Is a mid to high price HT worth it over $25 ones

[Lscott]

On 12/2/2025 at 5:38 AM, tcp2525 said:

As said early, I love Kenwoods, but they can't hold up to the abuse and deliver the performance an 878 can

Actually the Kenwood’s are better. One night I had the D878 monitoring a DMR repeater. Sporadicly the D878 would drop out. When I tried a Kenwood NX-1300DUK5 it didn’t exhibit that behavior.

The likely reason was the frequency accuracy and stability of the reference oscillator. The D878 spec’s is 2.0PPM while the NX-1300DUK5 is 0.5PPM, 4 times better. There are tight specifications for digital communications.

The better frequency spec results in less frequency drift and a lower bit error rate.

The radios are similar in cost. While the D878 might have more memories and features than the NX-1300DUK5 if it can’t give you reliable communications who cares?

These Chinese radios cuts corners to keep the price down that may not be immediately apparent.

D878UV.pdf NX-1200_1300 Num 1.pdf

[Lscott]

Oh I should point out the frequency spec for the newer model D878’s is even a bit worse than the original at 2.5PPM. 

D878UVII PLUS.pdf

[WRYZ926]

I have no experience with the Smiley Antennas. 

I have found that sometimes going with a longer antenna helps and other times it did not. I have tried Abbree and Nagoya 771 and 771-G models on several brands of hand held radios. I used the 771-G on GMRS only radios and the 771 on my dual band 2m/70cm radios.

I found that the stock OEM antennas worked better on my Icom and Wouxun radios while the 771/771-g worked better on my Baofeng, Explorer QRZ-1 (TYT UV-88), and Quansheng radios.

The only way to know if a longer antenna makes any difference on a hand held radio is to try. But don't be surprised if you don't see any difference compared to the stock antennas either.

[tcp2525]

On 12/3/2025 at 11:26 PM, Lscott said:

Actually the Kenwood’s are better. One night I had the D878 monitoring a DMR repeater. Sporadicly the D878 would drop out. When I tried a Kenwood NX-1300DUK5 it didn’t exhibit that behavior.

The likely reason was the frequency accuracy and stability of the reference oscillator. The D878 spec’s is 2.0PPM while the NX-1300DUK5 is 0.5PPM, 4 times better. There are tight specifications for digital communications.

The better frequency spec results in less frequency drift and a lower bit error rate.

The radios are similar in cost. While the D878 might have more memories and features than the NX-1300DUK5 if it can’t give you reliable communications who cares?

These Chinese radios cuts corners to keep the price down that may not be immediately apparent.

D878UV.pdf 3.7 MB · 0 downloads NX-1200_1300 Num 1.pdf 697.35 kB · 0 downloads

Thanks for posting the PDFs. While I agree that the Kenwood is showing better specs, I don't think anyone using it in the real world would even notice the difference in a double-blind test. As for price point, the Kenwood is much more expensive than the 878, which makes it more attractive for budget minded users that want great performance. Also, keep in mind that most people that buy Chinese radios realize they are buying disposable radios. I have two 878s and never experienced any of the issues you describe. My 878s are bought for rough use and abuse, so I don't care if one craps out. While I like Kenwood, I'm not going to put it through what I do the 878s, it's not economical. Bottom line, the 878s are really great radios.

[Lscott]

12 minutes ago, tcp2525 said:

Thanks for posting the PDFs. While I agree that the Kenwood is showing better specs, I don't think anyone using it in the real world would even notice the difference in a double-blind test. As for price point, the Kenwood is much more expensive than the 878, which makes it more attractive for budget minded users that want great performance. Also, keep in mind that most people that buy Chinese radios realize they are buying disposable radios. I have two 878s and never experienced any of the issues you describe. My 878s are bought for rough use and abuse, so I don't care if one craps out. While I like Kenwood, I'm not going to put it through what I do the 878s, it's not economical. Bottom line, the 878s are really great radios.

Well you might get what you pay for. I'll agree not everyone will experience issues. For some the average performance might be just good enough for their use.

There are some other issues with the D878's I didn't mention. There is a whole site with info on them, the various bugs, some fixes and some modifications. I haven't visited the site in a while. From time to time I capture the info as a PDF to keep in my electronic library reference material for all the various radios I own. You might find this useful.

 

AT-D868_D878 Info and mods 20240607.pdf

[tcp2525]

15 minutes ago, Lscott said:

Well you might get what you pay for. I'll agree not everyone will experience issues. For some the average performance might be just good enough for their use.

