TYT MD380 New radio to me help.

My daughter gave me a secondhand TYT MD380 when I passed my foundation test. I am new to these handheld thingys and it's nothing like what I am used to. I am an old CB'er.

I have loaded up the code plug and added repeaters etc after consulting many websites. To be honest, the code plug was already pretty full of repeaters etc so I only really needed to do the DMR ID and put my call sign in to the machine.

From there on I am a bit lost. I tuned it into my local repeater and left it sitting for a few days so I could listen in and work out who and what was goin on. Listening for any nets etc .....Silence!

Can anyone point me in the right direction? There is a lot of info out there but what is actually relavant and useful to a new user.

Sheesh, you lost me now Simon

I could teach you how to build a shelter, start a fire, trap an animal, identify edible vegetation, make a bowl, make clothing, locate your position and calendar using the stars....heck, even build a radio receiver and transmitter from post apocalyptic junk and how to power it all up

SDR? DMR? All flipping alien to me!


I have a Baofeng 'thingy', sat for several nights trying to program the damn thing......still sits on the shelf doing nothing

I'm very sure someone here will know much more about these things


(Still can't teach my grown up children and their offspring that despite having a full battery on their mobile phones it just ain't gonna work during this power outage! Ha, ha!)

I shall watch this space with interest....perhaps this old dog can learn a thing or two as well

Hi Simon, what can I say codeplugs!!!!! They can be a bit of a nightmare to get your head around. A couple of questions are you accessing the network through the Phoenix DMR network via a local repeater or are you using a hot spot like a Jumbo spot DV mega or Shark RF? Have you tried getting a response from the parrot usually TG9990? Are you definitely in range of your nearest repeater if not when you key up you will usually get a tone that tells you you have no access.

I have to say I have given up on Phoenix it's just too dead and have now got a Jumbo spot and find that Brandmeister is much more active.

Your best bet is to have a look on YouTube and go through the process of constructing a code plug step by step. Oh I just remembered a mate sent me a codeplug for my Retevis RT82 and I changed the DMR I.D. and call sign to mine and for some reason it wouldn't work I had to set it up from scratch.
Let me know where your at and I'll do my best to help but I'm not an expert I have managed to do my own codeplugs though.

73's Gary.

Phoenix and Jumbos and Sharks, oh my!
Phoenix and Jumbos and Sharks, oh my!
Parrots!!!

Good luck with it all Simon

Lols Vic, the problem with DMR is it's a business system developed by Motorola that we Hams have adapted for our own use. It is undoubtedly a complicated system to set up but once you've got your head around it you can network around the world. Great fun!!! Of Course the purists will already be saying it's not real radio blah blah but if you can't put up antennas etc you get to QSO worldwide from you Handy Talky what's not to like?

73's Gary.

Hee Gotta have a laugh Gary.

Just spoke to my Ham friend on the telephone who has a better understanding of such technology.
If you can get your head round it all there's some distinct advantages the way Hams are utilising it.
Gotta love the Amateur spirit of radio...."Ooh, that's interesting. How can I utilise that to our advantage". Brilliant

Might have to dig the Baofeng thingy out again and give it a second chance

Yes it's amazing how the experimentation of Amateurs is pushing the boundaries of the hobby and technology Vic. Hopefully that Baofeng is a tier 2 DMR version if not then you know what's on your next piece of radio wish list a DMR Handy!!!!

Dogfish wrote:

My daughter gave me a secondhand TYT MD380 when I passed my foundation test. I am new to these handheld thingys and it's nothing like what I am used to. I am an old CB'er.

I have loaded up the code plug and added repeaters etc after consulting many websites. To be honest, the code plug was already pretty full of repeaters etc so I only really needed to do the DMR ID and put my call sign in to the machine.

From there on I am a bit lost. I tuned it into my local repeater and left it sitting for a few days so I could listen in and work out who and what was goin on. Listening for any nets etc .....Silence!

Can anyone point me in the right direction? There is a lot of info out there but what is actually relavant and useful to a new user.

I can't help on the radio, as I'm only running a Motorola DM3600, which is pretty basic compared to the TYT's, Anytones and others.

There's a bit more to DMR than normal analogue repeater access, though.  In addition to frequency and offset, you'll need timeslot (TS) and talkgroup (TG) programmed or entered too, plus your ID, of course.

If you used an existing (working) codeplug and just changed the ID, I would guess this would all be programmed correctly, so I wonder what you were monitoring TG and TS wise?  

For example, depending on timeslot and TG, it would depend what you heard.  You usually have talkgroups for simplex, "this repeater" and networked repeaters.

If you're either not specifying a TG, or on the wrong TG/timeslot combination, then you won't hear anything.

If you key up and ID, do you hit the repeater? If not, you will usually get a tone back to indicate this.

If your repeater happens to be on the Brandmeister network, a really useful tool is "last heard".  This is my "local" one:

https://brandmeister.network/?page=lh&ContextID=%5E505603$

So you can see not just who is on it, but more importantly, get yourself a signal report and see if you are hitting it.