Great vid Steve, I love my GD-77. It's definitely replaced my 'feng. I'm glad to see the are pure on the spectrum. OpenGD does have it's quirks but overall it's run good for me. I haven't updated it in ages, your video has served as a reminder to do so. It's now on the agenda for tomorrow. 73
Great radio, got one just before they were discontinued just so I could load Open GD77. Of note, Open GD77 runs on most of the recent TYT HTs, and works extremely well. The interface is hands down better than what a TYT ships with.
That's a nice radio. It is the same one I have for DMR. I don't use it outside the house, but there's not really DMR repeaters around anyway. I probably need to upgrade the firmware since it's been a couple years, but OpenGD-77 is great. Thanks for another informative video. DMR is a PITA (that's just my opinion).
The GD-77 is one of the best HT radios I've ever owned. It's taken a few spills to the concrete and stayed intact and functioning, some radios couldn't do that. I really wish Radioddity wouldn't have discontinued it for the GD-88, but it is what it is. For satellite use, you put in your 6 character grid square and it'll do the rest after that. For the OpenGD-77 firmware, its a huge upgrade to an already great radio. You lose the encryption ability it originally comes with, but you gain so much more that its not really worth mentioning.
great job on that radio. That is common for a watt meter to do that threw a antenna. it is adding forward to reflected power . And that meter is calibrated into a dummy load. The best meters for that are the directional wattmeters. Cost a bunch more but give accurate reading of forward and reflected power. I got one for HF I use all the time. It is a cross needle one. SWR meter is just a ratio. They great for showing when you heat a toroide up. The reflected watts creep up then rich a point and lots of reflect. There's a warning sign before the reflect goes crazy . 73
I have both the gd77 and the retevis rt3s.. Both horrible radios with stock firmware but with opengd77 they are honestly some of my favorite handhelds, and my go-to for sat operation.
You can go over the max power of 5W if you hold down the blue button and long-press > instead of tapping it. Probably best only use that in an emergency.
Steve I have the Boofwang version of that radio(1701) and it works great on Open GD. If you get a chance to grab one of those they will go down to .2 watts which is great for at home use with a hotspot. Upside is the 1701 has a color screen and is pretty easy to program from the front panel.
The satellite support in opengd77 firmware is unique as far as I know. Doppler, sat tracking, VU, UV, etc. The firmware works on 5 other radios as well - I have it on my RD5R. SOO much friendlier to use than the standard firmware. Agree that it is easier to program using the CPS. 73 Ed.
@@temporarilyoffline Any Tone 878 UVIII has GPS and Satellite tracking in latest firmware update. Unfortunately, Windows only (I have begged for a Mac version)..
I hear ya. As an old skool dev, makes me wonder if its something in the protocol spec they haven't gotten to yet/see no value in/etc or if its out ROM space in the radio. These radios have near zero memory being old tech relics really... from back in the days when memory was very expensive compared to today.
Got the Retevis and TYT versions of this radio but I can't get either one to consistently talk to a computer for programming. The GD77 advice to just try other USB ports hasn't helped. Five PCs, one of them should work. Nope. I can't even just give up and sell them because I can't promise anyone else that they will work.
I wish they were supported by Linux - I can do the firmware load under linux, but can't edit the codeplug there. Are you on Windows 11 on any of them? Win11 has a TON of problems with chinese radio USB cables.
I've swapped the firmware in most GD77 radios that have found their way to my bench. The stock firmware is awful and not worth investing time, however once you start using OpenGD77 you'll never go back to stock!
Great vid Steve, I love my GD-77. It's definitely replaced my 'feng. I'm glad to see the are pure on the spectrum. OpenGD does have it's quirks but overall it's run good for me. I haven't updated it in ages, your video has served as a reminder to do so. It's now on the agenda for tomorrow. 73
Good Luck Dusty!
Great radio, got one just before they were discontinued just so I could load Open GD77. Of note, Open GD77 runs on most of the recent TYT HTs, and works extremely well. The interface is hands down better than what a TYT ships with.
DMR is so hard! I'm glad OpenGD77 exists to bring it some much needed LIFE!
That's a nice radio. It is the same one I have for DMR. I don't use it outside the house, but there's not really DMR repeaters around anyway. I probably need to upgrade the firmware since it's been a couple years, but OpenGD-77 is great. Thanks for another informative video. DMR is a PITA (that's just my opinion).
