All band commercial/amateurHTs.

[Lscott]

You can look here at this site. Has a load of useful info on the D878 and its derivatives.

http://members.optuszoo.com.au/jason.reilly1/868mods.htm

[KAF6045]

Quote

Model Name D868UV D878UV D878UV PLUS D878UVII D878UVII PLUS
Included GPS GPS GPS & BT GPS GPS & BT
Top P3 button Red Blue Blue Green Green
Analog APRS TX No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Analog APRS RX No No No No Yes
Digital APRS TX Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Digital APRS RX No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Air band RX No No No No No
Memory IC capacity 0.5G 1G 1G 2G 2G
Digital Contact 200000 200000 200000 500000 500000
Firmware/CPS D868UV D878UV D878UV D878UVII D878UVII

Unfortunately, the tabular formatting from the manual itself is lost in the copy&paste.

I haven't found much use for the so-called APRS modes on DMR radios. Having to specify a separate channel on which to send digital position reports is rather meaningless as most repeaters likely won't carry it, and I've not seen if analog APRS is compatible with common APRS digipeaters on 144.390 (for one thing it appears tied to PTT; does that mean one would have to ON 144.390 and hit PTT to send a position report?) At least D-STAR rigs embed the position in with the voice data on the same channel. (Okay, the programmer seems to imply a fixed interval ability, but one still has to configure an active channel for which APRS data will be sent -- using a defined frequency setting... Nothing like what I consider APRS with checks for channel clear, beacon timing variable with vehicle speed and turning, etc., and using a dedicated channel/VFO, not tied to some voice channel settings).

 

[wayoverthere]

3 hours ago, KAF6045 said:

 I've not seen if analog APRS is compatible with common APRS digipeaters on 144.390

Well, I've managed to get some successful spots on the map with aprsdroid on an old cellphone (no sim, wifi off), mobilinkd tnc3, and a uv5r...if that helps at all

[SteveShannon]

9 hours ago, KAF6045 said:

Unfortunately, the tabular formatting from the manual itself is lost in the copy&paste.

I haven't found much use for the so-called APRS modes on DMR radios. Having to specify a separate channel on which to send digital position reports is rather meaningless as most repeaters likely won't carry it, and I've not seen if analog APRS is compatible with common APRS digipeaters on 144.390 (for one thing it appears tied to PTT; does that mean one would have to ON 144.390 and hit PTT to send a position report?) At least D-STAR rigs embed the position in with the voice data on the same channel. (Okay, the programmer seems to imply a fixed interval ability, but one still has to configure an active channel for which APRS data will be sent -- using a defined frequency setting... Nothing like what I consider APRS with checks for channel clear, beacon timing variable with vehicle speed and turning, etc., and using a dedicated channel/VFO, not tied to some voice channel settings).

 

On my Alinco, analog APRS positions are sent either at the beginning or end of PTT or at periodic intervals.  I had it set to report periodically on 144.390, regardless of the channel I’m using.  It seems to work just fine and I can see my history on APRS.FI.

[gortex2]

On 8/27/2022 at 12:18 PM, kidphc said:

Fug, my bad..... Turns out it was an APX7000 UHF R1 

still learning

APX 7500/700 series came in 2 bands depending on how it was ordered. Any of the 2 bands could be in the radio, including UHFR1 and UHFR2 (I have a mobile like this). Our SAR team ordered them with VHF/UHFR1 in the past. 

APX8500/8000 series can be purchased in all bands. 

All depends on flash code in radio. APX8K series can be upgraded to add bands not ordered originally but the flash is not cheap. The 7K series was a board swap and is not supported any longer in terms of upgrades of band changes. What you buy is what you get in that regard. 

[PACNWComms]

I would caution the OP and anyone else on the Harris XG-100P radio for hobby use. While multi-band, there is very limited support for this discontinued model. Getting the Radio Programming Manager software, parts, and accessories can be an issue. Cool factor wise, you can't beat it by much, unless you have a full blown military AN/PRC-152 though. They are available for about $1000-1200 on the auction sites, but getting that software to program one radio is not worth the effort in my case. (I have RPM12 for one Harris XG-100P bought as a demo unit). 

+1 on those mentioning the Anytone 878 series, that is a lot of radio fort he buck, as long as it is known to be a much cheaper alternative than a Motorola (or Harris) or any other commercial radio. My own 878 is the Anytone AT-D878UV Plus with GPS and Bluetooth. It does not have some of the more recent features that have been added to newer models, mine having the blue button on top. 