There are some other issues with the D878's I didn't mention. There is a whole site with info on them, the various bugs, some fixes and some modifications. I haven't visited the site in a while. From time to time I capture the info as a PDF to keep in my electronic library reference material for all the various radios I own. You might find this useful.

 

AT-D868_D878 Info and mods 20240607.pdf 27.09 MB · 0 downloads

If you wouldn't mind please post a link to this site as I'm curious. I know a lot of these Chinese manufacturers will just send you a new radio and tell you to toss it in the trash instead of shipping it back. I only have a sample of two and both are working flawlessly. So, if it is a wide spread issue with the 878s I will stand corrected, but I haven't seen any issues with mine or the people that I know using them.

[SteveShannon]

12 minutes ago, tcp2525 said:

If you wouldn't mind please post a link to this site as I'm curious. I know a lot of these Chinese manufacturers will just send you a new radio and tell you to toss it in the trash instead of shipping it back. I only have a sample of two and both are working flawlessly. So, if it is a wide spread issue with the 878s I will stand corrected, but I haven't seen any issues with mine or the people that I know using them.

The basic url of the site appears in the upper right corner of the document he posted:

[Lscott]

1 hour ago, tcp2525 said:

If you wouldn't mind please post a link to this site as I'm curious. I know a lot of these Chinese manufacturers will just send you a new radio and tell you to toss it in the trash instead of shipping it back. I only have a sample of two and both are working flawlessly. So, if it is a wide spread issue with the 878s I will stand corrected, but I haven't seen any issues with mine or the people that I know using them.

http://anytonetechzone.byethost7.com/878techmods.htm?i=2

http://anytonetechzone.byethost7.com/578techmods.htm

[tcp2525]

40 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

The basic url of the site appears in the upper right corner of the document he posted:

Thanks, I was just reading the PDF and skipped over it for some dumb reason. Anyway, I was reading some of the "issues" he was referencing such as "Out of Band" error and the asinine solutions to fix it. All one has to due is save the code plug prior to changing the band settings, then make the changes and read the new blank code plug from the radio, then import from the old code plug. All of which is a less than 5-minute job. I will review the other "issue" to determine if they are genuine or pilot error.

[tcp2525]

Just now, Lscott said:

http://anytonetechzone.byethost7.com/878techmods.htm?i=2

Thanks. Steve got me squared away.

[tcp2525]

24 minutes ago, Lscott said:

http://anytonetechzone.byethost7.com/878techmods.htm?i=2

http://anytonetechzone.byethost7.com/578techmods.htm

I forgot to add that I did the 220 MHz mod using AT Options and it works great, though it's only a fraction of a watt. It gets me into local repeaters just fine.

[Lscott]

7 minutes ago, tcp2525 said:

I forgot to add that I did the 220 MHz mod using AT Options and it works great, though it's only a fraction of a watt. It gets me into local repeaters just fine.

It's not recommended since the output power amp stage filters and load matching are not designed for that frequency band.

[tcp2525]

42 minutes ago, Lscott said:

It's not recommended since the output power amp stage filters and load matching are not designed for that frequency band.

Agree and I know, but it's been delivering good performance for years. I'll keep running it until it goes super critical and melts down. 

[WSFN703]

On 11/30/2025 at 9:08 PM, Cloudbuster said:

Now time to get a small HT repeater to hear back the audio at different ranges, would the Surecom SR-112 be all right for this?

Thanks.  

You may also look at Red's Engineering for a simplex repeater.  I have a SRPT-03 and it works fine.  

[WSEZ903]

On 12/3/2025 at 8:45 PM, SteveShannon said:

I know you swapped antennas and it didn’t help. Did you try putting a watt meter inline with the antenna. There’s something wrong. 

No. It is past warranty.  I had heard some were goos others not so much.  I received a not so much one.  I have it connected to a hot spot now so it helps a lot. 
 

I purchased it originally to listen to DMR a few years ago before I got my license. Did not know you needed a license to monitor.  I just don’t care for the disconnect after use and programming it blows. Even with AT software, hell I think and APX is easier to do than that thing. 

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, WSEZ903 said:

I purchased it originally to listen to DMR a few years ago before I got my license. Did not know you needed a license to monitor.

You don’t.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, WSEZ903 said:

No. It is past warranty.  I had heard some were goos others not so much.  I received a not so much one.  I have it connected to a hot spot now so it helps a lot. 
 

I purchased it originally to listen to DMR a few years ago before I got my license. Did not know you needed a license to monitor.  I just don’t care for the disconnect after use and programming it blows. Even with AT software, hell I think and APX is easier to do than that thing. 

