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Reviews For: Radioditty DB25D

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

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Review Summary For : Radioditty DB25D
Reviews: 2MSRP: $239.00 USD
Description:
RADIODDITY DB25-D MINI MOBILE RADIO | 20W | ANALOG & DIGITAL DMR | VHF & UHF DUAL BAND | GPS / APRS | SMS | COLOR SCREEN | 300000 CONTACTS Tiny, full featured DMR/Analog radio, perfect for car mounting, modest transmit output. Basically the same radio as offered under the Retevis RT73 brand.
Product is in production
More Info: https://www.radioddity.com/products/radioddity-db25d
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
2323
KX3DX Rating: 2022-11-25
Good radio, frustrating firmware Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Recent firmware and CPS updates are improving this radio. Hopefully it keeps getting better. Scanning is better now and so is APRS. I encourage Radioddity to turn this firmware over to an open development group like OpenGD77. The hardware on this radio seems to be very good - the firmware still has that commercial DMR feel to it. The OpenGD77 guys have made both my GD77 and MD9600 radios more "ham-like". This would be a great little radio with better ham-like firmware.

MM7DBT's CPS is still excellent and getting even better.

*************************

I can echo most of W1MVY's review - with subtle differences. I can scan mixed analog and digital zones with APRS ON - but randomly, scanning stops. If you are scanning and the radio stops on a busy channel, you can't exit the scan and stay on that busy channel. It reverts to channel you initiated scanning on. Maddening! Scanning randomly stops for no reason far less when scanning an analog-only zone. Why?

My unit remembers the previous volume setting. I never change it - changing it is maddening too! I suspect that different versions of firmware may be the causing the difference here.

David's CPS is excellent! The standard CPS is bad. Really bad.

I have an MD-9600 and a GD-77, both running OpenGD77 firmware. Both are great. The OpenGD77 software guys are hams - they understand how we use our radios and have written some very good firmware. Radioddity should open their designs to these guys and let them write the firmware.

BTW - basic radio operation is pretty good. I'm going to hang with this radio a little longer - maybe these issues will be addressed in a future firmware update.

73/Dave
W1MVY Rating: 2022-10-14
I wanted to like this radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
After almost a year of ownership, I have to say that this radio could be great - but it isn't.

The Good:
It is great in that it is small, powerful and solid. The hardware is excellent for the price. It comes with all needed mounting hardware and it's controls are excellent. It puts out it's full rated 20 watts on both 2M and 70M, has strong, clear audio output and has easy to reach buttons for control on both the unit itself and the Mic..

Radioditty support is VERY responsive and, once you establish that you have read the manual and tried all the easy stuff, is technically competent.

The Bad:
Said in a single word: Software.

I did get all the stated functionality - DMR, Analog and Digital APRS, DMR Roaming, Analog, GPS - working after many tries and emails with Radioditty support. Unfortunately, many of these functions required workarounds.

For example:
- To get APRS to work after a codeplug update, you must let the radio restart, then you must turn the radio off again before GPS/APRS will restart.
- Audio is reset every time the radio is turned off and there is no dedicated audio control. You must reset audio each time.
- Programming with the Radioditty supplied CPS is hopeless. This CPS is extremely hard to use and clearly was designed with a commercial user in mind. To program the unit, as a workaround I found that the Codeplug Editor by David MM7DBT, an open source CPS made it possible to program the DB25D reliably.
- Due to the way the DB25D handles channels, in the end I found the unit to be basically inflexible for ham use.
- As far as DMR goes, the radio works, but again, the programming and operational inflexibility makes the radio too hard to use. For DMR roaming, the only way I could figure out how to use it is to roam by talkgroup. But unfortunately, the radio will receive all talkgroups on each frequency. There was no way to quickly switch talkgroups once a QSO starts - without going back and manually switching between roaming groups.
- Analog scanning only works with GPS/APRS are off. This is a major headache when driving in new areas.

So... I really like Radioditty support - they are awesome but this rig is more of a "science project" than a finished product. If you don't use more than a few Analog frequencies and one (not more) DMR repeaters/talkgroups, this radio is a decent product. If you travel, like to try many repeaters and DMR talkgroups - spend the money and get an AnyTone.