Thank you very much! I'm a huge fan of all things Radioddity and appreciate everything you guys do to make obtaining these devices easy for anyone. Loving the new GD-73A :) Hope your day is fantastic!!
Thank you Mr. Shaw for the review. I just ordered one. This radio will server several roles. Now we have Bluetooth speaker mic for 40 to 60 dollars. Why not skip the Bluetooth and go with a small radio. Also I'll use it in Europe and U.K. trips on the amateur radio and PMR. Easy charging via USB. 73's Mr. Shaw KE6UPI
Thought it would be worth mentioning that I'm using the "Low" power setting on all my channels which is only .5 watts. Works great! Also, turns out the headset IS interchangeable with the left/right ear. The rubber/plastic on mine was a little bit melted shut for some reason. I wiggled it around and was able to swivel the ear piece around. So that's nice :-)
Hey Jamie! Not very much, unfortunately! 1024 to be exact. It can store both 1024 channels and 1024 contacts. On the bright side, since I'm always at home and at my desk when using this radio, I typically always have the Pi-Star dashboard open so I can see people's callsigns. Since it's designed for hotspot use, I don't think it's entirely needed to store a boatload of contacts. Although, I could see how this might be a deal-breaker for certain users. Either way, still using this little guy almost everyday and I enjoy how simple the device is. Thanks for watching!
I just purchased this radio. I think it is really cool, small and light and I love Radioddity. I am sure there will be firmware updates soon but I have found a few bugs. For one- It won't allow me to program my hotspot that is at 434.22750. I would have to reprogram all my other radios if I have to change my hotspots frequency and that's just not fun. Also, I programed the P1 key to change the power levels with a short tap. Turns out this thing talks. Only problem is it says "LO Power" when its set hi. and it only speaks digital noise when it should be saying "Hi Power" and sets to Lo. Its backwards. If anyone knows a fix for this, please let me know. The PTT button is very easy to kit by accident because it is way too easy to activate it. It would have been nice if they added the chip to allow FM Broadcast band as a cheap added feature. Also, the chip this radio uses has the capability to receive 2m and weather band but they don't have that active as an option. Of course you wound not be able to transmit on these frequencies without harm or serious harmonic interference as the radio was not designed for that range. My last comment is- I would love to see Talker Alias added. This would allow the transmission of your call sign, Name and location as well as reception of the same from the newer radios that support it. Brandmeister supports it as you can see that information on your hotspots display.
Hey there Bruce! Man, it's great to hear your story on using this device. That is the weirdest thing about not being able to use 434.22750. And I assume that is despite the fact that you probably have the frequency range set to 406.1-470 MHz under the "Basic Information" section of the programming software? The rest of the little quirks definitely sound silly! I hope they get those annoyances fixed up in a future update. I'll be checking it out regularly as well to see if something gets released. VERY interesting about the 2m and weather band. It would be nice to at the very least, receive those frequencies. It seems like all these little chinese radios at least give you a flashlight and an FM radio ;-) I've never heard of the Talker Alias feature, but I definitely like the sound of that. I'll try it out on the GD-77! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Hi Mark- Can you verify that you have the same weird noise when setting between Hi and Lo power? Yes, I am set to the correct frequency range and it will accept 434.22500 but for some reason refuses the 434.22750. Seems that there must be set frequency steps that it accepts but not just any frequency. I am trying to get Radioddity to fix this. So, talker Alias is the newest thing coming to all the newer DMR radios like the Anytone. It allows you to send and receive call sign, name and location without a database in the radio. This fixed the issue of many radios running out of space for more DMS ID's since we are getting over 100,000. If you have a Jumbo Spot, you may have noticed that it displays the call and name and location of the the person keying up. That is actually Talker Alias. Brandmeister sends this digital info for every caller. Its just a matter of getting the radios to show it just like the jumbo spot shows it. Let me know if you need me to do any testing to verify bugs you are running into. 73's Bruce (KC3JS)
Hey Bruce! So this is interesting. I programmed my P1 to change the power on a 2 second long press. I see the indicator icon switch from H to L and vice versa. I hear a little noise as if someone is keying up, but no audio, no voice, or anything. I checked my KeyTone settings to see if that had any effect, but it does not. Ahh, ok now I'm clear on the Talker Alias. I use my Pi-Star dashboard and the OLED on the hotspot all the time! Which is probably why I'm not too concerned that this little guy can only hold 1024 measley contacts. However, when on the road and using repeaters, it is way nicer to have all the DMR contacts in the world loaded up! On the GD-77 I maxed out the 10,000 with pretty much most of the Mid-Atlantic. DE, MD, VA, and Idaho where I have family. Doesn't take long to fill them up that's for sure!
