Anytone D878uvII Plus: First Thoughts and APRS Overview 5/13/21

My first thoughts of the new Anytone D878UVII Plus DMR handheld with APRS. How well does it do APRS? Watch and see.
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Music credits:
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Artist: audionautix.com/
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Artist: audionautix.com/
Camera equipment:
GoPro Hero 8 Black
Canon Vixia HF R800
Editing software:
Corel Videostudio X10 ultimate
My favorite radio equipment for outdoor portable ops or RaDAR:
Radio: Yaesu FT817nd
Tuner: LDG z817 auto tuner
Antennas: Chameleon F-Loop magnetic loop antenna (does not need a tuner)
End fed antenna with 9:1 unun (needs tuner)
MFJ 1899T telescoping whip antenna
Wolf River Coil Silver Bullet 1000 w/ buddipole long telescoping whip
Interface for Digital modes: SignaLink USB
Digital software: FLDigi and WSJT-x

[@lgcacher9205]

Thank you for a truthful video on this radio about aprs

[@GaryLech]

Thanks for the thorough review on the APRS function. I hope my Kenwood TH-D7a keeps on working for my APRS needs. Namely, it's true dual band and TX/RX APRS functionality.

[@Shaolin108]

Your the first to point out the nuances of this radio's APRS. Thanks for the info.

[@MarcPilon]

Une revue très bien faite, complète, pleine de nuance. Un gros merci.

[@mark1161]

Thanks for the great video. Of all the Anytone D878 APRS videos, on KZbin, yours was the only one, to my knowledge, that indicated that one has to check APRS RX in the Channel settings. I couldn't understand why the radio was not receiving APRS packets until that point. 73 KK2L.

[@BobPlank_KK4DIV]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MikeN2MAK]

Great review. Thanks!

[@stevedoom]

I am not even done watching the video, and I subscribed to your channel. Please keep up the great work!

[@BobPlank_KK4DIV]

Thank you, and welcome to the channel!

[@MatthewSomethingOrOther]

Im purchasing this radio for the aes256 capabilities and it's ability to talk to other radios with it. Everything else is a plus 🙂

[@THESPORTINGCAMP]

Excellent! 👏👏👏👏👏

[@motorcityman8982]

Nice video. Thanks!

[@sp5mjb]

Thank you Bob! Great video, it helped me make decision - I bought it. All the best to you, 73! SP5MJB

[@n1kkri]

you just answered for me a big question. I thought the new 878 could send a text type Analog message.

[@anthon5504]

Hi, Grate video! I was just wondering if you could connect the radio whit an aprs app ore Raspberry pi (TNC) to enable also aprs sms. Since it has bluetooth... Can you connect it with a phone? Im not sure if its bluetooth also works that way (using a Phone ore pc as audio in ore out) but since it can connect to a Car sound system... If it would work, also the Anytone D878UV Plus could be used for APRS tx/rx. I hope you can answer my question 73

[@julianos.parenajr.932]

Can the radio / codeplug be password locked to prevent unauthorized manipulation?

[@GeoffereyEakinsTech]

I heard the decoding issues may be to do with volume levels. Maybe try playing with those?

[@ukharleyboy123]

Can this be used just to scan aircraft/am/fm/ security radios please.

[@shinyfpv3656]

Need help. i received APRS RX on my 878uvll plus but its now display the info. what can i do? im use latest FW

[@ShelbyGT500AZ]

Can you tell me what Antenna you would recommend?

[@alexahedo85]

Hi how can/do you program simplex GMRS frequency on the btech 6x2 radio???

[@nathantcampbell]

FYI, messaging tx/rx is listed as a new feature add in the beta firmware. So hopefully coming soon in a stable firmware update

[@kd4kzz]

Another great video

[@davenew5927]

Excellent video and thanks 😊 I was very interested in your comments around 14 minute mark. I've posted in several similar forums and nobody has a viable solution. I would love a radio like this that either incorporated or allowed connection to APRSDroid features/app. Yes I'm a prepper and planning for the scenario when internet and cellphone networks are out. I live in commiefornia so that scenario is very real. Radio to radio texting using APRSDroid and GPS tracking on phone based maps seems like a huge advantage to me.

[@BobPlank_KK4DIV]

With the latest firmware, you can now send and receive aprs messages. This is a big step in the right direction and corrects one of the biggest misses of this radio.

[@pu4bla-mmdvm-hotspot-dmr-h949]

Tks

[@Jake2670]

did U ever fig out why its not RXing the iGate ?

[@DARTHDANSAN]

Was wondering if this had APRS message. Thanks for telling it does not . I appreciate it

[@BobPlank_KK4DIV]

With the latest firmware, APRS messaging has been enabled. However, I will honestly say APRS on the Anytone is still hit-or-miss. The Anytone is a fantastic DMR and FM radio, but my Yaesu FT1dr and Kenwood th-d72a HT's just do APRS better. I wish I could say otherwise, but it is what it is.

