My first path down the rabbit hole of ham radio should be with DMR. So I decided to purchase a Anytone AT-D878UVII PLUS.

Unboxing

When I opened the box I noticed, that every part was in it’s own plastic bag. I thought this was quite wasteful.

The box consisted of:

  • Radio
  • Battery
  • Antenna
  • Charger (stand)
  • Charging adapter
  • Strap for radio
  • Beltclip (sticker with “Owner:” included)
  • Manual for the radio
  • PTT button
  • Cable USB to double micro usb (to charge the PTT button)
  • Strap for PTT button
  • Manual for the PTT button
  • Two “Anytone” stickers (black on white and white on black)

The battery was charged half full. I still charged it all the way, before using it.

First boot

When you first boot the radio up (yes, it says “booting…” and needs about 15s), you are asked to set the correct date and time. Unfortunately the keypad can’t be used to. Instead you have to use the rocker (up/down) to adjust the time zone, date and time. Depending on your date and time, that could take quite long. On my first startup I was not able to jump to the next section, so I hit confirm. Only later I found out, that the Button P1 is used for that.

First steps

The Menu structure takes a little getting used to. After the first level every item has a number. I expected the number pad to work to choose those,but alas! You are mistaken again.

Some settings can be done via the radio, but most settings can only be done exclusively via pc. I tried a few things, but soon decided to build my codeplug with qdmr.

Set Date/time

Since I only found out later about [P1] as next button, I had to set my Date and time correctly.

This has been done via

  1. Menu
  2. Settings
  3. Radio Set
  4. Other Func
  5. Date Time
  6. Time Set

Screen time

Fiddling with my new device and looking into the manual at the same time I noticed, that the screen turned itself off after merely 5 seconds.

To change it do following

  1. Menu
  2. Settings
  3. Radio Set
  4. Display Func
  5. Light Time

I chose 20s.

Set channel

To save a frequency (plus extra information like shift, ctcss,…) you need to do following steps:

  1. Menu
  2. Settings
  3. Chan Set

Here you’ll find all items, that need to be set and more. Notice, that you have the option to a new channel. If you don’t choose this, you’ll edit the current channel.

Scan Modes

There are different mode to scan.

  • TO: Stay on channel for 5s
  • CO: Stay on channel until signal drops, continue after 2s
  • SE: Stay on channel

You can find these settings under

  1. Menu
  2. Settings
  3. Radio Set
  4. Other Func
  5. Scan Mod

Set scan list

You can have multiple lists to scan through. I have a list local list for FM relays, for Digi Relays and one for all relays in my City. You can create, edit, and delete scan lists directly in the device or via codeplug.

Contacts/Talk Groups

When using DMR you need to use contacts or call a specific Talk group .

You can either call a contact in your List or type it manually. For latter, do following

  1. Menu
  2. Talk Group
  3. Manual Dial
  4. (optional) to switch to the Talk Group ID use the # button.

Alternatively you can hold the 0 button to manually dial a private ID or talk group (again, use # to switch).

Function keys

You have five function keys, that can be configured directly on the device. These are:

  • P1: Under the green button
  • P2: Under the red button
  • PF1: Under the PTT button
  • PF2: Under the PF1 button
  • PF3: On the top next to the rotating buttons (in my version its colour is cyan).

The buttons have a short and long press setting.

It is possible to set “Hot keys” (0-9) via the original CPS (codeplug programming software). Unfortunately qdmr does not offer this setting.

Changelog

  • 2022-03-31: Initial post
  • 2022-04-10: Dialing Talkgroup short