I bought one and it arrived today (31/10/2024) based on your review - great radio, generous extras, fantastic screen and great value for money! Thanks for the video Jason
From what my local dealer states, he really likes the AGC on receive. Similar to Motorola. This feature works on Analog and DMR. He said it really helps when listening to those stations with "Hot" audio.
I’ve been wanting the 878 for a long time now but the price is outside of my budget so this D168 sounds great to me hopefully I’ll order one soon as I’ve had my eye on it for about a month now.
I have an Anytone 878 UV and an Anytone 878UVIII plus. The plus is better as I use the bluetooth earpiece and keyer. I place the UV plus at a very high point in my room with a Nagoya 320 long whip. With this combo I use to run and check into nets and many think I'm using the base model not realizing its an HT
I think the only thing I'd like them to add is the GPS.. Aprs without a GPS is mostly useless. I think it would only add $5-$10 to the price and it would still be competitive AND have a really useful feature.
The older radio has a smaller screen and different FONT. The font on the older radio is sort of an old style feeble font, whereas the newer radio has a much cleaner/clearer bolder font, more akin to the font on Yaesu handhelds.
I own an Anytone 878 UVii radio. It is one of the most "deaf" radios on analog that I own--much worse performer than even some sub-$60 Chinese radios. If this radio is anything like it, it's a loser for analog use. As for DMR, I have one DMR repeater in my area and it is completely silent 99% of the time. My Anytone is pretty much gathering dust in my radio drawer.
That's interesting and hasn't been my experience. My Anytone 878 hears better than all of my other inexpensive radios...probably in line with my old Yaesu FT-60.
the local dmr repeaters here are just as quiet as the fm repeaters, my hotspot is what i use at home for talkgroups. i have used the repeaters while mobile. the more you use dmr, the more you will like and use it. if all you want to do is talk to locals, then dmr is overkill, it is meant to work worldwide.
I use my 878UVII plus as a volunteer firefighter. Im in a 36,000 sq mile county with mountain ranges and I hear county dispatch just fine and can transmit to county in places our bk radios can't. I run a Nagoya 771 as we are analog with county. I can hear dispatch while in a neighboring county 40 miles from our county line.
I love the analog functions on mine but the dmr is frustrating with the lag and sound quality. Not to mention the PF3 short button is bugged to be mixed up with the P1 and P2 buttons. Feels like such a waste of money now
Almost any radio can work satellites. The 868 and 878, like just about all other HT's are not full duplex though. Full duplex, while not strictly required, is something that really helps a lot.
Looks like a great radio. Can you use the keypad while receiving digital? On my tyt 390 I can only turn the channel or the vol knob? Thanks for the video.
I got two of these. Immediately discovered a major malfunction in both radios. At random times, the radio will stop sending audio, or it will become extremely quiet. This only happens on analog. It does happen on 2m and 70cm. Cycle the radio off and then back on, and it will work for a while again. I've been in contact with Anytone. Supposedly their engineer is looking into it. I even sent them a video of it happening. It seems to happen most often after the radio has powered on but sitting idle for a while. Anyone else having this issue?
R & L has had them in stock for over a week, I got mine last Wednesday. To be honest I regret buying mine. Too few programmable buttons for a DMR transceiver, and when operating DMR it makes the same annoying speaker popping sounds as my D578 mobile. The 878 is a better HT and worth the extra cost in my opinion.
RED Certification is part of the EUropean Union's 'Radio Equipment Directive.' Apparently, radio hardware must be RED certified in order to be sold in the EU. But, what is QDC 1200 Signalling? Is that the same as, or similar to, Motorola's MDC1200 signalling?
Looks like a good "budget" offering by Anytone. Only negative thing that stands out to me on the 168 is the single side port cover. Plug in an accessory like a headset or speaker mic and the USB-C port is exposed to moisture, dirt, and other detritus. Really should have two separate port covers. Expect to see some of the improved features (noise reduction, etc) eventually come to its big brother (878UVII). Maybe they'll offer a basic 878UVII without GPS/BT as well. Never use those features and they just increase the price.
