I'm really glad to see you covering "lessons learned" both positive and negative. A lot of the time, the most lessons learned come from our failures, not our successes. On the learning and proficiency journey, the hardest thing to even say to ourselves, never mind an audience , is "I was wrong" but it's also the most valkuable.

Really appreciate the DMR info. The options seem endless, and having a little direction has been helpful. Thanks for sharing your work. 👍

Love all of the field cards! Thanks

Fully agreed... I've been swearing at Anytone CPS for years and keep going back to DSTAR for DV. The problem is the same as you, I'm approaching it as a ham, and not a commercial radio operator.

Love the transparency, progress updates, and even the information about the helpful accessories you're working on. "How I (Really) Got Here"-type content is rare these days on YT. And learning any new CPS or radio paradigm is never a small undertaking!

I learn something new about DMR and the Anytone 878 just about every time I watch a video like this. It’s such a highly customizable radio! Thanks for sharing about learning DMR wrong - I learned something.

Good video and points. In my area there is the fleetmap and sample codeplugs that are maintained by a small group of volunteers. Some of those volunteers do radio fleet management professionally as well. But we still encourage people to learn their own radios and how to customize them to their own needs.

Having the function field cards to use with commercial radios is a must-have in my opinion. You covered the multitude of function buttons on the AnyTone, but the other commercial radios are in the same boat. Think about the XPR7550 - it has 2 function buttons on the front and three more on the side. Each can do a long and short press. I usually use one or 2 frequently (like scan for example) and the rest infrequently (like talk around). Similar on the XTS series - 3 side buttons, a concentric switch, and an A/B/C switch on top. The cards are a must-have.

Great points I really like your use of cards

Commercial CPS is in a different league than amateur radio programming software. With the flexibility to customize the way the radio functions comes additional complexity. A programmer who also understands what the end user does with the equipment is a valuable resource.

I love that you can configure the 878 all the way down to the display format. Can simplify it all the way down. I have it set up as zone for analog, encrypted, and reg DMR. The display I do channel name and zone and power level. Then side button cycles power level, and the button on top cycles between displaying the channel name or the frequency. I primarily use it for simplex

Good video as always Gaston. The Anytone radios are the Swiss Army knife of radios, similar to the TH74D. These days you have to be 50% IT and 50% radio tech/operator do the more technical things associated with amateur radio comms.

Thanks for the guidance and cards my friend. I feel as though I'm not using my 878 to its full capacity lol. I mostly use it on my Hotspot at home to talk to guys in my club lol. Yes, the exact opposite of what you use yours for hi hi!

Thank You K4YNA

Key take away, make communications and your radio your own!! Great vid Gaston!!

Commercial programming is a different mindset forsure. I love programming different types of radios to see what each radio can do. You're right. The amature side doesn't have as many options on the software side. I haven't programmed an anytone radio, but the tyt dmr radios are programmed similar to how you program a motorola. Definitely some head scratching at times, but i love it.

Great info Gaston. Why didnt you tell me this when I bought my 878 a year ago? 😂👍🍻

Hi Tech Prepper, I’ve been following your page for a bit. Just got my own Baofeng and working on my amateur license. Do you have any documentation or a video on how to properly setup radios for a group, say your Prepper team of 5 friends in the same town. I am trying to get my family setup in an easy way. We would have to communicate within a 20m radius. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

Just curious: what sidearm are you using @1:30? As far as the video...yeah, I'm finding it hard with just DMR radios. Just checking one box in the CPS can sometimes change a lot of functionality and mess up a lot of things. I think we've been spoiled a bit as hams.

one techy (comp-sci degree from the 80's) to another...wait until you set up your own DMR server; then replace the internet with your own mesh/RFWAN. This rabbit hole goes deep. Be well! 73

I haven't seen any updates to your EmComm software development lately. Seems like forever. Is there anything new to share? I would love to see an update video to the latest video on this software tool to what has been developed in the months since.

Are you still changing out the 878 for the mototrbo 6556?

Doesn’t the key lock on the Yaesu VX-6 also have different options for how it behaves? Not much different than the 878 IMO.

👍👍🚀🚀

sweet o/u shotgun

Really shouldn't carry a radio on the shoudler strap. While it seems convenient, it's a terrible place for a radio to be.

This has nothing to do with DMR.

Tell me you didn’t read your manual without telling me you didn’t read the manual😂 to be fair I’m the nerd in my group who reads everything

first thing you do is find someones ID and put that into your radio

I would say perception is not reality lol. Here’s why. I can put on a white lab coat, dangle a stethoscope around my neck and hold a scalpel but this does not make me a brain surgeon. Also having a tactical beard, chest rig, Solomon shoes, 5.11 pants, doesn’t make you a navy seal. Hehe. So no perception is not reality. But good video otherwise. Thank you for sharing.