DMR vs FM testing UHF and VHF

[@RingwayManchester]

Just watched this again, great vid, can't beat a field test! 73

[@radiosification]

Thanks! Field tests do make pretty reliably entertaining videos

[@galax574]

I think you should add the mode, the frequency band and the power of transmission as a subtitle in the video to facilitate understandability

[@Jzjbahayjxsjshjsjjxuddj9922]

There's only one advantage to analog, a very important advantage, and that is compatibility.

[@guglielmomarconi9942]

The displays on those Motorolas really show the quality of the radios. Whereas a MD380, Ailunce HD-1 or similar Chinese radios displays would likely be quite washed out by the natural daylight.

[@TomSP9TL]

The Motorola DMR radios look really nice and robust! Never had them in my hands but they seem very solid build.

[@pioneerz450]

Having a 4000series radio can confirm that they are indeed very robust, and have really good recievers. Programming them can however be difficult.

[@sescanner4384]

Analogue VHF wins for me! Would be interesting to see how VHF DMR would compare.

[@radiosification]

SE Scanner Yes, I agree with you on that. I would try it too if I had any VHF DMR equipment.

[@guglielmomarconi9942]

I wonder if anyone has tested the new Baofeng DM-5R or RD-5R series radios in the field on simplex channels recently. I find that the DM-5R gives quite clear reception on DMR. At currently under 50 UKP on a popular online auction site the DM-5R, would be a low cost introduction to DMR radio.

[@galax574]

I think DMR works better than analog in both VHF and UHF. DMR definitely provides much more clear voice even at the edge of coverage. Some comments said that they encounter problems when using DMR at work. Could you give examples so that we can discuss.

[@chamian1167]

DMR while clear, loses voice quality. Voice quality refers to “how understandable are you”. With improper usage, in my experience dmr will lose clarity (sounds muffled). However, DMR has a lot of pros including DCDM/TDMA (dual timeslot operation for both simplex and repeaters) and the ability to encrypt audio.

[@galax574]

@@chamian1167 I think the occurrence of cheap Chinese DMR radios lowers the quality of DMR radios. When a Motorola DMR radio talks to another Motorola DMR radio, they literally will have no big problem; signalling features are compatible as well as voice is less robotic and understandable. But when other cheap Chinese DMR radios prompt out, the average quality is lower and signalling features are not compatible within brands. A correctly tuned DMR radio can sound as natural as other digital standards. It depends on how the user talks into the microphone, the audio profile of the radio and the brand of radio.

[@chamian1167]

@@galax574 I find that a $30 dmr radio performs about the same as my $500 dmr xpr 7580is when used properly

[@galax574]

@@chamian1167 Congrats! You've mastered the radio

[@juliogonzo2718]

@@galax574 I have a couple cheap Chinese tyt dmr radios, and just bought two used xpr6300s to replace them as I bought them for work and don't want to hand them to someone and they start pushing buttons. Less stuff to break with no keypad or screen too. I honestly don't hear much of a difference other than maybe the Motorola's speaker is a bit less tinny

[@gsaldana22]

I've never seen a model 2 XPR7550. The limited keypad option looks nice. I'm in the market for a 7550, but the most of the prices I see make me cringe.

[@RingwayManchester]

Do you have a license for 173.050? If so is it the UK Simple license? I've been thinking of getting one for a while.

[@RingwayManchester]

Ringway Manchester Great test by the way

[@radiosification]

Ringway Manchester Thanks, and yeah it is the UK simple license.

[@RingwayManchester]

Cheers for that.

[@Railfan2276894080077Radio8302]

If you were to get a UK simple license for range testing purposes would it still be permitted to do so? Or does it have to be for a "business" type application only.

[@RingwayManchester]

UK Simple covers a specific frequency, 5w, mobile and portable. note 5w is ERP. You can talk about what you like, no politics, racism, music playing or re-transmitting someones voice. Get your M6, you can range test on VHF and UHF until your hearts content :)

[@InfernalismMusic]

Where do you buy all of your DMR radios from? Especially the motorolas. I'm not as interested in the Tytera MD-380. And where do you also find all of the older motorola DMR radios.

