The New Radioddity GD-168. The New DMR Category Leader?
Opening
Digital mode radios are a great way for technician class licensees to reach out and interact with hams all around the world. Of course, that applies to other Amateur license classes as well.
There are three digital voice modes primarily used in Ham radio. They are Digital Mobile Radio or DMR, Yaesu System Fusion or C4FM, and digital smart technologies for Amateur Radio or D-STAR. Of the three, DMR has the least expensive radios but is generally agreed to be the hardest to learn.
The GD-168 is Radioddity’s newest DMR radio. In fact, as I record this, the radios are still in the pre-order stage.The radio is built by AnyTone so is the same as the AnyTone branded version. Radioddity has an early bird bundle package and introductory price that you might find valuable.
As you probably guessed, I got this radio from Radioddity for this review and I really appreciate it. When it comes to reviews, I might ask a vendor to answer a technical question or two but they get no input into the review or any pre-approval rights.
Main Features
So, let’s start off with some of the main features included in the GD-168.
First are a DMR related items.
The radio has a 500 thousand contact database capacity. That means that as I record this, the radio can accept all listed DMR users from around the world. For those new to DMR, that means when another DMR user calls you or you’re talking with someone in a talk group, his or her name and call sign will display on your radio’s screen. On radios with fewer memory slots, than the current DMR user count, you’ll have to edit the downloaded file to get the total number of entries to at or below the radio’s database limit. You’ll still be able to interact with those users you delete, but you won’t get their ID info.
Speaking of Talk Groups, the GD-168 has room to store 10 thousand talk group entries. That’s a lot of capacity. For example, I just checked the Brandmeister DMR network website and they currently have just under 1700 talk groups. Also related to DMR is the radio is both tier 1 and tier 2 compatible.
Here are some more radio specific features. The GD-168 has four selectable power settings from low power at about a half a watt up to Turbo power at the rated 5 watts in the two-meter band and a bit less on 70 centimeters.
The package also comes with a couple of what I call two-fers.
First, it comes with two antennas. Both are dual band but one is the long 15 inch 771-style antenna and the other is a shorter rubber duck style. Second, the radio comes with two batteries. One is an 1800 milliamp hour battery and the other is a 2600 milliamp hour battery. These allow you to have a spare battery with your or, you can just choose the one that best matches how you plan to use the radio that day or perhaps weekend.
The last two-fer is you can charge the radio in one of two ways. You can use the USB-C charging cable from the wall charger or car USB port directly into the USB-C connection on the radio or you can connect the USB-C cable to an included charge cradle if you prefer a desktop charging station.
Now, speaking of the USB-C connection, you can also program the radio by connecting data-capable USB C cable between the radio and your computer. You don’t need to worry about a programming cable with some of the issues that go along with them.
There are two more things I want to call out. Again, these will probably find their way into a separate video but you need to be aware of them, now.
Special Features
First, the radio is APRS capable for those of you who use APRS. However, since the radio doesn’t have a GPS receiver, outgoing APRS messages come from a prepopulated list. Ongoing beaconing as your move about is not supported.
Next is the radio’s satellite prediction function. If you’re into satellite communications you’ll likely really appreciate this feature. When you program in the proper date and time, download a current satellite information file, and tell the radio where it is, — remember there’s no GPS; the radio will display a list of satellites and a tracking display. The list will show the satellite’s expected appearance time, azimuth, frequencies, and so on.
First the GD-168’s form factor and build quality are great. Being a little smaller than the UV878 series of radios, makes it easy to hold and use.
It’ build quality seems very robust and I’d think it would stand up to some heavy use. It doesn’t claim any Intrusion or Ingress Protection score so I would use it in the rain.
Second, the feature set and the huge number of menu settings allows you to customize the radio to your needs. Digital and analog channels usage and a huge number of channel zones you can use to categorize channels makes the large number of channels easier to manage.
