Radioddity GD-77 DMR Dual Band Review

Let’s start with the nicer shell on the Radioddity GD-77, and keep in mind, this is how it feels in my hand, you may experience a completely different feeling. It just feels, I don’t know, stiffer, thicker, more solid. It could just be the texture on the plastic, I can’t pinpoint it, but it feels nicer and I like it.

The keys on the front of the Radioddity GD-77 also have a nicer feel, although the button on the side, the dial on top, and the cover over the right side ports all feel about the same.

Removing the Radioddity GD-77 battery looks exactly the same on both radios until you stop and look close. On both radios, there are two tabs that fit into two slots on the battery to secure it. The difference is that on the Radioddity GD-77 they extended the silver metal backing down to make those tabs, on the Baofeng they used plastic from the case. It’s the little things.

Unfortunately, the one thing on the Radioddity GD-77 that they needed to upgrade, and they did not was the belt clip, it is just as bad as the one on the Baofeng and although it works just fine, scares me that it will break. I have used it quite a while, and it has had several attempts to be ripped off my belt by corners of walls and the occasionally grabby seatbelt, and yet it survives intact.

Programming the Radioddity GD-77 from the radio is either not practical or just impossible. I played with it a little and gave up. This is common for DMR radios though, so that isn’t a big deal. Setting up a simplex analog frequency is not a big deal though, only the DMR aspect is pretty impossible. As easy as it is to just connect it to a computer, I wouldn’t spend a lot of time fiddling with the front panel.

The software for programming is functional and reasonable, but not the best I have seen. They are all different and yet all the same, so with very few exceptions this is not something to worry about.

Using the Radioddity GD-77 in DMR mode is pretty straight forward and has both good transmit and receive audio. Where the radio has issues is in analog modes and splatters a wide swath of the spectrum when you transmit. This results in less than stellar transmit audio, particularly at long range.

The antenna is pretty good and is easily as good as most of the other radios out there.

I have been asked several times who make Radioddity radios, and while I am not certain, my guess is that Radioditty purchases unbranded radios from companies such as Baofeng and rebrands them. They also sometimes add nice things like upgraded manuals, extra antennas, etc. You can often find radios like the Radioddity GD-77 for sale on Amazon and eBay.

Images:

Radio Specifics:

Test Images:

• Programmable CTSS/DCS, Squelch, Busy Lock, TOT, VOX, Encrypt, Password Lock, Radio ID, Scan
•  Up to 250 zones, Message, Contact, Emergency Alarm
•  Up to 128 received groups, Dual Ban, Side Keys
•  ADD VFO, Contact ID(expanded from 256 to 1000), Scan list (expanded from 16 to 64)
•  Channel list(expanded from 16 to 31), Supports Digital & Analogue Mode
•  Dual-Band, Frequency Range in VHF/UHF, Support DMR repeater function: both DMR Tier I and Tier II.
•  Fantastic Customer Service & Technical Support (so they say, and I have no reason to doubt them)

Conclusions

Here are some reviews of the Radioddity GD-77!