[@LocalJunkRemoval2189]

I got some Motorola Dp601 radios how do i get to talk to people

[@radiosification]

What licence are you planning to use?

[@radiosification]

Since you didn't answer my other comment I'm guessing you don't have an amateur licence or anything. I highly recommend it. I really enjoyed doing the foundation course at a local club and met some nice people. And then you can use all the amateur repeaters around you and chat to other people who are into radio.

[@juliogonzo2718]

@@radiosification I don't know where he is but I am in Canada and a commercial licence was easy to acquire.

[@outtahours]

I love how girls appear out of nowhere. And he stays focused on the radio. Lol I would be torn. :)

[@radiosification]

He has his priorities right ;) lol

[@LaredoAirlines]

He ain’t a pu€£y his big man

[@tyjones2014]

I'm hopefully getting my ham license soon and it would be good to have a chat to you on 2m :)

[@Oo-ni5uz]

+radiosification I need 3 Motorola walkie talkie can you please give them to me

[@radiosification]

Obviously I can't just give them to you. Go on ebay and buy them yourself.

[@Oo-ni5uz]

Please you are my favorite KZbinr

[@Oo-ni5uz]

I need them

[@Oo-ni5uz]

I work for lance and I need 3 please or I will get fired

[@hcs4life21]

Now I see why ham/DMR users say Baofeng is rubbish. On another note, the Kenwood performed as expected; crystal clear. Always loved how well they were built. The Motorola sounded nice too, though with a little tweaking it could sound just as good, if not better, than the Kenwood.

[@radiosification]

Not quite sure why you said that. The baofeng performed very well in this video. It's hard to see much difference between it and the kenwood.

[@hcs4life21]

+radiosification I had headphones on when watching this yesterday and heard a ton of static from the Baofeng, though I went through it again just now and still say the same but I noticed the actual voice clarity did pare well in comparison to the Kenwood...once I got past the static and really listened. Still say the Motorola fared best.

[@radiosification]

I do agree with you anyway that the kenwood is a far better radio. We had problems (not shown in the video) with my baofeng receiving interference from pagers on a different frequency. I could hear Bradley absolutely fine with a good signal when the pagers were not transmitting, but as soon as they started his signal was completely wiped out in the baofeng. This is due to its direct conversion receiver whereas the kenwood probably has super heterodyne and we had no problems with that. The baofeng did actually sound better than in the recording though. I remember being really surprised at how little noise there was, and then disappointed at how much there was in the recording. I think maybe it's thanks to the AGC in the camera I was using. In real life it sounded excellent (when it worked).

[@hcs4life21]

+radiosification I concur. I did seem to notice once the signal changed from digital to analog all radios fared worse across the board. That may have just been line-of-sight and what you mentioned before with the pagers and whatnot. How did the Motorola sound in real life as opposed to this recording? Were there any quality issues or differences when switching from digital to analog or vice versa?

[@radiosification]

Just note that we did not use digital on VHF at all. Only the motorola radios were using DMR mode as well as FM. The baofeng and kenwood were only operating in FM. Digital seemed to work very well here. It seemed to get through slightly better than FM on UHF. There were no issues switching between the modes, because you just program them in beforehand with the motorola radios, then in the field all you have to do is change the channel. The motorola sounded good in real life. I can't remember it really well enough to comment on the difference between real life and the recording. I did have an audio enhancement mode on though which increases the treble. There are a number of audio profiles to choose from in the menu of the radio. I think the audio might have sounded slightly better with it off actually.

[@kj4ilk]

is 173.05 legal in the UK?

[@radiosification]

See this document: static.ofcom.org.uk/static/businessradio/BusinessRadioSimpleUK.pdf

[@NorseCode.81]

is this on a ham band >?

[@radiosification]

No. Read the other comments if you're interested to find out more

[@NorseCode.81]

@@radiosification it's ok. I have a 0 - 1300 MHz multimode transceiver

[@radiosification]

@@NorseCode.81 that doesn't make it legal

[@OAonair-il4tm]

good test :D

[@radiosification]

+14OA37 on air Thanks!

