Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes
Reviews Home

Reviews For: Anytone AT-5888UV-III Tri-band Mobile

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Anytone AT-5888UV-III Tri-band Mobile
Reviews: 8MSRP: 335.00
Description:
2m (144 Mhz) 1.25cm (220Mhz) 70cm (440 Mhz)
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.wouxun.us/item.php?item_id=343
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0084.1
KA3WXV Rating: 2021-09-01
I love the three in one feature Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Three bands in one radio and only one mike. Eliminates
shack clutter! Works well. Supplied with programming cable. Just add Chirp.
W4PIG Rating: 2021-07-03
EXCELLENT Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
GOOD RADIO FOR THE MONEY WOULD BUY ANOTHER ONE 73
N1IRL Rating: 2020-06-21
Great radio with the exception of 220MHz receive problem! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is a great radio and pretty much your only option for a high power mobile on 2m, 1 1/4m and 70cm. The only negative I have found is the warble on 220MHz receive when moving in a mobile as K4LFP's review found almost 4 years ago. I and a few friends here have recently purchased this radio and have found that the problem is still there. Appreciate if anyone knows what causes this and if there is a fix other than running your mobile in narrow band mode on 220MHz? I wish Anytone would address this.
KM6YXJ Rating: 2019-05-11
Really Great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This transceiver continues to be really good for me and it has exceeded my expectations!

I really wanted a tri-band radio, 2m, 1.25m and 70cm, and this was really the only choice.
Everything works and I have been getting very nice signal reports, even using a mobile antenna inside the house.

Note that the radio comes with an updated manual, the older manuals I have found online have some inaccuracies.
For instance, this 5888UV-III radio has no "TV" output on the back (it is used for an external speaker now). And the "TV/SQL" button has nothing to do with TV, it is used for memory bank switching and squelch (long press is squelch). Memory banks are groups of stored channels.

I have used the programming software that came with it with good results but it does not have great capability to move channels around. I have also tried the RT Systems software: it seems pretty good. Sadly, CHIRP does NOT work with the version (III) of the 5888UV radio.

Fan runs after a couple minutes transmitting and it is a bit louder than I would like.

Note this radio is similar in design to the Yaesu FT-8900R, TYT TH-9800 and Alinco DR-638T and I strongly suspect they all come from the same factory.

The Hyper and Limit memories can be confusing and are not really explained in the manual. But the Yaesu FT-8900R manual does provide a little description of these, you may wish to take a look at that manual, from the Yaesu website.)
K6LIE Rating: 2017-04-16
Poor Front End Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The AnyTone Tribander is a nicely built rig. I hate to admit it, but the Chinese seem to be coming to the rescue of our 222 Mhz band with the number of handhelds and mobile rigs they are coming out with.

I have been looking for a reasonably priced tribander that includes 222 Mhz and this is one of the few on the market. Power output as I measured it is within specs. The purity of the transmitter is very good when looked at on a spectrum analyzer and the receiver sensitivity is also very good. The big problem with this rig is front end selectivity. I live in the Albuquerque area, in the shadow of Sandia Crest, where there are many TV, FM and public service transmitters. It is a very high RF area. The receiver on the AnyTone is very prone to intermod. On 220, it exhibits very heavy noise burst when driving in the area. When arriving in a stronger area for the repeater you are working, it settles down. Two meters and 440 Mhz also exhibit intermod but seem to be somewhat less.

If you live outside a very heavy RF environment, It works very well. When traveling, it is generally not a problem. But you will experience intermod in the large cities.

I have learned to live with it, since there are very few rigs out there that include the 220 band. I hope that the AnyTone folks will engineer the receiver to be more selective in the future.

As I said, when traveling on the highway across country, it really does well. Also, the transmit audio quality is excellent and when the repeater you are working is strong enough to overcome intermod, it works well. Usually, the repeaters you want to work are quite strong. In my case, when I get some distance away from Sandia Crest, the problem does subside.

The AnyTone manual is very reasonable in its use of English. You can program the radio from the touch tone mic, but using programming software really makes it so much easier to program. I use the RT Systems programming software and it really simplifies the programming.

This radio really does have a lot of great features. If the receiver were a little more selective, I could easily give it a 5. You can see what I mean by checking out the excellent features this rig has.

