I got back from summer activities to find that my Anytone 878 UV II + no longer powers on. I had been using this radio as my primary HT for a year and a half, and I use APRS to spot myself using APRS2SOTA 20% of the time. The 878 is on the workbench, in the mean time I started looking for a comprehensive list of APRS handhelds, so that I could keep an eye open at hamfests. I could not find a good list, so this is the list I have compiled.
| Yaesu | Kenwood | Alinco | Anytone | Icom | Vero | Radioddity | Btech |
| FT1DR FT1XD VX8DR FT2DR FT3DR FT5DR | TH-D72A TH-D74A TH-D75A | DJ-MD5XTG | 878 UV II 878 UV D168* | ID-52A | VR-N67** | GD-88 GA-5WD** | UV-5X3* |
There are a couple of other radios out there which will have APRS in their specs (such as some earlier Anytone radios and the new AT-D168), but they are only able to do it over DMR which defeats the point for me. Analogue APRS (I think this is an oxymora, as APRS is packet radio, therefore digital) is able to send a short SMS which can be picked up, repeated or iGated to the internet, which is what I am interested in. This can achieve spotting, SMS and EchoLink over 2m which has a much greater range than any current cellular network.
From what I gather, the FT1DR was the first APRS capable handheld: a rugged radio with a full keypad. The FT1XD is much the same radio, but with improved GPS. After these, Yaesu released the VX8DR which is fully submersible and rugged (and one of the most beautifully designed HTs made): it does need its specific handmic for GPS beaconing, as the antenna module is in the handmic. This was followed by the FT2DR (what I ended up acquiring), which is IPX-5 and has a monochrome touchscreen. Highlights of this radio are indeed the monochrome display – it is visible all the time without a backlight – and the introduction of smartbeaconing, rather than sending a location beacon over APRS at a fixed interval, you can set parameters for change of direction, etc. This continues in the FT3DR and FT5DR (current model), both of which have colour touchscreens.
Many reviews deem the Kenwoods to be the best of the best, but I have never handled one.
The Anytone 878 UV II + is a good radio: it has a solid front-end which can withstand being near repeater towers, and generally it seems to transmit clean audio at 7w, and it is also a DMR radio. The really annoying thing about the Anytone is that you cannot make many changes to settings from the radio itself, most programming has to be done using the CPS software. The radio does have a full keypad and is IPX5 rated. As with all colour screens, the screen is black or on. Note that the Radioddity GD-88 is very similar to the Anytone.
The Vero is a new radio, publicised by many youtubers, and it comes in many colours and rebrands. It is submersible–a bonus–and has proper bluetooth TNC integration, so you can send APRS SMS messages from your phone. That said, it costs about the same as some of the older Yaesu radios which may be a more robust investment, as they seem to hold up really well and perform superbly as handhelds. A further note on this is that my Anytone was a month out of warranty when it failed, and apparently Anytone does not provide Bridgecom with schematics, so their only advice was to purchase a replacement device. I do have two batteries, so I intend to get it fixed.
