Eton Radios : Huge Discount on Amazon.com

On Amazon.com, Eton GRUNDIG Radio Festival is open.

The GRUNDIG Edition Satellite is now $123.99(was about $160) for example.

GRUNDIG Edition Field with Bluetooth now $129.99 (was about $160 one month ago).

Oh, non Bluetooth GRUNDIG Edition Field now $89.99 (was about $130).

And.....the GRUNDIG Satellit 750 now under $300 at last!

My, seems to take 3-4month to be shipped, must be currently out of stock.

I do not imagine what Eton happens. However, these are almost MAD discount.

TETRA firmware for AR-DV1 Just Released!

AOR Japan has just released new AR-DV1's firmware 1609D with TETRA decode function wow!!

Now you can download from here.

I have just applied the new firmware. "T-DM" means TETRA mode.

There are still some restriction such as AUTO mode, SCAN and so on but it'll be a nice day!

Alinco announces DJ-MD40 DMR transceiver

As opened at Dayton Hamvention 2016, new DMR Radio DJ-MD40 officially released from Alinco.

• DJ-MD40 brochure - Alinco.com(PDF)

The DJ-MD40 is a DMR transceiver that is 10.75oz(305g) with EBP-96 Li-ion battery pack, 2.44"W x 4.41"H x 1.81"D (6.2W x 11.2H x 4.6D cm). The DJ-MD40 supports as the following functions;

• 400-480MHz operation
• DMR Tier I/II
• Analog 12.5/20/25kHz TRX
• DMR and Analog Mixed Mode
• 5/2.5/1/0.2W selectable RF output
• Programmable upto 1000ch in 64ch/zone(MAX)
• Full dot-matrix with color-selectable backlit LED
• Built in digital recorder
• Quick contract accesses
• Various security passwords and alert tone features
• Text Messages
• IP54
• 1000mW Audio Output
• Other features all included at NO extra costs

The standard accessories are EA-212 whip antenna, EBP-96(7.4V 2600mAh) Li-ion battery pack, EDC-211 battery charger, EDC-212/213 AC adapter, EBC-45 belt clip and a wrist strap. The PC interface cable (optional) for DJ-MD40 seems not a serial cable, a USB cable.

Oh, now I just found a fact. Look the EA-212 antenna of DJ-MD40 from the brochure.

Here is antenna of AT-3318UVE for my experiment.

These antennas look almost same. As someone commented before, DJ-MD40 might also be developed by Anytone.



By the way, why does Alinco choose DMR? I assume DMR is a most widely used digital format in the world. On the website of Universal Radio, regular price of the DJ-MD40 is $249.95 MSRP and the sale price is about $220.

As you know, for TYT MD-390 VHF DMR two way radio is about $160 on 409shop, price of the DJ-MD40 would not be competitive. Plus MD-390 has color LCD, IP67, Voice Prompt and Encryption.TYT MD-390 seems smarter and cooler than DJ-MD40.

 I doubt that DJ-MD40 would succeed because Alinco used to fail a Japanese digital D-CR HT DJ-DPS50. The malfunctions were "voice not received at all after a long time stand-by with Battery Save Mode" and "bad reception sound quality problem". It is needless to say those problems have been fixed or improved by Alinco of course.

I do not know whether Alinco would become a competitor even if DJ-MD40 equips with 250 zones with 64 channels per zone at DMR mode.

Additional Production of ID-51 PLUS II?

A handheld D-STAR transceiver ID-51 Plus 2 model is on the market in our country.

Some Ham shops in Japan have told ID-51 PLUS 2 Special Color Edition HT has almost been sold out.

Now CQ OHM, one of the largest Japanese Ham shop on the web, claimed that the factory has been producing additional ID-51 plus IIs for three colors, Cloud blue, Leaf green and Carbon red, which will be delivered late October - first November in 2016(this year).

Digicamo gray and Black seem to be current stock only in Japan.

It feels funny because ID-51 PLUS II is a limited edition of ID-51 series so the quantity is also limited, only 5000 sets all over the world. Why does ICOM produce more ID-51 PLUS 2? The CQ OHM says "Total quantity of ID-51 PLUS II which are produced won't be changed. It seems that ICOM has reassigned part of some export stocks to domestic".

In other words, the whole quantity around the world is same but stocks that are exported from the factory to the world would be decreased. Hmm..... I would not agree ICOM's policy. Perhaps this may be only an official stance and the truth may be what we expect but in fact, the total would be more plenty.

At least the ID-51A/E PLUS II Special Color Edition is supplied with OPC-2350LU data cable, then that must be valuable.

