Tiny Anytone "Smart" CB radio

[BBB]

Saw this on Amazon and thought someone might be interested if they have a newer vehicle that has limited space to mount a CB radio. Actually its an $60 (8) watt 10 meter AM/FM mobile radio that can cover 10-11 meters (25.615-30.105MHz) with an easy solder mod that is listed in the review/ comment section of the Amazon page.

I guess the "Smart" part is the fact that is small. Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 4.3 x 1 inches. Down side is that the mic is married to the radio. I don't own one so I'm not sure how it sounds on AM.

This site doesn't allow me to link to Amazon so search up the following on their site:

AnyTone Smart CB Mobile Radio/transceiver 10Meter with FM/AM mode, Frequency Range:28.000-29.695MHz Power output 8Watts FM/AM Radios Mobile Transceiver

 

[sdmahr]

Saw this on Amazon and thought someone might be interested if they have a newer vehicle that has limited space to mount a CB radio. Actually its an $60 (8) watt 10 meter AM/FM mobile radio that can cover 10-11 meters (25.615-30.105MHz) with an easy solder mod that is listed in the review/ comment section of the Amazon page.

I guess the "Smart" part is the fact that is small. Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 4.3 x 1 inches. Down side is that the mic is married to the radio. I don't own one so I'm not sure how it sounds on AM.

This site doesn't allow me to link to Amazon so search up the following on their site:

AnyTone Smart CB Mobile Radio/transceiver 10Meter with FM/AM mode, Frequency Range:28.000-29.695MHz Power output 8Watts FM/AM Radios Mobile Transceiver

If is only has SSB...........

 

[M0GVZ]

That'll be the Anytone badged Albrecht 6110. Here in the EU it is sold as an 11m CB radio but I guess its done on 10m to get past the FCC in the USA. If you want an in depth review with some actual testing on proper radio test gear by a very well qualified engineer then watch this Youtube video. This guy even checks the input impedance of the radio and the distortion on the audio amp for the speaker output. End result is that its actually quite good with only slightly low FM deviation and AM modulation but there are two pots in the radio to set those higher.



There's quite a few of these micro CBs coming on the market now but they're all only AM/FM.

 

[BBB]

Thank you for the video link. Wow that guy is very thorough with his testing. Definitely going to subscribe to his channel Dig the accent..."10 Vatt with no spearious"

I wonder if you could cut the factory mic cable to a stub and splice in a 4 pin Cobra mic plug if the factory mic is a standard dynamic style. I do see the version in the video has buttons on the mic though.

 

[fourstringburn]

What's so smart about it?

 

[BBB]

After I watched the video review, I would say besides its super compact size, the lack of transmitted harmonic spurs and on frequency performance could be construed as "Smart"

 

[fourstringburn]

After I watched the video review, I would say besides its super compact size, the lack of transmitted harmonic spurs and on frequency performance could be construed as "Smart"

I guess,

These days the word "smart" refers to sophisticated or electronically intuitive products like smart phones, TV's etc.

 

[9C1Driver]

I guess,

These days the word "smart" refers to sophisticated or electronically intuitive products like smart phones, TV's etc.

I agree, neat little radio like the mini Magnum from years ago but nothing "smart" about it.

 

[222DBFL]

The maxlog m8900 is pretty small as well and it has plenty of options as well as SSB. Not sure if they are still in production, but they are a small radio!!

 

[9C1Driver]

The maxlog m8900 is pretty small as well and it has plenty of options as well as SSB. Not sure if they are still in production, but they are a small radio!!

I'll have to check that out. For me any more a radio needs SSB since I talk 75% SSB. Love my Madison, Delta Force, 257HP, and S45HP.

 

[Grogan]

For AM and small and a low price it sounds smart to me, Need a cheap radio and can use a screwdriver and soldering iron. It will be a nice portable rig. Put a cigg plug on it with an antenna and away we go!!!!!

 

[M0GVZ]

Thank you for the video link. Wow that guy is very thorough with his testing. Definitely going to subscribe to his channel Dig the accent..."10 Vatt with no spearious"

I wonder if you could cut the factory mic cable to a stub and splice in a 4 pin Cobra mic plug if the factory mic is a standard dynamic style. I do see the version in the video has buttons on the mic though.

Yeah he's German and his english is great considering its his second language and its a technical subject so a bit different than learning just straight conversational english.

Channel change is only done by buttons on the mike but there's someone who is famous for doing modding to radios in Europe who has managed to fit a rotary knob channel selector to one. Downside is you have to move the microphone as it uses the same location that the mic cable goes into.

 

[BBB]

Seems like the folks across the pond are giving this little rig good reviews. I'm going to try one out.