$2500 can get a lot of radios, or one really good one, if you can find someone trying to offload an APX8000 radio for that price. Good luck OP in your search. 

[kidphc]

I would caution the OP and anyone else on the Harris XG-100P radio for hobby use. While multi-band, there is very limited support for this discontinued model. Getting the Radio Programming Manager software, parts, and accessories can be an issue. Cool factor wise, you can't beat it by much, unless you have a full blown military AN/PRC-152 though. They are available for about $1000-1200 on the auction sites, but getting that software to program one radio is not worth the effort in my case. (I have RPM12 for one Harris XG-100P bought as a demo unit). 
+1 on those mentioning the Anytone 878 series, that is a lot of radio fort he buck, as long as it is known to be a much cheaper alternative than a Motorola (or Harris) or any other commercial radio. My own 878 is the Anytone AT-D878UV Plus with GPS and Bluetooth. It does not have some of the more recent features that have been added to newer models, mine having the blue button on top. 
$2500 can get a lot of radios, or one really good one, if you can find someone trying to offload an APX8000 radio for that price. Good luck OP in your search. 

Have a friend who is heavily into commercial gear (knows more then some of the radio managers for the government agencies). Can't get a job because doesn't have the accredited/documented experience. He's a God in my book and a crazy resource.

So getting the software not a problem. Hardware like programming cables ris boxes etc, he points me to fleabay..

He had the harris at dinner, the other night. That is what piqued my intrest.

I have been wanting to upgrade my edc ht. The commercial radios had almost everything I wanted and the durability and quality. Plus the cool factor.

Ended up ordering the 878uvii plus. As my daily edc an upgrade from the bf8hp, which isn't as crappy as you would think it would be for the price. Only missing one feature that I wouldn't be surprised if they made a 989 or 878 uv3. Which is true dual recieve. Which would probably put in the id52a/ft4dr price range.

Found a harris falcon (knock off turns out) basically a uv5r in a case with mcu for 300. Friend of course goes Fake immediately, your price is the normal price used. Turns out it was made for milsim airsoft.

Bonus found a kydex 90 degree flip holster for the radio. I love that style of holster. Durable to take bumps and bangs (rubbing against tree stumps and rocks when hiking etc.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[kidphc]

So I ended up with an ANYTONE 878uvii +. It is built more like a commercial radio then like an amateur radio. It does show this most apparently, in the programming and some feature sets. Don't mistake it for an APX, XTS, Unity or anything in those class of radios. By amateur ht standards she is a heavy radio.

Nice little radio. Minus the two following features that I don't agree with.

1. Not a true dual VFO. It is more like a since VFO radio with a dual watch feature. The dual watch being the sub-channel. I think this is where a GD-88 wins out.

2. The APRS... OMG the APRS is fustrating.

- After contacting Bridgecom, you need to have an  "APRS receive channel". Confirmed it will only hear packets when the sub-channel is set to the APRS RX channel.  However, if that channel is in say the sub channel (fake VFO 2), guess what it won't auto TX packets. It will however, TX a beacon whenever manually.

-- Only found this out after hours of testing and contacting Bridgecomm.

The bluetooth rocks... Now I want all my radios to have a true bluetooth option, not with dongles and crap that don't work with half of the headsets out there. Only con here is that when pairing, it doesn't show friendly device names but rather the mac id/serial id.

Compared to the BF8HP its world above it in reception, clarity and Front Panel Programming.  I swear by the butts of pants meter, it hears better and gets out better.

If you pick one up for an all around use radio, I believe like me you will be happy. Unlocking, the radio to use out of band, well was easy once I actually figured it out. Hint, you need a separate piece of software to do it. Also, do not start programming till you unlock, the CPS wipes everything out to start out new. If you don't you may get the "out of band" error message when trying to upload.

When compared to the options available, it hit the marks as far as cost and features. Would of loved a mars/capped THd74a, but now a days they are fetching close to 3x the price of this radio for a used clean example. Which is right with a little luck is around the price of the Harris Unity, and still 1/2 of an APX7000. I was gifted a XTS1500, starting to play with that so it will be interesting to see the differences between a near 8 year old commercial radio and a new ham/business radio.

If there are any questions please feel free to ask. I will try my best to answer them. 

Thank you to all that contributed to the thread.

 

[Lscott]

9 minutes ago, kidphc said:

Compared to the BF8HP its world above it in reception, clarity and Front Panel Programming.  I swear by the butts of pants meter, it hears better and gets out better.