The "Color Attack" would be alike a way of Baofeng UV-5R series. The difference would be just whether the colors are printed or not, I think.

HPF-225 UHF Airband Filter

At last I got a band pass filter for UHF aircraft band listening at a ham shop near Yokota Air Base.

The instruction says "frequency range of the filter is 200-400MHz and VSWR is less than 2". The body size is 0.787"(30mm)W x 1.181"(20mm)H x 0.709"(18mm)D without SMA connectors.

Today we can find some UHF aircraft band filters but unfortunately they are heavy and not for SMA connectors. By contrast, the HPF225 is compact, light weight and fits for my Uniden BCD436HP scanner without adapters.

On my first look, though 880MHz RF power(3G/LTE digital cellulars) seems not to be eliminated, lower bands such as FM broadcasts, VHF aircrafts, VHF marines, VHF police bases-vehicles and so on look like working properly. No VHF TV broadcasts in my country because they had already moved to UHF band in 2011 for our countries' law.

It tends not to well eliminate high frequency more than 800MHz. I'll check the details.

TOSHIBA LE releases new AM/FM Stereo Radios TY-SR55,TY-AR55

Two new radios has been released from TOSHIBA LE Trading Japan. These have stereo speakers.

- TY-SR55: AM/FM radio : TOSHIBA LE Trading Co, Ltd(Japanese)

- TY-AR55: AM/FM radio : TOSHIBA LE Trading Co, Ltd(Japanese)

The TY-SR55 is a PLL FM/AM radio that the operation lasts more than 200hours using 3C alkaline batteries. The weight is about 1.80lbs(820g) including batteries. The size is 8.66"(W)x4.72"(H)x2.17"(D) (220x120x55mm) with built in 3.15"(80mm) stereo speakers. The AF output is 1 watt of total.

The frequency range is 522-1620kHz of AM with 9kHz step, 76-108MHz of FM with 100kHz step. The AM reception is monaural only. No RDS function.

The length of the telescopic antenna seems around 30"(12cm)(max), 4.7"(70cm)(min) from the picture. It has a large LCD that displays 0.4"(1cm) height of characters(frequency) with backlit.

The buttons may not be lightened itself. The backlit turns on within 10sec and off automatically everytime the buttons are pressed by using batteries. When connected to AC, the backlit always turns on. Clock, sleep timers and so on are not available.

Each preset memory has 6stations for AM/FM, that means 12 stations can be stored. When holding on up or down buttons more than 2sec, scan function started.

The TY-SR55 also has a carryng handle, a long carrying shoulder strap. I don't see new radios with shoulder straps.




The TY-AR55 is an analog FM/AM tuning radio.

Battery lasts more than 230 hours. Reception frequency is same as TY-SR55 as above.

Other features, specifications excluding analogue tuning system are same as TY-SR55. No backlit built in the tuning window.



Battery life of the TY-AR55 is 30 hours longer than TY-SR55. Only TY-SR55 has a stereo LED lamp and low battery LCD on the front. On the other hand, TY-AR55 has a tuned LED and a low battery LED.

Though the body color of the both radios is black, speaker net of TY-SR55 is gray white. There are headphones jack and 5V DCIN on the leftside of those radios.

I think the TY-SR55/TY-AR55 has a simple design that reminds me of late 1990s such as GE SuperRadio III. Sensitivity? I do not know. The voltage of the DCIN is 5V so we might input power from USB(not tested by TOSHIBA, may occur AM noise interference).


If you are looking for a long life stereo radio with shoulder strap, the TY-SR55/TY-AR55 would be convenient of you.

Yokota Airbase Friendship Festival 2016

On 9/17 - 9/18/2016, Yokota Friendship Festival were took place in Yokota Airbase, Fussa, Tokyo.

Bush antennas on the Police Ford wow...

I also love two way radios. Especially Motorola rigs are nice looking but robust, reliable and so cool.

For many Japanese, landscape of baking beef like this seems very wild, attractive.

And cool troop with good smile.

My forget, this HOT DOGS with good smile must be delicious, ha.

It was a nice day. Steak, pizza, hamburger, Red Bull, Monster... also yummy.  See you next year at Yokota Airbase. I will take lunch HERE again.

ICOM announced a handy 351MHz D-CR IC-DPR30

A tiny digital handheld transceiver is to be released.

