Anytone Ares 2

[Johnny Mullet]

I have several Anytone radios and the stock microphone is the best on all of them.

 

[Smoke check]

Tim hasn't logged in since the end of last month, but I am sure that he will respond as soon as he sees it. Your Ares 2 should have the new short board in it. It is supposed to be similar to the new version of the 955, the new 5555 and new 5555n2 and a few others. But apparently different enough still.

It is the shorter board, I'll post some pictures in the next day or two, I'm thinking there must be different versions/updates to this board.

The anytone smart radio, I remember the first one I got years ago both sides of the board were heavily populated, and my most recent one they had removed the pots and all the parts on the bottom side, seems they are always making changes big or small..


Sorry for my impatience, I don't see how people have acheived over 100% modulation on a stock mic as I have tried all the adjustments and a power mic, has anyone done any firmware mods for any of thesr type radios?

Id love to know whats tweakable in the firmware.

Cheers

 

[Pez]

Sorry for my impatience, I don't see how people have acheived over 100% modulation on a stock mic as I have tried all the adjustments and a power mic, has anyone done any firmware mods for any of thesr type radios?

Only a tad over 100% modulation is possible without distortion on the ARES 2. You must make sure that NPC is OFF if you are trying to align for a clean 100%. With NPC ON, a lot of the service modulation adjustments seem to be bypassed, or they behave very strangely. (FYI, more microphone drive/gain won't help as the radio already has enough gain in reserve using the stock mic.) I trust that you are using a scope with high enough bandwidth, and have the required test equipment to set these things correctly.

Scott's Radios on YouTube have lots of videos showing the results that are possible with no hardware mods.

73

 

[Pez]

I happened to be playing with an ARES 2 today, so I thought I would take a few pics of the typical results on AM, to show what you should expect to see after a good alignment. (Note: NPC OFF).





At 101.3% measured, if I'm being picky, there is just the slightest bit of positive peak slanting on the falling edge, I could wind it back slightly to improve that. But it's still pretty good.

73

 

[Squints]

Just received a brand new ares II delivered by Amazon at 6 AM this morning which was extremley odd time for them to deliver tho however the ares II is freakin awesome in every way and another fine example of how great the mighty Anytone is.
Like i said the ares II is awesome but i just cant love it as much as my at-5555 plus that has well earned its permanent place on my radio station desk.

 

[Squints]

Anytone is just the absolute best there is in RF equipment and ole shoog nasty southern indiana said that, tellum dear old dad sent ya and when ya get there lettum know your somebody special.

 

[w9cll]

I have a couple of Anytone radios, one uhf and the other vhf (1.25cm). They both work great but honestly the build quality is nowhere near the big three (Icom, Yaesu, and Kenwood)

 

[Staybolt]

Anything new is junk until proven otherwise.

 

[Johnny Mullet]

I own several Anytone radios. I have the tiny "Smart" CB-40, The AT-500M, The old version Quad 5, The Quad 6, and the Radioddity QT40.

I want the QT40 to be my permanent base station rig, but the Quad 6 is outperforming it in every way. I wish I knew a way I could just bring the modulation up on the QT40, but I will have to wait until that information becomes available.

I also own Uniden, Cobra, Realistic, and President radios, but even my Anytone AT-500M blows all of them away.

 

[Pez]

I have a couple of Anytone radios, one uhf and the other vhf (1.25cm). They both work great but honestly the build quality is nowhere near the big three (Icom, Yaesu, and Kenwood)

It's actually getting pretty close IMO, especially given the huge price gap!

 

[Pez]

I own several Anytone radios. I have the tiny "Smart" CB-40, The AT-500M, The old version Quad 5, The Quad 6, and the Radioddity QT40.

I want the QT40 to be my permanent base station rig, but the Quad 6 is outperforming it in every way. I wish I knew a way I could just bring the modulation up on the QT40, but I will have to wait until that information becomes available.

I also own Uniden, Cobra, Realistic, and President radios, but even my Anytone AT-500M blows all of them away.

When you say "outperforming in every way", do you mean specifically the power output, and AM modulation percentage? Because that is the only two things that the 6666 has over the ARES2/QT40, in terms of "performance" that I have measured in all my testing. I know, those two things matter a lot to some, so I'm not arguing that, just pointing out what I have measured. FYI, I would choose the RX on the ARES2/QT40 over the 6666 every time. I find the 6666 hard to listen to after coming back to it from an ARES2 or 5555Nii. What are your thoughts on the RX?

Regarding the AT-500M, I agree, it's a little beast. I really like mine as well. Wait until the AT-500M2 is here, it takes all the original version goodness and adds a heap more features. The new M2 is a great little rig. It should be available any day now.

73

 

[Squints]

My Anytone ares 2 will not go into service menu with the combination as explained above and no cigar.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

My Anytone ares 2 will not go into service menu with the combination as explained above and no cigar.

There's a quirk to get it. If you just hold the buttons and power on, it won't do it. You have to start with the radio on, then click it off, hold the buttons, and right back on before it's done powering down. If you let it power completely down, it won't work. At least that's the experience I had with mine.

 

[Johnny Mullet]

When you say "outperforming in every way", do you mean specifically the power output, and AM modulation percentage? Because that is the only two things that the 6666 has over the ARES2/QT40, in terms of "performance" that I have measured in all my testing. I know, those two things matter a lot to some, so I'm not arguing that, just pointing out what I have measured. FYI, I would choose the RX on the ARES2/QT40 over the 6666 every time. I find the 6666 hard to listen to after coming back to it from an ARES2 or 5555Nii. What are your thoughts on the RX?

The RX on the Radioddity QT40 is better than the Quad 6, but I have 50 to 130 miles contacts we do nightly and everyone says the Quad 6 is better as far as modulation and transmit.

In my heart, I feel that even though the power output is less on the QT40 compared to the Quad 6, the QT40 would make up the difference if the modulation was better. My 4 stage old school meter shows like 20% modulation on my QT40. I have old school radios that put out 100% and sound better.

 

[Pez]

The RX on the Radioddity QT40 is better than the Quad 6, but I have 50 to 130 miles contacts we do nightly and everyone says the Quad 6 is better as far as modulation and transmit.

In my heart, I feel that even though the power output is less on the QT40 compared to the Quad 6, the QT40 would make up the difference if the modulation was better. My 4 stage old school meter shows like 20% modulation on my QT40. I have old school radios that put out 100% and sound better.

Interesting, and all good on the RX. I wouldn't trust that old modulation meter though! (I think many old-school modulation meters would be better named "distortion meters"!)
Out of the box, the QT40 is between 80-90% AM modulation, and 100% is achievable with alignment (see my post up the page a bit). However, there is no doubt that the extra 20+watts combined with stronger AM modulation of the 6666 will make a difference over the distances you are talking.

73