Tidradio TD-H8 may no longer be worth buying

[SvenMarbles]

I purchased my first Tidradio TD-H8 nearly a year ago and have loved it for a GMRS radio. Set it to unlocked, and ran the power tune tool with 255’s in the high power setting. It would produce 8-10 watts on GMRS frequencies.

 

Well I bought a brand new one and it arrived today. Same firmware. Uploaded the identical power tune file as the first, and same Chirp memory file. It should perform exactly like the first one. But,.. it doesn’t. Something is different about this example of the radio. GMRS peaks at 4 watts when set up precisely the same as the first.. Disappointed..

So just a warning to anyone who liked this radio for the same reasons I did. It may no longer be the same radio… 

[GMRSJohn]

43 minutes ago, SvenMarbles said:

I purchased my first Tidradio TD-H8 nearly a year ago and have loved it for a GMRS radio. Set it to unlocked, and ran the power tune tool with 255’s in the high power setting. It would produce 8-10 watts on GMRS frequencies.

 

Well I bought a brand new one and it arrived today. Same firmware. Uploaded the identical power tune file as the first, and same Chirp memory file. It should perform exactly like the first one. But,.. it doesn’t. Something is different about this example of the radio. GMRS peaks at 4 watts when set up precisely the same as the first.. Disappointed..

So just a warning to anyone who liked this radio for the same reasons I did. It may no longer be the same radio… 

I was thinking very favorably about getting one of these recently. I mean, they seem super easy to program and fairly easy to use. GMRS and ham compatible… but something kept me reserved. I’m glad you told us this. 

[TrikeRadio]

3 hours ago, SvenMarbles said:

I purchased my first Tidradio TD-H8 nearly a year ago and have loved it for a GMRS radio. Set it to unlocked, and ran the power tune tool with 255’s in the high power setting. It would produce 8-10 watts on GMRS frequencies.

 

Well I bought a brand new one and it arrived today. Same firmware. Uploaded the identical power tune file as the first, and same Chirp memory file. It should perform exactly like the first one. But,.. it doesn’t. Something is different about this example of the radio. GMRS peaks at 4 watts when set up precisely the same as the first.. Disappointed..

So just a warning to anyone who liked this radio for the same reasons I did. It may no longer be the same radio… 

You may just have a bad one. 

[SvenMarbles]

22 minutes ago, TrikeRadio said:

You may just have a bad one. 

Could be.. 

[tcp2525]

15 hours ago, SvenMarbles said:

I purchased my first Tidradio TD-H8 nearly a year ago and have loved it for a GMRS radio. Set it to unlocked, and ran the power tune tool with 255’s in the high power setting. It would produce 8-10 watts on GMRS frequencies.

 

Well I bought a brand new one and it arrived today. Same firmware. Uploaded the identical power tune file as the first, and same Chirp memory file. It should perform exactly like the first one. But,.. it doesn’t. Something is different about this example of the radio. GMRS peaks at 4 watts when set up precisely the same as the first.. Disappointed..

So just a warning to anyone who liked this radio for the same reasons I did. It may no longer be the same radio… 

You might want to try running the power tune tool from scratch on that radio as there might be a slight out of tolerance component that isn't in the first radio. When in doubt, start fresh.

[RayDiddio]

1 hour ago, tcp2525 said:

You might want to try running the power tune tool from scratch on that radio as there might be a slight out of tolerance component that isn't in the first radio. When in doubt, start fresh.

Reasonable and sound advice.

[WRTC928]

14 hours ago, TrikeRadio said:

You may just have a bad one. 

I've noticed that the QC on inexpensive radios can be quite erratic. You can buy two "identical" radios and they perform radically differently. 

[RIPPER238]

My H8 tested the same way and all of my H3's have 5-6 watts so the H8 just seemed to be a waist since it was not providing much power. Plus the H8 is missing some features of the H3. 

 

Now my H8 is used as my home radio. 

[WRZG694]

It may be the Tidradio corp. is now in compliance with our FCC. Notice in b and c it mentions interstitial channels. 

FRS-GMRS Channels Layout.pdf

eCFR :: 47 CFR 95.1767 -- GMRS transmitting power limits.

 

§ 95.1767 GMRS transmitting power limits.

This section contains transmitting power limits for GMRS stations. The maximum transmitting power depends on which channels are being used and the type of station.

(a) 462/467 MHz main channels. The limits in this paragraph apply to stations transmitting on any of the 462 MHz main channels or any of the 467 MHz main channels. Each GMRS transmitter type must be capable of operating within the allowable power range. GMRS licensees are responsible for ensuring that their GMRS stations operate in compliance with these limits.

(1) The transmitter output power of mobile, repeater and base stations must not exceed 50 Watts.

(2) The transmitter output power of fixed stations must not exceed 15 Watts.

(b) 462 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of mobile, hand-held portable and base stations transmitting on the 462 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 5 Watts.

(c) 467 MHz interstitial channels. The effective radiated power (ERP) of hand-held portable units transmitting on the 467 MHz interstitial channels must not exceed 0.5 Watt. Each GMRS transmitter type capable of transmitting on these channels must be designed such that the ERP does not exceed 0.5 Watt.

[LeeBo]

I have several H8 units and all of them perform just fine.

The one thing I don't do is upload a Chirp file from a different H8 radio, even if they are identical. I always download a fresh file from the radio and then copy and paste from another Chirp file. Honestly, I could probably upload Chirp file A to radio B with no issues.

[WRTC928]

7 hours ago, LeeBo said:

The one thing I don't do is upload a Chirp file from a different H8 radio, even if they are identical. I always download a fresh file from the radio and then copy and paste from another Chirp file. Honestly, I could probably upload Chirp file A to radio B with no issues.

Is that specifically a TD thing? I use a standard Chirp file for Baofeng and Retevis radios without any problems.

[SteveShannon]

12 minutes ago, WRTC928 said:

Is that specifically a TD thing? I use a standard Chirp file for Baofeng and Retevis radios without any problems.

It depends on the radio. Some radios store operational data that is specific to the radio, not just the model of radio, in the file that Chirp (or other CPS software) reads and writes. In that instance you really should read from the radio first in order to avoid overwriting something that is right for that radio and no other. 
Another thing that happens is for the configuration file to change between firmware revisions. Overwriting data with a configuration file that was originally read from a radio with a different firmware version can corrupt memory. 
But some radios have very stable configuration files and can be used to clone multiple radios, all with the same configuration. 
It’s just always safest to read from the radio first as a habit. 

[LeeBo]

On 12/5/2024 at 10:37 PM, WRTC928 said:

Is that specifically a TD thing? I use a standard Chirp file for Baofeng and Retevis radios without any problems.

No, it's a "me" thing. I've had issues in the past where I've had two identical radios and uploaded an image from one to the other and had that one not operate correctly.

[WRTC928]

34 minutes ago, LeeBo said:

No, it's a "me" thing. I've had issues in the past where I've had two identical radios and uploaded an image from one to the other and had that one not operate correctly.

That's good advice. I'll start doing that.