That's so weird that you don't her it say in a male voice "Lo Power". The high power setting make what sounds like its talking but at 100 times the normal speed. Is there a way to re-flash the firmware? I can't find it anywhere.
Looks like a real waste of money when a much more capable radio (several actually) can be had for the same price or close. Nice toy though if that's what you want.
Fine for you to think that but you misunderstand the purpose and the application of the device if you call it a waste. The GD-77 for example is a way better value for the price and is cheaper. You get a bigger radio, higher wattage, more contacts, etc. But again, this is nearly half it's size with twice the battery life. So it serves a purpose for certain people. A waste is not a fair way to describe it. A novelty? Yes. A nice gift for a hotspot user? Most definitely.
I agree with Marky- This radio is what it is. Very lightweight easy to hold with good battery life. I managed to hex edit my codeplug to allow me to add the NOAA weather frequencies for receive only. You can of course also add 2-meter frequencies for receive only. I am hopeful for a firmware revision to allow for some of the bugs to be fixed but I think this will be a nice little radio to add to my collection.
Thanks Marky, great video for introducing the GD-73A!
Thank you very much! I'm a huge fan of all things Radioddity and appreciate everything you guys do to make obtaining these devices easy for anyone. Loving the new GD-73A :) Hope your day is fantastic!!
Thanks ! Marky, my GD-73A is arriving today.
Fantastic, Daniel! Hope you enjoy that little bugger. If you need any help, feel free to reach out!
Thank you Mr. Shaw for the review. I just ordered one. This radio will server several roles. Now we have Bluetooth speaker mic for 40 to 60 dollars. Why not skip the Bluetooth and go with a small radio. Also I'll use it in Europe and U.K. trips on the amateur radio and PMR. Easy charging via USB.
73's Mr. Shaw
KE6UPI
BER is high with 1.06 firmware. Best result is 1.04 firmware.
Is it easy to just program one hotspot channel and then change the contact from the menu?
Thanks for the video ! . I'm having issue with the USB driver. Is any update I should get ?
Thought it would be worth mentioning that I'm using the "Low" power setting on all my channels which is only .5 watts. Works great! Also, turns out the headset IS interchangeable with the left/right ear. The rubber/plastic on mine was a little bit melted shut for some reason. I wiggled it around and was able to swivel the ear piece around. So that's nice :-)
How many contacts will it do
Hey Jamie! Not very much, unfortunately! 1024 to be exact. It can store both 1024 channels and 1024 contacts. On the bright side, since I'm always at home and at my desk when using this radio, I typically always have the Pi-Star dashboard open so I can see people's callsigns. Since it's designed for hotspot use, I don't think it's entirely needed to store a boatload of contacts. Although, I could see how this might be a deal-breaker for certain users. Either way, still using this little guy almost everyday and I enjoy how simple the device is. Thanks for watching!