I saw that the mic terminates to multi pin plug on the inside of the rig. The connector looked pretty standard as straight PC board connectors go. Maybe an RCI 158 SP mic with the buttons on the side could be used if it sounded any better than the stock mic.

https://www.bellscb.com/products/microphones/Ranger_SRA-158_Buttons.html

Now just need to find out if the stock mic element is electret and if so, do I need to remove or bleed off the low voltage associated with an electret element that's sent out on one of the wires in the mic cable.

 

[BBB]

Picked these user comments off the Amazon site just in case they vaporize:

"Nice, well constructed radio. Here's the deal. To operate this radio on the US CB frequencies: Make sure the radio is disconnected from the power source. Turn the radio over and remove the 4 Philips screws. Gently unplug the speaker from the pc board. Locate the circuit labeled OP2. There is a very small blob of solder across 2 pads. Use a hot small tipped soldering iron to heat the solder just enough to remove it. I verified the modification transmitting to another cb radio. Loud and clear on 19. Plug the speaker back in and replace the back cover. Easy peasy."

"Update: No modification is required if you use this radio in the export mode E. The radio will be set for the German CB frequencies which mirror the US frequencies. It will transmit at 8 watts. Double the allowable transmit power for the US. The mod merely reduces the power output by half. ; ) Know what I mean Vern?"

"When you receive the radio it will be in the "DE" Germany mode. To switch modes:
Hold the A/F button while powering on the radio. It will display the current mode. The up/down buttons on the microphone will change the mode. I emailed the seller and received pdf charts that detail the USA mod and a chart that details the frequency band for each country mode"

"This is a good radio for the price and will fit in any vehicle or atv. De-solder OP2 and solder OP1 to keep the high power. Use band D for 11 meter CB. This is great for a holiday road trip or for local traffic reports. If you want something loud and swings, get a galaxy. The direction that come with it are about useless. There is limited but helpful info on the net. I put mine on the meter and get 3.5w on low and 10w on high."

So it appears that there are at least two ways of conversion. One says modify some solder bridges (OP1 & OP2) and one says there is a button programming method. I'll try the EZ method first, if it will work and maintain the higher power output. It is nice to know there is a lower power option for matching an amp or more schwang/ longevity.

Here's the modded unit with the added channel selector, external mic adapter and cooling fan:



I'll see if I can get the frequency chart from the seller and post it up unless someone else has it already.

 

[BBB]

Finally got the Anytone Smart Radio on the air last night. There was a huge amount of skip so it was not hard to make DX contacts with it (obviously.) The radio was shipped in 10 meter mode as predicted. Using the push buttons only yielded changes in bandwidth on 10 meters. Fine if you want a 10 Meter AM/FM Radio for $50.

So, I wanted an 11 meter AM rig and removed the solder bridge on OP2 as suggested. Then turned the radio back on while holding the AF button. Released the AF button and was able to use the up/down buttons on the mic the scroll thru the country codes ending up on "dE" (which yields US 11 meters) Cycled the power to the radio again it retained the 11 meter mod

Power out of the box on AM was about 3 watts dead key and peaked at 8 watts. While I had the cover off, I adjusted the AM modulation pot up a bit and raised the AM dead key power adjustment. These are located right next to each other near the back right side of the radio with the AM modulation pot the one closest to the back of the unit. Am power was then set to match my amp at 4 watts DK and now swings to 15 watts PEP. This setting is fine for me although there is mention of a high/ low power setting option in the manual using the buttons on the front of the unit, but mine did not respond to that option. Probably has something to do with not soldering a new bridge on OP1 or the country code operation. Maybe someone else has more info on this feature.

This radio utilizes the Fairchild 13N10 final Mosfet and even at these lower power out setting gets hot in a hurry. So for now, I'll just run it at 15 watts max. The radios casing is quality cast aluminum and could benefit from a small CPU cooling fan.

RF Audio was a bit "thin" sounding IMO with the "married" factory electret stock mic as would be expected. I'm going to drill out the mic hole in the plastic mic cover as it's super small to see if that will improve things a bit. Even though, I still got decent audio reports from DX land. There is a metal weight inside the mic that could removed to make it even lighter. There is an 1/8" external speaker jack on the back of the radio that really opened up the sound of this little rig when I hooked up my big JBL monitor speaker. Impressive sounding receive.

I just can't explain in words how tiny this thing is. It's so compact and light, I had to clamp it in my Panavise so the coax and mic cord wouldn't pull it off the bench. If your vehicle is space constrained or you just want a super light weight rig to pack in at $50 The Anytone Smart Radio will fit.

https://www.fairchildsemi.com/datasheets/FQ/FQP13N10.pdf