I will probably purchase this radio to replace my 878uv, as I want the 500k contacts and I dont care for GPS or APRS. It's funny, that the Tidradio H3 I purchased recently came with two batteries that are both 2500 mAh. Why Anytone sends two different battery sizes is odd. They should send two of the larger capacity. Also, my Tidradio uses the USB C cable it comes with as the software cable on the side of that radio instead of the K plug. I'm guessing this Anytone 168 is the same way.
what can this do that the TYT uv390 running on open gd77 can"t besides sms? Open GD 77 is giving some radio's a good running for the money. Just trying to be money smart.
To me "satellite" would mean full duplex, not dual receive. When working satellites you want to transmit on one band and listen for yourself on the downlink (other band) simultaneously.
It IS possible to work the V/U FM birds semi-duplex! I've used the AT 868 & 878 with an Elk log periodic & have made many QSO's. The FM U/V satellites is another thing. Only 1 QSO; that was pure luck.
@@stephenplatt5048 You can work satellites with any dual band radio. However, a radio designed to work satellites will be "full duplex". A full duplex radio receives and transmits at the same time. That way you can hear yourself on the downlink as you call out on the uplink frequency.
Have you tried opengd77 firmware? it simplfies programming and operation since the talkgroups are keyboard selectable. you just type in the talkgroup number instead of programming a channel for each one. i love my 1701's one in the house, the other mounted in my car.
Hello Jason. I enjoy you podcasts and the 168 looks promising. I have an 878 and my main complaints about are: slow boot (20 Seconds or so), slow scanning, I have a lowly Baofeng 1801 which scans much, much faster. Also the S meter on the 878 is that tiny thing in the upper right had corner which is hard to read accurately, Again my Baofeng 1801 has a much better S-meter. From what I see the 168 has an S-meter which extends accross the screen. How long does the 168 take to boot? Now here is my biggest compaint: The Talk Group management. If you have 25 or 30 Talk groups on the Amytone you either have to set up 25 or 30 Channels with one TG per channel or use the TG list which takes a lot of button presses to select a TG for the Channel. The Baofeng has a much better solution: TG groups. You can assign a TG group to a chanel, and once you select a channel, just scroll through the TG group to get your desired TG. This would allow you to set up 5 or 6 channels with 5 TG in each TGs group instead of 25 or 30 channels. The whole point of this is: How much pull, do you or Bridgecom or Powerwerx have with Anytone to reqeust that they incorporate TG groups into their Software/Firmware? Thanks, Dave Daniels W4EIP PS, If you haven't tried OpenGD77 on an inexpensive Chinese radio (Baofeng, Retevis, Radiodity, or TYT) that supports it i suggest that you give it a try. I actually like my cheap Baofeng 1801 better than the ANytone for the reasons above and the fact that it supports OpenGD77.
Interesting device . I hope the modulation to DMR is better than on the 878. The 578 or even a Boafeng 1701 sounds much better than an 878 which is a pity. An 878 always sounds a bit like a frog. Please make a modulation test compared to the 878.
@@HamRadio2 It was a joke, you pulled out two antennas, you pulled out 2 power battery packs, I was wondering if you're gonna pull out a second radio LOL
It's obvious that people and businesses buy CCRs and use them on unauthorized frequencies. I've heard sporadic examples of this on 2m. I was told that an unspecified local business bought radios from a now defunct Motorola shop that were programmed on ham freqs. Apparently to avoid license fees? Beyond that, a serious group of bootleggers using DMR radio with encryption would have more chance of avoiding detection (avoiding repeaters). DMR id could be random or stolen from legit users. How likely is it that they would be caught and held responsible? A former employer has been operating for two years on an expired license even after i brought it to their attention. I'm not gonna narc on them. Just an observation about FCC power to catch violators. Out of curiosity I watched some vids about SHTF radio prepping and I'm pretty sure that encryption was mentioned. Zombies might be listening... But seriously...
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
I bought one and it arrived today (31/10/2024) based on your review - great radio, generous extras, fantastic screen and great value for money! Thanks for the video Jason
Awesome!
Thank you Jason! They are now Part 90 approved. The FCC grant was issued.
I wait until the Anytone AT-D168UVII Plus comes out 😁
I am sooo glad you did a review on this HT. I might consider this as a prize give-away for our local Ham club.
