Comments by "Sam Glaim" (@samglaim4274) on "Radioddity Baofeng RD-5R - The Cheapest True DMR Radio Available?" video.

  1. Excellent video and couldn't agree more about the price of Baofeng radios and what you get (it still blows my socks off to think you can get a dual band, hand held radio, for about £20.... amazing!). I bought a TYT MD390 about a year ago and although I've always felt that DMR is a great mode for amateur radio, I have a feeling of frustration with the lack of information out there, particularly for new users trying to get into DMR and in particular for people getting started and using things like codeplugs. The software available for the TYT MD390/MD380 is well.... how do I say this politely?.... hmmm..... it's cr*p! .... what was really pleasing to see in your video, when you were showing the programming software, was how much easier it is and indeed how it even has a help screen for the settings and commands. Again, for a new user... even if they've programmed the likes of the UV5r , just working your way through the settings is a major challenge. The new DMR radio from Baofeng looks really interesting and I'm going to be checking it out. Many thanks for the video, and am looking forward to more, particularly about DMR. 73
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  2. P.s .... just placed an order for the RD-5R. Have also just downloaded the manuals/software/firmware etc. from Radioddity..... many thanks for the links etc. :-) 73
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  3. Had the RD-5r for a few days now and it's very much a hybrid of the Baofeng UV5r.... basically it's a UV5r, with DMR bolted on ;-) . You can use the same batteries and third party antennas with it (Nagoya for example) as the UV5r. I find the squelch rather harsh and has a long 'tail' to it. I find the display a little small for me (I do wear glasses ;-) ) but given that it's dual band, with DMR/Analogue.... it's definitely going in the right direction. Audio quality on my TYT MD390 is much better, but that was a lot more expensive and again, it's just single band (UHF). DMR repeaters in my area (Merseyside area) are non existent so it's hard to put the DMR capabilities of the radio to a good test, but the analogue side works fine. A good start from Baofeng and I'm hoping that further releases will improve on this good start.
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  4. Thanks Lewis.... looking forward to it ... cheers :-)
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  5. :-) ... I'm waiting for some more DMR repeaters to become available ... there's supposed to be 2 on Merseyside... I'm guessing they are operating in stealth mode, cos' I've never managed to ping/hear one yet ;-) 73
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  6. That's bad news Lewis. DMR has got a lot going for it, but without DMR repeaters, it's going to hard to make the most of the mode :-(
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  7. My own personal choice for programming the likes of Baofeng radio's (analogue) is with the excellent 'Chirp' software... I find it much easier than scrambling through all the menu items, via the keypad. I'm on a sort of hiatus with DMR at the moment... mainly because of the lack of DMR repeaters in my area, so I've not done a lot with the RD-5r and am back with my trusty UV5r ;-)
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