When I got my first Anytone AT-D878UV in 2019 the roaming function used to display which channel it had roamed onto but later on, probably after a firmware upgrade this disappeared rendering the roaming function rather useless.
This continued even though I switched to the latest AT-D878UVII Plus. I recently asked a friend who also got the latest model if he had the same problem – which he hadn’t.
This made me suspect that this is an error that had occurred in my codeplug and continued to exist even though I’ve switching models (since the RDT-files are upward compatible I didn’t bother to make a new codeplug for the new radio, so I just opened the RDT-file from the old one).
So I exported everyting on my current codeplug to CSV-files, went into the CPS and made a new codeplug, imported the CSV files and walked through Optional settings to set up everyting as I wanted. Then wrote the new codeplug to the radio and guess what – now it displays the channel it is roaming on!
This is my wishlist for features / fixes for the Anytone AT-D878UV and AT-D587UV DMR radios. Comments, additions and suggestions are welcome, contact me on sm0rgm@helander.se. Maybe the Anytone people will read it 😉 I will submit it through my dealer as well, for them to forward to the Anytone developers.
In the analog APRS message, add the possibility to enter a code which will be replaced by the radio’s current frequency, mode etc so people who sees my APRS packet knows what frequency I am listening on, for example %QRV1 will be replaced by the frequency, mode etc receiver 1 is set to. And %QRV2 will be the corresponding for receiver 2 in my radio. For example, if receiver 1 is set to 434.650 MHz DMR, CC04, TS2 the analog APRS will become “434.650 CC01 TS2”. And if it is set to for example 145.600 MHz FM it would become “145.600 FM”.
Make APRS Voice Alert work. The problem is that CTCSS filtering is done before AX.25 APRS decoding. Turn them around, so AX.25 APRS decoding is done before CTCSS filtering. Doing that, Voice Alert would work well on the Anytone since you can select no CTCSS for the APRS transmission but select CTCSS, both TX and RX for the APRS monitoring channel, which also will be used when you press PTT to make a voice alert. (Today, if I set CTCSS RX filter to 136.5 Hz in europe or 100 Hz in US, no APRS will be received at all.)
Scanning. When scanning and the scan stops on a channel with traffic, it would be very nice if the radio stayed on that channel when pressing exit to stop scan. Now it goes back the the channel that was selected when scanning started and I have to manually go to the channel with traffic. Also a quick press on the PTT should stop the scanning on the current channel.
Roaming. Please bring back so the radio displays which channel it is roaming on. This was the case in early firmwares but disappeared, so now it just displays the channel that was selected when roaming was started. Which means that on a roaming channel, I have no idea which repeater I am using or even which band I am transmitting on. Useless! I know there was a problem if there were more than one channel in the roaming zone with the same freqency, CC etc, the first one in the list matching was displayed even if it was the wrong one. Still, this is better than now knowing at all.
There is actually no such thing as “analog” APRS. The traditional APRS over AX.25 on 144.800 MHz (or 145.390 MHz in other parts of the word) is actually defined as a digital mode.
However, Anytone has a possibility in their radios choose wether to send APRS over AX.25 or as position data over the DMR channel. This settings can be found in MENU -> APRS -> Upload Type, “A -Aprs” for APRS over AX.25 or “D – Aprs” for using the DMR. In Anytone they call these modes “Analog APRS” and “Digital APRS”.
APRS over AX.25 – “analog” APRS
In this mode positions are transmitted on a simplex channel (144.800 MHz in IARU region 1) and can be received by anyone in range. The packets can be repeated by digitpeaters (WIDE1 for local “fill in” digitpeaters and WIDE2 for wide coverage digipeaters). If the packet hits a digitpeater with an I-gate it is transported into the APRS-IS system and can be seen in aprs.fi.
The traditional APRS over AX.25 packet radio has many more functions than just position reporting, such as telemetry, weather reports, messaging etc etc. If your radio is capable of receiving APRS you can also see other hams in the area (position, distance, direction etc).
