Radioddity DB20-G

[jsneezy]

@WRXE944 the firmware version on mine is 2.34.

[jsneezy]

Seeing this post come back up reminds me of a question I have, and the manual leaves a lot to be desired. I don't need dual monitoring, and it looks like the radio defaults to a frequency that I'm not likely to use on the secondary channel anyway. Is there a menu setting to disable the dual monitor?

[Sshannon]

1 hour ago, jsneezy said:

Seeing this post come back up reminds me of a question I have, and the manual leaves a lot to be desired. I don't need dual monitoring, and it looks like the radio defaults to a frequency that I'm not likely to use on the secondary channel anyway. Is there a menu setting to disable the dual monitor?

Try menu #19, sub channel display 

[UncleYoda]

The Radioddity software will not work on my Windows 10 machine.  Would I be missing out on any important settings without programming software?   And is there a way to switch it over to Ham frequencies without using the software? UPDATE: the software is working

[wayoverthere]

4 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

The Radioddity software will not work on my Windows 10 machine.  Would I be missing out on any important settings without programming software?   And is there a way to switch it over to Ham frequencies without using the software? 

Will the software not load? Or is it a driver issue with the cable? If it's the software, you may try anytone's version of it; I have the anytone, but program with the radioddity version, with no issue.

If I remember right, you can hold the xxx button when you turn it on to access the range setting.  (correction: the "V/M" button)

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by wayoverthere
corrected button to push

[wayoverthere]

8 minutes ago, WRXE944 said:

The V/M button

Good catch, thank you. Been awhile since I unlocked one of mine.

[jsneezy]

I believe my wife's desktop is Win10, but it's also an AMD processor. I don't think that's really going to help much in this instance. I do know that between the driver for the cable and the Radioddity software, it was plug and play in Windows 7 64 bit. 

I should be getting the radio installed in the truck next weekend, weather permitting. Some things have changed with work, so it turns out I'll still be using the truck for work so I do have to figure something different for an antenna. I do have an idea, but I will need the antenna to be pretty short, and looks like it will end up mounted on the side of a ladder rack. I'm just hoping I won't have ground plane issues. 

[jsneezy]

18 minutes ago, WRXE944 said:

The dual-band $20 mag-mount I purchased from Lets Get Ready works very well and is easily removable from my EV.

I don't think that mag mount would work for my situation. Between the way the ladder rack is framed up and the way it gets loaded, it would be unusable. There's too much obstruction with what gets loaded up there and the magnet might get drug around the roof while loading in the mornings. I actually have a Nagoya UT-72G that I decided not to use for that reason. 

I have a right angle mount for an NMO and a Tram 1126-B that I'm going to try out, mounted to the side of the ladder rack, but I also have to figure out the ground plane concern. 

[jsneezy]

6 minutes ago, WRXE944 said:

OK: Good luck with your mobile antenna project; that is above my pay-grade!

I only went mobile after all these years back when I first purchased my Anytone AT-779UV and mag-mount antenna and I love the ease of taking it out or re-installing it as needed.

I have a couple ideas. It's just a question of how much the metal the antenna will be attached to will help to serve as part of a ground plane. 

[UncleYoda]

The software issue I have is probably something specific to my machine, so not worth troubleshooting here.  I just wanted to know what I'd be missing. The V/M key tip does help some.

[UncleYoda]

On 7/15/2023 at 11:36 PM, WRXE944 said:

Just check firmware version when you get the chance.

[...]

So you can only program DIY channels 31-40 that will transmit on GMRS.  The rest will be receive only channels.

So given that you are limited to only 9 DIY repeater channels, [...]

I have a DB-20G with firmware 2.34 in factory GMRS mode but cannot add channels 31-38 at all, not even for RX.  39 does work for TX and RX, but that is only one not the extra 9 advertised.  Should I ask Radioddity what's wrong? [edit: I did send them a message]

 

p.s. 31-39 would be 9, not 31-40 and indeed 40 does not TX on mine.

[jsneezy]

9 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

I have a DB-20G with firmware 2.34 in factory GMRS mode but cannot add channels 31-38 at all, not even for RX.  39 does work for TX and RX, but that is only one not the extra 9 advertised.  Should I ask Radioddity what's wrong? [edit: I did send them a message]

 

p.s. 31-39 would be 9, not 31-40 and indeed 40 does not TX on mine.

I would definitely wait to see what Radioddity has to say on that. 

Sadly, I haven't had the chance to get mine installed yet, as I'm going for a bit more of a permanent install. The heat has been absolutely brutal for the last month and a half or so. It's supposed to be dipping down into the mid 90s this weekend, but I have plans to get away for the weekend and disappear into the woods with my wife and daughter, a tent, some fishing rods, and the HTs. 

[jsneezy]

26 minutes ago, WRXE944 said:

Did you get a mag-mount? Just plug in the cigarette lighter and connect to a mag mount and have it available as necessary during your trip.

I do have a mag mount, but I can also just connect that to one of the HTs for that purpose. I've already cut the lighter plug off the DB-20G and soldered the remaining leads to a relay. At this point, it's just a matter of mounting the radio, running a power wire from the battery to the relay, and connecting to a ground and a trigger for the relay, and then getting the antenna routed. I also came across a "pepper shaker" style antenna from Rugged Radios that looks to be about $35, and supposedly doesn't need a ground plane, so if I can't get a decent SWR from the Tram 1/4 wave I have now, I may try ordering that and see what happens.

[UncleYoda]

22 hours ago, WRXE944 said:

Sounds strange, so yes let Radioddity check in.

Bad news (in my case anyway).  They say software is required to add entries in those 9 extra channels.  That should have been stated in the product description so we would know before we purchase.

