Exciting times – Baofeng DM-5R arrives in the UK.
There has been much talk about the Baofeng dual band VHF/UHF DMR DM-5R recently.
I noticed while viewing ebay today, that one seller now has it available, but only ready out of the box for Tier 1, although I understand it can be easily upgraded to Tier 2. The price makes it even more exciting, at half the price of a single band model currently offered from TYT. Typical of Baofeng to get into the act at the right price!
I am in no rush to buy one yet, as there are very few DMR repeaters in my area, although one is due soon a few miles North of me at Stafford. So for the time being I will just sit back and await the many reviews to appear, before I decide.
Waiting for the all mode digital Baofeng 6D in April from what I hear.
I ordered my DM-5R a few weeks ago and it should arrive in two or three days! I was given the option to wait until the Tier 2 software showed up, but I couldn’t wait…
There are no DMR repeaters in my area yet, but I have a DV4Mini and it will get me into any Talk Group I want!
…One more digital mode to play with!
73,
K4IVE
I’m sceptical about this radio.
The picture is a doctored pic of a UV-5R. Theres a squelch button and the display shows it’s using CTCSS neither of which makes sense in a digital radio.
I’d like this to be a true DMR breaking the mould at this price point and only time will tell.
73
GI4MUN
Just did a little more research on this and it appears that although the specs don’t list it, the radio is both analogue and digital which mean the squelch and CTCSS do make sense.
It just became even more interesting. It appears the upgrade to TierII can brick the radio due to a problem in the firmware. The recommendation is to wait for the radio to be supplied with Tier II already programmed….
http://forums.radioreference.com/budget-entry-level-transceivers/340766-update-baofeng-dm-5r-tier-ii.html
73
GI4MUN
Yup I agree. I would not order one until it comes shipped with tier 2.
It has gone a bit quiet on Tier 2 at the moment, I guess they are working on it?