APRS Radios
Thanks to Jay DV7GDL for compiling this list of radios with APRS capbility builtin.
APRS Radios (and other hardware) as of November 2024
(All radios can send and receive APRS text messages in addition to beacons and have user-accessable TNCs unless otherwise stated.)
In production:
- LANCHONLH HG-UV98 5 watt HT. Radio has a KISS TNC and GPS but does beaconing only, though it has Bluetooth and can be paired to an Android device running the APRSDroid software TNC for Android (doesn’t work with Aprs.fi app on an Iphone/Ipad) to gain messaging and other APRS capability.
https://hamimports.com/radio/lanch-nlh-hg-uv98/
- Vero VCG VR-N76 7 watt HT with GPS, full APRS capability including messaging from the radio, has a KISS TNC and Bluetooth. Radio is dual band, dual watch but has a separate dedicated VFO for the APRS frequency (which defaults to 144.640MHz as is used in China but can be changed using Veri’s app for smartphones and iphones, which incidentally is also used to program the radio and flash the firmware over Bluetooth.
https://www.verotelecom.com/VR-N76-Dual-Band-Handheld-Radio-p2511333.html
- BTECH UV-PRO, same radio as the Vero
https://baofengtech.com/product/uv-pro/
- Radioddity GA-5WB, same radio as the Vero? (Radioddity says it’s 5 watts but I’ve been told that it uses the same firmware as the VR-N76)
https://www.radioddity.com/products/radioddity-ga-5wb
- Yaesu System Fusion (YSF) WIRES-X FT-5D 5 watt HT, FTM-200D, 300D and 500D 50 watt mobiles. The radios have GPS and Bluetooth and are fully APRS-capable including text messaging, but the TNCs aren’t KISS and their Bluetooth will only pair with Yaesu Bluetooth headsets, so all APRS functionality is via their touchscreen user interfaces only.
- Vero VR-N7500 50 watt headless mobile radio. Everything on this radio is done over Bluetooth including programming, channel and frequency selection and voice communications but it has a GPS and does APRS.
https://www.verotelecom.com/Mobile-Radio-c13232.html
- Vero VR6600PRO, a more conventional mobile with dual VFOs, bands, receive, FM plus GPS and APRS, crossband-repeat capable (and a large display screen, real knobs and switches.)
https://www.verotelecom.com/Mobile-Radio-c13232.html
- Kenwood TH-D75A /E 5 watt triband HT, D-star/FM/APRS HT
https://www.kenwood.com/usa/com/amateur/th-d75a/
- Anytone AT-D878UVII Plus 7.5 watt DMR, FM and APRS HT with GPS and Bluetooth. Unknown if the radio can be paired with APRSDroid or the Aprs.fi apps. This model is the only Anytone AT-D878UV that can receive and decode APRS packets and messages.
https://www.anytone.net/video/products-detail-935380
Out of production:
- Yaesu VX-8DR 5 watt FM and APRS HT
- Yaesu FTM-350 dual VFO crossband-repeater mobile with TNC and GPS. Fully APRS capable but some reviews say it was released with buggy firmware, so buyer beware. Also its TNC isn’t KISS.
- Yaesu FT-1D, FT-2D and FT-3D YSF Hts. The 3D is still being sold as new-old stock “while supplies last.”
- Yaesu FTM-100D and 400D 50 watt YSF mobiles
- Kenwood TH-D7, TH-D72 and TH-D74 A/E 5 watt HTs. D74 also has D-star. May be able to buy new-old stock D74 as it was discontinued fairly recently.
- Kenwood TM-D710 Communicator-series (D710A/E without GPS, needs an external GPS receiver, and D710G with internal GPS in the control head.) Still considered to be the gold standard of APRS radios. Rarely seen listed for sale and still commands close to the original price when new. Was Kenwood’s flagship VHF/UHF radio. Other features include Echolink sysop mode and Peet Bros./Davis personal weather station connectivity. Discontinued around 2020.
- Kenwood TM-D700A/E Communicator 50 watt mobiles. This was the predecessor of the 710 series. No internal GPS, otherwise very nice 50 watt dual-band, dual VFO APRS radios indeed. Also very rarely found on the used market: people who have them or the 710 tend to keep them.
Other hardware:
- Homebrew solutions such as a cable connecting an older Smartphone with a headset jack to the speaker mic connector on an HT and using APRSDroid on the phone along with VOX on the radio. (Note that using VOX may cause QRM on a busy APRS local network due to slight delays between VOX activation/deactivation and when PTT is engaged/disengaged.)
https://wcares.org/special-interests-3/aprs/aprs-hardwired-cell/
- A TNC such as the MobilinkD can be connected to an FM radio and used with APRSDroid or Aprs.fi via Bluetooth. MobilinkD also sells a variety of radio cables for their TNC.
- Other devices may be built and experimented with such as the TARPN NinoTNC N9600A TNC and the VP-Digi STM32-based digipeater controller with built-in KISS TNC.
https://tarpn.net/t/nino-tnc/nino-tnc.html
https://github.com/sq8vps/vp-digi
- Older packet radio TNCs may be able to be optioned and adapted for use as APRS AX.25 KISS TNCs.
- Trackers such as the Byonics TinyTrac (no messaging capabilities)
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Notes:
- Many radios that have GPS can do APRS position beaconing, such as entry-level DMR radios from China, among others.
- Radios with DTMF keypads can send APRStt messages and beacons if nearby digipeaters have DTMF translation capability enabled but the radios can’t receive and decode APRS packets.
- The LANCHONLH, Vero VR-N76, BTECH UV-PRO and Radioddity HTs and the Vero VR-N7500 mobile currently list for under $200.
- The B76, BTECH and Radioddity HTs are IP.67 rated (submersible.) They and the LANCHONLY have USB-C quick recharging. All have GPS receivers, Bluetooth and KISS TNCs.
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The above information is based on months of research (Web searches, reading online manuals, following public discussions on social media, etc.) and is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge. However, new APRS radios and technology are still being created, the radios mostly from Chinese companies, the tech mostly from the maker movement and experimenters worldwide.
73 de Jay, capability