@@MarkyShaw just curious thanks
I just purchased this radio. I think it is really cool, small and light and I love Radioddity. I am sure there will be firmware updates soon but I have found a few bugs. For one- It won't allow me to program my hotspot that is at 434.22750. I would have to reprogram all my other radios if I have to change my hotspots frequency and that's just not fun. Also, I programed the P1 key to change the power levels with a short tap. Turns out this thing talks. Only problem is it says "LO Power" when its set hi. and it only speaks digital noise when it should be saying "Hi Power" and sets to Lo. Its backwards. If anyone knows a fix for this, please let me know. The PTT button is very easy to kit by accident because it is way too easy to activate it. It would have been nice if they added the chip to allow FM Broadcast band as a cheap added feature. Also, the chip this radio uses has the capability to receive 2m and weather band but they don't have that active as an option. Of course you wound not be able to transmit on these frequencies without harm or serious harmonic interference as the radio was not designed for that range. My last comment is- I would love to see Talker Alias added. This would allow the transmission of your call sign, Name and location as well as reception of the same from the newer radios that support it. Brandmeister supports it as you can see that information on your hotspots display.
Hey there Bruce! Man, it's great to hear your story on using this device. That is the weirdest thing about not being able to use 434.22750. And I assume that is despite the fact that you probably have the frequency range set to 406.1-470 MHz under the "Basic Information" section of the programming software? The rest of the little quirks definitely sound silly! I hope they get those annoyances fixed up in a future update. I'll be checking it out regularly as well to see if something gets released. VERY interesting about the 2m and weather band. It would be nice to at the very least, receive those frequencies. It seems like all these little chinese radios at least give you a flashlight and an FM radio ;-) I've never heard of the Talker Alias feature, but I definitely like the sound of that. I'll try it out on the GD-77! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Hi Mark- Can you verify that you have the same weird noise when setting between Hi and Lo power? Yes, I am set to the correct frequency range and it will accept 434.22500 but for some reason refuses the 434.22750. Seems that there must be set frequency steps that it accepts but not just any frequency. I am trying to get Radioddity to fix this. So, talker Alias is the newest thing coming to all the newer DMR radios like the Anytone. It allows you to send and receive call sign, name and location without a database in the radio. This fixed the issue of many radios running out of space for more DMS ID's since we are getting over 100,000. If you have a Jumbo Spot, you may have noticed that it displays the call and name and location of the the person keying up. That is actually Talker Alias. Brandmeister sends this digital info for every caller. Its just a matter of getting the radios to show it just like the jumbo spot shows it. Let me know if you need me to do any testing to verify bugs you are running into. 73's Bruce (KC3JS)
Hey Bruce! So this is interesting. I programmed my P1 to change the power on a 2 second long press. I see the indicator icon switch from H to L and vice versa. I hear a little noise as if someone is keying up, but no audio, no voice, or anything. I checked my KeyTone settings to see if that had any effect, but it does not. Ahh, ok now I'm clear on the Talker Alias. I use my Pi-Star dashboard and the OLED on the hotspot all the time! Which is probably why I'm not too concerned that this little guy can only hold 1024 measley contacts. However, when on the road and using repeaters, it is way nicer to have all the DMR contacts in the world loaded up! On the GD-77 I maxed out the 10,000 with pretty much most of the Mid-Atlantic. DE, MD, VA, and Idaho where I have family. Doesn't take long to fill them up that's for sure!
That's so weird that you don't her it say in a male voice "Lo Power". The high power setting make what sounds like its talking but at 100 times the normal speed. Is there a way to re-flash the firmware? I can't find it anywhere.
Radiodity can make the finest radios in the world. But they can’t get it to the public. With express shipping 2 month delivery?
A little but of frustration...? Their software sucks!
Looks like a real waste of money when a much more capable radio (several actually) can be had for the same price or close. Nice toy though if that's what you want.
Fine for you to think that but you misunderstand the purpose and the application of the device if you call it a waste. The GD-77 for example is a way better value for the price and is cheaper. You get a bigger radio, higher wattage, more contacts, etc. But again, this is nearly half it's size with twice the battery life. So it serves a purpose for certain people. A waste is not a fair way to describe it. A novelty? Yes. A nice gift for a hotspot user? Most definitely.
I agree with Marky- This radio is what it is. Very lightweight easy to hold with good battery life. I managed to hex edit my codeplug to allow me to add the NOAA weather frequencies for receive only. You can of course also add 2-meter frequencies for receive only. I am hopeful for a firmware revision to allow for some of the bugs to be fixed but I think this will be a nice little radio to add to my collection.