Anytone AT-779UV GMRS Mobile Radio

[Gerald1971]

I found this new gmrs radio the other day and i think the retivis ra-25 might be a clone of this radio. I looked at both of the fcc id's and i couldn't find retivis but i did find the anytone fcc id. It's part 15B and part 95E. looks like a pretty good radio. At least its a lot cheaper than midlands. what do you think?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Transceiver-AT-779UV-Cigarette-Connector-Programming/dp/B08PF9QTLH/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=anytone+gmrs&qid=1608113683&sr=8-5

 

 

https://fccid.io/T4K-779UV

[Radioguy7268]

What's not to like? It's even got a "FUN" button! 

 

Seriously - if you want a scanner, it's probably not a bad choice.

[Shadow471]

I didn't see the FCC ID, but they listed the Mod IDs.

This is a single band, UHF. I think it's a single receiver.

They must have just recently tuned it for GMRS.

 

The AT-778UV is a full dual band dual receiver.

I've tested it and it's a very nice little radio, but there was not a lighter plug included, it was a hard wire.

This one does have the lighter plug.

Much smaller than the 778, which would make sense as its a single band/single receiver.

One think I don't like about the 778, is that the volume know does not stop at the top/end of the range, it just restarts at the beginning/bottum.

But it was soo much better than the BTECH 25x2.

 

I did order it.  would be great if it worked better that the Midland 15Watt models.

If the MXT275 was Wide band, I would have kept it and been done.

8-)

[mbrun]

A GMRS Part 95e radio is not legally permitted to also be an ‘Amateur’ radio according to FCC regs, it is expressly disallowed (95.1761.c). I find it interesting how the vendor on amazon refers to the radio as ‘Amateur Mobile Transceiver’. Almost a dead give away that it is (Wink Wink).

 

I bet we are dealing with yet another radio where the manufacturer has pulled the wool over the FCC’s eyes, yet behind the scenes the user can program this radio to operate unrestricted on multiple bands, multiple services using disallowed emissions and power levels.

 

Yes, I read the specs, and on the surface it seems to comply. The only way this radio can comply is if the radio is locked down at the firmware level. Call me highly skeptical.

 

C’mon FCC, I hope you are doing your job.

 

Michael

WRHS965

KE8PLM

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Gerald1971]

Here is the link to fcc id of the radio

 

 

https://fccid.io/T4K-779UV

[Shadow471]

Well, just tested a bit. The firmware locked to only TX on GMRS. It is a dual band, so set the B VFO to my local NOAA.

But it's programed in Narrow for all channels and the .5WATT channels are missing, as the radio will not go that low.

I saw Low power channels with 5.6W and High power channels at 19.6W.

Surecom SW-102, with Dummy load, its a 1W higher on both low and high.

 

The first 14 function are hidden and not accessible.

This might be a deal breaker in its current state.

I'm not finding the tone settings.

The repeater channels are there, but not modifiable.

Also the channel's are not named, so it's only the Freq and memory number.

 

Does not work with CHIRP.

Even with the Anytone CSP V2.0, you can not modify the current memories or create any new ones.

I was able to switch all memories to Wide band, batch change to all.

But without the tone option, it's worthless for duplex.

 

Still testing. Haven't emailed them yet.

[haneysa]

I now have the Retevis RA25and the Anytone At-779UV. As far as I can tell, they are pretty much the exact same radio. I have a programming cable that works for both, although I could not open the download  for programming the Anytone. As has been said, without using a PC, you cannot change the factory settings, not even the PL tones, because you cannot get to those menu items. I assume that they locked the radio to narrowband on all channels because it was easier than tweaking the hardware to set the "new" GMRS "wide" setting of 20khz, vs the standard wideband of 25khz. I have let both companies know about these problems that make these radios useless. The engineers certainly dropped the ball on this radio. Perhaps they should consider reaching out to the largest GMRS users site in the USA for input:)

[Gerald1971]

I can confirm that the Retevis RA25 and the Anytone At-779UV are the same radio. I also confirm that you can not change the pl tones witch isn't any good for duplex.

retevis 1.zip

[n4gix]

I assume that they locked the radio to narrowband on all channels because it was easier than tweaking the hardware to set the "new" GMRS "wide" setting of 20khz, vs the standard wideband of 25khz. 

25kHz is allocated for GMRS 'channels' but modulation is limited to 20kHz to allow 2.5kHz on both sides of the center frequency as a guard band.

[Shadow471]

For the 779 at least, I was able to do a global change from Narrow to Wide (25kHZ). and set a few tones for the pre-set RPT15-22.

But this makes if very limited.

 

Hopefully that is addressed ASAP. 

[Gerald1971]

 

 

For the 779 at least, I was able to do a global change from Narrow to Wide (25kHZ). and set a few tones for the pre-set RPT15-22.