[@MotorsportsX]

can you guys explain why these radios have channels? is that just arbitrary and programmed into the radio by the end user?

[@radiosification]

Yes exactly. There's a programming software and you set the frequency and other details yourself for each channel. Businesses can have their own repeater and choose different channels for each group of people like cleaners, security and so on.

[@vk2lhc332]

DMR is harder to understand. It sounds like everyone is slurring their words. Good test.

[@lordgman1]

Similar to how you have to get used to picking out words from background noise on analog, you kind of have to develop an ear for digital. Once you get used to it I feel like it's reasonably more comfortable to listen to as you don't get the fatiguing background noise

[@Sky1]

they need to add DSP's to cut out the static on FM

[@VolkerSt]

173 Mhz? Thats not the 2m Band, isnt it? cO

[@radiosification]

No it isn't using amateur frequencies.

[@JackPaylor]

+radiosification what frequencies are you using?

[@JackPaylor]

+radiosification what type

[@JackPaylor]

Also consider he is in London (band plans are different)

[@radiosification]

In the UK you can get a "Simple UK light" license which allows you to use a few channels including that one for a set fee. The channels are shared with many other users, however the VHF ones are often not busy and the UHF ones are usually full of interference from other users.

[@Jacob-mm8xq]

What radio is that

[@Railfan2276894080077Radio8302]

Nice range test. I wonder what the results would be if you were using a commercial radio instead of the Baofeng UV-5r for VHF As it's not a commercial radio.

[@radiosification]

RF-halation Thanks. Yeah, it was very good sounding actually and had barely any noise. The antenna I was using on the Baofeng was a really good one though.

[@bamtreetoppiru5]

do a view on the "Motorola RDU4100 - UHF 4 Watt 10 Channel Radio" please!!!

[@biggedybiggedybong8032]

173mhz?! thats a strange one

[@JackPaylor]

500 MHz is unused in the US

[@chrisL50764]

Its a light licence frequency, 5 watts no base stations.

[@delboyonline]

Digital is ok if you prefer talking to someone who sounds like a Dalek!

[@radiosification]

+delboyonline Or if you want to reduce listener fatigue by not having to listen to a noisy signal all the time

[@WarrenPostma]

Ex ter mi nate!

[@galax574]

THIS DEBATE WILL LAST FOREVER...

[@aviationnationhd3760]

a chain in only as stong as its weakest link, baufang, really?

[@rescuechaina2196]

i love you i'm thailand

[@mooandal391]

So what ? What’s the conclusion of this experiment ? UHF better or VHF ?

[@daniele5444]

FM the best quality sound

[@radiosification]

That depends on how much noise there is really, and how good or bad the microphone practises of the talker are.

[@Radheradhe50003]

U translation video in Hindi

[@radiosification]

No

[@RichMantaray]

well anything is better than uv5r LOL

[@nataliawozniak92]

DMR is tragic :( I am disappointed. Analog is much better.

[@radiosification]

I thought that DMR did better than analog in this video. You can't compare UHF DMR to VHF analog, because that's not a fair comparison.

[@usernamemykel]

Radiosification is correct. I've two Yaesu UHF/VHF units (2900 and 7900) and two Baofeng uhf/vhf units (F8 and 5RE+), but my "go-to" radio is my Tytera MD-380 DMR HT. Crystal clear, loud volume, and with just an FCC "Technician" level license, one can speak to folks in the United Kingdom from the USA. A third of the members of my radio club now have DMR radios, and their popularity is growing in leaps and bounds. Natalia, do you even have a license? I ask because it appears that you know little of that you wrote. N4ANO

[@nataliawozniak92]

The sound is better on the analogue. The sound quality is better on the analogue. With DMR we have a lot of problems at work. Traditional analogue was better :(

[@wilbertonoriega8204]

LoL using Baofeng trash Radio for a review

[@radiosification]

This is not a review

[@Steves.Vlog832]

You should learn to use one properly then LoL