Yeah, DMR can be difficult to program.  OpenUV380 makes it much easier.  RT Systems makes it somewhat easier, but not as nice as OpenUV380. 

[LeoG]

12 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

You don’t.

Ya, that sounded weird to me.  Even if it was how would they know you were monitoring?  Have to be pretty sensitive equipment to pick up the local oscillator in your radio to even begin.  Airwaves are free to monitor.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, LeoG said:

Ya, that sounded weird to me.  Even if it was how would they know you were monitoring?  Have to be pretty sensitive equipment to pick up the local oscillator in your radio to even begin.  Airwaves are free to monitor.

I suspect he was referring to the difficulty in connecting a hotspot to the Brandmeister or other network without an ID from RadioID which is limited to licensees. That’s a practical issue rather than a regulatory issue. 

[PACNWComms]

"Cheap" for my GMRS use case was to buy beat up Motorola XPR6550's off of ePay, then purchase the re-case kits from that Amazonian site. Ended up with six "new-ish" XPR6550 with a GMRs zone for about $50 each ($25 per case kit and 20-25 per main board). 

I do own an Anytone 878 variant, I think it has the blue button on top and definitely pre-satellite mode attempt. I think I have a GM-30 handheld as well, as it might have come with the DB-20 mobile. 

Still prefer to use Motorola though, much better audio and sensitivity. They are bigger, heavier, and when new, would have been considerably more expensive, but also made to higher/tighter tolerances than something made for a cheaper price point. 

I also buy former government agency Panasonic Toughbooks as well......let my taxes subsidize a better piece of hardware for its second life as a radio programmer. 

[PACNWComms]

"Cheap" for my GMRS use case was to buy beat up Motorola XPR6550's off of ePay, ......must also add that I bought these a few years ago, notice the price is a bit higher now, as the dollar does not go as far as it did when I made the purchases. So ~$50-60 per radio and ~$35 per re-case kit. Gets you around ~$95-100 per XPR6550 UHF, then of course you must have the software and cables, which adds another $50 or so (software is free once you get a /\/\otorola account). Still prefer commercial radio for GMRs use over Baofeng, Wouxon, and others.....just due to build quality and transmit/receive sensitivity. 

 

Just starting out, a UV-5R is a good start. Until you want something better......

[AdmiralCochrane]

Well said.

[WRYZ926]

A lot of people start out with a Baofeng for GMRS or amateur radio. Baofeng radios are good starter radios to get people on the air while they figure out what features they really want in a radio.

In fact, I will recommend a baofeng over the Icom IC-T10. The IC-T10 is just as susceptible to interference and front end overload as a Baofeng and costs a lot more. Personally I feel that Icom should be ashamed to put their name on the IC-T10.

I only mention the Icom IC-T10 to show that the name on a radio does not mean anything.

[tcp2525]

1 hour ago, WRYZ926 said:

A lot of people start out with a Baofeng for GMRS or amateur radio. Baofeng radios are good starter radios to get people on the air while they figure out what features they really want in a radio.

In fact, I will recommend a baofeng over the Icom IC-T10. The IC-T10 is just as susceptible to interference and front end overload as a Baofeng and costs a lot more. Personally I feel that Icom should be ashamed to put their name on the IC-T10.

I only mention the Icom IC-T10 to show that the name on a radio does not mean anything.

Though overpriced at $149, the IC-T10 is classified as a disposable radio same as the Baofeng. You should be glad you didn't buy Kenwood or Icom's overpriced flagship models. Now that is something to complain about. 

[WSKN763]

On 11/30/2025 at 5:26 AM, tcp2525 said:

..... I always said, if Yaesu would reverse engineer a Baofeng they would have a real radio.

I was a Yaesu fanboy until I bought their FT-65. It is the perfect definition of "cheap Chinese Radio". The Baofeng AR-5RM transmits 10 watts, does not pick up interference from my computer monitor and suffers less from front-end overload. And 3 of them with 3800mah batteries are about the same price as the FT-65.

Regarding the OP's question, the Wouxun KG-9UV series radios have one feature that I would not want to be without if handing radios to inexperienced and maybe easily excitable people (aka children). Using the CPS, the keypad lock can be configured to lock the keypad, but not the channel knob, giving everyone the option to change to a different channel if necessary. The downside of that radio series is that the price is approaching $200 for the GMRS version at BetterSafeRadios 

https://bettersaferadio.com/wouxun-kg-uv9gx-plus-gmrs-radio-shtf-scanner/

Dave M

WSKN763

N8OAY