Lscott Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 Has anyone had any experience with these super cheap Chinese DMR radios? A buddy alerted me to them. For a glove-box beater radio at the price point it might be worth it. https://www.amazon.com/Walkie-Talkie-430-470MHz-Communication-Confidentiality/dp/B08S3DG8PW/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=cotre+dmr+radio&qid=1705587997&sr=8-2 https://pnwdigital.net/radio-cotre/ Quote
back4more70 Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 I think you would be better off with a UV-5R that has front panel programming. Lscott 1 Quote
Lscott Posted January 18 Author Report Posted January 18 16 minutes ago, back4more70 said: I think you would be better off with a UV-5R that has front panel programming. I have one already. But it's not a digital enabled radio. The only thing I have that comes close to the cheap Chinese DMR radio are my Kenwood TK-D340's. https://forums.mygmrs.com/gallery/image/291-tk-d340u-front-and-back-2jpg/?context=new That's if I can find them where the seller isn't asking well over $100 each for one. I managed to score a few for around $50 each, but I have to check the auction site frequently to catch somebody selling one and doesn't know what he has for sure. My buddy just got one the same way for about $50. He should get it in the next several days. I wouldn't consider these glove-box beater radios. Quote
wrci350 Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 Can't speak directly to that model, but I did buy a different Cotre DMR radio (which is not currently available): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09TW4CS58/ It's "OK". UHF only, seems to work fine on both analog and DMR repeaters. I haven't used it very much and am actually planning to sell it since I have better DMR radios. Not very polished; for example the software comes as a RAR and you just unpack it and run the executable out of that directory, it doesn't even install on your PC. It also requires a cable with the CH340 chip. I couldn't get it to program using any of the numerous other K-type cables I already had. Lscott 1 Quote
WRYS709 Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 Are you looking for the European license free DMR radios? I think the cheapest Chinese HT with DMR I have had experience with is the Radioddity RD-5R, which if I recall correctly was electronically the Radioddity GD-77 reformulated into a UV-5R formal. It offered standard analog and DMR on VHF and UHF and cost about $70 and used all of the UV-5R battery packs and accessories. Quote
Lscott Posted January 18 Author Report Posted January 18 45 minutes ago, WRYS709 said: Are you looking for the European license free DMR radios? Actually I was looking into dPMR radios, at one time. I still am occasionally. There are "license free" dPMR446 ones, for use on 446.0 to 446.2 band in the EU, but they are limited to 0.5 watts. dPMR isn't used, or so minimally it doesn't exist as a practical mode here as far as I can tell. I was looking into it as a novelty. I have the radio programming software for Kenwood's TK-3701D dPMR446 radio, but no radio. There is also a DMR 446 license free version too. So in effect they have two different digital modes and analog FM available in a license free service. The cheap Chinese DMR radio could be used with the correct programming. I'm not going into the topic if that's really legal. That's their problem over there. Kenwood sold, now discontinued, a NX-220/320 radio with a firmware update could be converted over to a dPMR radio. I believe I have the firmware, radio programming and license file writer software someplace archived on my FTP server at home. The problem is I need an "E", European, version of the above radios along with a license file to write to it so the feature is activated. I have an NX-320K, North American model which likely won't work. NX-220E-320E.pdf The-effect-on-dPMR-446-of-the-new-digital-license-v3-2019.pdf Upgrading Kenwood NX-x20E to dPMR.pdf TK-3701D.pdf Quote
MarkInTampa Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 1 hour ago, Lscott said: Actually I was looking into dPMR radios, at one time. I still am occasionally. There are "license free" dPMR446 ones, for use on 446.0 to 446.2 band in the EU, but they are limited to 0.5 watts. dPMR isn't used, or so minimally it doesn't exist as a practical mode here as far as I can tell. I was looking into it as a novelty. I have the radio programming software for Kenwood's TK-3701D dPMR446 radio, but no radio. TYT DP-290 DPMR HT perhaps? Quote
tweiss3 Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 6 hours ago, Lscott said: For a glove-box beater radio at the price point it might be worth it. I get redundancy, but I would rather have a car charger for my portable than another radio in the glove box that I need to maintain the battery on. The portable I carry is the redundant, the mobile is primary. SteveShannon 1 Quote
Lscott Posted January 18 Author Report Posted January 18 1 hour ago, markskjerve said: TYT DP-290 DPMR HT perhaps? I'll have to look into it more. Chinese manufacture are known for playing loose with the specifications and terminology. It wouldn't surprise me to find out it's really a DMR radio. Quote
