I was fortunate to win the Father’s Day Radioddity GD-AT10G giveaway. Thanks Moleculo!
Here is a brief list of specifications.
This is my first DMR radio and I am at the bottom of the learning curve to getting the radio set up with a self built Hot Spot. The focus of this review will just be my impressions of the radio and not DMR as a mode. There are many options to setup the radio the way you like it and I’m not going to cover them all here. Here is a link to the GD-AT10G manual.
My radio came with a battery, drop in charger with power supply, USB programming cable, belt clip (you mount it to the battery), rubber duck antenna, and a wrist strap (not shown in the photo).
My first impression is that this radio is “substantial”. It is a little heavy in the hand at nearly 10 ounces (with the battery) but similar to my other HTs. The quality is similar to Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood HTs I have owned over the years. Doesn’t “feel” cheap like the some of the Baofengs and TID radios I have owned.
I like that the ON/OFF and volume share a knob, and the VFO/Memory selection is a knob. I prefer knobs rather than buttons for these functions. I find that I’m changing the volume often and I can do that while it is on my belt or clipped to a pocket. The keypad allows you to do everything without fussing with multi function buttons.
The radio has two VFOs so you can display and monitor two frequencies or memory channels. The audio is loud (1w at 16 ohms) and the screen is bright. It is easy to see the screen outside and hear in loud environment. The website indicates that a Baofeng speaker mic will work and I was able to use the speaker mic from my TID TD-H3 radio.
I programmed a UHF FM repeater that was 10 miles from my location. I was able to hit the repeater at 10w but not at 5w with the supplied antenna. The FM audio is excellent. As good or better than my Icom IC-V8 HT. The 10w power level is called “Turbo” and the 5w level is called “High”. The manual warns “AVOID TRANSMITTING ON HIGH POWER WHILE RADIO IS ATTACHED TO YOUR BELT”. They suggest 2 inches from your body while transmitting.
I was curious to know if the GD-AT10G complied with the FCC specs for harmonic attenuation. All VHF and UHF radios outputting less then 50 watts require that the harmonics must be down greater then 40 db. I used a NanoVNA to sample a 10w signal. Below is a screen shot of the test.
The 1st harmonic is 890MHz and is in the noise floor. To calculate the dBm harmonic attenuation you find the delta between the fundamental frequency and the harmonic frequency you are comparing, This test shows that the GD-AT10G is more than 55 db down from the fundamental frequency. This is a clean radio. I have thrown away a Baofeng and a Baofeng Clone that have failed this test.
You will have to spend some time with the manual or YouTube to learn how to program this radio. Every feature can be programmed from the key pad but I didn’t even try. There are so many settings needed for DMR I knew I would get lost in the menu structure. I used the CPS programming software (aka Code Plug Software). The software is a free download from Radioddity and is easy to use and well designed. No need to download a driver for the USB cable. My Window 11 computer found it and assigned it a COM port when I plugged it into my computer. The manual recommends to “Read” from the radio and save the file for future reference as it contains the default programming and settings (a good practice for any radio).
There are five customizable Hot Keys that can be programmed to set functions so you don’t have to dig into a menu to make a change. These can be programmed from the radio menus or from the CPS programming software. You can choose one of 20 function for each key. For example you could set up the P1 key to cycle through the four power settings.
Again I’m a DMR neophyte and have much to learn but I think there are two important specs you should look out for if you are comparing DMR radios. The GD-AT10G radio will handle 10,000 TalkGoups. There are currently 1681 TalkGoups on the BrandMeister network. This radio can handle contact list up to 200,000. The current contact database at RadioID.net is showing 285,362 contacts in its database (all countries). The Anytone AT-D878UVII-Plus ($335) Anytone AT-D168UV ($200) and the Alinco DJ-MD5XLT ($260) all have the capacity for 500,000 digital contact lists. I’ll have to decide which contacts I want to include or omit before downloading the contact data. For reference the contact list for North America contains 134,161 entries.
When you select “Device Info” menu in the radio it displays the Model Name: D878U. However when you query the radio from the software it shows the Model number as AT10_G-UHF. A google search for D878U returned several sites suggesting the AnyTone AT-D878U matched this Model Name. The GD-AT10G appears to be a re-branded Anytone Radio and modified for use on UHF only. Also, the programming software shows default Power on Display as “WELCOME ANYTONE”.
I think the niche for this radio is DMR users. Seems most of the repeaters in the US for DMR are UHF, and the Hot Spots are either dual band VHF/UHF or UHF only. The current price for this radio is $129 and is bundled with a speaker mic, earpiece headset and an upgraded antenna. I’m not familiar with prices of DMR radios but a quick search suggests that the GD-AT10_G is good bang for your buck if you want to get on DMR.
My overall impression is that this is a well built and designed radio. Once programmed it is easy to use. At a $129 the GD-AT10_G is a great deal!
Dave
NB3R
Here is a brief list of specifications.
