This Radio Has CHANGED My Mind About DMR

I'm a DMR newbie and wanted to give it a go. So I got hold of a Radioddity GD-88 to put it through it's paces to see if it's an ideal radio for DMR beginners.

⏱️Chapters⏱️
0:00 I have too many HT's
0:57 Feature Overview
5:24 Using the radio's functions
7:42 Menu system is a bit.. well.. confusing
14:02 Output power & emissions test
17:02 BS Failed error message
17:44 Audio On Air
18:47 Full duplex
19:28 Crossband repeater (including digital!)
21:11 CPS software quirks
22:18 Honest last word

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➡️Contact⬅️
📮 Ham Mail: Hayden Honeywood - P.O Box 5071, Sandy Bay 7005, Tasmania, Australia

#HamRadio #AmateurRadio #DMR

Music:
YouTube Sound

[MIDJT]

I love my DMR radios. My W0CHP PiStar has Brandmeister, DMR+, TGIF, SystemX, XLX and DMR2YSF all running seamlessly.

[stevebrodie]

you need an Retevis RT3S with OPENGD77 on it. turns a $130 radio to a $600 radio with features that amateur radio operators need and use. Icom and Yaesu should be taking notes from OPENGD77

[radiosnmore]

50 mile range. Point to point. I love dmr

[temporarilyoffline]

Thanks for the great video and the shout out!

[KSJD]

Nice video Hayden! I struggled with DMR when I first got into it. I have an MD380, RT3S, 868, and 878 Bridgecom Systems helped me learn the CPS software. One thing I have found is the Contact software from N0GSG helps take one code plug and puts it in a neutral format so you can output codeplugs for different radios using the same data. It makes it easier to move from one DMR unit to another. 73

[stefanpaul]

“Not too bad actually…” Thank you, that’s all I needed to know 😂 But I watched to the end …

[WTRI_Ronny]

Open GD-77 firmware would be much easier to work with on one of the supported radios. Not a fan of this HT myself. Welcome to DMR! Hope to hear you on sometime!

[hbryant]

I remember my first DMR programming experience. So many "Curses and Oaths" shouted.... I nearly threw it out the window. Finally I developed a system that works.

[johndextersantos]

5:34, that is actually a good quality gel screen protector. I just cut the tab on these things. It is not like those thin factory screen protector that we actually want to peel off. :)

[bryantwalley]

The volume issue has had a test fix and it will be in the next firmware. One thing bad about DMR is that unless you have auto leveling on the radio you can get signals coming in at all volumes. It is not a radio thing it is a DMR thing. I do hope they add auto leveling in the future. It is easy enough to do in firmware and only takes a few lines of code.

[thundr]

My DMR Radio of choice I bought this month is the Retevis RT-3S running OpenGD77 firmware. Game changer.

[KHWI]

Thanks for testing the full duplex! Looks like this one should work well for satellites.

[LeeMcc_KIYPR]

Just like any HT, the manual entry is good for adding a repeater in the field. But the computer is better if you got the computer.

[roger_VKVRK]

Mine arrived a few days ago, did some updates and unfortunately im not having much luck with this radio. I've had to try to reflash it a few times, i note when you had it on the test set it was off freq but yours is working ! Ill persevere. Coming from a commercial radio background these cheaper radios are rather frustrating.
Update:
After alot of more testing this radio needs some help from software developers. The firmware is riddled with issues:
Volume control seems to freeze, aprs simply refuses to work: gps will not lock when you wander from inside to outside.... Dual vfo with one analogue channel and one dmr channel simultaneously wont work: zero RX. The most annoying thing is not being able to able to access any kind of alignment mode....

[yetiradiovkyt]

Excellent video Hayden. As I've commented below i have the Retevis RT3S and i like it as i have now figured out all of its quirks. Some of the features of this one though do leave me wanting more from the RT3S. Also sorry i didn't have a better clip for you to splice into the video.

[fernwood]

I hate my GD88 just slightly more than I hate my GD73. The only two reasons I keep it is to a) remind me to stop buying cheap DMR radios, and b) to punish myself.

[ocsrc]

What we need is a DMR scanner in this radio that will load the DMR CC, slot and TGID so we can copy the network and get on it without knowing anything

[bryantwalley]

I have every top of the line handheld unit. This is my favorite. It took about 20minutes to have it up and going. I have it in low power mode with a nubby antenna on it and use it on my OpenSpot4. The cross mode cross band repeater is extremely simple to set up there are pics and instructions in the manual. Takes about 2 minutes. The menu system is modern like your phone. Hams are just so used to looking at the archaic menus on the older radios it takes a while to adapt. My only issue is with the software. The frustration is not you. There are bugs that cause failures that you can't fix. Especially when the code plug has a lot of contacts.

[theroguetomato]

I have the GD-88 and I love it, despite some of it's weird quirks.

[DonzLockz]

I really liked this radio on the videos I seen with it but the faults/bugs stopped me till they were sorted.
I have the 878 and really like it.
I think we'd have to import the GD88 unless I can make it to the States next year. :/