That made me think... Why don't we see radios that support multiple digital modes (DStar+DMR)? Is it any harder than having DV+FM in the same transceiver? Chris
No, and don't expect any as long as the TS-590SG, TS-890S and TS-990S continue to sell as well as they do.
Not again! Kenwood is alive, well and apparently thriving ... as it has been for the more than six decades that it's been in amateur radio. In QST, they take as much ad space each month as Yaesu, and twice as much as Icom. Not the sign of a company that's terminal. Kenwood's long-standing approach has been to market top-quality HF rigs for as long as they sell in sufficient quantities to be worthwhile -- very often more than a decade -- before bringing out something new. At the moment, all the "buzz" about SDR not withstanding, Kenwood doesn't appear to be having any trouble selling it's "old technology" (TS-590SG, TS-890S and TS-990S) radios.
The D76A is rumored to come with a free R2D2 Universal Translator that will allow QSOs with ChatGPT AIs, C3PO, as well as DMR and M17. Seriously though with as un-user-friendly as D-STAR is already I doubt they'll be adding any other equally complicated digital voice modes.
Technically they can, but keeping everything separate makes us by multiple radios. And really, would you want to pay that hefty price for a radio made by the big three that has what you want? I gave up long ago on buying overpriced HTs in favor of the Anytone 878, which is a superior radio to what the big boys offer. Yeasu can't make an HT that has usable recieve audio while Kenwood dropped the ball with battery life on the 74.
Is that because they sell much more or because they are desperately trying to sell more units than Icom? Any sales figures to backup that statement?
According to this video the D75 will NOT be Full-Duplex. In which case it sounds like a D74 with USB charging and a couple new software features that few people will probably use.
It kind of is. My understanding is that each mode (D-Star, DMR, Fusion) requires both a specific codec (the code that turns sound into bytes) and a specific radio chip to work. You *could* put all 3 into the same radio if Yaesu would let you (Fusion is completely proprietary so you have to license it from them), but it would involve the expense and engineering of three sets of chips. I don't think the market would bear a $1k+ HT just to cover all the modes, especially when you can just use a hotspot or something to cross from one to the other for a lot cheaper.
If not all three, Yaesu/Icom/Kenwood could add DMR to their Fusion or DStar radios for just the cost of the engineering effort to incorporate the new mode. Though that probably wouldn't play well with marketing since it's hard to claim your mode is superior if you're also offering a competing mode. ETA: The only hotspot I'm aware of that does DStar to other modes is the SharkRF Openspot 4 Pro, which is well over $300 new. Chris
That only makes sense if any of them offered radios with other modes. Otherwise, they're just "forcing" you to buy a competitor's radio. Maybe? Dunno, I'd have to see what the end result looks like. Battery life on the D74 isn't great, but a spare battery isn't large and I can get through multiple SOTA activations on one battery (did 3 almost 100% 2mFM activations last weekend on the one battery and did a 4-summit activation series this winter), so it's not the worst thing in the world. I looked at the Anytone, but the other features that prompted me to buy the D74 don't work for my needs in the Anytone (namely APRS). I use mine more in the field than at home on a hotspot. Chris
I do have hot spots, but rarely ever use any digital modes. I use my 878 primarily for analog as it is a really decent radio that offers exception receive audio and battery life is great. I got a spare battery for that radio, but never used it as I keep forgetting to swap it. In my opinion, the D74 was really designed for low power hotspot use.
