of  sorts called innovation and implementation.

Each axis has a small subset of criteria to better sort things further.

Implementation Axis

Implementation has to do with a vendors success in getting product into the hands of amateur radio operators.  Three sub-criteria were used to calculate overall implementation scores for specific models of radios that have been widely used. 

Affordability, accessories, accessibility and launch versus current market pricing value are the four areas looked at.

Affordability is a relative term.  Based on the price at launch of the product and what its current market value is today in 2018 were used to determine this criteria. An example of one would be Kenwood TH-F6a  tri-band handheld radio launched in 2001 for around $325.00 and is still in production today. 

Used market pricing varies because of how long this radio has been on the market, but generally sells for between $150-$225 used.

A scale of 1-10 in curved graduations of around $100 increments were used.  A score of something costing new between $389.99 and $499.99 was given a 5. A score of 10 was assigned for anything that was newly priced at under $100 dollars.

A score of 1 was assigned for anything that was newly priced over $1,000 dollars.

The Kenwood TH-F6a was unique when it launched in 2001 for including the ability to monitor the HF bands in SSB mode as well as operate on the 3 different VHF and UHF bands in use across the United States. Almost 18 years later, there are only two other radios that would compete with it.

Accessories are something that can contribute over time to the enjoyment of certain equipment and may be purchased right away or over time. Some accessories are offered by the manufacturer who released the radio in question. Others are aftermarket items or easily built by amateur radio operators themselves.

The robustness of the accessory ecosystem was simply graded between 1 and 10, with 10 being the most accessory options imaginable and 1 being the very least. Of the 30 official radios used in this ranking, the average for accessories turned out to be 6.5 which shows the market saw a lot of additional opportunity beyond just buying the radio itself.

Accessibility is a combination of a few factors.  At some point in time was it possible to go in to a physical store and purchase the radio? If you asked someone "Do you know anyone who has this radio I can talk to before purchasing it?" and "I saw XYZ at a recent hamfest walking around with it and I think I may want to get one" is some of the thinking that went into this accessibility ranking.

In the last thirty years, we have gone from only local store, mail order purchase and long decision times to almost instant internet based research, purchase and next day delivery.

In order to not take into account inflation,  it was simple to look at the pricing for when a radio was released and what it is currently selling for today on the used market. Even for equipment released within the last 24-48 months are easy to see what is holding market value based on when something newer is available.

In years past, certain radios held value longer than others or dropped value quickly.  Equating a percentage for example of when then the popular Radioshack HTX-242 which launched in 1998 for around $299.99 is worth about $50.00 on a good day 20 years later or less then 14% of its original value.

The Radioshack HTX-242 was the first 2m mobile radio for many ham's from 1998 until 2003 and saw high adoption becuase it was easy to purchase in person from a local store instead of waiting on the pre internet ordering options of the day. 

Innovation Axis

What prompts most amateurs to buy something over another is what can it do that no other product can at a price that seems reasonable.

Also, what else can it be made to done that it was not thought of by the original designers had intended is another. 

Three total sub-criteria were used in the innovation axis and they are direct competition, features and modifications

Direct competition comes in waves for most of the larger radio vendors such as Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood and others. Every so often these or other more narrow vendors come up with something so unique and fascinating, there is often no direct competition.

A great example when it launched and for years right after is the Yaesu FT-817 multi-band multi-mode portable radio that opened up new ways of operating or attracting new hams into the hobby.  It was clear early on Yaesu had a hit on its hands since its launch and only recently saw a minor refresh due to changing part suppliers, but even the new FT-818 replacement is honestly not that different than the original.

A scaled of 1 to 10 with 10 being the least amount of direct competition at launch was used to rank each of the 30 radios.

The Yaesu FT-817 proved that ham radio was not a basement hobby any longer. This radio allowed you to take the entire "ham shack" into the woods and beyond for all sorts of adventures for a modest price

Features are in the eye of the beholder sometimes. Some are fact and  based on specifications or instruction manuals, others are more mental for certain people.

