AnyTone AT-D168UV Programming Quick Reference

The order to build a codeplug in, every field that matters with the recommended value, and the parts of this radio that are not obvious. Also covers the Radioddity GD-168.

Before you start

Borrowing a codeplug from another radio

A codeplug from an AT-D878UV or AT-D578UV will open in the D168UV CPS and is a good starting point. The catch is the frequency band has to match your radio's.

• Read your radio and check Model Information for its band.
• Open the donor codeplug and check its band.
• If they match, it works. Review Optional Settings, which differ between models.
• If they do not match, use Set Initialization > Model Information in the CPS, pick the band that matches your radio, no password needed, then export all from the donor and import into the new file.

The build order

A codeplug is built from the bottom up. Each step depends on the one before it, so doing them out of order means going back.

1. Radio ID list. Your own DMR number. Nothing digital works without it.
2. Contact talk groups. The talk groups you want to use.
3. Digital contact list. The worldwide user database, so callers show as names.
4. Channels. Frequencies, each pointing at a talk group.
5. Zones. Groups of channels. There is no 16 channel limit on this radio.
6. Scan lists. Built from channels, then attached back to channels.
7. Optional Settings. The seventeen tabs of radio behaviour.
8. Write to radio. Check the COM port first.

Radio ID and talk groups

Radio ID list

Digital > Radio ID List. Double click line 1 and enter your DMR number and a name. The radio holds several IDs, so one radio can carry a commercial ID and an amateur ID at once, and each channel picks which to use. Master ID changes every digital channel to that ID in one go.

Contact talk groups

Digital > Contact Talk Groups. Double click line 1. Each entry needs a Name, Call Type of Group Call for a talk group, and the TG number. Up to 10,000 talk groups.

For a big list, export the talk groups from the CPS to a .csv, edit it in a spreadsheet, and import it back through Tool > Import. The exported file gives you the exact column format to match.

Digital contact list

This is the look-up table that turns a DMR ID into a name, callsign and location on your screen. The radio holds 500,000 entries.

• Download user.csv from radioid.net/database/dumps.
• Import through Tool > Import > Digital Contacts.
• The Call Type column must read Private Call for every row. The No. column can be left blank.
• The downloaded database is not always clean. If the import refuses, look for stray data in cells outside the columns the radio uses.

Export the original list while the radio is still new. That gives you a known good example of the format to check against later.

Channel fields

Public > Channel, double click line 1. 4,000 channels, analog or digital.

Common to every channel

Digital only

Analog only

Zones and scan lists

Zones

Public > Zone, double click line 1. Name it, then move channels from the left list to the right with the double arrow. The A Channel and B Channel at the top right are the two channels that zone opens on.

No 16 channel limit on this radio. Order the members with the Up and Down buttons, or sort by ID or Name, because that order is what the channel knob follows. Naming a zone to match its scan list keeps things straight.

Zones are changed on the radio with the up and down arrow keys.

Scan lists

Public > Scan List. Same pattern as zones: name it, then move channels across with the double arrow. Then go back and point each channel's Scan List field at it.

While a scan is running, pressing Menu on the radio parks it on the channel it found, which may be in another zone.

Scan revert

This decides which channel you transmit on when you press PTT during a scan. It is at the bottom of the scan list page and it catches people out.

Optional Settings

Seventeen tabs. Values marked in blue are the guide author's recommendations, not factory defaults.

Power On

Alert Tone

The radio takes up to 38 ms before a tone starts sounding, so make the first tone in a sequence longer than 38 ms or you will not hear it.

Display

With both channels shown, the one the transmitter is using has a heavier line and a larger ANA or DIG label than the listen only channel.

GPS and Ranging

This radio has no GPS receiver. GPS, Get GPS Positioning and GPS Roaming are all listed but not available. What matters here is the Time Zone, which must be right or satellite pass times will be wrong. Ranging Intervals 5 to 255. Distance Units Metric or Inch System. GPS Mode GPS.

VFO Scan

VFO Scan Type TO, restarting 5 seconds after the voice stops, CO restarting 2 seconds after, or SE which stops the scan. Then set start and end frequencies for UHF and for VHF.

Auto Repeater

The D168UV cannot be used as a repeater. Auto Repeater A and B set an automatic positive or negative TX offset. Repeater Check on or off, interval 5 to 50 seconds, 3 to 5 reconnects, Alert Out Of Range 1 to 10 times. Auto Roaming on or off, started either at a Fixed Time or on Out Of Range, interval 1 to 256 minutes, roaming effect wait up to 30 seconds, plus the roaming zone and frequencies.

Record

Record Function Off or On. On records every TX and RX, analog and digital, up to four hours. Assign PF1 and PF2 to Record Switch and Record so you are not going through the menu each time. Record Delay 0.0 to 5 sec, to stop a very short transmission being recorded.

Volume and Audio

Work Mode

Display Mode frequency or channel name. VFO or MEM for A and B, and the memory zone each starts in. Main Channel Set A. Sub-Channel Mode On. Working Mode Amateur: Professional mode locks parts of the keypad.

