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Reviews For: TYT TH-7800 Dualband Radio

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : TYT TH-7800 Dualband Radio
Reviews: 9MSRP: 189.99
Description:
2m/440 radio. Does crossband repeat 800 channels
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.grapevineamateurradio.com/store/?model_number=TH7800
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0093.2
9W8HAZ Rating: 2021-09-11
Busylock on receiving Time Owned: more than 12 months.
within a year, working just fine. after a year, the VFO A stucked at Busy on receiving. There's no solution on that.

No firmwares, no fixes
KF4KQS Rating: 2019-07-27
Great radio especially for the price! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I got mine from Ham World at the Dayton Hamvention earlier this year, (2019), and absolutely enjoy this radio! I use it in my home shack for regular chatter, rag chewing and running nets and it rarely gets turned off. Simple to program with chirp or by hand. Excellent audio reports. I heard that some of the earlier versions of this radio had problems, I can’t speak for them, but I do know this second generation radio works very very well. I plan on getting the quad band version next.
KN0JI Rating: 2018-06-29
Fabulous signal and easy XBR Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've used this mobile rig on several emergency callouts, marathon aid stations, Field Day (as our local VHF/UHF talk-in), and club demonstrations of how XBR (cross-band repeat) works. Performs well, no intermod, clean signal on the spectrum analyzer (no spurs), high power to 55 watts.
Only complaint I have is one person says the mic sounds tinny, but when I hear others use that mic on my rig, it sounds fine to me, so jury's still out on that one.
In the end, I highly recommend it for mobile or desktop use. Nice, loud audio. Easy to program. Keys and functions resemble those of my Yaesu FT-8800R. Very inexpensive. Removable head, plus separation kit. Really can't beat it for the price. Got it off Amazon. Heard less-than-stellar stories about this rig from some who purchased off others.
KN4AUU Rating: 2018-05-16
I like it so far Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought from a supplier at the Morganton NC Ham Fest 4/21/18. I have dealt with this supplier before, he told me this was the latest shipment from China, my serial # starts with 1711A.
Came home powered it up and it has been running ever since, minus a few thunderstorms. Manual is OK, I've seen worse. The included software works but is hard to understand, I programmed a few repeaters by hand (not hard) and then downloaded in Chirp and the included software to get an idea on what the settings look like. After that no problem to program, there are a number of settings in the included software I cannot make sense of. With the current version of the firmware there was no busy lock and the LOUD beep can be turned off with a menu item. Still cannot figure out how to determine the firmware version.

One thin I really don't like is that if you are scanning on one side, does not matter which, and you key up on the other side, scanning stops and will not resume. You have to hit the SCN button again, every time.

Other that that the radio works well and does not exhibit the intermod of the previous versions.

Output on VHF is between 45 and 55 watts depending where you are on the band.

Output on UHF is between 35 and 40 watts depending where you are on the band.

I really like the cross band repeat, I have a cheap baofeng uhf HT, I can turn on CBR and use my handheld outside the car the hit the VHF repeater 20 miles away.

Most of the info you will find on the web is for the TYT 9800 Quad band, which is exactly the same as the 7800, just has the 10M and 6M bands. For $20 more should have bought the 9800.

Overall a lot of radio for $180 bucks.
VE7SHM Rating: 2017-09-24
Works as it should Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Going on 2 years almost never shut off lasted longer than my icom

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Earlier 5-star review posted by VE7SHM on 2016-10-05

Does every thing it supposed to do ..Programing was Easy but i did use chirp and setting up programing cable was easy .........
K3NP Rating: 2017-03-16
Decent dual band rig for the money Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought one of these at a local hamfest from a local radio seller because I wanted a dual band VHF/UHF base rig but didn't have a lot to spend. I use this radio probably 5-10 times a week to check into various ragchew and ARES nets around my area. Overall it does pretty well. With a Comet dual band whip antenna on my roof (35 ft high) and an MFJ ground plane kit to make it a base antenna, I can hit repeaters and talk with folks about 75 miles away. I also use the cross band repeat with an HT so if I'm working in the garage around net time I can check in without going upstairs to the shack. The documentation on how to use the programming software and cable is so-so, but I figured it out. The rig comes with a mounting bracket, and the included mike has a switchable backlight as well as 4 programmable (PF) keys.
Problems I've had with this radio:
1) The original mike was defective. I'd key repeaters and they'd tell me I had a full quieting signal but no or very low audio. The local seller swapped out my mike at no charge (Thanks to www.buytwowayradios.com)! New mike works fine.
2) It took me a while to figure out the ABCDEF buttons on the front of the radio. They call them “hyper memories” and the idea is you can save an entire rig configuration to a button instead of just one frequency. The manual says to press and hold one of the buttons for 2 seconds to set. I finally figured out it’s more like 3 seconds, after which the radio beeps 3 times to confirm. If you let go too soon, you lose all your stored memories and have to use the programming cable to write them from your computer again!
3) No way to adjust beep volume except via programming cable-and the default is very loud.
4) I have not had issues with audio whine or other receiver anomalies like I've seen in some other reviews I’ve read.
Overall it's pretty decent, especially for having paid less than $200. Other rigs I considered were the Yaesu FT-7900 (dual band) and FT-8900 (quad-band) rigs. The TYT TH-7800 seems to have been inspired by the Yaesu FT-7900.
W2JDQ Rating: 2016-09-23
I went 0 for 2 on this one Time Owned: N.A.
I had to return my first TH-7800 because it imposed an annoying 590 Hz tone on all transmissions. The replacement did also, but at a lower volume level so I decided to keep the radio. After 46 days (about 50 hours of use) the rig's processor went bonkers. The dial went dark while the mike keypad stayed lighted, and no buttons or keys could raise a response. Yes, the TH-7800 can be had for a low price, but I feel that 46 days of life is a little on the short side.
VE3PSF Rating: 2016-09-22
Cheap Chinese knockoff Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased this radio from a supplier in Ontario. No warranty unless you send it back to China..beware. The included USB programming cable is junk so be prepared to purchase a after market cable for $40. The internal speaker is poor so be prepared to add a external speaker. Mine was returned so I can't comment on it's operation. My opinion is buy from a well known dealer and stay away from this China junk.
N8MRC Rating: 2016-03-23
Good for the money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Good little radio for the price. Almost identical to the Yaesu FT8800. The only thing I can find wrong/different is there is no right or left side, both sides are mirrored, so what's on the left is on the right. Overall a good little dualbander..