Thank you for the clarification. My mind went straight to the UV-5R... frankly, I didn't even know Baofeng made a digital radio. Call me silly. I agree with your other points. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Baofeng-Bla...885087?hash=item4400b8c49f:g:XgUAAOSwKrxUY~G9
There is a problem with licensing of the Chips necessary to do all the modes......so WHEN they come out, the price is expected to be between $1000-$1600. Too rich for my blood. I like the Fusion because they did not alienate all the Analog users when switching. Repeater switches automatically for user. Try that with DMR or DSTAR? IMHO of course.
And they stole patents and other technology in the process. Stick with LEGIT radios IMHO. Motorola suing one of the companies who stole their DMR technology. I believe it is HYTERA who stole their DMR Level 3 proprietary technology.
The only other existing FUSION HT (FT2DR) is $379.00 If you WANT Fusion it is a VERY GOOD price. If you only want the Analog side it is a very big waste of money and technology. YMMV.
I dont understand they receive GREAT......everything at once without changing the channel........HA! Not an HT fan really. I Like the larger mobiles with REAL FILTERING much better! But if you drop a BAOFENG in a creek or step on it you are not out much. Their version of DMR is absolutely awful sounding! IMHO
You are thinking about IMBE used by P25 (phase 2 uses AMBE+2 but is only released in trunking configuration). DVSI is still "milking" this for public safety customers and charging a large fee for it. DMR and Fusion both use the same AMBE+2 vocoder. Even the bit rate is the same on both. Bridges are popping up (plus the Shark RF hotspot) between the modes and they just pass the codec data through to the other side. I have heard Fusion radios come out on DMR side and they sound great. It would be very easy for Yaesu to add DMR to these radios (well not the mobiles since they use relays for T/R switching). The HT's use pin diodes which would work fine. It's just having enough memory for the code. Kenwood has proven the technique of multiple digital modes in one radio so it can be done. As for repeater switching automatically, Motorola invented that feature back in the 1990's. Nearly all ham P25 repeaters are configured that way. The radios can also be programmed to automatically receive either analog or digital. DMR repeaters can do mixed but generally they can't be on the network when configured this way. There is a DMR repeater in Tempe, AZ set up like that. As far as alienating analog users, some repeaters have had jamming as a result of angry analog users finding digital "noise" on their repeater. They don't seem to heed the advice to use PL on their receivers. I had a Fusion QSO jammed once. We increased power and he went away, obviously using an HT while both of us were on 400's. Mixed mode is a double edge sword. I think it's probably a good idea in some locations where repeaters are limited. In larger cities it is probably best to switch the repeater over to digital full time. Some clubs have done this with their little used UHF side while keeping VHF analog.
If you read through my posts, you'll see that I largely agree. I don't really have an issue with a new ham buying one, or using one, but it would be worth it to save in the long run and buy something a bit more reputable. As far as damage/loss of an HT is concerned, I'd feel a lot better if it were a Baofeng vs. a Yaesu. Especially after seeing I can buy one for $10 on Ebay now. Not a bad thing to keep in a first aid bag in your tornado shelter or something. My original point was that comparing a DMR radio to the FT-70 wasn't really logical or fair, at least if we're just citing costs. With Yaesu radios becoming more affordable, there's really no excuse at this point... Lowest price C4FM Mobile on the market currently: http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014731 As N3TWM stated, it's about $150 after mail in rebate. I own two of them. Fan can be a bit annoying, but it's a fun little rig. Well worth the money.
I may have missed it, does the published material tell us how the knobs will function on the FT70DR? For me one of the biggest assets of the FT60R is the easy-to-use stand alone power/vol knob, the selector knob, and the squelch ring. The photo of the 70 looks like it has a single knob that one may have to pull up to access different functions?
I didn't see anything. In fact, I just scanned over it again to be sure. The images provided on Gigaparts' website are a bit small. After searching, I found a larger image. You tell me, does it look like a push/pull?
Evan, I stand corrected. When it came out I dismissed it out of hand because I am on 440 more than 2m, but you are correct it is an inexpensive way to get your feet wet in Fusion. I apologize for shooting from the lip without thinking.
I was ill informed, and I forgot about the early P25 radios we used in CAP. The Quantar Repeaters we had were programmed at the CAP National HQ and we could not program them so I cannot comment if they could switch. They were great on analog, but not so much on P25. The effective range on those early P25 radios was considerably less than our old reliable analog. They are pretty similar now....technology changes. Those Quantars had to be manually switched to P25, but I cannot tell if there was an auto mode. It was not enabled if they had it. Fusion is taking over the ICOM D-Star repeaters here in Detroit area, which never really caught on here. One owner just recently sold his D-Star and replaced it with a Fusion. I agree they are a good choice financially, I just have a philosophical block on a country that does not respect others technological property. I am starting to replace all of my old analog radios with Fusion as they are popping up all over. Some clubs used them as cheap replacements for their ailing ANALOG repeaters and keep them locked there. Head in sand approach I guess. Others are on AMS all the time, though the user base of active Digital users is slow to respond. I enjoy the Internet linking of the digital modes. My car is equipped with an FT991, a Tarheel Screwdriver for Hf, and dual band antenna. I can do them all. Increasingly the HF bands are getting SO BAD that the digital modes gives me a technology fix for my "DX JONES" when the HF bands cannot. Next, I want to investigate further the DMR system. The DMR base of repeaters is holding here, D-Star is dying so I wont even bother with it for now, and Fusion is exploding. I am fascinated with the new ft70DR. I had been holding off with the price of the FT2D at $379.00 OUCH!..so we shall see at Dayton. Our club will be shopping for a new DRX-2 if it released yet. Thanks for educating me. Bill