But this makes if very limited.

 

Hopefully that is addressed ASAP.

 

 

 

I was able to do the same on the retevis ra25 gmrs radio

[rppricer]

You do know that with chirp you can set any radio to do what you want, I set all my radios up with chirp and put the changes in at that site, if you got a retevis hand held radio this is the same as a baofeng 5rv and will do the same setting. And you can also set the setting not to tranmitt on the channels you don't want them to and also to skip the ones that you don't want in the scan. then save these setting for other radios that way they are all the same way you want. Have fun with them as long as you are not over 50 watts out you will be ok, If you follow all the rule out there you will be buying just the radio that they want you to and leaving out really good one that you could be using.

[Extreme]

You do know that with chirp you can set any radio to do what you want, I set all my radios up with chirp and put the changes in at that site, if you got a retevis hand held radio this is the same as a baofeng 5rv and will do the same setting. And you can also set the setting not to tranmitt on the channels you don't want them to and also to skip the ones that you don't want in the scan. then save these setting for other radios that way they are all the same way you want. Have fun with them as long as you are not over 50 watts out you will be ok, If you follow all the rule out there you will be buying just the radio that they want you to and leaving out really good one that you could be using.

 

Can you elaborate (minutest details preferred)?  I have 2 of the Retivis 76 and am programming two 5R for a buddy.  I noticed when if finally got them to read/write on Chirp, definitely hit & miss, the 5R scans weather channels along with the rest.. obviously not optimal.  Also, I set up some channels he won't be permitted to TX so curious on that as well.

I didn't notice those kinds of options in the Chirp I'm using.  Just seems like Kenwood and even Wouxun is more user friendly than Chirp.

 

Thanks.

[n4gix]

You do know that with chirp you can set any radio to do what you want, 

 

While you can use Chirp for many radios, "any" is simply incorrect. In fact, there are far more radios that Chirp cannot support than there are radios that it can!

 

It is however an excellent freeware program that can program many of the most popular radios that folks here and elsewhere use.

[Extreme]

While you can use Chirp for many radios, "any" is simply incorrect. In fact, there are far more radios that Chirp cannot support than there are radios that it can!

 

It is however an excellent freeware program that can program many of the most popular radios that folks here and elsewhere use.

 

I found it cumbersome.. but then someone had to point out things I should have found on my own with some reading.

Connectivity has been the biggest bugaboo for me.. sporadic read/write to radio.

[Shadow471]

Back on topic.

 

The AT-779UV or AT-779GMRS can NOT be programed with CHIRP.

 

The AT-779GMRS is channel locked, so only memory channels 1-30 can RX.

Those memories can be modified to work with repeaters.

With the CPS is can do split tones, not sure if that can be done on the radio itself.

 

There is a way to unlock the radio, contact your vendor for the info.

Boot button press method. 8-)

But it does wipe the the memory setup.

 

 

73

[Ggotnomoney]

Back on topic.

 

The AT-779UV or AT-779GMRS can NOT be programed with CHIRP.

 

The AT-779GMRS is channel locked, so only memory channels 1-30 can RX.

Those memories can be modified to work with repeaters.

With the CPS is can do split tones, not sure if that can be done on the radio itself.

 

There is a way to unlock the radio, contact your vendor for the info.

Boot button press method. 8-)

But it does wipe the the memory setup.

 

 

73

Looking for my first mobile radio, do you think this is a good radio to start with or is it too limited? I am about 7 miles away from my local repeater and can hit it with the btech gmrs v1 perfectly fine.

[Lscott]

Looking for my first mobile radio, do you think this is a good radio to start with or is it too limited? I am about 7 miles away from my local repeater and can hit it with the btech gmrs v1 perfectly fine.

Some people get a magnet mount antenna for the vehicle and connect their handheld radio to it using a cable adapter and used a speaker microphone plugged in to it as well. The advantage is you can get away with just one radio for portable or mobile use. One other thing when you leave the vehicle you can take the radio with you so potential thieves won't have anything to steal.

 

I have a buddy at work that does this with a used Kenwood TK-3170, purchased off of eBay, when driving around in his truck. I also recommended a 12 volt battery pack eliminator for it too.

[WRCJ607]

Back on topic.

 

The AT-779UV or AT-779GMRS can NOT be programed with CHIRP.

 

The AT-779GMRS is channel locked, so only memory channels 1-30 can RX.

Those memories can be modified to work with repeaters.

With the CPS is can do split tones, not sure if that can be done on the radio itself.

 

There is a way to unlock the radio, contact your vendor for the info.

Boot button press method. 8-)

But it does wipe the the memory setup.

