Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

VK3KYY
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by VK3KYY » Sun Nov 15, 2020 10:49 pm

da3020 wrote:
Sun Nov 15, 2020 1:36 pm
I have tried DM-5R Plus 2018 (with white screenlight) and it even won't work with frequency shift in DMR. H-version is 1.0.3.

So i don't want more experiments with DM-5R.

The question: are any significant hardware differences between Radioddity and 1801 radios?
Yes.

The radio hardware is significantly different from the DM1801 and the GD77

Its not physically possible to put all the hardware from the DM1801 into the size of the RD5R

oh1fss
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by oh1fss » Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:54 pm

VK3KYY wrote:
Tue Nov 10, 2020 7:38 pm
Also, because it does not have a power management chip, the settings need to be constantly saved to EEPROM, whenever the frequency or mode etc is changed. Which slows the radio down and will eventually wear out the EEPROM
Would it be possible to disable saving settings automatically to EEPROM for RD5R? And add a function to save settings manually instead?

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F1RMB
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by F1RMB » Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:57 pm

Hi,
oh1fss wrote:
Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:54 pm
VK3KYY wrote:
Tue Nov 10, 2020 7:38 pm
Also, because it does not have a power management chip, the settings need to be constantly saved to EEPROM, whenever the frequency or mode etc is changed. Which slows the radio down and will eventually wear out the EEPROM
Would it be possible to disable saving settings automatically to EEPROM for RD5R? And add a function to save settings manually instead?
This is pointless and user unfriendly.
But the settings are not written all the time, they are written when they change, and this is managed with a bit of smartness to save the EEPROM write cycles count.


Cheers.
---
Daniel

dl9sec
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by dl9sec » Sun Dec 27, 2020 12:14 pm

Hi,

yesterday I installed the latest version of OpenRD5R to my RD-5R (and updated today to the December 27th beta versino).

Unfortunately I have the problem, that the config storage forcing doesn't seem to work.
As far as I read, to force a config storage I have to press and hold SK2 (aka "Function", aka "MONI@RD-5R") and then press the green button (aka "Menu/Validation", aka "MENU@RD-5R"). But the settings are not stored persistently. As soon as I leave the submenu and enter the menu again, the old values are shown.
Am I doing anything wrong? If yes, it would be great to clarify this in the manual.

Unfotunately also the RD-5R cheatsheet is missing in the manual (GD-77 and DM-1801 are there). Would be nice to have it in the manual as announced somewhere earlyer in this thread.

Can someone confirm the config storage problem above? Or any ideas what I am doing wrong?

Thank you in advance.

73, Thorsten

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F1RMB
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by F1RMB » Sun Dec 27, 2020 1:19 pm

Hi,

By "config storage", what do you mean, configuration settings or channel settings ?
About the settings (Menu->*Options), you just need to validate them hitting the "Menu" button. Pressing the "Exit" button will cancels the changes you've made.
The SK2 + "Menu" buttons keystroke is about permanent storage a given channel settings.


Cheers.
---
Daniel

dl9sec
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Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:32 am

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by dl9sec » Sun Dec 27, 2020 3:33 pm

Hi Daniel,

thank you very much for the clarification.
My fault was not to leave the submenus with the MENU key but with EXIT.
Very easy and all the same as at the GD-77, I got confused somehow...

So all is working well :)

73, Thorsten

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F1RMB
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by F1RMB » Sun Dec 27, 2020 3:40 pm

Hi Thorsten,

Okay ;-)


Cheers.
---
Daniel

do1jml
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by do1jml » Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:13 am

I would like to report what appears to be a bug, specific to the RD-5R. I am using build 20:03:10 from Dec 29 2020.

I have both a GD-77 and an RD-5R. Everything appears to work, but I noticed that the DMR repeaters I use give me much lower receive levels on the RD-5R and on the GD-77, up to 10 dB less. But I did not want to report a bug before checking the measurement.

Today, I could check with a dummy load and a power meter. It appears that the RD-5R output level is about a tenth of the GD-77 power level. This is only true in DMR mode. In FM mode, the two radios give out similar power levels.

I realize that, due to the TDMA structure of DMR, power measurements are not trivial. On the GD-77, I see a small difference between FM and DMR when setting the radio on the same wattage. But power levels vary consistently between wattages set on the GD-77 (although not quite for very low levels). Same is true for the RD-5R, but the power level is always about a tenth of what it should be. That large difference, which is consistent with what the repeaters see, appears indeed to be a RD-5R problem.

VK3KYY
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by VK3KYY » Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:45 am

do1jml wrote:
Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:13 am
I would like to report what appears to be a bug, specific to the RD-5R. I am using build 20:03:10 from Dec 29 2020.

I have both a GD-77 and an RD-5R. Everything appears to work, but I noticed that the DMR repeaters I use give me much lower receive levels on the RD-5R and on the GD-77, up to 10 dB less. But I did not want to report a bug before checking the measurement.

Today, I could check with a dummy load and a power meter. It appears that the RD-5R output level is about a tenth of the GD-77 power level. This is only true in DMR mode. In FM mode, the two radios give out similar power levels.

I realize that, due to the TDMA structure of DMR, power measurements are not trivial. On the GD-77, I see a small difference between FM and DMR when setting the radio on the same wattage. But power levels vary consistently between wattages set on the GD-77 (although not quite for very low levels). Same is true for the RD-5R, but the power level is always about a tenth of what it should be. That large difference, which is consistent with what the repeaters see, appears indeed to be a RD-5R problem.
I don't know, digital power meter will not measure Tx power on DMR.

Probably best if someone else can comment on the power output of their RD5R, and their comparative tests.

do1jml
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by do1jml » Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:01 pm

I did not use a digital power meter, but an analogue one.

In any case, the results are much different between a GD-77 and a RD-5R connected in the same manner and both transmitting in DMR, so there must be some difference. The relays also indicate a large difference.

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