The idea that even like designed radios could vary much in features is hard to grasp, especially when some amateur radio operators will go to great length to dispute which radio is better than another even though they are very, very similar.

A scale of 1 to 10 was used to rank features relative to competition available at the time of launch.

Lastly, modifications was used to define innovation. This is not just about clipping a certain green wire in some radios, but really looking at how quickly users figured out ways to make something better and widely documented the results.

Everything from changing certain capacitors to make certain radio sound better on different modes, to re-writing the operating software running the most widely adopted modern radios was taken into account in the ten possible points available for the most modification friendly radio out there. 

Other Criteria

To increase the objectivity, no one vendor could have any more than five radios in this list of 30, save for a honorable mention of a very unique radio that paved the way for many innovations still not seen today.  Also, only ready built and major commercial vendors were included.  

The idea for what would make it on to the final list of 30 amateur radio items over the last 30 years also was focused on mass adoption versus niche purchases or devices. 

Anything that proved to be a huge hit for a particular vendor was included and balanced against rigorous research from the opinions of many amateur radio operators globally about some of the most popular equipment they own or seem to always talk to someone on the other end about what they like or are using.

The List You Have Been Waiting For

It was really tough to develop this list of equipment, but I can pretty much guarantee that if you have been a ham for at-least most of the past 30 years, you will recognize the majority of this list. Some items were chosen to keep things manageable and not dominated by one vendor or another.

The top 5 items with score go to:

• Baofeng UV-5R (875.8489706)
• Inexpensive SDR USB Dongles (827.2830524)
• TYT MD-380 (769.8098983)
• Anytone D868A (732.5622234)
• Alinco DJ-596 (645.3345454)

The bottom 5 scored items with score go to:

• Kenwood TS-2000 (174.0128162)
• Icom IC-746 (167.6209362)
• Yaesu FT-991 (151.9583962)
• Kenwood TM-742 (144.8730979)
• Yaesu FT-100 (138.1904794

Honorable mention, just to see how it would have scored had it been a bigger hit goes to the obscure Icom IC-900 mobile radio system.

Here is how it fared against the 30 most innovative, influential, affordable and widely adopted amateur radio over the past 30 years.

Icom IC-900

What made this radio unique in 1987 and even today, 31 years after its launch was its complexity and flexibility.

This was a modular radio system that bolted together to offer the user all sorts of band or mode options and then output to a control head using fiber optic cable up to 65 foot in length.  

The Icom IC-900 is obscure but pretty cool even 31 years later

Its hard to find accurate pricing on this radio and how many Icom actually sold, but its estimated that the options to make a 2m, 70cm only version would have cost at-least $900 when this was on the market.

Today, these still demand a good price because of its rarity and innovation and is why it received the honorable mention and a scoring of:

• 2 for Affordability
• 2 for Accessories
• 10 for Direct Competition
• 8 for Features
• 2 for Modifications

The estimate for pricing was hard to place, but looks to be about 44% of its original sale value today, but this could be on the very best or very worst day.

Does this obscure radio look anything like what we see today?  If you are thinking of the current Icom IC-7100, then yes.....maybe it does

The Icom IC-7100 is a modern marvel, but is it for you?

The total innovation score worked out to 20 and 6.4 for implementation. A final score calculated to 56.65691462, which was far, far below what the Yaesu FT-100 got in the top 30 ranking found here for download.

Wishful Thinking

It would be a huge undertaking, but it would be interesting to develop a larger database based on details found on websites like rigpix.com,  qrz.com, eham.net plus others and then refresh the list annually in order to compare over time how the market changes for amateur radio equipment that is in demand. 

Register for updates to the HVDN Notebook to get the full scored list of equipment

The summary of equipment in approximate order by release date is below:

Teardown & Comparison: TYT MD-UV380 Part 1

The dual band TYT MD-UV380 has just been released and promises much of the same functionality of the TYT MD-2017 and Retevis RT-82, but in the same form factor as the ever popular mono-band MD-380 and MD-390 series of radios.