 

 

73

The AT-770UV is factory locked to GMRS/FRS channels, no repeater offset or PL.  Turn off the radio, hold down V/M and turn it on.  Set mode to the bands you want, turn off then it's ready to be programmed.  It can be programmed (cumbersome method) on the dash itself, but using the software download (version 2.0) from the anytone.net site is the best way to go.  As most Chinese-made software, it's not very friendly but usable.

 

I started with the AT-779U and it is compatible with chirp.  With 15 (advertised as 18) Watts, it worked really well.  speaker wasn't very loud but still for what it is, a very decent little radio.  I wanted a louder speaker and mic controls so I upgraded to the UV model.  The U did not need to be unlocked but the UV does.  It does have many modes to chose from and the GMRS mode is really more FRS, however it does have a commercial mode for ISM and GMRS which is programmable.  I opened mine up to use both licenses.

[WyoJoe]

On 12/23/2020 at 9:23 PM, Gerald1971 said:

I can confirm that the Retevis RA25 and the Anytone At-779UV are the same radio. I also confirm that you can not change the pl tones witch isn't any good for duplex.

retevis 1.zip 110.73 kB · 15 downloads

I just received the AT-779UV and played with the programming software for a little while. I was able to add channels beyond the 30 that come programmed, and I was able to change the PL tones as well. Besides the "open" (no tones) repeater channels that were included, I added 16 additional repeater channels, this time with "travel" tones on the first 8, and custom tones on the second 8.

I couldn't change anything directly in the cell at first, but then realized that if I double click the cell, I could change some fields. For the fields I could not change directly, I was able to change it when I double-clicked the "more" (>>) cell. That would bring up the channel edit dialog box where you can change almost all the settings for that channel, such as channel name, power level, bandwidth, CTCSS/DCS tones (even custom ones). There's even a Tx Off option that I believe prevents transmitting on that channel, although I haven't confirmed if it works because I haven't tried it yet.

All-in-all, the software is a bit "clunky," but it gets the job done. Once you create your desired file, you can save it and upload it to your radio. From there, it's pretty easy to download from the radio, make minor changes, save it, then upload it again to the radio.

[WRCJ607]

So I've been following a few threads regarding this radio, but this one has the most activity apparently.  I've had my radio since March 2021 and I replaced an Anytone AT-779U (not UV) which was an "okay" radio.  It did the job but was only about 15 watts, not the 18 watts as specified.  Again it did a decent job.  The processor in there seemed a bit sluggish.  Programming was possible via CHIRP as well as it's own proprietary software.  The cable plugged into the audio/speaker port on the back.  I was interested in getting the 778-UV but I found the 779UV at a better price so I decided to jump on it.

Once I got it I noticed that it was pre-locked to GMRS/FRS channels with no way to program it.  So after waiting for the seller to get back to me about how to unlock it, I remembered a few HT's I had have some funky key sequences.  So I looked around the interwebs for something familiar and bingo, found the key sequence.  Once opened, this radio is really nice.  Either GMRS/Amateur/Commercial/Open modes are available.  I chose Open as I needed to program repeater channels and tones.

So initially I tried using CHIRP and no, it's not compatible at all.  I did try the RA25 setting on CHIRP as well but no luck.  So I went to the manufacturer website and downloaded v2.00 of their software.   It does work fine, but poor software design.  No auto-tab for cells.  But lately I've figured out how to program the radio from the console buttons on it more and it's actually quite easy.  The only reason I would use the software is to back up my settings in hopes that CHIRP would one day be compatible.

The one thing I wish the radio can do which the 779UV was able to do was CTCSS/DCS tone scanning.

[WRAM370]

The AT-779 UV is a bit confusing. I have owned many Anytone radios for many years, and I find them to be responsive to customer requests (provided they get those requests there in China). I bought an AT-779UV a few months ago and it was configured for GMRS operation, where I wanted to use it. Channels 1-22 were as expected, along with repeater offset channels 23-30. Also, the U.S. weather channels were programmed into the last 7 channels (ch. 494-500). No TX outside of the GMRS frequencies, and not all menu options were available via the menu. Notably, the option to switch from Narrow band audio to Wide band audio was not available, nor was the option to add/change a sub audible tone.

This is fine for many users, but I bought this radio specifically to install in my wife’s car, and only want to have our repeater frequency programmed in, to make life simple for her. I had to download the programming software from Anytone.net (navigate to their download center) in order to switch the audio bandwidth from narrow to wide and add the required tone.

