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Reviews For: Radioddity GD-73

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : Radioddity GD-73
Reviews: 4MSRP: $80.00
Description:
The new mini DMR portable radio that allow you to work easy with small raspberry pi hotspots or close to your local repeaters.
Unit is very small and makes 500mW in low and 2wts in Hi.
Very affordable, most of the stores has it for less that $80 US
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0044
KG4YXN Rating: 2021-01-19
Good Radio for its Intended Purpose Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Radioddity's GD-73 is available in two models: "A" (Amateur UHF) and "E" (European PMR446). I would not recommended the GD-73A as a "first" DMR radio, but it makes a great second/backup as a knock-around/hotspot radio. This radio's use case is primarily as a hotspot radio, or a shirt pocket radio for local UHF DMR/analog use where you do not need to program frequencies on the fly. Best features are its microphone size form factor, super light weight, long battery life, and standard USB recharging.

I have been using this radio daily for six weeks now. Sound quality is not up to the same standards as my Anytone 878, but it is 100% usable and when comparing radios remember that the GD-73A is less than 1/3 the cost of the Anytone 878. Is it a "great" radio? No. Is it a "good" radio for its intended purpose? Yes. I purchased the GD-73A as a convenient easy to carry secondary radio for hotspot (house and vehicle) and local repeater use. I did not go into this expecting $200 (Anytone 878) quality out of $70 radio!

As long as you temper you expectations to the limited intended use case of this radio I would highly recommend the GD-73A as a second knock-around DMS.

Use cases:

- Dedicated hotspot radio.
- DMR/UHF "beater" (you are only out $70 if you lose it or beat it up).
- Convenient for local DMR EDC.
- Back-up to primary DMR.

PROS:
- USB rechargable.
- Standard USB cable used for programming (no proprietary programming cable needed!).
- Inexpensive (roughly $70-$80 depending on shipping and "on-sale" status).
- Weather and dust resistant. New units are shipping with a USB port in the battery (in addition to the one in the radio) but there is no cover on the battery port. I purchased a bag of USB rubber port covers to keep dust and moisture out.
- Shirt pocket size, smaller than the microphone of most mobile rigs.
- Lightweight - 162gr/5.7 oz with battery and belt clip.
- Super convenient for casual around the house or in the car use when you do not want to carry a full size radio.
- High-Low power settings (2W/0.5W)
- Programmable buttons (2 buttons with two options possible for each button by utilizing a "short press" or "long press").
- Digital and analog.

CONS:
- Requires Radioddity's proprietary programming software. Not yet supported by Chirp.
- Programming is a bit quirky and cumbersome. Online youtube videos from other users (mostly in UK) are very helpful.
- Fixed antenna (due to the fact it is the same form factor for the "E" model which is the European equivalent to U.S. FRS).
- Limited rx info shown on screen (shows only DMR ID, does not show callsign, location, etc.).
- No front panel programming. Can only be programmed via computer.
- Would have been nice if it accepted Kenwood-style plug for microphone, headsets, etc. It uses a single pin t/r/r/s (not compatible with Yaesu).
- Why manufacturers include an LED "flashlight" on radios continues to baffle me.
W3FIS Rating: 2019-12-17
Excellent Hot Spot radio! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The new firmware addresses the BER issue that others have mentioned. The battery life is exceptional. I have ordered a spare battery but really not needed. Charging if through a USB connection. A desk top charger would be nice, but not really necessary. I can link to my hotspot (200 mW) from about up to 1/2 mile away without any problems. Hitting distant DMR repeaters (nearest is 15+ miles from me) with this radio is problematic, as one might suspect. Software is no more quirky than any other DMR software. It is important to set the RX/TX offsets on your hot spot correctly, as I spent some time chasing my tail on this. The software/driver/firmware installation is a bit tricky, but FOLLOW the directions given EXACTLY and you will have no problems. I do find that my old W7 machine did not work well -- "stalls" on data transfer, but all worked fine on a newer W10 machine.
W9WHF Rating: 2019-08-28
New Radioddity GD-73A Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is an ultra compact 2 Watt UHF Analog/FRN/DMR (Tier i and II) handheld.
Pros: Excellent construction (polycarbonate body)
Very efficient Antenna. Excellent
transmit audio, receive audio very good
except at high gain volume.Bright
display, standard CPS programming. Large
memory capacity,
similar to the Hytera PD362 at half the
price.EZ Battery exchange, long battery
life, shirt pocket size. Range is quite
remarkable.Easy to follow instructions
Cons: Minor frequency drift,Xmit light
invisible,distorts slightly at full
volume.
Radioddity customer service is superb.
AD4C2006 Rating: 2019-07-15
Could be improved Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I would give this radio a 5 if it did not have the major issue of "off freq drifing" that is the main reason why when this radio is connected to a hotspot, it will make a high "BER" (bids error rate) and been reported with lots of cuts and loss of packages, perhaps in the future the builder will release a new firmware improving this instability but for now its not a good buy yet. It receives super clean and loud and the TX audio is also very clean.
When checked at the shop with a good service monitor, freq error was 80Hz when keyed up and drop down to 70 Hz after transmiting for a while.This is not accepted for digital data transmiting.Compared with other radios I have for example my Anytone D868 has a freq error of just 10Hz and BER never goes over 0.3%
500 mW is pl3enty of power to open any close hotspot in your home or office or even at your car and 2W will be good also for local repeaters.
Kinda complex programing it, different concept as the other chinesse radios I have programed in the past, if you don't select the TG at the RX group as well, the radio will not received, this is not needed in any other Chinese radio brand.