BTECH UV-PRO IP67 Dual Band VHF/UHF Two-Way Radio - APRS, Bluetooth, GPS, Text Messaging, Aviation Band Scanner, NOAA Weather Alerts, USB-C Rechargeable Battery

I've been playing with this for a couple hours now. The documentation isn't great but I've already got it set up for my local repeaters and APRS. The Bluetooth interface to my phone for programming and full operation is wonderful. I can use the phone audio and define hardware PTT buttons so the radio is operable in/on my pack or in my tool bag. Would buy again.

Great support team for the UV-PRO. I needed some part assistance and the BTech staff stepped right up!The UV-PRO itself is a great little radio; little only in the aspect of size. It feels sturdy in the hand, with intuitive controls and a bright, well organized menu system. I very much like the way it integrates with my cell phone via Bluetooth – making programming a snap.My next acquisition for the UV-PRO will be the BTECH BS-22 Wireless Speaker Mic which should extend the -PRO’s capability away from the unit itself, freeing me from cables and/or the close-by antenna.73

FCC ID: 2AGND-UV-PROAn amateur or part 90 radio license is required to transmit with this radio.This radio is a dual band amateur radio. It receives and transmits on the 2 meter, and 70 cm bands. It also receives the civilian aircraft band.This radio has many unique features. It has send and receive APRS capability. It has transmit and receive I-gate capability. It has digipeater capability (which currently does not work). It has a relay (parrot) function that receives and retransmits the received audio. It has a nonstandard microphone connector. BTECH sells an adapter to allow K1 style accessories. A bluetooth microphone is available also.Transmit and received audio is great. The radio has a mic gain control.The radio is programmed via a smartphone application. Also, most radio functions can be set and adjusted from the app. The app does NOT need to be running for the APRS and other functions to work. The radio has a GPS system and can work autonomously. This radio is NOT CHIRP-Compatible.APRS is awesome, supporting send and receive. It supports all common APRS symbols and allows you to send and receive messages. The I-gate works well, sending received stations to APRS-IS and receiving the same. There appears to be digipeater capability also. It is not fully supported in the app yet., so it is nonfunctional. This radio uses standard amateur AX.25 protocol for amateur use and a proprietary "BSS" protocol for business/Part 90 use.The radio uses AX.25/BSS to identify and indicate position for group use and can display onscreen the bearing of other UV PRO radios in the group. It can also display bearings of received APRS stations.This radio has more features than any other analog radio I've ever seen. It is firmware upgradeable, and the app is upgradeable. This future-proofs the radio and allows future development of the unit. I look forward to the future with this series.It's not a mature radio. It has some development to go through yet, before it reaches its full potential.The price is very attractive. You get a lot with what you pay for. I highly recommend this radio.

I was able to get the APRS working by itself, and working with my phone on APRSDroid too! If you want to use Winlink Email with it over packet, that's possible too with WOad app on Android. I've sent SMS messages with it over APRS via its own interface and APRSdroid. 90% of the functions (Maybe more) of a Kenwood D75 handheld at about a quarter of the price. Other folks have tested it and it transmits clean. I haven't tested it yet. I bought the Bluetooth microphone with it but I'm not sure I like that yet. Your results may vary.

I really wanted to love this radio, and there are aspects of it that warrant that love. On the other hand, it leaves much to be desired. The selling point of this radio is that it is essentially an APRS station in a single unit, including both the standard radio functionality plus a built in KISS modem. The problem for me is that I want my HTs to be more than that; they also need to function as one would expect from any HT: multiple channels, easy programming, scanning, sturdy, solid feel, good display, adjustable power output, decent battery life, etc., and to some extent these can be found in the UV-Pro. Well, some of them can be found. The radio is definitely sturdy with a solid feel (and an IP67 rating!) and has a nice color display. Adjustable power is a given these days, so no complaints there. The battery life is on par, too, and when it is time to recharge, just use a USB-C cable. (There is no way to use a charging cradle, possibly as a result of the design of the battery to assist with the radio's IP67 rating.) Scanning is also there, but there is no method of specifying when to resume after a signal is received; the scan just stops. While I do like the hardware, I'm not a fan of how the memory channels are structured (6 banks of 30 channels each) and the programming software, which must be downloaded from the App Store appropriate for your device type, leaves much to be desired. It is simply confusing, to put it politely, and many functions of the radio require the application as it is not possible to set them from the built-in menu system, such as setting the four functions for each of the two programmable buttons on the side of the radio. The manual that comes with the radio only touches on some of the radio's functions, there are multiple paths within the application to arrive at some of the necessary screens, and some of the screens have no explanations given. Please note that the application serves both as a means to program the radio and also as an APRS utility similar to, for example, APRSdroid. I believe it for this reason that it is not supported by CHIRP or commercial programming software, although it may also be that the radio won't support a cable to attach to the desktop or laptop running that software; the application runs on a device (phone or tablet) connected via Bluetooth. Note that the ports on the radio need a special adapter cable to use standard K1 accessories like speakers of speaker/mikes and that cables description mentions nothing about using programming cables, but this would make sense if no programs exist that would make use of that K1 style connection. Finally, the flow of information between the radio and the application can be problematic if one uses the wrong selections within the application. I spent two hours manually entering channel information using the radio menu system only to see it all disappear when I attempted to download it to the app. To say I was disappointed and frustrated is as understatement. That said, the window for returning the radio has passed so at least I have something to occupy my time should I get bored. In the mean time, I'll just use one of my other HTs for chatting while away from my car or shack and will set aside any efforts at HT based APRS operation. With all of that said, why three stars? I give the radio almost five stars for the hardware but knock of two stars for the use of the 30 channel memory banks and the frustrating application. If anything happens to change my mind, I'll post an update.