The second issue I ran into was that you cannot delete GMRS channels, and I did not want to have 30 channels programmed into the radio, since I only need one channel in there. This required me to download the other piece of software on Anytone’s site labeled AT-779UV SetO(V2.0). This software allows you to change the configuration of the radio (as does the power on button sequence) and I had to change to a frequency configuration (400-470/136-174) in order to be able to delete unneeded channels and just program the repeater frequency needed. It is now a one channel radio that I needed, but I suspect some will say it is now not valid under Part 95E, even though I am only running one GMRS repeater frequency in the radio... whatever. I tried to do it the way it was meant to, but that doesn’t work for my situation. It is exactly the same as running under the GMRS configuration...minus the additional GMRS channels.

Some time later, I received an email from the seller indicating a new firmware version was available for the AT-779UV, along with a link to the download. I will include the email text below. I performed the firmware update and now other menu options (including the selection from Narrow to Wide and tone) are available in the GMRS-only configuration. A nice upgrade. It does seem this upgrade does eliminate the power up button sequence to select different configurations (I don’t care, as stated previously, doing that wipes your memories), and the other software mentioned gives you that access anyway, so if that function is eliminated with the new firmware, it doesn’t impact me.

As far as the radio in concerned, I like it very much. I was first licensed for GMRS in 2003 (let it expire in 2013, and got another license when the price dropped from $90 to $70 a few years ago), and I have run a lot of commercial radios over the years. While these Chinese radios are not of the same overall build quality, the Anytone radios are quite good. I have several Anytone radios for amateur use and they have worked well, and Anytone has put out firmware updates to correct issues or add features. I tried the Midland MXT-275 for my wife’s car, but the narrowband audio was too low for our repeater use. The AT-779UV is nearly the same size as the MXT-275, and honestly easier to use for her needs, with only having one channel in the radio. 

The transmit output measures about 19 watts out with one of those Amazon-sold Surecom SWR/power meters, and I have a Tram 1174 antenna on the trunk lip. Previously ran a Laird  ETRA 4503 phantom antenna on there, and it did ok for a 4” antenna, but the 1174 helps out with the challenging terrain around here. It is literally like a roller coaster ride with all the hills and valleys. so the 10” Tram (trimmed for 467/462) fills in some of the dips and valleys better. Because the terrain is so rolling and varied, the AT-779UV/Tram 1174 combo works nearly as well as my 50 watt capable mobile/Comet CA 2X4SR combo in my truck. As always, your mileage may vary...literally.

 

edit...

here is the email text from the seller regarding the firmware. I tried to attach to the post, but the link was apparently not available.

 

 

Hi, thanks for you purchase AT-779UUV. The purpose of this email is to let our customers know more about AT-779UV.

----NOTE----
1. The factory default setting of the radio is GMRS band and the GMRS band cannot programmable, but it is also a dual band radio, you can operate it on VHF and UHF if the GMRS band cannot meet your needs. You can to do this as below:
a. Hold 【V/M】 key and power on the radio until enter the band selection.
b. Press 【up/down】 key to choose the mode (dual band), then repower radio.

2. The function of GMRS band is NO.17-30, other function was locked, you can upgrade the radio to get more function (excluding function NO.7-10/14）
How to upgrade this radio?
a. Please download the upgrade firmware at 【 https://hnt.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/779UV+upgrade+20210427.zip 】 (includ prgramming software, model name is AT779UV_Setup_2.01)
b. Running the software 【QXCodePro_Update_Setup_1.05】 as an administrator. If your computer firewall or security software warns of risks, please allow this software to run.
c. Connect PC cable and radio.
d. Hold 【MON】+【FUN】 key and power on radio, release the key when red light flashes.
e. Hit 【open update file】, choose right comport 【at779_UV_500_v2_30_1_VOX 2021_4_27.spi】, speed set 【115200】. choose 【Duplex】. (Please check attachment).
f. Hit 【wirte】, upgrade compelete. Thank you for checking our email during your busy schedule, we hope it can give you help. If you have other problem, please feel free to contact us.
Have a good day.

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by WRAM370
bad link

[WRXT271]

On 12/16/2020 at 2:30 PM, mbrun said:

A GMRS Part 95e radio is not legally permitted to also be an ‘Amateur’ radio according to FCC regs, it is expressly disallowed (95.1761.c). I find it interesting how the vendor on amazon refers to the radio as ‘Amateur Mobile Transceiver’. Almost a dead give away that it is (Wink Wink).

 

I bet we are dealing with yet another radio where the manufacturer has pulled the wool over the FCC’s eyes, yet behind the scenes the user can program this radio to operate unrestricted on multiple bands, multiple services using disallowed emissions and power levels.

 

Yes, I read the specs, and on the surface it seems to comply. The only way this radio can comply is if the radio is locked down at the firmware level. Call me highly skeptical.

 

C’mon FCC, I hope you are doing your job.

 

Michael

WRHS965

KE8PLM

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

When the at779uv is started in GMRS USA mode it is a type accepted Part 95e radio. I cannot be programmed to transmit outside of the GMRS band.