BTW, You can purchase this rig from Grapevine Amateur Radio in Grapevine, Texas. Jason, the owner, provides excellent customer service.



WA5YXS Rating: 2016-11-23
Decent in some cases Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have two of these units, one for mobile and one as a base station. The base unit is paired to a Comet cx-333 antenna and fed with 1/2" Heliax at 26' high. It performs quite well and I am quite pleased with the performance of the unit in this configuration. The other unit is used mobile and is paired with an Austin triband metropolitan nmo antenna. Overall it is a decent combination for most uses. My biggest complaint is the receiver. It is wide open! Selectivity is far worse than my Yaesu 7900 & 8900 and of course doesn't even come close to my commercial Big M and Kenwood units. In some cases, even with ctcss set, qrm comes blaring through and I have to shut down the unit or turn down the volume. I live between Dallas and Fort Worth and have a lot of RF interference, but I am still disappointed.

On a functional note, why aren't the menu items in alphabetical order? Odd.

If you live in a RF disparate area, this rig is probably OK. I would say that it is functional but utilitarian.
K4LFP Rating: 2016-09-17
Good, but on 220MHz a small issue Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
So far I am pleased with the operation of this radio. Although I learned how to program the radio using the mic keypad and menu options, RT Systems, as usual, makes kick butt software for this unit.
The next paragraph describes an issue only present on the 220 MHz band.
Three operators in my area own this radio and all report the same issue on 220 MHz while in wide FM. In receive mode, there is a "warble" in the audio while the vehicle is in motion. Not a real issue with me, although the faster you travel down the road, the more pronounced it becomes. We all have tried different antennas, I have gone as far as holding the transceiver body in my hand while listening to a QSO, thinking it was picking up on vibrations from the road. It might be picking up on pulses from the engine, but why while only in motion?
In narrow FM the "warble" goes away, but the audio softens up a bit.
K2YYN Rating: 2016-08-24
Finally on the Market Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After a 3 year wait for most and for me, a year and ten months. Any Tone has manufactured and has Finally shipped the first batch of 100 units to the US. Over this long period there were many false starts and production delays due to problems found during the beta testing and roll out of this product. Common sense, all this testing,quality control and problem resolution should have been done prior to announcing any release date.

However, and now since that process is behind us and I have an actual working module. I received mine this past Monday August 22, 2016. Basically this is the big brother of it's dual band counterpart the AnyTone AT-5888UV but with 220 MHz transmit(max 25 watts). 2 meters max (Hi Power) is about 50 watts and 70 cm is about 40 watts max (Hi Power)The case is slightly bigger and very hefty constructed heat sink and cooling fan. Layout and functionality very similar to the Yeasu 8800, 8900 Dual Band and Quad mobile series. I have the programing cable and factory software which work fine for me. However, RT Systems will have their own programming software package available soon. The instruction manual is just OK for Chinese into English. Just make sure you read the instructions a few times carefully before proceeding. Take your time and don't rush. Rushing is when you make the mistakes.

I set up my Any Tone TriBand as a base unit. No need for tri-plexer for the antenna. Using the Comet CX333 TriBand Base/Repeater antenna which is on the peak of my roof. SWR on all three bands <1.3 to 1. Good decent audio and signal reports on various repeaters and simplex on all three bands in my local area (25-30 mile radius)
I did not load the radio with hundreds of frequencies or have I played with all the "bells and whistles" yet.

My primary use and purpose for this radio is using the cross band repeater function tying in a 70 cm pair to our 220 OEM primary Repeater. This gives some of our members who only have dual band (2m/70cm) equipment especially portable/hand held access to the 220 repeater which is the primary repeater for OEM Communications.

So far so good in testing within 3-9 mile radius of my QTH on the 440 side. It's just enough to cover the home town QTH and a little more. For our needs at OEM, no need for a regional wide area coverage on the 440 side. The 220 OEM repeater has that aspect covered. Also. in order to keep the PA from burning out from long duty cycles. Power outage is set to only mid levels 25 watts UHF / 15 watts 220. The CX333 antenna's gain itself on each band compensates for lower power out also.
Burning in, testing the radio now and will post here on further FETs (Field Engineering Test)on Anytone AT-5888UV-III Tri-band Mobile.
I am sure other users will add to this review thread their own experiences.
Good luck and thanks for reading.