[Sshannon]

45 minutes ago, UncleYoda said:

Bad news (in my case anyway).  They say software is required to add entries in those 9 extra channels.  That should have been stated in the product description so we would know before we purchase.

The software is free and the cable comes with the radio at no extra charge.

[jsneezy]

On 7/11/2023 at 10:49 PM, WRXE944 said:

To be able to use the same repeater frequency in the DIY channels from 31-40, manually (without using a computer), try this (again, using FLOR625 as the example):

1) Push the V/M button to change from Channel Mode to VFO Mode

2) Using the Microphone keypad, enter the Repeater's output frequency: 462.62500

3) Push the FUN button to enter the Menu Mode and again go to Menu 01: T-CTC

4) Push the MON button if it says OFF or anything other than a number from 62.5 to 254.1

5) Using the UP and DOWN buttons, go to 141.3, the Transmit Tone for FLOR625

6) Save to the first open channel by first pushing FUN on the microphone (and Afunc appears in the upper left corner) and then push UP on the microphone keypad (or then use the UP and DN keys on the top of the mic to scroll through the available channels), with empty ones saying NULL; NOTE: the channel number must be between 31 and 40 for GMRS transmission to Repeaters.

7) Save to this channel holding down the "MON-*" key on the mic

8-) Push the V/M key again to re-enter the Channel Mode and you are done! 

Use the UP and DOWN Arrow buttons to scroll to the channel number you just programmed and that should be the FLOR625 repeater.

I believe this is the directions for adding channels without the CPS.

[UncleYoda]

13 hours ago, jsneezy said:

I believe this is the directions for adding channels without the CPS.

Yea, but I guess you missed the whole point.   That's just the standard procedure for adding channels, which I can do and have done.  It doesn't work for 31-38, the channels that allow transmit to repeaters, because they can't be selected - the selector jumps from 14 to 39. Radioddity support said I shouldn't have been able to enter a channel for 39 either but I can, so that's one of the nine.  And that proves there's no good reason to block the others.

[UncleYoda]

9 hours ago, WRXE944 said:

Nice find!  [...] let us know if it works for YOU! 

Nope, that's just the standard way to add channels.  Can't select 31-38.

[WRYI436]

Just add your new repeater channels above channel 30 then add them to your scannable channels. I use Names like Smplx1,2,3,etc Rptr 23,24,25 etc

[UncleYoda]

10 hours ago, WRYI436 said:

Just add your new repeater channels above channel 30 then add them to your scannable channels. I use Names like Smplx1,2,3,etc Rptr 23,24,25 etc

I don't think you understand; do you even have this radio?  Channels 31-38 cannot be selected for adding from the radio.  39 can but it is only for simplex because the repeater functions are disabled.  40 and above are receive only.

Anyway, I got the software to run! But now the cable isn't recognized.  The manual's instructions for installing the driver are nonsense.  And as far as I can tell, the driver is not included with the software.  So now I have to go search for the driver.  Just a big mess.  (If I find the driver, I hope installing it doesn't mess up my other programming cables that are working for other radios.)

[back4more70]

38 minutes ago, UncleYoda said:

I don't think you understand; do you even have this radio?

Easy, tiger.

[Sshannon]

UncleYoda,

something you might try is to first save the configuration from the gmrs profile, then open up the radio so it can cover uhf up to 470.  Then re-upload the GMRS channels you saved.  That might leave the radio open to programming other GMRS channels wherever you want.

And yes, I do have this radio, two of them actually.

[WRYI436]

Yes I have the Radio. if you unlock the radio  you can enter all the GMRS channels the same as a GMRS setup, then continue to add your Repeaters with different CTC tones for your different Repeaters that you use. Just don't go outside of the GMRS freq's to keep yourself legit, well kind of. Like Sshannon said.

[UncleYoda]

On 7/14/2023 at 9:57 PM, jsneezy said:

I can't remember where I had come across it, nor am I able to find it again. Thinking back on it, it was someone having driver issues with the supplied cable, and I think they may have mentioned that they were going to try the Wouxon PCO-003 cable. For all I know, it could have been someone on Reddit that mentioned the idea a while back.

I just went through a troubleshooting comparison of the cable I received with the DB20-G (with knock-off chip) and someone who has the Wouxun cable.  The pins are not wired the same, so IMO it's not safe to try as well as not likely to work.  I have been unable to find a good alternative cable.

[WRYS709]

On 8/28/2023 at 8:08 AM, UncleYoda said:

IAnyway, I got the software to run! But now the cable isn't recognized.  The manual's instructions for installing the driver are nonsense.  And as far as I can tell, the driver is not included with the software.  So now I have to go search for the driver.  Just a big mess.  (If I find the driver, I hope installing it doesn't mess up my other programming cables that are working for other radios.)

The problem with both the Anytone AT-779UV and the Radioddity DB20-G in Windows 10 is that over the production run of the DB20-G/AT-779UV there have been at least two different programming cables manufactured for these radios; even though they look the same to the naked eye.

Some people believe the difference is the manufacture: Anytone vs. Radioddity; but my instincts tell me that there were two different cables used by both manufacturers throughout the production run.

One cable, when used in Windows 10, will automatically install the Prolific driver when inserted and the CPS software will offer you the proper COM setting in the SET menu.  Then you can use the PROGRAM menu to Read From and Write To Radio.

The other cable will not automatically install any driver when used with Windows 10.  And even if you have previously installed the Prolific driver in Windows 10, this cable will not recognize this driver and still fail to work.  In this case neither the SET or PROGRAM menus will work correctly.

 

However, there is a driver package that can be manually installed into Windows 10 that will provide this functionality for this cable.

 

Use the Startup.exe in the WIN 10 11 folder in the attached compressed file below and your cable should work.

 

Report your results please.

AnyTone 2023 USB driver.zip