MD‐UV380 MD‐UV390 RT3S Guide - VLEU/OpenHam GitHub Wiki

TYT MD-UV380/390 and RT3S

This guide will guide you through the installation of the necessary drivers and programming software for the Retevis RT3S/TYT MD-UV380/TYT MD-UV390 (all the same). It took me a while to figure out how everything works, but everything is more straightforward than you may think. DMR is, in fact, not difficult at all.

Codeplug Software (CPS) Installation

First of all, you should install the CPS software from the Retevis or TYT official website:

Now, simply go ahead with running the executable (make sure that you are running the correct version for your radio - GPS or Non-GPS). Once all is done, proceed to the next step.

Driver Installation (for Win10; probably the same for Win11)

In order to be able to program and use the radio, you are going to need some drivers.

Initial Steps

  1. Plug your TYT programming cable into one of your computer's USB ports. You should notice a new device showing up in Device Manager (Win+R, type "devmgmt.msc" without the quotation marks).
  2. Now plug in the two-pronged connector on the other end into your radio, and THEN turn the radio on. Make sure that the conector is all the way in. Due to poor plastic injection moulding, the connector may not go all the way in unless you REALLY use your strength.

There should now be another popup telling you that an unknown device was plugged into your USB port (and there should be a new entry in Device Manager).

The actual drivers

  1. We should now download the driver software from the STMicroelectronics website. Follow the link https://www.st.com/en/development-tools/stsw-stm32080.html
  2. Click on "Get Software" > "Get Latest" > Accept the license agreement
  3. Extract the .zip file. You can now run the .exe (called DfuSe_Demo_[...]). If the link ever stops working, please create a new issue and I should send you the file.

The nifty trick that Windows hates

With the driver installed, Windows will still keep throwing a tantrum about how something is not right, and the codeplug software will not work.

We now need to check for Windows Updates and get Windows to try and update the driver software that was installed earlier.

  1. Simply go into the Windows Update menu (Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update OR just search for "Update" in the searchbar)
  2. Click on "Check for Updates"
  3. Go into "view optional updates".

Here, something related to STMicroelectronics should show up as a driver update. 4. Proceed with the update by selecting the checkbox and then click on "Download and install".

Manually selecting the drivers in Device Manager

We now have to manually select the drivers in Windows Manager.

  1. Under the "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" group, there should be something like "STM device in DFU mode", or something similar to that (probably the only device that has a yellow warning sign).
  2. Right click on that > Properties.

We should now see a device status textbox that tells us the drivers for this device are not installed (or are malfunctioning).

  1. Click on "Update Driver", Browse my Computer for Drivers, "Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer".
  2. Select "All devices" from the list (top of the list), and click on "Next".

It might take a while for the whole list of driver software to show up. You will now need to select STMicroelectronics from the list, and then click on "STM Device in DFU Mode", "STM32 [...]" or something of the like.

  1. Proceed with the driver selection by clicking "Next" until the end of the dialog.

Your drivers should be all good now. You might want to restart your computer just in case (make sure to turn off the radio).

The CPS

Pull up the codeplug software. It should look pretty similar to this: image

This surely looks confusing, right? It's actually pretty easy to use!

Read the radio data, backup the original settings and HW ID/etc

Before we start messing around with our settings (and maybe firmware), we need to have a backup of everything. Let's first back up the default settings, serial number/HW ver/etc and pre-programmed things.

  1. Make sure the radio is plugged in; turn it on.
  2. Click on the "Read" button (square button, top left corner, icon of a radio with a yellow arrow pointing left).

image

This should pull up a dialog box.

  1. Click on "OK" to start reading the data from the radio. Once that is done, you should get a success message.
  2. Now go into "File > Save As" and save the CPS file as something like "default_config" or whatever you want.

Backup the calibration data

This is important if you want to start messing around with the firmware in the future. With your radio connected to the PC, hold CTRL+T until you get a test screen. Backup/export that and keep it somewhere safe. If you ever mess anything up, you will have to restore the calibration settings using the file you saved.

Settings

Go through the settings and adjust things according to your preferences. Make sure to put your DMR ID in the Radio ID section under "General Settings". DO NOT LEAVE IT AS 1234 Make sure to do "Disable All Tones", disable the "CH Voice Announcements", set the right timezone and maybe even make your callsign your intro screen by selecting "Text" and writing down something in the two textboxes.

Under Menu Item, you should set the "menu hangup time" to something like 15, otherwise you will get kicked out of the menu after one second of inactivity. Enable all the options you want, most importantly "Program Radio", "Monitor", "New Contact", "Group Call" and maybe even "GPS" if your radio has that capability. Under Buttons you can assign whatever keybinds you want. I use the side button 1 longpress as "Power Select" and the side button 2 longpress as "Monitor". Under Privacy Settings, if you hold CTRL+SHIFT+P, you will have access to AES256 encryption for use with a business license (this radio is Part 90 certified).

Contacts, Channels/Talkgroups, Zones and the like

Great, now it's time to add some talkgroups/channels. Look up your local repeater and add the talkgroups as contacts (use the right CALL ID, and make sure to select "group call"). When you're done, you should have a list of talkgroup contacts. You can also add your friends and whatnot. image

Make sure to add these contacts to your RX Group Call grouplists, and to your Zone. Don't forget to add them to the Scanlist.

Now, we will have to program the channel information for EACH of the contacts we added. This is an example for one of my ATL channels. image

A summary would be to make sure the channel mode is set to "Digital", the channel belongs to your Scan List, the squelch is set to something low (I use 3, by default I think it's 1); my TOT is set to 60s, but some people set it to unlimited. Add a channel name (Something like "METRO1") and plug in the RX/TX frequency of your repeater. Disable talkaround if it's enabled. Select the right talkgroup contact under "Contact Name", and add your channel to the Group List. Make sure to plug in the right Color Code and Repeater Slot.

Repeat this for all of your talkgroups/channels. I also recommend creating a "Parrot" contact & talkgroup so that you can test your radio, and a "Blank" analog contact/talkgroup so you don't have to turn off your radio/remove your antenna when you're trying to program it. For Analog, just follow your repeater config guide and make sure the right CTCSS is set (along w/ the bandwidth).

Profit

Congratulations! Your new radio can now do DMR through a repeater. Key up one of the talkgroups and start chatting!

**NOTE: If you encounter issues or cannot hear anything, go in the radio settings and disable "Group Call Match" and "Private Call Match". This means that you're now in "Promiscuous Mode", aka you basically receive whatever the repeater is broadcasting, regardless of talk group or Radio ID.