The Radioddity GA-5WB is the newest handheld radio featuring a stack of features such as a dedicated programming app, bluetooth, IP67 rating, GPS (kinda) and APRS.
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⏱️Chapters⏱️
0:00 Full of features
1:53 I had some problems, but fixed them
3:35 Radio settings
5:22 It's LOUD!
6:45 Squeaky sound
7:25 APRS
9:56 Real standalone GPS?
11:35 Invalid uncompressed format
12:16 The BT App
17:08 Audio tests
17:47 Receiver and transmitter tests
19:29 Spurious Emissions test
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Um, however, that site is in the USA and deals only in USD. $179USD is $273AUD plus freight to Australia. Not sure what that would be but no doubt a lot. Very nice, but not at that price. At $200AUD in my hand, yes, but not at that price. I take it there are no Australian Distributors? I buy from overseas direct only when I absolutely can't avoid it. All that said, great review of the radio OM. Nice bit of kit, but just a bit steep for my pocket, so I suppose I'm still stuck with my Baofeng. I will say the APRS integration is very tempting, but it's just a bit too expensive for me.
@@geoffroberts1126bigger problem here in Greece, the bastârd$ charge 24% VAT on both the item AND postage. Lest we say this was blessed by the EU and people in many countries have to put up with socialist theft. In the states we are still able to bring in goods up to $800 without customs tax and there is no sales tax on imported goods.
@@Subgunman Australia has a 10% GST on most things, including stuff from overseas purchased direct, which was exempt for many years. So USD to AUD plus Freight plus GST on the lot. It's one reason I buy from Australian distributors where possible, as GST is part of the advertised price - none of this 'only $xx (plus tax)' sneakiness.
@@geoffroberts1126 that bit plus tax can be annoying, when I moved to the EU 17 years ago I was not aware of the fact that the VAT was part of the price. What really pi$$€d mi off was that they taxed food items in the grocery store! Where I lived in the states there was zero tax on food items. Now there was tax on beer, wine, carbonated beverages, but these are considered non essential food items. Tax from the State and county I resided in currently has a 7.5% tax on everything other than food while the country where I live now charges 13% on essential foods while everything else is at 24%! Basically if I need radio gear I have family bring it over when they visit. Zero taxes. But a long wait time.
@@Subgunman Ok, in Oz no state can levy income tax or additional tax on sales. Only the 10% GST which is Federal and Income Tax which is Federal. Basic fresh food items and women's sanitary needs are GST Free, but things like takeaway are not. But the 10% goes on any goods or services you buy, from electricity, to water, and vehicle repairs etc. Now extended to most overseas sellers on platforms like Ebay.
Not for $180 USD. Sorry No
I can get a 50 W mobile unit that uses the same app for the same price…
Agreed as per my comments below.
@@Ken-W1KAL VR-N7500??? I have two. One for the motorcycle
Definitely NO @ $180
Jim (W6LG) in California had a very timely video today. He had tested some recent Chinese radios transmitting into a perfect 50ohm dummy load and they were clean. Then he used the provided antenna (and many other HT antenna's he had on hand) and one was pretty good, the rest got very dirty. So, you remove the perfect load and these radios performed very differently. You may want to consider testing the same way - test what the radio can do in real world conditions using the antenna provided. That said, this is a decent attempt but she needs more polish. Having the Kenwood HT, not seeing a reason to switch....
A properly tuned antenna should help attenuate harmonics. The FCC's measurement if from the transmitters output - or end of the transmission line before the antenna. So the tests in the video are valid to what the FCC require. Air gap antenna tests, whilst interesting, could also be potentially picking up coupling from other transmitters, or intermodulation from two or more emitters in the same area. Anything that generates a RF signal can mix and become a harmonic. Anyway, interesting test nonetheless.
Radioddity: I've owned a few now and moved them all on for a number of reasons. While ive had some decent experiences so far the gd-73 and db25 have been the only radios of theirs that seems to be completed: by that i mean firmware. The firmware is what lets these radios down. Its like someone has designed it with some really good intentions but then once released its actually full of bugs that they don't want to fix or maybe don't have the resources to fix. The gd-88 i purchased after watching your review: Gps dropping out in open air, volume issues, no availability of a spare battery: I shouldn't have to get one sent to family in Poland to eventually get it sent here, by sea. It was great as a low cost commercial radio however. Radioddity do respond to emails which is great but don't really offer any long term solutions which is a shame. I know you are trying to give amateur's low cost options but surely when you see the same issues across multiple models there's some work to do which time and time again i don't see being done: I hope one day i don't have to say those things about this brand that offers so much promise anymore. 73
Pro tip: Never buy an early release Chinese radio. Always wait to revision 4 or 5 when all the bugs are worked out. 😉
By the time they get around to the 3rd revision they bring out a new model and the process repeats...
Great review. Thanks for all the testing. I'm very intrigued by this radio.
Thanks Mike!
