The problem with network radio now is Zello. Zello has been attempting to "distance" themselves from the social aspect of their network. They had already removed the top list, and categories sections, but after Jan 6th in the US they have also decided to remove the ability to search for channels (as well as banning dozens of channels they deemed "subversive"). You can still jump on to Zello and go to channels you belong to and rag chew if you want. I still belong to about 20 chat channels. But unless you know the channel name, or get an invite, you can't find them anymore. This is a BIG part of what makes NR popular. Some of us rely on them for business purposes and that's who Zello is trying to court right now. I believe in the future they will have a change of heart and go back to being social friendly as their numbers decline. When that will be... I don't know.
A common problem with these Chinese POC radios is that they often call home to check if the unit is still approved. If the server doesn't respond, or responds negatively, they go into a boot loop. I can understand doing that for their own paid POC app but I don't understand why they do it for their zello units 🤦♂️ Another issue with some radios is that if you don't use it for 1, 2,.3 hours,.they go into some kind of power saving mode and won't receive comms anymore. If you transmit, it will wake up. But someone could have been calling you for a long time before that.
Ehhh.. Not to be nitpicky but... Cellular phones communicate with each other over RF using a network of "repeaters." Just about everyone these days uses an MMDVM. That kinda makes their radios essentially cellphones. You are also starting to see more and more SDR based devices. Just basically turning the "radio" into an app. Cellular networks may be closed loop, and yes there's no simplex (although mesh networking stands to change this)... But it's still an RF communication system that provides two way conversation. I understand what you are saying it's not "radio" in the traditional way we think of radio. But it IS radio, and it is becoming more and more common.
Sounds to me like you've never touched any sort of advanced MANET radio or anything that requires networking. Not only do you need to know the arts of RF theory, but the arts of networking. At the end of the day, this is a radio, just using protocols other than what you normally use yourself.
@@saulmetzgerNo I use this protocols every day since it is just a cellphone in a Walkie Talkie case running an app that connects to a VOIP server over the internet.
Very interesting and informative, as always! However, you forgot to mention that this radio doesn't support most of the European LTE bands -- only band 1 and 3. In order to get a reliable connection 7, 8, 9, 20 and 28 are required additionally. As band 1 (2100 MHz) and band 3 (1800 MHz) are the high bands, this radio will likely not work in less densely populated areas. Cheers!
Great video as always! Really interesting device, have you come across any wifi ptt radios? I am interested in wifi mesh networks using low power ESP modules and I think combining them with PTT radios would be pretty cool
There's a group who figured out how to change the screen resolution, and Zello looks so much better. Unfortunately, looks like I fried mine trying to use an actual USB programming cable, so make sure to just use a regular USB cable. These are pretty nice units, and basically what I've wanted for restaurant use.
Lewis, was surfing AliExpress and this radio appears a lot of times under all kinds of different brand names. It almost seems that this radio is becoming the “UV-5R” of network radio.
Now that network radios seem to be more accepted, what are your thoughts about ham only services like the ham shack hotline and the wireless voip handsets?
I'm really glad you did this video as I'd been looking at basically the same radio on eBay. Yes, has the limitations I expected, but fine for really basic use. 73 M7TUD
Any chance you could do a beginners guide as to what this is all about? I’ve been a ham since the 1980’s yet I have no idea what these things are supposed to do or if I want to buy one!
It is essentially a smartphone in a walkie talkie casing with an app installed that connects over the internet to a server that streams your voice to other users when you press push to talk button.
I have the same question. I don’t like the idea of having to use the internet though. I want something that can keep a family in communication over say an urban mile
I own one that is KSUN (KSU7?) Branded. I use this as my every day knock around radio (filled with a data only sim) because I'd rather break a $50 radio instead of my $300 Telo TE390. You can program this little bugger easier if you link it up to PC using Vysor. You can also use this to upgrade Zello to the latest version, by downloading the APK from the Zello website to PC and drag/drop it it will auto install. This also solves the display issue. Now bear in mind I use THIS device to only monitor a couple of work channels and my family channel) Because navigation can be fiddly (it's not as intuitive as the buttons look) I wouldn't recommend it for monitoring dozens of channels, you'll want a full screen (and touch screen) display for that. The bear in mind the earphone jack is listen only, so no PTT. However it does have Bluetooth and I paired my mic easily (using Vysor). The fiddliness of it aside, you can't beat this for the money. It's plenty loud, the PTT responsive, it's pretty rugged, and I can get a good 5 days out of the battery without shutting it down. Like Lewis said, it's a good monitor. It's great for a couple of channels, and because it's cheap, you won't feel bad if you break it. It's a good family device. I gave one to my kid so she's only a click away if she needs me, no having to fiddle with her phone.
Would love to be able to use a radio like this without having to rely on a 3rd party. I looked into mumble & plumble but the Android app, whilst it worked OK, didn't support the hardware buttons on my Inrico T199 so didn't hit the spot for me. Anyone have any experience at anything similar?
RT4 ( when I'm working away) N60 at home. To work anywhere in the world, ie Talking to people. All you will ever need. ( it's not rf but it's 21 century communication) ie. Mobile phone..hate it or love it...it's ( in my view) all about " having a chat " 😀 😉 😄 👍 😊
I'm glad these exist because I'm sure there is someone out there who needs this type of device. But I can't understand why you wouldn't just use a smartphone. You can get very capable android smartphones for very cheap, with a ton more LTE bands and much more capability in terms of apps. No sense in making it look like a HT if it's not going to function as a HT.
Cellphones usually have sucky speakers, and trying to talk with say drivers while you're next to a double/triple decker oven is impossible to hear. These allow mission critical communication without the cost of setting up a city wide repeater.
@@RKingis like I said I'm sure it makes sense for someone. But between bluetooth headsets with noise canceling, and the wide variety of industrial smartphones (Cat, Kyocera, Sonim, etc...) I feel like there are a lot of other options out there. - Sent from my Cat S61
@@PsRohrbaugh True, I have a few used 5700l's, but this device if configured properly, you can hand off to a driver, who say isn't the sharpest tack in the pack.
I was at a county show recently, and either because of the number of people on their phones, the low signal or the background noise, smartphones were just unusable. I’ve no idea what Zella is, but I’d like a solution for family comms
@@____________________________.x If you're in the US, there's FRS, with no license, GMRS with a license, but most of your family is covered under your license. In the European areas there's PMR446, which is license free, but limited to half a watt.
Laughed at the fake talk permit tone this thing uses. There are people desperate to have that tone on their personal radios and now I guess they can do exactly that. For cheap.