Lscott Posted January 18 Author Report Posted January 18 6 minutes ago, tweiss3 said: I get redundancy, but I would rather have a car charger for my portable than another radio in the glove box that I need to maintain the battery on. The portable I carry is the redundant, the mobile is primary. I've found that a Lithium Ion battery will hold a useful charge for a really long time. So an occasional battery pack swap wouldn't be a big deal. Of course one can buy a battery holder to use disposable cells. A few of my HT's I have battery pack eliminators, plug in to the accessory socket in the car. But you do have a point. Quote
fe2o3 Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 I've had one for a year or two. Wouldn't be my primary DMR radio, being without a display or keyboard, but i use it for testing. It works and the audio is fine. It's only a couple of watts output which is good for use with a hotspot. I'd print the memory contents onto a business card (or the like) and keep it affixed to the radio. Lscott 1 Quote
Lscott Posted January 19 Author Report Posted January 19 16 hours ago, fe2o3 said: I've had one for a year or two. Wouldn't be my primary DMR radio, being without a display or keyboard, but i use it for testing. It works and the audio is fine. It's only a couple of watts output which is good for use with a hotspot. I'd print the memory contents onto a business card (or the like) and keep it affixed to the radio. What kind of programming cable did you use for the radio? I ran across some info where people had to buy a special one or made their own. I have a cheat-sheet, Excel, for my TK-D340's too, no display. That's why I primarily look just for radios with a alpha-numeric display. Various commercial radios come in the non-display and display models. The non-display models of those seem to be commonly available used, likely due to the cheaper price and most users don't need more than a few channels anyway. Quote
BoxCar Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 Several in the ham clubs I belong to have the Cotre 001D and the 004D we use on our local DMR net. They aren't the best on the market with a very low power output (around 2W) but they can access the local repeaters most of the time. They don't replace a good DMR radio, but they are fun to play with. SteveShannon and Lscott 2 Quote
Lscott Posted January 19 Author Report Posted January 19 1 minute ago, BoxCar said: Several in the ham clubs I belong to have the Cotre 001D and the 004D we use on our local DMR net. They aren't the best on the market with a very low power output (around 2W) but they can access the local repeaters most of the time. They don't replace a good DMR radio, but they are fun to play with. One on-line recommendation was to get the 4D model with display. Quote
fe2o3 Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 3 hours ago, Lscott said: What kind of programming cable did you use for the radio? I ran across some info where people had to buy a special one or made their own. A regular USB to Booofwang K connector. https://jhart99.com/co01d-programming Quote
wrci350 Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 Yeah but that page mentions a cable with the CH-340 cable. Most of the CCR cables do NOT use that chip. Quote
fe2o3 Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 Big deal! It's just another in a long list of USB->TTL Serial chips available. Quote
wrci350 Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 7 minutes ago, fe2o3 said: Big deal! It's just another in a long list of USB->TTL Serial chips available. The "big deal" is that if someone already has a Baofeng programming cable it probably won't work, and they will need to buy a new one. Quote
fe2o3 Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 The "big deal" is that a Booofwang programming cable WILL work. PERIOD! The cables with chips in them are interchangeable. The only thing you need to have is the proper driver for you PC and OS. Many CCRs use fake chips anyhow so, again, you have to have the proper driver even if you have to use an old driver. WRXB215 1 Quote
WRYS709 Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 21 hours ago, fe2o3 said: I've had one for a year or two. Wouldn't be my primary DMR radio, being without a display or keyboard, but i use it for testing. It works and the audio is fine. It's only a couple of watts output which is good for use with a hotspot. I'd print the memory contents onto a business card (or the like) and keep it affixed to the radio. I see they are unavailable at Amazon; do you know a source that is actively selling these? I'd like to experiment with one of these COTREs. Quote
fe2o3 Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 Hmmm... refresh the page, maybe? Mine says "in stock" and let me put it into my cart (and I deleted it). Make sure you've got the right model, CO01D. Quote
WRYS709 Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 6 minutes ago, fe2o3 said: Hmmm... refresh the page, maybe? Mine says "in stock" and let me put it into my cart (and I deleted it). Make sure you've got the right model, CO01D. This $13.69 COTRE radio from Amazon work with DMR?!? UHF and VHF? Quote
WRYS709 Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 Thanks! I’m ordering one right now! Lscott 1 Quote
Lscott Posted January 19 Author Report Posted January 19 6 minutes ago, WRYS709 said: Thanks! I’m ordering one right now! When you get it and programmed let us know what you think about the radio. WRYS709 1 Quote
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