Folks,
You should fill out this Radioddity survey and let them know what you think of the current offerings, what can be improved etc.
For example:
I own their GD77.
I suggested they adopt openGD77 as stock firmware, improve receiver selectivity, sort out the dostortion problem when the battery is fresh, and improve the high pass audio filter on RX and TX so it doesn't ring at the corner frequency around 320 Hz.
Chris
Are you looking forward to a new generation of DMR? Or do you have any suggestions about our new products in 2021?
We’d appreciate it if you would complete this survey to give us some thoughts. (Each participant can get a free shipping code!)
https://www.radioddity.com/pages/2021survey
Radioddity Survey
Re: Radioddity Survey
Sorry if this is going to sound sceptical, but I was in regular communication with Radioddity for several years, and getting them to make even the most basic software or hardware change, always got knocked back as being too expensive.
The don't manufacture the hardware, and they don't write the firmware.
Their business model is to look at what radios other Chinese manufacturers are making, and see if there is a way to rebrand and possibly make small customisations for individual market sectors.
With the GD-77, the radio is a stock MD-760 from TYT, and they had some customisations made to the firmware to increase the number of channels and a few other modifications, like DMR ID lookup. They also had a new CPS written to match the changes to the changes to the number of channels etc. AFIK. There are no hardware differences between the MD-760 and the GD-77, and there are a lot of operators in China who use the OpenGD77 on their MD-760.
I suggested that increasing the size of the RAM chip, to match the size of the MD380 and similar radios, would be a good idea, and would only cost a few cents on the BOM. But this would have required a change to one PCB footprint, and since they don't design or manufacture the radio, the manufacturer (TYT) told them this would cost a lot, so it never happened.
They get charged for changes to the firmware, even if its a bug fix, which is standard practice throughout the world, not just China. Hence often minor bugs don't get fixed, because of the cost.
So unless a company make the hardware and also write the firmware, there is very little chance of them enhancing the product, or IMO of developing new and better products.
BTW.
They are well aware of the OpenGD77 firmware, but were ambivalent and generally not interested in it.
They understandably would not want to ship hardware using firmware which is not under their control, as the firmware has the potential to damage the RF hardware, e.g turn on the PA and Preamp at the same time etc.
Also, shipping with the OpenGD77 would invalidate their FCC approval, and getting another FCC approval will cost them $$$$
The don't manufacture the hardware, and they don't write the firmware.
Their business model is to look at what radios other Chinese manufacturers are making, and see if there is a way to rebrand and possibly make small customisations for individual market sectors.
With the GD-77, the radio is a stock MD-760 from TYT, and they had some customisations made to the firmware to increase the number of channels and a few other modifications, like DMR ID lookup. They also had a new CPS written to match the changes to the changes to the number of channels etc. AFIK. There are no hardware differences between the MD-760 and the GD-77, and there are a lot of operators in China who use the OpenGD77 on their MD-760.
I suggested that increasing the size of the RAM chip, to match the size of the MD380 and similar radios, would be a good idea, and would only cost a few cents on the BOM. But this would have required a change to one PCB footprint, and since they don't design or manufacture the radio, the manufacturer (TYT) told them this would cost a lot, so it never happened.
They get charged for changes to the firmware, even if its a bug fix, which is standard practice throughout the world, not just China. Hence often minor bugs don't get fixed, because of the cost.
So unless a company make the hardware and also write the firmware, there is very little chance of them enhancing the product, or IMO of developing new and better products.
BTW.
They are well aware of the OpenGD77 firmware, but were ambivalent and generally not interested in it.
They understandably would not want to ship hardware using firmware which is not under their control, as the firmware has the potential to damage the RF hardware, e.g turn on the PA and Preamp at the same time etc.
Also, shipping with the OpenGD77 would invalidate their FCC approval, and getting another FCC approval will cost them $$$$