This review goes under the hood of this latest $149.99 priced DMR & analog FM dual band handheld radio.

RF deck top view of the MD-UV380

Basic Overview

The MD-380 has been well reviewed elsewhere plus in past articles here on HVDN like the 2017 DMR entry level radio review.

The new MD-UV380 and MD-UV390 look identical to the mono-band versions and also include options with or without GPS.

Here are some side shots of the MD-UV380 (GPS) box which is somewhat informative on specifications.

Out Of The Box Differences

The firmware version out of the box for this sample was S15.021.  The latest version as of the date of this article appears to be S16.06 based on the TYT website download from May 23rd 2018.

While scrolling through the features in the CPS 1.03 and then updated into the radio to unlock certain menus, the major feature add on with the MD-UV380 is the ability to have up to 3 radio ID's and to change the mic gain.

Everything else is pretty much the same as the MD-380 stock firmware flow, not including the obvious addition of VHF and UHF coverage, like the MD-2017.

One feature introduced in the MD-2017 was built in "promiscuous" mode that allows monitoring of all DMR traffic on a specific time slot and correct color code. This has also made its way into the MD-UV380.

Also, like the MD-2017, the MD-UV380 can either allow audio to be recorded in DMR mode or provide the user with more contact storage space for the entire DMR ID database. Different firmware exists for either option for the MD-UV380 or MD-UV390.

From an outside hardware perspective, the MD-UV380 uses all the same accessories as the MD-380.  Same goes for the MD-390, which is just slightly larger than the MD-380. This is nice in order to recycle things like chargers, batteries and programming cords between the old and new radios.  The GD-77 by Radioddity also uses the same charger as the MD-380, so for users looking for a new dual band radio may want to consider the MD-UV380 over other similar radios.

The included stock dual band antenna seems to be of slightly higher quality compared to the antennas included with the mono-band MD-380/390 radios. The base of the MD-UV380 has an extended ferule to provide a little more waterproofing on the antenna connector on the radio.

Navigating the MD-UV380

Compared to the MD-2017 with its roller ball navigation, the MD-UV380 uses the arrow buttons below the display to flip between the upper and lower band assignments. This makes the UV-MD380 more like the Radioddity GD-77 or Anytone D868A from a navigation factor which is slightly less cumbersome than the MD-2017 roller-ball and will likely hold up better over time and prevent accidental band swaps or channel changes.

Channel selection in either the upper or lower band on the MD-UV380 is done through the top mount multi-selector knob. Compared to the MD380, there is no more limitation to 16 channels per zone which was sort of hard coded against the 16 position channel selector knob.  On the MD-UV380, as many as 64 channels per zone and possibly more is possible.

There will be more to talk about when it comes to the firmware updates, upgrades, channel management and overall user features, but that is not the main goal of this tear-down and comparison.

On the outside of the MD-UV380 from a distance, it would be hard to tell the difference between the MD-380, MD-380G, MD-390 and MD-390G. They all look the same and the only differences is the multi-selector knob, the label under the battery showing the model name and button coloration differences.

Inside the MD-UV380 and compared to the MD-380G

This is where things get interesting because the outside looks the same, but the inside does not.  Here are side by side comparisons of the MD-380G and the MD-UV380 (GPS). The outer-casing on the MD-UV380 seems to be styled like the earlier TYT versions whereas later ones had a more rounded speaker grill and colored buttons.

MD-UV380 on the left and MD-380G on the right

Things get interesting when looking at the two parts of the radio side by side after opening both up.

The MD-380G and MD-UV380 share the same exact board numbering for the user interface side of the radio as noted by KEY-V2.0-160329 text.   In the upper left corner near the speaker you can see the GPS antenna.

