Where to buy a MD-2017

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BD4VOW
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Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by BD4VOW » Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:54 pm

VK3KYY wrote:
Tue Mar 07, 2023 11:41 am
Update.

There seems to be some problem paying the vendor, so my order has not been placed :-( and payment is pending

And because I tried again to pay, I now have 2 x Md2917 radios pending payment :-(
Do you mind if I contact you privately? For example like Discord or what else? If possible, you can email me your contact information, my email address is amo#git.ltd, replace the HASH sign to AT。

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BD4VOW
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Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by BD4VOW » Tue Mar 07, 2023 6:31 pm

VK3KYY wrote:
Tue Mar 07, 2023 6:23 am
Shame the dot is diffcult or impossible to use :-(
Regarding the white dot, I take it back that I said it was a piece of shit, and I feel guilty for jumping to that conclusion.

I mistakenly thought it was a simplified mini joystick, similar to the two-axis analog joystick on a handheld game console, or like the little red dot in the middle of the IBM Thinkpad keyboard.

So I tried to feel the resistance on the surface and pull it in four directions to trigger the internal micro button that I thought was there, so as a result, I was very uncomfortable when I used it because it didn't work the way I thought it would .

Tonight, I finally found out that it is actually a mini Trackball. The white dot is a very smooth and round ball. I can touch it lightly with my finger, and then I can turn it in any direction at will, just like operate Logitech's Trackball Mouse, but the original system only responds to scrolling in the range of up, down, left, and right and pressing down , although like this, after getting used to the correct way of using it, I feel that it is really not bad.

I was even thinking, does it means that, this thing, it is actually, a mouse?
Then it will be really fun!

I am ashamed of my hasty conclusions again.

SA0BUX
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Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by SA0BUX » Tue Mar 07, 2023 6:46 pm

BD4VOW wrote:
Tue Mar 07, 2023 6:31 pm
VK3KYY wrote:
Tue Mar 07, 2023 6:23 am
Shame the dot is diffcult or impossible to use :-(
Regarding the white dot, I take it back that I said it was a piece of shit, and I feel guilty for jumping to that conclusion.

I mistakenly thought it was a simplified mini joystick, similar to the two-axis analog joystick on a handheld game console, or like the little red dot in the middle of the IBM Thinkpad keyboard.

So I tried to feel the resistance on the surface and pull it in four directions to trigger the internal micro button that I thought was there, so as a result, I was very uncomfortable when I used it because it didn't work the way I thought it would .

Tonight, I finally found out that it is actually a mini Trackball. The white dot is a very smooth and round ball. I can touch it lightly with my finger, and then I can turn it in any direction at will, just like operate Logitech's Trackball Mouse, but the original system only responds to scrolling in the range of up, down, left, and right and pressing down , although like this, after getting used to the correct way of using it, I feel that it is really not bad.

I was even thinking, does it means that, this thing, it is actually, a mouse?
Then it will be really fun!

I am ashamed of my hasty conclusions again.
I don't like mine on my RT-82, it's super sensitive , have the P1-P2 buttons as up-down.

I also remember from other forums that the "trackball" worked better on some of the variants produced under the different brands (TYT/Retevis/?)
over the years. My RT-82 is quite old, probably 2018 as the serial starts with 1811RT82110xxxx

VK3KYY
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by VK3KYY » Tue Mar 07, 2023 8:35 pm

If it is a mini track ball, there would normally be 2 quadrature signals for each axis, but they may convert this into a direction signal , e.g Up/Down and a pulse signal for amount of movement.

Whatever the signal format, we should be able to adjust the sensitivity

G4EML
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Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by G4EML » Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:09 pm

There is a very similar trackball that was designed for Blackberry phones. I suspect this might be the same device.

There is quite a bit of information online and they are available on Ebay. It looks like it outputs 4 pulsed signals, Up, Down, Left and Right with about 9 pulses per revolution.

Colin.

VK3KYY
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Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by VK3KYY » Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:56 pm

G4EML wrote:
Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:09 pm
There is a very similar trackball that was designed for Blackberry phones. I suspect this might be the same device.

There is quite a bit of information online and they are available on Ebay. It looks like it outputs 4 pulsed signals, Up, Down, Left and Right with about 9 pulses per revolution.

Colin.
OK.

Thanks.

I'm still trying to order a MD-2017 via AliExpress, which seems to be the cheapest option.

VK3KYY
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Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by VK3KYY » Wed Mar 08, 2023 11:01 pm

Update.

I could not buy from the vendor in the link I posted 2 days ago. They had a problem with their AliExpress accoung and could not accept payment via credit card or via PalPal

I tried contacting the vendor and the initially responded asking for the AliExpress error code, but when I sent them the error code they did not reply, so I have cancelled that order


I have now successfully ordered the MD-2017 from the link

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33050691898.html

And paid with PayPal

The price of this vendor was $23 AUD higher than the other vendor, but as it was impossible to buy from the other vendor, I had no option except to pay a higher price.

I did see some MD-2017 on eBay, for $10 cheaper than I paid on AliExpress, but it was not clear whether the price on eBay included local taxes, which which are 10% in Australia. So I did not order from eBay, because the price may have been $20 AUD more than I paid on AliExpress

VK3KYY
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by VK3KYY » Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:26 am

My MD-2017 arrived today.

But the programming cable is OPTIONAL:-( and not included, even though the text says "Standard package ... 1 x USB programming cable"


Arrgggh


I think I have a broken programming cable from a G-55 plus which I may be able to use, but it i different because the cable has a USB to Serial converter in it and also the cable is broken.


Beware buying these radios, because everything is an optional extra :-(

VK3KYY
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by VK3KYY » Thu Mar 16, 2023 2:24 am

BTW

Does anyone have a link to the latest MD-2017 official firmware, either the TYT or Retevis version, i.e RT-84

Retevis seems to have removed the downloads for the RT-84 from their website and I can't find a copy elsewhere


FYI

I'm now trying to convert a IP67 programming cable for another radio to work with the MD-2017, since the cable was missing from the radio I received today :-(

VK3KYY
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Where to buy a MD-2017

Post by VK3KYY » Thu Mar 16, 2023 6:33 am

I managed to make a cable for the radio by heavily modifying a GD-55 Plus cable
Thanks to Daniel for confirming the pinout.

I'm not sure if the radio I received is new, becuase I think the battery was already fitted to the radio, when its not supposed to be, and also the box was definitely opened by the vendor as its got a mains plug converter to Australian standard which would not normally be in the box.
Also the charger was not in in a plastic bag and I found a plastic bag under all the other plastic packaging

Posisbly the vendor wanted to test the charger and the radio before they sent it and forgot to put the cable back in the box.

I'm now trynig to get a redund of $18 AU for the price of a new cable.


Using my home-made cable...

The radio now appears as a USB device and I can load blank firmware onto it.

But at the moment we have no idea of any of the pin mapping from the CPU, so I can't risk uploading anything other than a blank firmware which only works the USB comms

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