If you pick one up for an all around use radio, I believe like me you will be happy. Unlocking, the radio to use out of band, well was easy once I actually figured it out. Hint, you need a separate piece of software to do it. Also, do not start programming till you unlock, the CPS wipes everything out to start out new. If you don't you may get the "out of band" error message when trying to upload.

When compared to the options available, it hit the marks as far as cost and features. Would of loved a mars/capped THd74a, but now a days they are fetching close to 3x the price of this radio for a used clean example.

 

I'm not so sure of the reception ability of the D878UV design. I had my first generation D878 sitting on a desk next to my Kenwood TK-D340U.

https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/DMR_TK-D240V_D340U_K_letter_1124.pdf

Both were monitoring the output of a local DMR repeater. On multiple occasions the Kenwood would decode audio while the D878 just light up the green RX LED and nothing was decoded. I'm doubting the ability of the D878 to reliability decode DMR traffic now.

The best feature of the D878 however is the digital monitor mode. You have no idea what slot, color code, talk group and user ID is being used, well the digital monitor mode shows it all. Unfortunately the higher end commercial DMR radios can't do it.

I have a MARS/CAP modded TK-D74A. The radio is a beast. It's the fastest scanning radio I have, something like over 20 plus channels per second. I've only used mine maybe a few times. Other than the D578 it's the only other radio I have than can run digital voice on the 1.25 meter band. With the prices these are selling for used it's like own a brick of gold. One odd thing is nobody in North American sold a soft case for it. I even contacted the US based Kenwood tech support and they confirmed it. Nobody could explain why. I had to order one from a Ham radio dealer in the UK and shipped it by airmail here.

[kidphc]

The 74a is worlds better then the 878 series. With that being said new it was also twice the cost.

Bridgecomm said it best if it was in the class of a thd74a with a full tnc it would cost almost as much. Which I agree with.

Can't say anything about reception on digital. Still learning the wonderful world of dmr. With pi prices the way they are I am just saving up for an open spot 4 pro.

Wanna trade? J/k.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[Lscott]

2 hours ago, kidphc said:

The 74a is worlds better then the 878 series. With that being said new it was also twice the cost.

Bridgecomm said it best if it was in the class of a thd74a with a full tnc it would cost almost as much. Which I agree with.

Can't say anything about reception on digital. Still learning the wonderful world of dmr. With pi prices the way they are I am just saving up for an open spot 4 pro.

Wanna trade? J/k.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
 

I've spent too much the last few weeks.

I located a vendor in the Netherlands that still had, or access to, the discontinued Kenwood TK-D300E radio. Just got an email from them with tracking number so it should ship today or tomorrow. With just the belt clip and radio core, both new, cost me 271 Euro's with tax and shipping. That now gives me two, one used and a new radio.

https://www.kenwood.eu/files/file/comms/uk/brochures/nx/TK-D200_D300_V4.1.pdf

Then just a day ago a seller on eBay has a complete kit, radio, battery pack, charger base, antenna etc., all NEW for a TK-5320 FM/P25 radio with the 400MHz to 470MHz band split.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275450179209?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=sUiBWWytRDK&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=j_t98fioS_6&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/TK-5220_5320_Specsheet.pdf

The price was $250 total with free shipping. Knowing what stupid high prices used P25 radios run I purchased one, the price was way too good. That gives me three of these in my collection now. Still looking for a second VHF version, TK-5220, that the seller isn't trying to rape you on price. The VHF stuff sells for significantly more than the UHF gear.

[tweiss3]

Gland you are enjoying it. For the money, it does appear on paper to check all the boxes. I was not impressed with the analog capability, and often experienced front end overload. It was even replaced by bridgecom with no improvement.

Digital monitor mode is more of a gimmick feature, not that it doesn't work, but I never had the need for it. I've always felt if you need that feature, you didn't do your recon work before hand. It also doesn't do proper DMR roaming, which both Kenwood and Motorola do very very well.

I too spent too much recently, but I'm going to end up spending a bit more this weekend, hopefully to finish this permeant repeater install at the house.

[kidphc]

Just now, tweiss3 said:

Gland you are enjoying it. For the money, it does appear on paper to check all the boxes. I was not impressed with the analog capability, and often experienced front end overload. It was even replaced by bridgecom with no improvement.

Digital monitor mode is more of a gimmick feature, not that it doesn't work, but I never had the need for it. I've always felt if you need that feature, you didn't do your recon work before hand. It also doesn't do proper DMR roaming, which both Kenwood and Motorola do very very well.