[@RINNTY]

How bout anytone upping the power to 10 watts for uhf/fhf

[@vincebusto9353]

Thanks for the review. I am just getting back into Ham and have decided to get the D878uvII Plus to see try out DMR. Would you recommend an antenna upgrade? I see VE7NZO

[@vincebusto9353]

I see.....your other radio appears to have a different antenna.

[@KE8ODY-WV-Ares-Ham-Dad-3O4]

So do I really need to buy the RT Systems DMR Programming Software that they claim is only for one radio? So if I buy a 578 and a 878 I need to purchase $50 in software or is there free software or do you recommend the RT for a beginner?

[@jkpisces]

i've been using analog for a few years and would like to dive into dmr for the audio clarity that i have been reading . I want to buy right the first time , would you say this would be the better radio compared to the ailunce hd1? or a tyt md380?

[@MI7DJT]

I have an 878 UVII+ and a Baofeng DM-5R with OpenGD77 installed. The Baofeng is by far the easiest to use and very sensitive on receive but the Anytone is much better sounding and better quality build. It is better than the 2 radios you mention.

[@CliffR]

I saw another video showing how to setup APRS and they used 25k bandwidth. Should it be 12.5 or 25k for analog/APRS? Also, do you not have to put this into a Zone? Sorry for the questions -- just bought this as my first DMR radio.... so much to learn ;)

[@BobPlank_KK4DIV]

I created a zone for APRS and put it in there. Or, you could just add it to any zone. Good question about bandwidth. I am almost sure (I've been wrong once or twice) that it would need to be 25k. I set mine to 25k.

[@DonHavjuan]

Mine will not receive 12.5, even if that's what is being sent. It only receives 25k - including receiving 12.5k sends as 25.

[@tvbox6955]

Can this radio interface with APRS Droid to send messages to other stations and track other people using APRS on a map real-time??

[@N4EJM]

I would think with a Mobilinkd TNC 3 it would.

[@Jake2670]

@@N4EJM if going to use a TNC3, why buy this, just use radio already have

[@N4EJM]

I’m just putting out options. Use it or don’t.

[@iu1inz]

Try checking your deviation settings of your iGate

[@JohnFT3414]

Don't see why not a firmware update could add APRS messaging?

[@Jake2670]

hope it can n Hope they r listening

[@pleather808]

I have this same radio and ive also noticed it will RX transmissions but not decode at time. Have you been able to figure this out? Im on the current firmware 1.04 for aprs and current cos 3.01.

[@BobPlank_KK4DIV]

Sorry for the reply delay. I assume you are talking about APRS RX. I still have problems decoding at times. It seems that if another radio is within simplex range, it will decode fine. I have problems decoding anything that has gone through our local digipeater. This is one of the few things I wish this radio would do better. It is still a darn good radio.

[@pleather808]

@@BobPlank_KK4DIV i seem to have that same issue. When i have my other Anytone nearby it decodes fine, but sometimes It wont decode from the digipeater thats located maybe 2 miles away. I've also noticed I get a lot of broken packets (i keep PASS ALL on)

[@BobPlank_KK4DIV]

@@pleather808 Same. No problem decoding from my other 878, my Yaesu FT1dr, nor my FTM400 in the truck. If someone else passes by and beacons, no problem decoding. I get broken packets also with pass all on. I keep hoping it will be fixed in a firmware update. It seems like it has gotten better with the latest firmware, but it's still not great.

[@pleather808]

@@BobPlank_KK4DIV same here! Another user also brought up an issue in the new CPS 3.01 when you have GPS roaming on, the display only shows 1 channel. Ive verified it as well.

[@mjm9863]

No APRS messaging? Then forget it. I do have a MoblinkD TNC3, but it’s ridiculous to have to strap more hardware onto it to get messaging and then have to use my phone to do the messaging. Might as well just use LTE at that point. I’ll stick to just the 878UV+ for DMR. I have a Kenwood TH-D74 and Yaesu FT3DR anyway. I use messaging too much. Especially to control devices using APRSMon+IFTTT.

[@biomatrix365]

4:12 "I don't get in to the nitty-gritty details, that's not the kind of channel I run"... 4:26 He's still at "bla-bla bla-bla-bla" about what he's going to talk about... ROFLOL!!!

[@malanalan1]

The truth is DMR is as good as cellphone service. DMR has no use in the boonies. so why to bother with DMR at all, There are no serious DMR repeaters in SoCal; repeaters that are located on mountain tops. Most of DMR repeaters operate from residential locations on UHF. D-Star and C4FM are far and between in SoCal. Strangely, APRS which is ignored by HAM manufactures has much larger presence than all digital stuff altogether

[@N4EJM]

Thanks for the review. I love my FT3 but looking for a good DMR radio. I think I will get this one. Best DMR radio with APRS. Mobilinkd TNC3 would be a great addition to get APRS messaging. 73 de N4EJM

[@414RadioTech]

I recently sold the anytone 838 that I had because I did not care for this radio whatsoever the promiscuous mode listening to a public safety Agency on Delmar really did not work it kept cutting out big time like lots of carrier dropouts on that stupid digital crap didn't like it with that model at all it did it worse on analog when it was crackling and popping never again am I buying shit like this ever I'll be sticking to my Motorola and Kenwood gear‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️