Showing posts with label AT-5888UV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AT-5888UV. Show all posts

Friday, October 10, 2014

Alinco = AnyTone

Hans points out that Alinco is rebranding Anytone radios.
While the looks are still typical Alinco, inside it’s another story. The Alinco DR-138 and DR-438, two mono-band radios, are incarnations of the AnyTone AT-588 mono-band radios. The ‘all new’ DR-638 dual-band radio is an incarnation of the AnyTone AT-5888.
As I was posting this, I was going to add the Alinco label/tag and realized I had never used it before. Funny that I've made it four years without using it and now I add it because of Anytone.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Not How I Would Do It

Guy posts a link to a survey on a Yahoo Group and the list owner kicks him out:
"I think you need to unsubscribe from this list of all you want is to mooch a survey. Forget that, I'll unsubscribe you myself."

Thursday, March 14, 2013

AnyTone AT-5888UV: Moleculo Review Finished

moleculo Wrapped up my review of the new Anytone AT-5888UV chinese mobile VHF/UHF #hamradio @ bit.ly/YYp3SdWed, Mar 13 20:53:05 from TweetDeck

His conclusion is below, but read the article to get all the details.
"If you need a full featured VHF/UHF mobile radio for under $300 that includes programming software, this radio is for you. If you can spend another $100 for a radio, the Kenwood TM-V71A is a better all-around radio without the harsh RX artifacts while including support for external interfaces like a TNC. I will likely keep this radio as an inexpensive, use-anywhere radio but would probably recommend the TM-V71A as a better buy for most people."

Friday, February 22, 2013

Anytone AT-5888UV: INTEK HR-2040

A little information and a minor rant...
A post in the Anytone AT-588 Yahoo Group (that was deleted) pointed out the AT-5888UV is being sold as the INTEK HR-2040 at MoonRaker for £200 (GBP). INTEK has the radio listed on their site as well.

Now for the rant...

The owner of the Anytone AT-588 Yahoo Group closed the topic saying that it wasn't "a place to advertise other radios."

He goes on to say:
"And it could be a counterfeit which is not uncommon. I know there are counterfeit Wouxun handhelds out their that look and feel like the real thing. Anyway the less chatter about other brands in here the better."
And:
"Certainly looks like the AT5888UV. Start your own Yahoo group called Intek_HR2040 and go talk about it there."
To me this is all a little heavy handed. Based on his other posts, he has a relationship with Anytone and I suspect that he does not want to jeopardize that - thus the "advertise other radios" remark. However, I think it is of interest to owners (and potential owners) of this radio what versions of the unit are floating around out there. If the HR-2040 is actually a re-branded AT-588(8)UV, then Anytone should be happy for any sales of the radios. If they are completely different radios internally and are only cosmetically similar, that's important, too. We've already seen different versions of the 588(8), so I think is reasonable to want to know how the HR-2040 compares. If we discover it is a horrible counterfeit, it would be a great service to make that information known.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

AnyTone AT-5888UV: Moleculo Review

Moleculo has started his review of the AnyTone AT-5888UV over at the Worldwide Radio Forum. He does good stuff. Nothing really new in his review so far (he updates over time), but there are some nice pictures.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Anytone AT-5888UV: Firmware

Milton posted an update for Ed in the AT-588UV Yahoo Group.
"Ed says he's shipped 100 radios in the past two days. He is now updating firmware in his previous inventory. He must replace the mic board in the head, update the head firmware, remove the top cover on the body and update the main firmware. He says it's very time consuming. Probably 20-30 minutes per radio counting the unpacking, repacking and etc. And he has to work carefully as not to scratch anything. 
Updated radios will be shipping the first of next week. These will be EXACTLY like the recently arrived new inventory. Only difference between the updated inventory and the recent inventory is the updated inventory will have the updated mic board and the updated firmware. Ed says an additional 100 radios are supposed to ship at the end of this month from China. 
So as you might guess Ed is working night and days shipping radios and applying the updates to his previous inventory. Plus I'm getting a new radio too! Mine was part of the first 50 and had a problem with the mic board and some oddities to the receiver that I documented on a General Dynamics R8000 test set and sent my results to Anytone in China."
So what does Ed have to do to update the firmware? I wonder if end-users would be able to update it.

It would be fantastic if end-users could plug a radio in via USB and do an update. While software isn't the only issue in the rushed to market radios, it would make be an early adopter a little less painful. Aren't we getting closer to that everyday with SDR?

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Anytone AT-5888UV: PD0AC Review

I noticed that Dale sold out of the radios in three hours this week. I saw this morning that Ed has more of the rigs for sale and then I saw the review from Hans. Please go to his site to read the entire review.

First, Ed reports these changes:
- Updated Microphone -- Added a built-in speaker in mic's front & a switch to defeat the Channel Up/Down button (which was easy to accidently hit). This switch was also supposed to lock all buttons on the mic, but not sure about that yet.
- Bracket for mounting detachable control head.
- Updated Firmware -- Several menu functions have been added. See the owner's manual for all functions.
- FCC Part 90 Certified -- ID # T4K-5888UV
The first item may address one of the concerns in Hans' review regarding the buttons, but I don't think it would change his conclusion:
"If I may be blunt: many flaws are impossible to live with. If I transmit, I want to be heard. If I listen, I don’t want to be annoyed by noise, distortion and high pitched tones."
He even goes on to recommend the Wouxun at this point:
"If I would like to own a Chinese mobile radio, I’d rather put my money in an improved version of the Wouxun KG-UV920R."
I think this reminds us, as it certainly is not news, that the Chinese process for design and manufacturing is to roll out models as quickly as possible, let the early adopters identify problems, and then fix the problems in subsequent releases.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Anytone AT-5888UV: Name, Numbers, and Dates

More info on the name change and an update on the production timing and volumes from Ed at Import Communications via the Yahoo Group:

Who knows why they do the things they do? To make a distinction between China mainland sales and Overseas sales, Anytone decided to change the model name to AT5888UV for the overseas market. I don't know why didn't they use this new number for the China market, especially since 888 has the meaning of good luck in China.
100 radios are being produced right now. I will get as many as 50 of these but all have been spoken for. Large production will begin Dec 1st and I'm waiting on a shipping date for December.
When I'm given a firm shipping date for December, I will email that information to everyone on my "notify" list and will begin accepting orders. To add your name to this list, look for "Request re-stock notice?" at the bottom of the web page http://www.wouxun.us/item.php?item_id=294&category_id=64
Regards,Ed GriffinImport Communications

Anytone AT-5888UV: What is in a name?

So they've changed the name of the AT-588UV to the AT-5888UV to avoid confusion between the single and dual band radios. That clears things right up.

Seriously, how hard would it be for these companies to hire an native English speaker to help with their naming, documentation, etc.

As a matter of house-keeping here, I will continue to use the label AT-588UV and the new label AT-5888UV, so you can find all the related posts without doing two searches.