Cheap DMR radio: TYT MD-380 Review!
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Review of this new budget DMR radio from china. This radio is a cheap way to get onto DMR MARC or other DMR networks. It will also allow you to continue talking on analog FM repeaters whilst only having to carry one radio.
Any questions, comments, suggestions, feedback, please post it in the comments section.
View the whole playlist:
• TYT MD-380
Check the latest prices for this radio:
smarturl.it/md380 (Redirecting link)
Or for the MD-390 which is the waterproof version:
smarturl.it/md390 (Redirecting link)
Cheap accessories:
smarturl.it/ken... (Redirecting link)
List of bugs on my blog:
radiosification...
Full Extended version:
• TYT MD-380 Review! (Ex...
There is a BIG difference between the words "cheap" and "inexpensive". I've learned my lesson with TYT. Your choice of wording is correct.
I had a bugger of a time getting the correct software installed to work with this radio. None of the software on the supplied disk worked because I had bought the GPS version. Even their website was not so clear. But persistence has payed off and I am not programming the radio. Cheers! N5BOC
Radio je super preporuka svima za koristiti,i za taxi službu idealno i komunalne službe...
Could be a nice ham friendly design - unlike Hytera/Motorola it seems they tried to make real good use of the graphical screen & menus.
Being able to fully edit channels on the radio would be a real plus for us hams - but I really don't get what the developers thought when they decided to let you change the color code over the TG..
Hope you get some firmware updates with improvements..
+salat Thanks for the comment. Actually they mostly copied the menus from Motorola. The home screen design has some unnecessary pictures which waste screen space, but the FPP is useful and a very good addition to the radio. I am hoping they will add the ability to change talkgroups and also to add new ones to the radio in FPP mode, but the firmware updates are slow.
This radio uses fire department in Croatia,fine works on repeater mode...We have DMR network for emergency situations...
Pozdrav, možeš li mi pojasniti koji model radia koristite (vhf/uhf)? Koristite li enkripciju? Kakav je radio (performanse)? Hvala na odgovoru i ljep pozdrav!
Radio je odlican domet preko repetitora prelaze preko 30 km i ne koristi nikakva zastita tj enkripcija jer mnoga dvd drustva koriste jos analogni sustav...Radi se u digitalnom i analognom sustavu ovisno o potrebi...Tyt je super uredaj i preporuka je svakako ga koristiti...
+Borko Ćorković Puno hvala na brzom odgovoru. Čuo sam puno dobrih stvari o ovom radiu i vjerovatno ću ga kupiti. još jednom, jedno veliko hvala! Stay safe.😊
Nema na cemu jos jednom sistem DMR mreze je odlican a moze se koristiti cak i sa Tetrom u jednom elementu povezivanja...
+Borko Ćorković Ubrzo ću kupiti radio pa razmišljam između dvije verzije radija. UHF i VHF. Koju vi verziju koristite u vatrogastvu?
I have had the display go blank on both of my VHF MD380 radios; the original and then the replacement. Both less than 3 months in service.
That's unfortunate. My UHF radio is still working fine, and I've had it since I made this video.
I hope the MD-390 is a good step up - especially with its 'love worker' mode!
+Pete4000uk I hadn't heard about that radio actually, so thanks for the heads up. It sounds good, but it doesn't look like it's very easily available.
I wonder how many of us are having problems with the programing cable? some times it works other it can not find it
The crackle/pop sound with the TYT DM-UVF10 is in analog mode only.
+Scott Johnstone you have to respond to the comment for the other user to see that you responded, not start a new thread of comments. You click reply on the comment you want to reply to
+radiosification ok thanks
You're welcome Scott!
Good video, just ordered two on Amazon, same day shipping
Ailuance HD-1 now eclipses these rigs. It's field programable dual band.
Yeah but it has a far worse receiver. MD-380 and 390 are the only Chinese DMR radios I know with a superhet receiver. The others are all direct conversion which is very easily desensitised.
How long the battery can run... ?
Is there an easy way to program my MD 380 with chirp or some program that puts all the zones and color groups and all in the right place? Thank You
i have same dmr tytera md 380 but i cant instal
i download soft but missing special file ,and i cant do enything
You get what you paid for is exactly right, since I am a novice user to HT radios I would like to know the advantages of a DMR vs. Analog FM radios & are performance varies greatly from a better quality made radio like Motorola to this TYT despite what the specs tell you? Are the standards of a cheaper chinese made always inferior to an Yaesu for example? Is it important to get a radio which can charge directly on the device than only does with a charging cradle?