From what my local dealer states, he really likes the AGC on receive. Similar to Motorola. This feature works on Analog and DMR. He said it really helps when listening to those stations with "Hot" audio.
Powerwerx is also a very good source for Anytone radios. I just got my 168 commercial version 2 days ago and I'm loving it.
Like it more then the 878
I’ve been wanting the 878 for a long time now but the price is outside of my budget so this D168 sounds great to me hopefully I’ll order one soon as I’ve had my eye on it for about a month now.
I have an Anytone 878 UV and an Anytone 878UVIII plus. The plus is better as I use the bluetooth earpiece and keyer. I place the UV plus at a very high point in my room with a Nagoya 320 long whip. With this combo I use to run and check into nets and many think I'm using the base model not realizing its an HT
I think the only thing I'd like them to add is the GPS.. Aprs without a GPS is mostly useless. I think it would only add $5-$10 to the price and it would still be competitive AND have a really useful feature.
The long antenna jumps better and farther than the small antenna... LOL
The older radio has a smaller screen and different FONT. The font on the older radio is sort of an old style feeble font, whereas the newer radio has a much cleaner/clearer bolder font, more akin to the font on Yaesu handhelds.
I've heard the extra power helps a little on a mag mount to push through some of the loss through the coax.
Sorta
Very nice looking radio, great video, tnx Man!
Thanks!
I own an Anytone 878 UVii radio. It is one of the most "deaf" radios on analog that I own--much worse performer than even some sub-$60 Chinese radios. If this radio is anything like it, it's a loser for analog use. As for DMR, I have one DMR repeater in my area and it is completely silent 99% of the time. My Anytone is pretty much gathering dust in my radio drawer.
That's interesting and hasn't been my experience. My Anytone 878 hears better than all of my other inexpensive radios...probably in line with my old Yaesu FT-60.
the local dmr repeaters here are just as quiet as the fm repeaters, my hotspot is what i use at home for talkgroups. i have used the repeaters while mobile. the more you use dmr, the more you will like and use it. if all you want to do is talk to locals, then dmr is overkill, it is meant to work worldwide.
I use my 878UVII plus as a volunteer firefighter. Im in a 36,000 sq mile county with mountain ranges and I hear county dispatch just fine and can transmit to county in places our bk radios can't. I run a Nagoya 771 as we are analog with county. I can hear dispatch while in a neighboring county 40 miles from our county line.
Incredibly, my 878 outperforms my 7550e on analog and digital for half the price
I love the analog functions on mine but the dmr is frustrating with the lag and sound quality. Not to mention the PF3 short button is bugged to be mixed up with the P1 and P2 buttons. Feels like such a waste of money now
The 868 CAN do satellite with the new firmware.
Almost any radio can work satellites. The 868 and 878, like just about all other HT's are not full duplex though. Full duplex, while not strictly required, is something that really helps a lot.
Looks like a great radio. Can you use the keypad while receiving digital? On my tyt 390 I can only turn the channel or the vol knob? Thanks for the video.
I haven’t found the battery that replaces theGB-44-HL & charges the radio with a UBC port. Any suggestion?
I really want one what am I gonna really miss on day to day analog and digital usage and dmr hs usage
Interesting product. Thanks for the video.
Maybe you could do an Alinco DJ-MD5 compare and contrast video.
I'm looking at that.
Are the two battery formats also like for the Quansheng, one has a flat battery and the other has 2 x 18650 cells ?
The case and screen size on the AT-D168UV looks very similar to the Alinco DJ-MD5XLT.
Similar, but not the same
I got two of these. Immediately discovered a major malfunction in both radios. At random times, the radio will stop sending audio, or it will become extremely quiet. This only happens on analog. It does happen on 2m and 70cm.
Cycle the radio off and then back on, and it will work for a while again.
I've been in contact with Anytone. Supposedly their engineer is looking into it. I even sent them a video of it happening.
It seems to happen most often after the radio has powered on but sitting idle for a while.
Anyone else having this issue?
I have not experienced this myself. Can you send me that video?
It's on my RUclips channel. I would put the link here, but I think that's forbidden?
What battery did you get for usb-c charging for 878
How is the speaker audio output quality compared to the 878? It’s giving me baofeng vibes..
Can you verify if ut had a acual s-meter?