I will stay with my tid radio the features I need 😊
Hackable at all? i.e. can alternative firmware be developed for this one? Any speech output for visually-impaired or blind hams? We can probably use the phone app though for programming.
Thanks for the video, the little squeak reminds me of a CB I had back the 80's you always heard this little fart noise every time you transmit it or received, I could always tell when somebody else had the same radio as me 🤣 Thanks for the video, I needed a distraction from all the projects I have going on right now.
As for minimum volume setting, is there a hidden menu that presets the minimum level that safeguards against accidentally turning off the sound completely. This is something used by Motorola and Kenwood so an individual cannot completely mute the audio and miss an important message. I have disabled this feature in the past for certain ops where receiving critical messages is priority. Some radios allow for different volume minimum settings if one is using an external headset. Just what I have experienced in the past with mission critical radios. Any idea if this will pair with Apple devices? More important is there an app on the Apple store for this radio?
Yes - app is called "BT App". Screenshots on their website of what it looks like, it can take a bit of finding. Pairs with my iPhone as per the video.
Same UI as the Btech GMRS Pro interesting. Starting to see this everywhere.
Does it do GMRS also?
Interest feature set, that I paid a lot more to get in the Yeasu FT-5DR. Albeit, the Yeasu is CM4F capable and also has even more features. I have the Radioddity GM-30 for GMRS (US); and I’m impressed with Radioddity. One thing I too have noticed with my Radioddity is the volume control thing, lowest volume is still loud.
Its basically a btech gmrs pro but for 2m , 70cm. Uses the same app. HT. Same as the vero 7500, retivis RT99. They may name the app differently but its the same. Ive used it on both The RT99 and btech gmrs pro. Different names same app. Even the same versions
Seems like another nice Handheld radio. Compass Calibration try leaving on flat surface and move radio in Figure Eight Pattern... Just a thought Thank You
This is an interesting value proposition of being analog but also having APRS, albeit with some caveats, though being able to hookup to your phone via BT is neat. It will be interesting to see if this radio gets some of the custom firmware treatment after release. It's quite nice to see you reviewing the equipment in a quantifiable manner with testing equipment, you have done a good job of being thorough, keep it up! Only other thing I would add would be testing standby time.
Thanks! I appreciate the feedback. The radio hopefully will get some firmware upgrades in time. I'd provided my feedback to Radioddity.
So this is just analog for talking? Traditionally Radioddity was big on DMR. Seems like this is only digital as far as APRS.
Analog only. For 180$ I would have expected DMR.
I'd be more interested if one could access the TNC. Don't understand why manufacturers don't provide a way to connect with KISS.
This radio has a lot of potential! Bout' Time we got an HT that could connect/use your phone for some of the heavy lifting!
I'm still not sure if mic/audio can be parsed using the iOS app... I haven't signed up for an account yet to see if it's some weird extra feature you get when you login.
@@HamRadioDX I used my Google account
Minor thing, but I really life the font(s) used! Very easy to read.
Yes a very nice easy to read screen
For the regular price of €170, this handheld doesn't offer any more feature than what I would need in my UV K6 Quansheng or TIDradio TD-H3, so a pass from me.
I've noticed a bit of Radioddity stuff is loud when un-squeltched.
Good secert, I saw this radio yesterday, vid is an hour old at time of comment.
Can the app import repeater lists?
Doesn't appear so.. at least I haven't found it yet
@@HamRadioDX Can you use Chirp with it? Mind you, had all kinds of issues trying to import a supposed repeater list Chirp outputs into anything but the same radio. However cut and paste (mostly) works with a bit of tinkering.
@@geoffroberts1126 I think I covered in the video as it's a new product there is no Chirp support (yet), but I'm sure it will in time.
@@HamRadioDX Ok, must have missed that, may work with settings for another radio anyway, seems to have the same or very similar firmware. No biggy either way, but the price being USD plus freight from the US PLUS GST makes it a bit steep for me.
Geez, Hayden, how many of these different Chinese radios do you have lately??? 🙂
Waaay too many!
@@HamRadioDXdoes the other half know 😂
All these handhelds are really only good for 2 and 70 an old 10 dollar boa fang works just as good for a licensed operator i don't think the boafangs are legal anymore .I've scene hams with 30 deferent ones in the shack .the 878 dmr is about the pick of the bunch but still very expensive.
You’ve done such a great job reviewing this marvelous piece of technology, please don’t dunk it.
But how will I test the IP67 claim? :)
Looks to me it's not ready for sale. Nevertheless, no GPS built in... No sale!
It's a pity that it doesn't support DMR. Then this would be the perfect radio.
come on dont do the click bait shit, like come on, just the title and thumbnail alone
What a waste of time the marketplace is trying to upsell on features that no one wants or needs for silly prices. Only the analy retentive will be impressed. (my phone does all this stuff for free).
Bit pricy.
oh - not under $29 USD like the others? lol
Not this one
Your phone does not have amazing GPS reception, it is using WiFi and Cellular for its location when it can’t see the sky and use GPS satellites.
Did I say it had amazing GPS reception? That’s right though