Tyt mduv390+

[N9MIC]

Joined to find out more about the opengd77 program and if I buy the tyt mduv390 plus (from buytwowayradios) if it will work on it. Talked to W4KWS and watched his YouTube video and he says it worked on his. But reading on this forum it says it does not work on the plus versions. So I'm confused if it work. Any and all help will be appreciated.

Mike N9MIC

[VK3KYY]

Joined to find out more about the opengd77 program and if I buy the tyt mduv390 plus (from buytwowayradios) if it will work on it. Talked to W4KWS and watched his YouTube video and he says it worked on his. But reading on this forum it says it does not work on the plus versions. So I'm confused if it work. Any and all help will be appreciated.

Mike N9MIC

It appears that original versions of the UC390 Plus did work with the firmware
However more recent versions don't work correctly

Initially we thought it was only the 10W UV380/390 Plus that didn't work, because the PCB is a lot different in the 10W radio to accommodate the much bigger PA FETs.

However its possible that new 5W radios may now not work either.

Currently my best guess is that the CPU in the newer radios may be different.

About a year ago, TYT changed from using a genuine STM32F407 CPU, to an unmarked Chinese clone
At the time , this completely stopped the firmware running, because the clone chip is less capable than the genuine chip, and would not support running the Amazon FreeRTOS operating system which we use for the firmware.

So we had to hack/modify Amazon FreeRTOS, to allow it to work on the lesser chip

I think it's likely with these new Plus versions, that TYT found an even cheaper clone CPU, which struggles to run fast enough to run the display


About the only way you can tell if the firmware will run on your radio is to try it

[N9MIC]

If it doesn't work will it brick the radio? Is there a way to save the original firmware and reinstall it as I don't see it on TYT website? Thanks for your quick response. Mike

[N9MIC]

Is it just a crap shoot on buying any uv390 plus or non plus then?

[VK3KYY]

Is it just a crap shoot on buying any uv390 plus or non plus then?

Non Plus versions don't seem to have any problems

Its only the Plus version.

AFIK if the firmware doesn't work, you can revert back to the official firmware.

I emailed the official firmware for the 10W Plus version to someone who wanted to revert, but either they didn't receive my emial, or decided not to reply, so I don't know how they got on with reverting.

Perhaps someone else with the Plus version may post about whether they managed to revert

[KB8YKF]

Do you need the water submersible capability of the MD-UV390 ? The MD-UV380 aka Retevis RT3S are the same radio but can't be submersed in water. The Retevis model can be purchased via Amazon for easy returns.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FVWMH37/re ... UTF8&psc=1

Here is a video of UV380 (aka Retevis RT3s) vs UV390: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG_lHA0gnAo

If you are OK with the radio not being submersible in water, I would consider using a Retevis RT3S myself

You can also get bundles with accessories for not much more than Amazon's prices direct from Retevis - downsides are I have no idea their return policy, and it ships direct from china so takes 2 weeks or so. My first Retevis RT3S was from Amazon, once I knew I liked it I got another direct from Retevis. Example bundle:

https://www.retevis.com/rt3s-radio-cabl ... 1-C9054AX1

There are GPS and non-GPS capable versions of the Retevis RT3S depending on what you want. I've enjoyed using the GPS with APRS beacons, plan to someday do some satellite tracking. Not all UV-MD390s have GPS either.

[VK3KYY]

Do you need the water submersible capability of the MD-UV390 ? The MD-UV380 aka Retevis RT3S are the same radio but can't be submersed in water. The Retevis model can be purchased via Amazon for easy returns.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FVWMH37/re ... UTF8&psc=1

Here is a video of UV380 (aka Retevis RT3s) vs UV390: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG_lHA0gnAo

If you are OK with the radio not being submersible in water, I would consider using a Retevis RT3S myself

You can also get bundles with accessories for not much more than Amazon's prices direct from Retevis - downsides are I have no idea their return policy, and it ships direct from china so takes 2 weeks or so. My first Retevis RT3S was from Amazon, once I knew I liked it I got another direct from Retevis. Example bundle:

https://www.retevis.com/rt3s-radio-cabl ... 1-C9054AX1

There are GPS and non-GPS capable versions of the Retevis RT3S depending on what you want. I've enjoyed using the GPS with APRS beacons, plan to someday do some satellite tracking. Not all UV-MD390s have GPS either.

I have a GPS RT-3S, but the GPS does not work very well. In fact many people with an RT-3S have done the rather extreme modification to move the GPS antenna to the top of the case, next to the LED (inside the radio). But this requires a bit of griding away of the plastic inside the case to make it fit

The good thing about the newer UV380s seemed to be a better quality GPS

Thats not to say the RT-3S GPS doesn't work at all. It does work, but not indoors and takes minutes to get a fix when outdoors.

[N9MIC]

Does the Rt3s load gd77 without issues? Thanks

[VK3KYY]

Does the Rt3s load gd77 without issues? Thanks

Yes.

I have a RT-3S and it loads OK. Mine has GPS but non-gps is also OK

The only current problems with this type of radio are with the TYT MD-UV380/390 PLUS versions.
No one reported any problems with the Retevis version.

Just out of curiosity, is your RT-3S new ?

[KB8YKF]

Just out of curiosity, is your RT-3S new ?

The radio I ordered directly from Retevis.com has a build date of October 2023 and does seem to have better GPS. I wrote about my GPS experience in these two posts:

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2415&start=110#p28188

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2415&start=110#p28192