- UHF only (400-480 MHz)
- Modes are FM, DMR Tier I and Tier II, APRS
- Four power levels (10w, 5w, 2.5w, 1w)
- GPS
- 7.4v, 3100mAh battery
This is my first DMR radio and I am at the bottom of the learning curve to getting the radio set up with a self built Hot Spot. The focus of this review will just be my impressions of the radio and not DMR as a mode. There are many options to setup the radio the way you like it and I’m not going to cover them all here. Here is a link to the GD-AT10G manual.
My radio came with a battery, drop in charger with power supply, USB programming cable, belt clip (you mount it to the battery), rubber duck antenna, and a wrist strap (not shown in the photo).
My first impression is that this radio is “substantial”. It is a little heavy in the hand at nearly 10 ounces (with the battery) but similar to my other HTs. The quality is similar to Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood HTs I have owned over the years. Doesn’t “feel” cheap like the some of the Baofengs and TID radios I have owned.
I like that the ON/OFF and volume share a knob, and the VFO/Memory selection is a knob. I prefer knobs rather than buttons for these functions. I find that I’m changing the volume often and I can do that while it is on my belt or clipped to a pocket. The keypad allows you to do everything without fussing with multi function buttons.
The radio has two VFOs so you can display and monitor two frequencies or memory channels. The audio is loud (1w at 16 ohms) and the screen is bright. It is easy to see the screen outside and hear in loud environment. The website indicates that a Baofeng speaker mic will work and I was able to use the speaker mic from my TID TD-H3 radio.
I programmed a UHF FM repeater that was 10 miles from my location. I was able to hit the repeater at 10w but not at 5w with the supplied antenna. The FM audio is excellent. As good or better than my Icom IC-V8 HT. The 10w power level is called “Turbo” and the 5w level is called “High”. The manual warns “AVOID TRANSMITTING ON HIGH POWER WHILE RADIO IS ATTACHED TO YOUR BELT”. They suggest 2 inches from your body while transmitting.
I was curious to know if the GD-AT10G complied with the FCC specs for harmonic attenuation. All VHF and UHF radios outputting less then 50 watts require that the harmonics must be down greater then 40 db. I used a NanoVNA to sample a 10w signal. Below is a screen shot of the test.
The 1st harmonic is 890MHz and is in the noise floor. To calculate the dBm harmonic attenuation you find the delta between the fundamental frequency and the harmonic frequency you are comparing, This test shows that the GD-AT10G is more than 55 db down from the fundamental frequency. This is a clean radio. I have thrown away a Baofeng and a Baofeng Clone that have failed this test.
You will have to spend some time with the manual or YouTube to learn how to program this radio. Every feature can be programmed from the key pad but I didn’t even try. There are so many settings needed for DMR I knew I would get lost in the menu structure. I used the CPS programming software (aka Code Plug Software). The software is a free download from Radioddity and is easy to use and well designed. No need to download a driver for the USB cable. My Window 11 computer found it and assigned it a COM port when I plugged it into my computer. The manual recommends to “Read” from the radio and save the file for future reference as it contains the default programming and settings (a good practice for any radio).
There are five customizable Hot Keys that can be programmed to set functions so you don’t have to dig into a menu to make a change. These can be programmed from the radio menus or from the CPS programming software. You can choose one of 20 function for each key. For example you could set up the P1 key to cycle through the four power settings.
Again I’m a DMR neophyte and have much to learn but I think there are two important specs you should look out for if you are comparing DMR radios. The GD-AT10G radio will handle 10,000 TalkGoups. There are currently 1681 TalkGoups on the BrandMeister network. This radio can handle contact list up to 200,000. The current contact database at RadioID.net is showing 285,362 contacts in its database (all countries). The Anytone AT-D878UVII-Plus ($335) Anytone AT-D168UV ($200) and the Alinco DJ-MD5XLT ($260) all have the capacity for 500,000 digital contact lists. I’ll have to decide which contacts I want to include or omit before downloading the contact data. For reference the contact list for North America contains 134,161 entries.
When you select “Device Info” menu in the radio it displays the Model Name: D878U. However when you query the radio from the software it shows the Model number as AT10_G-UHF. A google search for D878U returned several sites suggesting the AnyTone AT-D878U matched this Model Name. The GD-AT10G appears to be a re-branded Anytone Radio and modified for use on UHF only. Also, the programming software shows default Power on Display as “WELCOME ANYTONE”.
I think the niche for this radio is DMR users. Seems most of the repeaters in the US for DMR are UHF, and the Hot Spots are either dual band VHF/UHF or UHF only. The current price for this radio is $129 and is bundled with a speaker mic, earpiece headset and an upgraded antenna. I’m not familiar with prices of DMR radios but a quick search suggests that the GD-AT10_G is good bang for your buck if you want to get on DMR.
My overall impression is that this is a well built and designed radio. Once programmed it is easy to use. At a $129 the GD-AT10_G is a great deal!
Dave
NB3R
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