I too spent too much recently, but I'm going to end up spending a bit more this weekend, hopefully to finish this permeant repeater install at the house.

Weird since it seams to work fine with the standard rubber duck it came with. The nagoya 771 and signal stuff antenna showed marginal improvement.

It is sitting under a desk in a concrete/cinder block/ steel building 40 feet from the window and it is receiving GMRS repeater about 10 miles away and a 2m repeater 18 miles away no problem. Haven't really tried simplex. Of course I can't get cleanly to either repeater unless I am outside and about 60 feet away from the building which is 2 stories high with a commercial steel flat roof.

You have an 878uvii+ or one of the other model?

[tweiss3]

I have the 878+, from what I understand, the only difference is number of channels and number of contacts. I know it's controversial, but nobody needs the entire DMR-ID database in their radio. I stopped using the contact list all together, with the exception of 5 individuals.

[kidphc]

Just now, tweiss3 said:

I have the 878+, from what I understand, the only difference is number of channels and number of contacts. I know it's controversial, but nobody needs the entire DMR-ID database in their radio. I stopped using the contact list all together, with the exception of 5 individuals.

Some minor changes i believe like contact list/dmr list size increase and APRS capability increase (receive/decode and TX instead of TX only.

Wonder if there were any other hardware changes.

[tweiss3]

Other than the swap of a memory chip on the board, the rest is all software based changes. I highly doubt they changed anything else, there actually was only a memory change between the 868 and the 878, and the plus only meant they included the Bluetooth board. 

I use bluetooth quite often. With the Motorola gear, I use it with the PMLN7851A, which looks just like a standard hands free earpiece for your phone. On the Kenwood stuff, I use BT for wireless programming, its quicker than with the cable. The external PTT required on the 878 was annoying as well.

[Lscott]

1 hour ago, tweiss3 said:

Digital monitor mode is more of a gimmick feature, not that it doesn't work, but I never had the need for it. I've always felt if you need that feature, you didn't do your recon work before hand. It also doesn't do proper DMR roaming, which both Kenwood and Motorola do very very well.

I've used it a number of times.

There was a DMR signal source on the same frequency used by another local mall I monitor while at work. Without the digital monitor I had zero idea what it was. It turned out to be a hospital security detail. While monitoring the communications I was able to gather enough info to figure out which one.

Then just the other day on a Ham DMR repeater I was getting traffic but no audio on any of the talk groups I had programmed in. After monitoring a few minutes it was an undocumented talk group on that machine. Dah.

[KAF6045]

The 878 series may have some idiosyncrasies but it definitely beats out my Tyt MD-2017. That model has a tendency to lock out the menu system anytime it receives a signal. Makes it difficult to adjust some settings when a signal appears and you are back to the main screen. Most of the operating buttons also get locked out -- one almost has to put a dummy channel into the each zone list just so you can dial it up and then make setting changes. Also, both A&B channels are tied to the same zone -- the 878 allows different zones on A&B. Both appear to be single receiver rapidly switched between A&B.

I've not tried to unlock my 878 (newest model UVIIPlus?-- I'm not sure the third-party software is compatible with it). The Tyts (I also have the UHF-only MD390) weren't, from what I can tell, locked to Amateur -- I did stick GMR on both, along with MURS and some Maritime channels on the MD-2017 [if I ever visit the beaches]).

 

[kidphc]

1 minute ago, KAF6045 said:

I've not tried to unlock my 878 (newest model UVIIPlus?-- I'm not sure the third-party software is compatible with it). The Tyts (I also have the UHF-only MD390) weren't, from what I can tell, locked to Amateur -- I did stick GMR on both, along with MURS and some Maritime channels on the MD-2017 [if I ever visit the beaches]).

 

878 god page gobs of info.

Quick link to fix the "out of band" error ****cough *** Cough***  Fixes the problem you have with in the first part of your message. PM for the password if you can't find it.  **hint Model number only with #, at least for the 878

Verified compatible with CPS v2.05 from anytone and RT systems 5.00.67 for the 878. Yes, I have both. No RT system will not do all the free CPS will do, so don't uninstall it. Just found it easier for channel changes then the original CPS.

[KAF6045]

10 hours ago, kidphc said:

878 god page gobs of info.

I've browsed it before -- but it never mentions if there are any differences (with regards to opening up the bands) between the 878 UVII and the 878 UVII Plus. Granted, the Anytone manual for the series indicates both use the same firmware -- but at the price point of the unit, I'm a bit paranoid.