APRS over DMR – “digital” APRS
In this mode, the radio uses the built in function in the DMR specfication to transmit position data. When this position data reaches the Brandmeister servers it is converted to APRS and fed into the APRS-IS system and can be seen on aprs.fi.
APRS over DMR is limited to only position data so if your goal is to just show up on aprs.fi, this can be the mode of choice for you. You miss out on all other features of APRS when using DMR or “digital” APRS.
If you look at the APRS menu on the Anytone for example, the APRS SMS function is only availible for “Analog APRS”.
APRS SMS not availible in “Digital APRS” (over DMR)
For me, I choose the “old school” APRS over AX.25 all days in the week 🙂
https://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/analog_vs_digital_aprs.png2881081Stefan Helanderhttps://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/nerdia-logo-340x156.pngStefan Helander2023-07-02 10:23:192023-07-02 10:28:27Analog vs digital APRS
My analog APRS transmissions with the AT-D878UV was not received by any other stations. The problem was that when the codeplug is created (using New in the CPS), the values for Transmit delay and Prewave Time is set to 0 (zero) for APRS and this will not work (probably to battery saving as this is not a problem with the AT-D578UV for example, which will work with much lower values for Transmit Delay and Prewave Time).
Solution:
In the CPS -> APRS -> set Transmit Delay to 600 ms and Prewave time to 600 ms.
Anytone AT-D878UV analog APRS TX not working – solution
I’ve tried to find an explanation to these values online but haven’t found anything closer than “it controls the time after activating the transmitter until data is being sent”. So I tried setting each value, one at a time to it’s maximum and this is what I think it does:
Transmit Delay: The radio starts transmitting a packet but it sounds like it waits “Transmit Delay” milliseconds before it starts transmitting any valuebla data. During this time my guess it is filling the packet with zeroes.
Prewave Time: The radio pulls the PTT but waits “Prewave Time” milliseconds before it starts to send the packet. During this time, the radio just sends carrier.
If I set the Prewave Time too high, my receiver will not receive and decode the packet. I’ve experimented with values for Prewave Time with different values and between 80-600 ms it seems to be working.
https://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/anytone_at-d878uv_aprs.png202559Stefan Helanderhttps://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/nerdia-logo-340x156.pngStefan Helander2023-06-17 07:23:002023-06-24 10:29:22Anytone AT-D878UV analog APRS transmissions not working
I had problems with the CPS software version 1.16 when trying to update the firmware. The window when selecting Tools -> Firmware just didn’t open. It turns out the software seems really buggy.
Solution: When CPS is running, open a File Explorer and go to “C:\Program Files (x86)\Anytone\D578UV_1.16\” and double click on UpdateQX_Firmware_Update.exe.
The window will now open and you can continue with the firmware update.
Thanks to Ronny/SM7IKJ who gave me to the solution.
After doing some updates of my Anytone D878UV and D578UV DMR radios I had an annoying problem where the talkgroup field was empty in the last call list as well as in the last call “ticker” scrolling by on top of the screen, just showing an empty “TG:”.
It turned out the problem was caused by the digital contact list that I had generated on radioid.net. I had generated the list with the “TG” checked which generates a contact list including all Brandmeister talk groups. Seems very practical but the problem is that the name field for the talk groups are empty and it seems that Anytone has priority to display the talkgroup info from digital contact list, if it exists, above the info from the talk groups list.
Solution was to generate the digital contact list from radioid.net without checking the TG.
Radioid.net digital contact list generator without the TG checked
https://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/IMG_20220708_143917.jpg23041728Stefan Helanderhttps://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/nerdia-logo-340x156.pngStefan Helander2022-07-09 09:15:472022-07-09 09:15:49Anytone D878UV/D578UV last call talkgroup empty
I wanted to make a “stealth installation” of my Anytone AT-D578UV radio in my Toyota Prius (2008) so I don’t have to worry so much for burglars when parking the car. Below the FM-radio is a compartment, when removed, leaves a space big enough for the radio.
