Dave805

Michael, the file you included was for the GM-30 HT, not the mobile DB-20UV. There's no firmware update for it or the TYT 779UV version.

Thank you! I'll give it a try! Dave

I liked it so much I bought 2! Like the form factor, and sensitivity is good. A lot of bang for the buck, scanning speed is decently fast, 300 channel memory.

Thanks for confirming the problem on a third 779uv. I know Wayne and I'll reach out to him (we're both members of SBARC). Dave

I drove to work today with my Radioddity DB-20G in my car and it did exactly the same thing as the Anytone 779UV. So I'll just turn off PL tone decode / CTCSS squelch for this one channel. Meanwhile I'll keep working at figuring out what exactly is different about this one repeater.

2.33 i dragged out my test equipment. Both at779UVs (one being the Radioditty) measure the same - full quieting is at -90 dBm and the pl tone modulation breaks squelch down to 100 Hz modulation - very sensitive. My tyt 8600 needs more modulation (300 Hz), as does my Anytone 778uv (200 Hz), and my Yaesu 7250D (300 Hz). The problematic repeater has 700 Hz of modulation, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Monday when I’m back at work I’ll see if the Radioddity unit too has an issue with that one repeater.

Received my Radioddity DB20-G yesterday and the external speaker today. They must maintain their stock with Amazon as that is who did the delivery. The outer box is different, and the mic and radio are badged with Radioddity, and at powerup, the LCD displays DB20-G. Otherwise it's the same as my AT-779uv. I even just programmed the same file into it as what I created for my 779uv. I won't know until Monday if this one has a problem with that repeater, but I do know myRadioddity I just got has a little more RF output power vs my 779uv. VHF is right at 20W, and UHF at 17W vs both those #'s being 2W lower for my AT779uv. I'll chalk it up to production variability, and 2W is not going to make a difference. It was just interesting to see. Also, fwiw, I realized today that I do in fact own a very accurate signal generator that goes down to sub hertz (HP 3336C). Using it to create PL tones, and then feeding it into my HP 8657B, I should be able to measure at what PL level both of my 779uvs need to decode it, and then compare that to other radios I own. Might try that tomorrow.

Update: Brought my AT-778uv to work with me this morning. It has no problem with that repeater. The only thing left to do is wait for my second 779 to arrive and see how it performs.

While I'm testing my AT-779UV, I'm also dragging in my other radios for similar testing. One of the things I'm checking is RF output. So far the AT-779UV is doing quite well. VHF is ~18 watts output, UHF is 15 watts, both on high of course. My TYT-8600 measures the same. Edit: I didn't have my connections correct when I was measuring my 778UV. Didn't have the dummy load connected. . . . Anytone AT-778UV, VHF band power is 18W. UHF power is 20W 779UV benefits over the 778UV 500 memory channels vs 200 faster scanning 8 alphanumeric character naming vs 5 dedicated volume control much faster downloading/uploading between the PC and the radio

Michael, the Radioddity website isn't charging sales tax, and as WayoverThere wrote, they're including an external speaker for $104.99. So little bit cheaper overall, with the added bonus of an external speaker.

I just ordered another unit, the Radioddity branded one this time only because the pricing was a little better. Once I get it, I can compare the two units with that particular repeater. Anytone wrote back and said they tested the 779UV using a Hytera UHF repeater with the same PL settings and didn't have a problem. They said unfortunately they don't have access to a VHF repeater, but asked me to repeat my test of mimicking the problematic repeater using my 778uv radio. I'm guessing the 778 and 779 use the same chip for PL tone generation/decoding. So tonight I'll do that, but also bring my 778UV to work tomorrow and see how it works on this problematic repeater.

I have an update - actually just more info. Got home and programmed one of my Baofeng HT's to pretend it's the repeater I'm having trouble with. TX was 145.180 with a PL tone of 146.2. My AT-779UV is on the same table here at home, with a dummy load attached in case I accidentally key it up. When I keyed up the HT, the 779UV broke squelch just fine. So the receive PL tone is working fine with the HT set up like the repeater. Fast forward an hour and while I'm participating in the net, I brought up that I was having this problem and stated "I wonder what is weird with the 145.180 repeater?" A moment later, another ham got on and stated he measured the transmission from that repeater, that the PL tone was exactly 146.2 Hz, and the PL tone had an FM modulation of 700Hz, which he said is standard for repeater. To him, there repeater didn't look odd at all PL tone wise on the TX. He did say that the 700 Hz modulation for the PL tone was for when they used to be decoded mechanically - it took that much modulation to get the reed to vibrate. "with modern electronics, it can be much lower". That said, it seems CTCSS tone amplitude shouldn't be a problem. So I'll forward all this info to Anytone to see what they say. I'm thinking of getting a second radio to replace the single bander in my truck. It'll be interesting if a second radio has the same problem with the same repeater.

Amazon, from the seller ‘lucky product’, ironically. If yours is working fine, I would not update it.

I'll give that a try that tonight (using another radio). And yes, I've had the squelch break from other repeaters elsewhere. It's less of a problem on this repeater than others. FWIW, all my programming has been through the PC software. That setting is 'smart'. If I set the decode freq to none, the choice in what you circled is only SQ.

Thanks Michael - that does solve the problem but it's a workaround for the CTCSS tone not decoding on receive correctly. The squelch will now also open for any other person/repeater on the same receive frequency. Stations down south do break in occasionally, and impressively so when there's ducting going on. (I'll even pick up the San Diego repeater sometimes!) The question is, why is the radio having a problem with this?