This radio actually stands out from most chinese radios that I've used. This radio is good quality and now that the bugs have been fixed, it works very well. It's not quite up to the standard of Motorola radios but I'd say it's about 70% of the way there. The sensitivity is not as good as my DP4800 for example but it's not awful either. It's good enough. Most radios can only charge from a cradle so I don't think that is any problem at all.
Thank for the demo very well presented ..
Thanks
i'm Italian and you make very good videos! should i buying dmr radio, please give me some advice for will make be good. Motorola it's ok but, here in italy is too expansive beacuse there are NO exchange
+Alessandrotechword Thanks! If you want a high quality radio, I recommend you buy Mototola or Hytera. You can get them cheaper on websites like ebay.
What did you just say about the difference between the shorter and longer antenna? Really!
you know what I think I might just get this instead of the Wouxun KG-UV8D.
Does it automatically transmit or only if accidentally pressed the ptt even tho it's set to Rx only?
question iam trying to figure out how to enter my call on the opening display when it comes on.. ? i see nothing in the software to do this..
+Bill Frovik I think it's in the radio name field under "general setting"
I have a tactical vest so it will fit perfectly 😁😁😁😁
can you program Ham and pmr446 in the same radio
+MALC WALLACE Of course, you can program anything in the frequency range of the radio
Can you make a vid about survival radios that you can take with you when you're going on a trip outdoors? Which one?
I made a video about prepping/shtf radios already, have a look on my channel
I want to listen to a repeater on Rx only would this be able to?
you don't have to answer,but why are you buying this radio and what are you doing to use it for ??.
the reason I ask is I am a radio ham God knows what hell's happened to 2m 70cms it seems to I've died my analogue reception where I live does not exist people seem to be going dmr. thank you
Andrew.
I just prefer digital to analog. A lot of people have awful microphone practice which makes them unreadable on analog. On digital, it's much easier to hear people even when they're talking 5m away from the microphone because there isn't any RF noise added to the voice signal. So this is why I buy and use DMR equipment
Thank you for an amazing review. I subbed to you and thumbs up....
Thanks again,
Theo
+Theo T Thank you!
Great Review
Does it receive fm broadcast band ?. Thanks for all your videos. You’ve explained a lot
No it doesn't. Thanks
What mobile radio will talk to pmr446. 2 way radios
HI. I'm looking for a front face of a TYT MD 380 or Retevis RT3S.
Just the front face with plastic glass not broken.
You got that ?
I'm in Swiss. Thanks.
Yes, I have one
Love your Videos. Thanks a lot!
+Zello Funk Thanks!
How to keep the MD 380 from going to sleep when it's sitting in a talk group thanks for any info
Will it work well on a digital repeater tower
How do you set it up to communicate on digital frequencys without any repeaters or stuff like that? Just two or three TYT handheld radios that want to communicate with each other not so far away.
Watch my programming video, it shows simplex channels too. Make sure you are appropriately licensed for the frequency you are using before transmitting.
you said the one bug in the md-380 that if you set it to rx only it might/will transmit anyway or does it transmit bug get applied if you you use fpp settings
I don't know, I don't think it makes any difference if you use FPP or not. This was quite a while ago though so check if it's been fixed now in the latest firmware.
Do I need an extra Hotspot for this radio ?
Very good video.
There is a little question my TYT md380 has VHF, can you use software to change the frequency to UHF? Thanks.
No, it's not possible. The difference is in hardware not software.
@@radiosification Terimakasih...
Thank u....
Hi, brother, I have a little problem please help
I have Tyt MD380, what data cable is suitable for use? I tried the Baofeng data cable but it didn't work.
please help hmm ... awaited thanks ....
You need a cable without a USB to COM port adapter. Go on eBay and buy one which is for the MD380
Can you program the side buttons to send DTMF tones when you press them? Our fire department needs a secondary method of activating our siren aside from county dispatch and manual activation.
Your fire department shouldn't be looking at Chinese radios. They're simply not reliable enough to be used for emergency services.
+radiosification That's a good point. We need a radio that can send DTMF tones over analog and dmr, preferably with the use of a hot key so we don't have to type the code prior to transmitting. What would you recommend?