Don't have any interest in mode 14; I have a Yaesu VX-8DR with flea-power 220MHz (FM of course), Kenwood F6A with reasonable power levels on 220MHz, and a Kenwood D74A which also has reasonable power on the band, and D-STAR...

 

[kidphc]

16 hours ago, KAF6045 said:

I've browsed it before -- but it never mentions if there are any differences (with regards to opening up the bands) between the 878 UVII and the 878 UVII Plus. Granted, the Anytone manual for the series indicates both use the same firmware -- but at the price point of the unit, I'm a bit paranoid.

Don't have any interest in mode 14; I have a Yaesu VX-8DR with flea-power 220MHz (FM of course), Kenwood F6A with reasonable power levels on 220MHz, and a Kenwood D74A which also has reasonable power on the band, and D-STAR...

 

I think if the firmware is the same there is really no difference between the 878uvii and 878uvii +. It is interesting to note they bother to get it recertified. So what ever it was there was a change beyond the memory I think.

With mode 14, I had no interest in 220. Even on the 878 series the power output at max for that band is reduced to Medium. It was more to unlock the radio for out of amateur band transmit as well as not to have the radio locked down to professional mode. Most of the commercial modes allowed up to 480Mhz.

EDITTED: THIS STATEMENT IS NOT TRUE AND FOUND THE SETTING: Under Optional settings "work mode" tab in CPS v2.05

"There is no professional/amatuer mode selection in the CPS any longer. So the only choice is to choose a mode that is already preconfigured to amateur mode or lose the Front Panel Programming.""

[kidphc]

As far as receivers.. 

The THD74 beats out the Anytone. I am not shocked though.

 

[Lscott]

2 hours ago, kidphc said:

"There is no professional/amatuer mode selection in the CPS any longer. So the only choice is to choose a mode that is already preconfigured to amateur mode or lose the Front Panel Programming."

Strange, in V1.27 I recently installed for the original D878UV model.

[kidphc]

6 minutes ago, Lscott said:

Strange, in V1.27 I recently installed for the original D878UV model.

Yeah, the CPS will show it, but it will not physically change it on the radio. You need the AT option exe to make the physical change on the radio. The model information in CPS only lets you change the CPS to program it for that mode.

[JeepCrawler98]

On 9/8/2022 at 6:15 AM, Lscott said:

I'm not so sure of the reception ability of the D878UV design. I had my first generation D878 sitting on a desk next to my Kenwood TK-D340U.

https://comms.kenwood.com/common/pdf/download/DMR_TK-D240V_D340U_K_letter_1124.pdf

Both were monitoring the output of a local DMR repeater. On multiple occasions the Kenwood would decode audio while the D878 just light up the green RX LED and nothing was decoded. I'm doubting the ability of the D878 to reliability decode DMR traffic now.

The best feature of the D878 however is the digital monitor mode. You have no idea what slot, color code, talk group and user ID is being used, well the digital monitor mode shows it all. Unfortunately the higher end commercial DMR radios can't do it.

I have a MARS/CAP modded TK-D74A. The radio is a beast. It's the fastest scanning radio I have, something like over 20 plus channels per second. I've only used mine maybe a few times. Other than the D578 it's the only other radio I have than can run digital voice on the 1.25 meter band. With the prices these are selling for used it's like own a brick of gold. One odd thing is nobody in North American sold a soft case for it. I even contacted the US based Kenwood tech support and they confirmed it. Nobody could explain why. I had to order one from a Ham radio dealer in the UK and shipped it by airmail here.

This was my experience with the Anytone D578 mobile rig too; I got it because it seemed well regarded, triple band, DMR with all the bells and whistles. Everyone raves about them.

Using it on analog repeaters revealed some pretty obvious selectivity/rejection problems that the Kenwood TK790/890 setup I had in the truck did not have at all; you could hear it cut in and out with pulsing of SCADA systems on the way in to work (which are fairly low power), next to public safety vehicles, really anywhere there was any sort of remotely non-weak signal present. Packed it up and sold it it within a week and concluded I'm not a fan of the Anytones. I suspect folks like them because de-sense is not as obvious in DMR mode, but RF is RF, and you're still dependent on a receiver doing its job even if you're not directly listening to a discriminator.

Switched back to the TK790/TK890 setup, and will be adding XPR4550 to the truck for DMR and calling it good. It seems a good swiss-army knife is expensive to come by at a resonable price.

Edited September 9, 2022 by JeepCrawler98