Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

[VK3KYY]

Need help with two issues:

First, I cannot get the new OpenRD-5R firmware to talk to either of my two MMDVM simplex hotspots. Both worked fine with the original firmware--with minimal offsets (-25) and a BER of .2 With the new firmware the hotspots are receiving no signal. Thought it might be simplex and that the firmware might be waiting for a repeater acknowledgement to continue TX, but straight simplex works fine with the new firmware. Also, using the same codeplug, a GD-77, upgraded to the new firmware, has no problem being recognized by the hotspot. Any ideas of what the problem might be?

Also do not understand what the "Power" indicator in the display is supposed to represent. It is not showing the correct power-level of the channel from the codeplug. Nor does it change as one cycles through channels with different power levels (e.g., hotspot channels vs OTA channels). Do I need to manually set the power level for the channel I am using?

Thanks for any help on these issues ..

https://github.com/rogerclarkmelbourne/ ... g-tx-power

[VK3KYY]

It is a bug caused by Double Standby, when I disabled Double Standby then FM broadcast receive starts to work properly. I am actually the person who discovered it a year ago and told the technical support at Radioddity as they were not even aware of this bug. After he thanked me for that report. I am surprised they didn't fix that even it is the same bug that plagued the GD-77 for a long time. This is the same bug that caused issues with the stock GD-77 in Digital Monitor and Scanning function.

For a while I blamed Radioddity for false advertising because there was no field report on that at all. Later I asked my friend who also owns this radio (and he also has a GD-77) to test the FM receive and he said it worked for him. I asked him to email me his codeplug so I can compare the config one by one and then I noticed among other things, the Double Standby was not on in his radio.

I am not saying you have to implement this feature, although it'd be of course very nice if it can be retained.

Among my radios from China, the Baofeng models all have FM broadcast RX, and also the Anytone AT-D878UV. The quality is actually nice as they use a dedicated radio receiver IC for that purpose.

Thanks!

What radio are you using. A RD-5R or DM-5R.

I opened my RD-5R again, and it does not contain the FM broadcast receiver chip.

So unless the AT1846S has a hidden mode, I don't think its possible for the RD-5R to receive in that band, as doesn't have the hardware.

[VK3KYY]

It's the RD-5R. I have just checked and listened to the FM broadcast right now. I will attach a pic of the display showing such RX.

I will also open up my radio to see if it is any diff.

The RX function on the RD-5R is diff than the one on the Baofeng such as UV-5R. The former has a Channel memory and the latter doesn't (but I recall some older non 5R model do.)

OK.

It would be good if the AT1846S had some secret mode that enabled reception on FM broadcast.

Can you explain exactly how to enter this mode.

Do I need to create channels for these ?


I tried setting SK1 to "FM" in the official CPS. What other settings do I need to enabled or disable. (Post screengrabs please)

[VK3KYY]

BTW.

To open the radio, you'll need to remove the hot glue which holds the display in place,because there are 2 screws under the display which hold the PCB to the chassis.
There is also a sticky pad under the display, which you will need to partially remove.

I didn't bother to put my sticky pad back in the radio, I just used hot glue to hold the display in place again

[F1RMB]

Hi,

What is the chip labeled BAYK, a ceramic antenna ?



Cheers.
---
Daniel

[VK3KYY]

Whats this function called in the CPS

Is it "FM" ??

What version of the official CPS are you running and what official firmware are you using

[F1RMB]

Hi,

Okay, I meant ceramic FM BC antenna, e.g. Yaego has one (98MHz). For an XTal, except if it embed them, 22pF capacitors are missing.


Cheers.
---
Daniel

[VK3KYY]

FYI.
I suspect the FM broadcast receive will be connected via I2C, so it should be possible to probe for it, as it will be on a specific I2C address

I will try writing some code to do that later

[F1RMB]

Hi Roger,

FYI.
I suspect the FM broadcast receive will be connected via I2C, so it should be possible to probe for it, as it will be on a specific I2C address

I will try writing some code to do that later

I would bet on the two top most left resistors for the bus lines


Cheers.
---
Daniel

[F1RMB]

Hi David,

I just did an experiment. I unscrewed the SMA-F antenna and the FM receive picked up nothing immediately. So it uses the external antenna for the FM BC RX.

As for that component, I really have no idea what it is, but my guess is that it is an osc.

Hi,

Okay, I meant ceramic FM BC antenna, e.g. Yaego has one (98MHz). For an XTal, except if it embed them, 22pF capacitors are missing.


Cheers.
---
Daniel

Okay, definitely, it's not a ceramic antenna
I rechecked your picture, looks like it does have 4 pads, right ?


Cheers.
---
Daniel