I wonder how that holds up to the Radiottity 168
The only DMR I get is using a hotspot. None of the DMR repeaters are active and neither are the analogs. Now Yaesu repeaters are very busy.
can we unlock and expand the frequency spectrum ?
It'll soon be expanded to a Part 90 radio so you'll be able to go anywhere
thx
With much effort I got a RETEVIS DMR programmed last year. Just thinking about buying and trying to program another DMR radio gives me hives.
This one is much easier to program
The Anytones are easy to program. Just let someone else do it for you! lol J/K it really is easy
R & L has had them in stock for over a week, I got mine last Wednesday. To be honest I regret buying mine. Too few programmable buttons for a DMR transceiver, and when operating DMR it makes the same annoying speaker popping sounds as my D578 mobile. The 878 is a better HT and worth the extra cost in my opinion.
It's basically the same as the Alinco md5xlt.
Looks like that to me, too. Not compelling if you already have an Alinco. The Alinco has the USB "programming" port, too.
RED Certification is part of the EUropean Union's 'Radio Equipment Directive.' Apparently, radio hardware must be RED certified in order to be sold in the EU.
But, what is QDC 1200 Signalling? Is that the same as, or similar to, Motorola's MDC1200 signalling?
Are the batteries interchangeable?
No, don't seem to be. Different form factor.
So I sold my 878 kept my 578! Should I consider this 168
If you want a DMR HT, sure.
Looks like a good "budget" offering by Anytone. Only negative thing that stands out to me on the 168 is the single side port cover. Plug in an accessory like a headset or speaker mic and the USB-C port is exposed to moisture, dirt, and other detritus. Really should have two separate port covers. Expect to see some of the improved features (noise reduction, etc) eventually come to its big brother (878UVII). Maybe they'll offer a basic 878UVII without GPS/BT as well. Never use those features and they just increase the price.
Interesting
I will probably purchase this radio to replace my 878uv, as I want the 500k contacts and I dont care for GPS or APRS. It's funny, that the Tidradio H3 I purchased recently came with two batteries that are both 2500 mAh. Why Anytone sends two different battery sizes is odd. They should send two of the larger capacity. Also, my Tidradio uses the USB C cable it comes with as the software cable on the side of that radio instead of the K plug. I'm guessing this Anytone 168 is the same way.
what can this do that the TYT uv390 running on open gd77 can"t besides sms? Open GD 77 is giving some radio's a good running for the money. Just trying to be money smart.
APRS. I'm not sure how many contacts and channels the UV390 can hold either but Anytone usually has the highest capacity
This radio ilooka to be very similar to my Alinco DJ-MD5
It is similar, but not the same
To me "satellite" would mean full duplex, not dual receive. When working satellites you want to transmit on one band and listen for yourself on the downlink (other band) simultaneously.
Basically the same thing
It IS possible to work the V/U FM birds semi-duplex! I've used the AT 868 & 878 with an Elk log periodic & have made many QSO's. The FM U/V satellites is another thing. Only 1 QSO; that was pure luck.
@@stephenplatt5048 You can work satellites with any dual band radio. However, a radio designed to work satellites will be "full duplex". A full duplex radio receives and transmits at the same time. That way you can hear yourself on the downlink as you call out on the uplink frequency.
I don't get anything on the repeaters that I can hit from arlington.
I still haven't gotten my Baofeng DM1701's to work right. 😆
Have you tried opengd77 firmware? it simplfies programming and operation since the talkgroups are keyboard selectable. you just type in the talkgroup number instead of programming a channel for each one. i love my 1701's one in the house, the other mounted in my car.
looks like the Alinco MD-5
Kinda
Hello Jason. I enjoy you podcasts and the 168 looks promising. I have an 878 and my main complaints about are: slow boot (20 Seconds or so), slow scanning, I have a lowly Baofeng 1801 which scans much, much faster. Also the S meter on the 878 is that tiny thing in the upper right had corner which is hard to read accurately, Again my Baofeng 1801 has a much better S-meter. From what I see the 168 has an S-meter which extends accross the screen. How long does the 168 take to boot? Now here is my biggest compaint: The Talk Group management. If you have 25 or 30 Talk groups on the Amytone you either have to set up 25 or 30 Channels with one TG per channel or use the TG list which takes a lot of button presses to select a TG for the Channel.