There is plenty of space behind the compartment. I was a bit worried about that issue becase the radio is longer than the depth of the compartment, but it turned out there is enough empty space behind it.
I installed the radio with the programming cable connected as it will be very hard to connect it after the radio is mounted in the car. The microphone is extended and connected using a flat straight ethernet cable and both cables are dropped downwards and pulled out from behind the panel. That way I can easily hide the microphone when parking the car.
When the compartment under the radio is removed (and saved to be reinstalled when selling the car), the space between the metal plates is to wide, so I took a 5 mm nylon cutting bord that I cut into pieces and glued them together to form a suitable spacer and drilled a hole for the mounting screw. I did not use the mounting screws that came with the radio, instead I used one M4x20 mm and one M4x40 mm. On the right side of the radio I used 2 nylon pieces and on the left side 5 or 6. The screws went into the rear holes on the radio and to get some support for the front I used zip tie straps around the radio through the holes in the metal plates.
The GPS was just tucked up behind the navitor screen, just to the right of the speaker. A note about the GPS antenna connector. After about 6 months after installation, I had no GPS signal on the Anytone AT-D587UV. It turned out that the SMA-connector, that I tightened by hand, hade shaken loose by the vibrations. So do tight it a bit with a small wrench, not overtightening it but enough to keep it from getting loose.
For power, I routed two 6 mm2 wires directly from the battery (with a 30A fuse close to the battery) and routed them through the left trunk panel and inside the side panels below the doors to the front. The antenna cable went the same way and I didn’t want to drill a hole in the car so I used a trunk lid mount even though the performance for those are often not as good.
Work in progressAT-D578UV under radioAT-D578UV screw and zip tieAT-D578UV zip tieAT-D578UV GPS-antennaAT-D578UV installed under radioAT-D578UV invisibleAT-D578UV programming cable and mic extensionTrunk lid antenna mountTrunk lid antenna mountStealth installation of Anytone AT-D578UV in Toyota Prius (2008)
Useful videos
These are some useful tutorial videos as you need to uninstall and reinstall the stereo in order to install the Anytone AT-D578UV below it.
Car stereo removal
How to remove trunk interior, left side, for cable rerouting. Use parts of this video. You don’t have remove all interior as the video shows.
Car stereo removal, parts of this video is very useful
https://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/IMG_20211007_172828-scaled.jpg19202560Stefan Helanderhttps://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/nerdia-logo-340x156.pngStefan Helander2021-10-09 11:59:282022-05-27 07:49:24Anytone AT-D578UV stealth installation in Toyota Prius (2008)
With the number of assigned DMR ID:s on radioid.net going over 200.000 we are over the limit of the capacity for the Contact List on the older Anytone models. Anytone:s under estimation in design is not the first in history. Remember Bill Gates saying that no-one, ever, is going to need more than 640 kB RAM?
So we need to select which regions of DMR ID:s to incluide in our contact lists in our Anytone radios.
In addition to that it is a good idea to enable Talker Alias to sort of increase the chance of just not seeing a DMR ID in the display. Not all repeaters supports it though.
Make sure your own Radio ID Name is set in the form “CALLSIGN Name” (your callsign and first name separated with a space). Set your radio on a DMR channel, then MENU -> Settings -> Chan Set -> Radio ID -> select your ID -> Option -> Edit Name -> Confirm
MENU -> Talk Group -> Talker Alias -> Alias Tx Set -> On
MENU -> Talk Group -> Talker Alias -> Alias Rx Dis -> Contact First
https://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/talker_alias-scaled.jpg19202560Stefan Helanderhttps://media01.nerdia.net/uploads/nerdia-logo-340x156.pngStefan Helander2021-10-08 06:32:322021-10-08 06:32:33How to enable Talker Alias on Anytone AT-D878UV / AT-D578UV