MD-UV380 on the left. MD-380G on the right.
Note the colored orange and blue buttons on the right side of the MD-380G

Swapping the RF deck from either radio with the UI board from the other confirms there is only one tiny difference.   The flat cable connector on both is slightly different which may just be a sourcing reason.  The connector on the MD-380 was a "piano hinge" type and the MD-UV380 was "compression lock" type. The flat ribbon cable fits the same way. Its possible over time that the "compression lock" version may be more reliable and limit the potential "white screen" issues some users have experienced when the connector and cable are not mated tightly at the factory.

Both radios upon re-assembly with the UI board and RF deck from both models confirmed identical operation and functionality. 

Should someone want the slightly more rounded housing and colored buttons from a MD-380G, but with the functions of the MD-UV380, this may be good to know.

The UI is the same but not the RF deck

As you would expect, the design of a dual-band radio would be just a little different than a mono-band version. Here is a side by side of both radios from the inside.

MD-UV380 at left and MD-380G at right

The major differences here get sort of fun. The same STM32F405 is used across both radios, but gone is the HR C5000 base band chip on the front side as in the MD-380.

In the MD-380G, the ST Microelectronics STM32F405VG is used which sports an ARM Cortex M4 core, up to 168MHz clock speed and 1024 KB of on board RAM. A more detailed spec sheet can be found on the STM website here.

The new MD-UV380 has the same STM32F405VG, but with slightly different date codes. It is unknown without further dissection if there are any small changes in the MCU since there is likely 2-3 time difference between the manufacture of both radios.

The "527" version was found in the MD-380 and the "664" version was found in the MD-UV380

Both radios also have the same Winbond 128K memory (W25Q128FV), but you may notice an empty pad for possibly an additional memory expansion on the MD-UV380.  This may be helpful as the user database for DMR ID's soon surpasses 100,000 which is the current limitation of many radios. As more DMR uses experiment with GPS, SMS and other mode translations such as those just introduced in Pi-Star, having additional memory will be a useful thing to have.

Note the empty pads for additional memory such as the 128k Winbond chip to left of  STM32F4055VG

For those that remember, the VHF versions of the MD-380 had less memory compared to the UHF versions which limited further alternative firmware development made popular by Travis Goodspeed, Ty Weaver, Warren Merkel and many others.

Perhaps lessons have been learned with the MD-UV380 to allow for future memory upgrades without complete redesign.  Its clear that TYT used the same UI board to simplify construction and offer a lower priced radio.

It seems all they really needed to do was just redesign the RF deck on the MD-UV380 after learning from the success and failures of the MD-2017 user interface and overly sized casing.

RF Front End

The RF front end is a combination of filtering for radio transmit and receive functions. On the MD-UV380 we can see some of that by looking at the SMD capacitors, resistors and inductors between the antenna connector and the copper pad which is a heat spreader for the RFPA on the underside of the RF deck board.

The MD-UV380 is a 136-174 MHz and 400-480 MHz radio, so its filtering would be more complex as expected compared to the UHF only version of the MD-380G.

MD-UV380 on left. MD-380G on right. It appears here that that the MD-380G is more complex on the rear of the RF unit compared to the MD-UV380. There has to be additional components on the underside of the RF deck board

Is That It? 

Clearly the top side of the  MD-UV380 seems more simple from a base-band perspective compared to that of the MD-380, but that is likely not the case.  All we have learned so far without further disassembly is the following:

• Both radios appear to use the same STM MCU
• Both radios have the same Winbond flash memory
• The MD-UV380 seems to have the ability to increase on board memory due to empty pads.
• The MD-UV380 may be using something else for base-band RF compared to the MD-380
• The UI boards are common across both radios
• The older style  and slightly larger housing from earlier MD-380 radios is used for the MD-UV380

Next Steps

The intent here was a basic under the hood look at the MD-UV380. Future coverage will include the underside of the RF deck and more about how the radio functions on the air plus other "deeper under the hood" analysis. 

One quick comment: Its possible to save a VHF or UHF frequency for transmit and the other band for receive.  Its also possible to save frequencies in as small as 2.5KHz steps. This may be of interest for those interested in satellite communications.

Stay tuned for more MD-UV380 coverage here on HVDN.  

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