The Baofeng has a much better solution: TG groups. You can assign a TG group to a chanel, and once you select a channel, just scroll through the TG group to get your desired TG.
This would allow you to set up 5 or 6 channels with 5 TG in each TGs group instead of 25 or 30 channels.
The whole point of this is: How much pull, do you or Bridgecom or Powerwerx have with Anytone to reqeust that they incorporate TG groups into their Software/Firmware?
Thanks,
Dave Daniels W4EIP
PS, If you haven't tried OpenGD77 on an inexpensive Chinese radio (Baofeng, Retevis, Radiodity, or TYT) that supports it i suggest that you give it a try. I actually like my cheap Baofeng 1801 better than the ANytone for the reasons above and the fact that it supports OpenGD77.
I can make the suggestion, not sure it will do any good, but it is a good idea.
Hey 👋
One of these days, Anytone will make a triband HT with DMR and 220.
Let's see what inside the radio
RED- Radio Equipment Directive. This is used in the EU
The link doesn't load!
Works fine here
It's working now. Must of been a glitch. Great review! 73
I don't understand why it has encryption.
It will also be a part 90 certified radio which can use encryption.
If I didn't already have an 878, I'd get one of these suckers instead.
Interesting device .
I hope the modulation to DMR is better than on the 878.
The 578 or even a Boafeng 1701 sounds much better than an 878 which is a pity.
An 878 always sounds a bit like a frog. Please make a modulation test compared to
the 878.
My 878 sounds great, maybe you got a bad one
I am not Alone with this Problem in the 878
Ok well.. I have 2 of them and do not have this issue.
Surprised its so expensive in the USA, its about £100 here in the UK! Finally we paid less for something haha
Lol
I was hoping for an ip67 upgrade... i guess not...😢
Wow, two of everything? You sure there's not a second radio in there
@@KD6HOF what do you mean?
@@HamRadio2 It was a joke, you pulled out two antennas, you pulled out 2 power battery packs, I was wondering if you're gonna pull out a second radio LOL
@@KD6HOF LOL
God I’m so stuck do I need one lol
NEVER BUY ANY PRODUCT DURING THE FIRST PRODUCTION RUN.FOR VEHICLES IT'S THE FIRST 10 THOUSAND UNITS. WHO KNOWS FOR RADIOS.
Worth $150 bnib?
Sure
It looks great. I don't think GPS and Bluetooth are that useful.
Much rather have the Alinco MD5FXT tbh
What's the point of encryption in HT targeted for radio amateur use? It's unnecessary temptation to breach the law.
Many of these HTs are Part 90 Certified. Also more DMR rigs come with encryption since it is a commercial standard.
It's obvious that people and businesses buy CCRs and use them on unauthorized frequencies. I've heard sporadic examples of this on 2m. I was told that an unspecified local business bought radios from a now defunct Motorola shop that were programmed on ham freqs. Apparently to avoid license fees?
Beyond that, a serious group of bootleggers using DMR radio with encryption would have more chance of avoiding detection (avoiding repeaters). DMR id could be random or stolen from legit users.
How likely is it that they would be caught and held responsible?
A former employer has been operating for two years on an expired license even after i brought it to their attention. I'm not gonna narc on them. Just an observation about FCC power to catch violators.
Out of curiosity I watched some vids about SHTF radio prepping and I'm pretty sure that encryption was mentioned. Zombies might be listening...
But seriously...
Also charge the battery not the radio 5:20 booooooooo
I prefer charging on the battery, too, but it usually comes at the cost of less battery capacity.
Chinese radios including the Anytones should be in the price range of Baofengs.... I run Yaesu and Icom only.
What’s your favorite Icom or Yaesu DMR radio?
I agree except for the AnyTone 878UVii +....Really good radio!
Baofengs are banned in Germany. Anytone is made for the European market and meets all Standards. It gives you more than any DMR radio for that price.
Half the radio for two thirds the price...
Much more than half
$200 junk!!!!!
Booo has to have Airband. Boooooooo
Brother Jason, when are you coming out to southern California? Let's meet for beers and talk HF... KN6ZFM
No plans for a trip to that area any time soon