- Lightest & Smallest, Built in antenna and Bluetooth. Stylish Transceiver IC-DPR30 Releases | Press Release | ICOM Japan(Japanese)

The IC-DPR30 is a compact and light  weight (almost 100 grams with a normal Li-Ion battery) D-CR(Digital Convenience Radio) only for Japan market. D-CR is a standard of Japan Digital radio that uses AMBE+2 codec. The frequency is 351MHz and the channel space is 6.25kHz.

The maximum RF output is 1W and 0.5W, 0.2 or 0.1W also will be available like IC-DPR3. IC-DPR30 has IP55/54/67 dust and waterproof, bluetooth, built in antenna, selective call, scrambler  for some business uses. Also, the IC-DPR30 has additional 5 channels for sky communications only. This is an amazing event because most of the other D-CRs cannot transmit the five sky channels for the some government restrictions. This additional 5 channels will take advantage of the promotion.

As the IC-DPR30 has Bluetooth function, ICOM will release some Bluetooth options.

The release date is on Sep.24 this year(2016). Price for IC-DPR30 is about 410 dollars MSRP at present when I wrote this article(calculated $1=103Japanese Yen). I imagine the actual sale price will be near 300 dollars.

The IC-DPR30 will have four color variations and black is sold at the first time. That’s pretty good.

ICOM released MARINE DSC Radio IC-M93D

A large LCD, GNSS such as GPS, GLONASS and navigation function are  built in new IC-M93D.

- IC-M93D | Products | Icom Inc


The IC-M93D is one of the Marine Radio. It features new 2.3" large full dot-matrix LCD, GNSS(GPS, GLONASS, QZSS and SBAS(such as D-GPS)), navigation, weather channel receiver and AquaQuake water draining like IC-M73 series.

I have never known the new 2.3" large full dot-matrix LCD equipped with ICOM radios. Even the ID-51 series has middle sized full dot-matrix LCD. I think the large LCD built on IC-M93D will be equipped with the future Communications Receiver IC-R30.

I used to come across the situation..... as if YAESU FTA-750L/FTA-550 series released before FT2DR unveiled. The body design of IC-M93D seems to be alike IC-R30.

QZSS is new standard like GPS and GLONASS. The satellite(called "Michibiki", which means something will lead to somewhere) of QZSS is operated by Japan.

IC-M93D also has DSC(Digital Selective Calling) function. This video says overview of DSC.

In addition to well-known functions for marine radios, the IC-M93D will be compatible to future VHF marine channel plan. The future is Jan 1st, 2017.

I wish IC-R30 would be equipped with the 2.3" Large full dot-matrix LCD.

Eton Field with Bluetooth version

New BT Field radio selling on Amazon.com.

The appearance of New Field radio with Bluetooth is as follows;

- BT position added, FM ST/MONO position removed

- PAIR function assigned on TIMER A button

- PLAY/PAUSE function added on TIMER B

- RDS INFO function moved from on TIMER B to on LOCK

- REW(for BT) function added on UP/HOUR button

- FF(for BT) function added on DOWN/MIN button

- Logo on the up-right top added to "BT"

Eton official product page has not released the Field built in Bluetooth yet but the Media and Assets already announced "New Bluetooth® Capability for Best Selling Field Radio" this year(2016).

The Field BT might be the answer.



Non BT Field now available $99 on Amazon.com, bargain price.

Differences between TH-D74 and TH-D72

I have just summarized differences between KENWOOD TH-D74 and TH-D72 from these specifications on Japanese KENWOOD website.


> GENERAL differences

- TX of Band-B omitted
- RX of Band-B expanded like TH-F6
- D-STAR added
- Frequency stability upgraded
- Lower voltage of EXT power extended
- Low battery voltage level shifted upside
- GPS working current increased twice
- Smaller width and height but thicker depth
- Lighter weight

(click to enlarge)

> RECEIVER differences (without FM radio)

- SSB/CW mode added
- Triple Super Heterodyne equipped with Band-B
- Receiver coverage expanded but the sensitivity seems lower

(click to enlarge)

> RECEIVER differences (with FM radio)

- FM Broadcast Band receiver added
- 1kHz wider selectivity
- 100mW larger audio

(click to enlarge)

> TRANSMITTER differences

- Middle power(2W) mode added
- GMSK added

(click to enlarge)

> GPS differences

- Specifications of TH-D72 not mentioned on the manual but the TH-D74 published

(click to enlarge)

> Bluetooth differences

- No Bluetooth built on TH-D72 but the TH-D74 added

(click to enlarge)

We can see details of TH-D74E on KENWOOD UK website but the TH-D74A not yet on KENWOOD USA. As the TH-D74 starts selling in Japan, it will be updated soon.