DMR is a PITA
The GD-77 is one of the best HT radios I've ever owned. It's taken a few spills to the concrete and stayed intact and functioning, some radios couldn't do that. I really wish Radioddity wouldn't have discontinued it for the GD-88, but it is what it is. For satellite use, you put in your 6 character grid square and it'll do the rest after that. For the OpenGD-77 firmware, its a huge upgrade to an already great radio. You lose the encryption ability it originally comes with, but you gain so much more that its not really worth mentioning.
Yeah, she was a tank!
great job on that radio. That is common for a watt meter to do that threw a antenna. it is adding forward to reflected power . And that meter is calibrated into a dummy load. The best meters for that are the directional wattmeters. Cost a bunch more but give accurate reading of forward and reflected power. I got one for HF I use all the time. It is a cross needle one. SWR meter is just a ratio. They great for showing when you heat a toroide up. The reflected watts creep up then rich a point and lots of reflect. There's a warning sign before the reflect goes crazy . 73
Totally agree. The surecom meter has a FWD and REV power reading at the bottom of the display. Lots of stuff in that little box.
I have both the gd77 and the retevis rt3s.. Both horrible radios with stock firmware but with opengd77 they are honestly some of my favorite handhelds, and my go-to for sat operation.
I'll be attempting some sat work in the next OpenGD77 vid. I ASSumed it needed GPS to work properly.
Awesome! looking forward to that !
You can go over the max power of 5W if you hold down the blue button and long-press > instead of tapping it. Probably best only use that in an emergency.
Good tip! Yeah, I can imagine that would drain the battery fast and might even hurt something inside the radio from all the heat.
Makes a great hotspot by itself.
How can it do that with no Internet connection?
@@temporarilyoffline You need to hook it up to a computer or pi. It's like a USB MMDVM
@@ronwolenski-n8wcr ok, that makes sense
Steve I have the Boofwang version of that radio(1701) and it works great on Open GD. If you get a chance to grab one of those they will go down to .2 watts which is great for at home use with a hotspot. Upside is the 1701 has a color screen and is pretty easy to program from the front panel.
I saw that color screen... I'm digging it!
Nice looking radio, great review, tnx Man!
It was a brick... Too bad it's retired
Another great video TO! 🎉
Good to see you!
The satellite support in opengd77 firmware is unique as far as I know. Doppler, sat tracking, VU, UV, etc. The firmware works on 5 other radios as well - I have it on my RD5R. SOO much friendlier to use than the standard firmware.
Agree that it is easier to program using the CPS.
73 Ed.
I need to find a radio with GPS and play with the sat tracking features. Would be good to have a non-windows CPS while I'm wishing!
@@temporarilyoffline Any Tone 878 UVIII has GPS and Satellite tracking in latest firmware update. Unfortunately, Windows only (I have begged for a Mac version)..
@@temporarilyoffline the sat tracking feature does not need GPS. It's nice when the radio has GPS but you can enter your location manually. Ed
@@DD5LP Excellent! I have another radio to run GD77 on coming up soon.
Sorry about all the antennas. I am not even sure I knew all those were in there. 😂
Zero complaints, thanks for letting me take it for a spin!
I just sold this radio and this is another video of that reminds me of why I’m a dummy for selling it.
I'm here to help Mike!
THe only thing I miss with the Open GD is the inability to send messages. They could not reverse engineer that.
I hear ya. As an old skool dev, makes me wonder if its something in the protocol spec they haven't gotten to yet/see no value in/etc or if its out ROM space in the radio. These radios have near zero memory being old tech relics really... from back in the days when memory was very expensive compared to today.
How did you know there is no APRS on the repeater?
Hey Mason, I'm not sure I understand your question?
Never a live moment 🎃👋 ha ha 👋🎃
Monday nights bro!
Got the Retevis and TYT versions of this radio but I can't get either one to consistently talk to a computer for programming. The GD77 advice to just try other USB ports hasn't helped. Five PCs, one of them should work. Nope. I can't even just give up and sell them because I can't promise anyone else that they will work.
I wish they were supported by Linux - I can do the firmware load under linux, but can't edit the codeplug there. Are you on Windows 11 on any of them? Win11 has a TON of problems with chinese radio USB cables.
I've swapped the firmware in most GD77 radios that have found their way to my bench. The stock firmware is awful and not worth investing time, however once you start using OpenGD77 you'll never go back to stock!
Hey Scott! I think anytime a person actually uses a radio, they'll see how to fix the interface right up!
@@temporarilyoffline FYI to adjust the power, hold the blue side button and then use the left/right arrow keys 👍
FIRST!!!!
🤘