Baofeng DM-1701 first impressions
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 10:45 am
I recieved the radio yesterday in the mail, after just over 14 days, which wasn't too bad considering it shipped from China. I ordered it for $118.25 from eBay.
It arrived in the original box, which was a pleasant suprise, compared to the bubble wrap that they normally ship in.
Unboxing the radio was a simple process, with the radio on the top stack, in a plastic wrap, and the charging base, power cord, antenna, battery, belt clip, standard Baofeng earpiece and manual. underneath it. The radio also came with a wrist strap, but I am yet to find where it can loop.
Taking the radio, battery antenna out of the individual bags was easy enough and they all connected with little issue, although the nut around the antenna connecter was loose, I believe that was just the shipping. The radio feels very nice in the hand, although I wouldn't belt clip to stay put if you had to get somewhere quickly, as it feels loose. Once the charging dock is plugged in, the indicator on the radio flashes between red and green, but works normally once the radio is connected, this may just be an issue with my cable though.
Powering on the radio for the first time, you are greeted with the loud power on tone and channel number announced. The default channels are 6 DMR channels and 6 analouge channels, with a mix of VHF and UHF simplex frequencies.
The home screen displays channel A and B, with an arrow indicating which channel you have set to transmit on, with an A and D indicator for the mode. You can switch between them using the up and down arrows on the keypad, and mute the opposite channel with the red function button. The topbar displays the signal strength, although mine was fluctuating when there was no signal, the transmit power you have set, a shield if you're using a digital channel, icon for simplex or duplex and the current battery life. The bottom bar displays the date and time, which can be modified from radio settings.
Looking through the menus, you can do some basic front panel programming, but you're limited to adding and editing channels, no deleting them from the radio. From the handheld itself, you can edit the RX and TX frequency, channel name, CTCSS and DCS tones, timeslot, colour code, TX contact and grouplist. My only complaints about channel manipulation are the settings for DMR channels appear in channels set to use analouge, and the lack of being able to delete channels.
Zones are similar, you can name them add channels to them, but not remove them or delete zones. Scan lists must be made via the CPS too. Contacts can't be edited once created, which isn't much of an issue if you program it with the CPS.
Overall, my main complaints are the lackluster FPP support and not being able to change the volume of the poweron tone and PTT tone. You can turn off all sounds, but doing this won't allow you to hear the PTT preamble, which may be important if you plan to use DMR repeaters.
Until my programming cable arrives, this is my impression on the DM-1701. A worthwhile radio, if you have the proper cable to program it.
It arrived in the original box, which was a pleasant suprise, compared to the bubble wrap that they normally ship in.
Unboxing the radio was a simple process, with the radio on the top stack, in a plastic wrap, and the charging base, power cord, antenna, battery, belt clip, standard Baofeng earpiece and manual. underneath it. The radio also came with a wrist strap, but I am yet to find where it can loop.
Taking the radio, battery antenna out of the individual bags was easy enough and they all connected with little issue, although the nut around the antenna connecter was loose, I believe that was just the shipping. The radio feels very nice in the hand, although I wouldn't belt clip to stay put if you had to get somewhere quickly, as it feels loose. Once the charging dock is plugged in, the indicator on the radio flashes between red and green, but works normally once the radio is connected, this may just be an issue with my cable though.
Powering on the radio for the first time, you are greeted with the loud power on tone and channel number announced. The default channels are 6 DMR channels and 6 analouge channels, with a mix of VHF and UHF simplex frequencies.
The home screen displays channel A and B, with an arrow indicating which channel you have set to transmit on, with an A and D indicator for the mode. You can switch between them using the up and down arrows on the keypad, and mute the opposite channel with the red function button. The topbar displays the signal strength, although mine was fluctuating when there was no signal, the transmit power you have set, a shield if you're using a digital channel, icon for simplex or duplex and the current battery life. The bottom bar displays the date and time, which can be modified from radio settings.
Looking through the menus, you can do some basic front panel programming, but you're limited to adding and editing channels, no deleting them from the radio. From the handheld itself, you can edit the RX and TX frequency, channel name, CTCSS and DCS tones, timeslot, colour code, TX contact and grouplist. My only complaints about channel manipulation are the settings for DMR channels appear in channels set to use analouge, and the lack of being able to delete channels.
Zones are similar, you can name them add channels to them, but not remove them or delete zones. Scan lists must be made via the CPS too. Contacts can't be edited once created, which isn't much of an issue if you program it with the CPS.
Overall, my main complaints are the lackluster FPP support and not being able to change the volume of the poweron tone and PTT tone. You can turn off all sounds, but doing this won't allow you to hear the PTT preamble, which may be important if you plan to use DMR repeaters.
Until my programming cable arrives, this is my impression on the DM-1701. A worthwhile radio, if you have the proper cable to program it.