VOX and Bluetooth

VOX Level Off or 1 to 3. VOX Delay in seconds after a transmission. VOX Detection built-in mic, external, or both.

STE, squelch tail eliminate

Simplex analog only. STE Type CTCSS Off, Silent, or a tone phase shift. STE When No Signal Off, 55.2 Hz or 259.2 Hz. STE Time 250 ms. DCS STE 134.4 Hz or 55.2 Hz.

FM broadcast

FM VFO or Memory, the FM work channel, and FM Monitor On so the radio still takes calls while the FM radio is playing.

Power Save

Auto Shutdown Off or a number of minutes. Power Save Off, 1:1 or 2:1. Auto Shutdown Type Is affected, or Not affected by call.

Other

Digital Function

Key functions

PF1 and PF2 each have a short press, a long press 1, and a long press 2. Long Key 2 Time is 1 to 5 seconds. There are also Knob Lock, Keyboard Lock, Side Key Lock and Forced Lock Key, all Off by default, and Key Lock Manual or Auto.

What you can assign to PF1 and PF2:

Off, Voltage, Power, Repeater, Reverse, Digital Encryption, Call, VOX, V/M, Scan, FM, Record Switch, Record, SMS, Dial, Main Channel Switch, Hot Key 1 to 6, Work Alone, Nuisance Delete, Digital Monitor, Sub CH Switch, Priority Zone, VFO Scan, MIC Sound Quality, Last Call Reply, Channel Type Switch, Max Volume, Slot Switch, APRS Type Switch, Zone Select, Timed Roaming Set, APRS Set, Mute Timing, CTC/DCS Set, Bluetooth, GPS, Ch. Name, CDT Scan, APRS Send, DIM Shut, GPS Roaming, WX Alarm, Sq. Level, CH Setting, Satellite Predicting.

Satellite operation

The radio has no GPS, so you give it a fixed position and it works out the passes from there.

1. In the CPS, Tool > APRS, so APRS appears under Public on the left. Enter your latitude and longitude in one of the five Fix slots.
2. Optional Setting > GPS/Ranging, set the Time Zone. Get this wrong and every pass time is wrong.
3. Optional Setting > Satellite: Satellite Location, one of the 8 fixed positions. TX Power Turbo. Analog Squelch 0. AOS Limit 0 to 30 degrees elevation. Name the fixed positions.
4. Tool > GPS Satellite Data Update, HTTP Download to pull current elements, then Write Data To Radio.
5. On the radio, Menu, Satellite, choose the fixed location, then let it predict. The nearest satellite is at the top of the list.

Three screens per satellite, moved between with the up and down arrows: the azimuth and elevation dial, the pass list with times and duration, and the current azimuth, elevation, uplink, downlink and CTCSS tone.

• Azimuth: 0 degrees is north, 90 east, 180 south, 270 west. Negative elevation means the satellite is below the horizon and unworkable.
• Squelch open is effectively required. Use the channel knob to kill the squelch so you hear the satellite through the noise.
• The displayed transmit frequency shifts as the radio corrects for Doppler.
• The radio beeps at you if you try to transmit when the satellite is not accessible.
• PTT plus PF2 sends an APRS position under the satellite menu, if APRS is set up.
• The rubber duck will not do much. A directional antenna is what makes this work.

Element sources: celestrak.org/NORAD/elements/amateur.txt, or amsat.org/tle/dailytle.txt which updates more often.

Satellite frequencies from the guide

These figures are as printed in the programming guide and satellites change. Check amsat.org/amateur-satellite-index before relying on any of them.

Recording

Four hours of every call, if Record is On in the radio menu. Play them back on the radio, or pull them down through Tool > Radio Recording. Set the COM port first.

Filter by start and end time, by duration or interval, by call type private, group or all, by RX or TX, and by caller ID. Get File List downloads them. Play, play one by one, pause, stop, and page through. Export saves a recording as .amb, and the guide notes there may be no computer application that plays that format.

Writing the codeplug

1. Check the COM port. Windows Device Manager, or Set > Set COM in the CPS. The cable is USB to USB-C.
2. Choose whether to write Other Data, Digital Contact List, or both.
3. Write it to the radio.
4. Save the file to the PC with a version number in the name.
5. Update the clock in the radio afterwards if the CPS asks.

Display icons

Left to right along the top of the screen: Dig Monitor, Recording, Bluetooth, GPS, VOX, Inbox, Roaming, BT PTT, Auto Power Off, Battery.

The two channel blocks each show mode DIG, ANA or D+A, channel number, time slot, zone name, a signal bar, TX power as a letter, and the color code.

Where the data comes from

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Condensed from the AT-D168UV Programming Guide, revision 250122, written by KD0PNQ. Values marked as recommended are that author's, not factory defaults. The guide covers programming rather than operation, so the radio's own manual remains the reference for everything else, including battery safety.