I don't actually know any radios that can do that. I've never heard of that being a feature before
hi just wanted to say im just getting into cb radios for now, keen to licence tho, i thought your videos are full of info and great to see other radios in your vids do you compare to your high end?
+jaydmardell Sorry I couldn't really understand your comment. Do I compare what to my high end of what?
I think he meant how does this radio compare to the higher end radio's.
How do you send a text message to another user?
Hi. Great review! I have a quick question for you. Have you used the radio while moving like in a car yet? I ask because I have a TYT DM-UVF10 and when moving, the radio has an awful crackling and popping like sound that you hear in the receive FM analog audio with any strong or weak incoming signal. When stationery like just standing with the radio in one spot its fine but the once you start to move like in a car or train you can hear it. Its so bad I want to sell the radio. My cheaper Baofeng HT doesn't do it. I was thinking about buying the MD-380 but I am hesitant since its a TYT and afraid it will have the bad crackle/pop receive sound too. Thanks for your help!
I have used the radio once in a car and didn't hear any noises, but I didn't receive any signals when I did use it. I'm not sure if you meant that it only makes the noise when receiving or all the time?
Ok. I mean only when moving and receiving a incoming analog signal in the transmission there is a pop and crackle sound. Not while just having the radio on or in standby mode.
+Scott Johnstone ah alright. well I haven't tested that but I'll let you know if I do
+Scott Johnstone I've got the same model as you have, however, I've never experienced that crackling sound so far. Is it in digital or analogue mode?
+Kodiak and Grizzly Bears The crackle/pop sound with the TYT DM-UVF10 is in analog mode only.
Great video, thanks for posting! I'm thinking about jumping into DMR and didn't want to spend $400US just to start.
Thanks. I would recommend you get this radio or if you want a waterproof radio get the MD-390 which is basically the same but a bit bigger and waterproof.
Ordered the MD-380 yesterday! Thanks again for the videos.
you going to compare TYT to those 2 Motorolas???? not fair... thats like comparing a Rolls Royce to a Chevy....
Would you say this radio on digital is useful for simplex communication between 2 people on bikes? Does audio distort when you turn the volume all the way up? How often do transmissions not come across? I know this is a problem with some of the cheaper dmrs.
I think it would be fine. If you update the firmware, simplex mode works a bit better, like if the signal drops out it goes silent instead of repeating the same packet continuously which is what it did before.
How often would you say digital transmissions are missed? I have a zastone dpmr and it misses about 15-20% of digital transmissions when the two radios are within 20 feet of each other.
I'm not really sure as I haven't tested it enough to say. I only noticed the problem when I was listening to this radio side by side with a DP4800. Also it could have been improved in newer firmware, but I haven't tested it recently so I can't tell you for certain.
Thanks for the info!
have you done any testing on the tyt MD680?,
No, I haven't
How long can it holds charge for
i used the software to change it again still no success.
Thanks for sharing. Is the the radio compatible with Mototrbo?
Paul Hicks yes it's compatible with Motorola systems
Thank you for the reply
Lets say I wanted to monitor a business on a particular frequency that uses DMR, but I don't know the color code or talkgroup(s) used. Would this radio still be able to pick them up (automatic determine which color code and tg is being used)?
No.
ok thanks. One more question...where do I download the programming software from? Which website?
As a policy I tend to refuse to answer questions to which the answer could be found with an incredibly obvious google search.
No need to be a jerk. I was able to find my answers from some nicer folks on radio reference. Thanks for nothing. It wouldn't hurt you to learn some manners. I guess your mama didnt raise you right. So sad.
radiosification I think anyone can see that YOU were the rude one. It is ok though because Karma is a bitch.
Thanks for the review. Very well done! KD2JUL
Thanks
Does this radio wide narrow selection
+Dejan Vujcic yes
As a new ham technician I'm trying to find a good first handheld. What I wonder is these seem to say analog and digital. Can they be used to talk to analog ham radios? Or is it able to only do digital? That's what I want to know. And pretty good review.
yes they do FM and DMR mode. don't confuse being digital as working on all digital types though. you'll only be able to work on DMR repeaters, not D STAR or Yaesu Fusion. but yes this radio works on FM and DMR.
+radiosification do you or someone else have a video of it talking to an analog radio like one of those beofangs? I'll maybe get one of those unless this can also do like what I'm asking.
+TheMonkeyFarted No, but I have a programming video for digital channels on this radio if you search for it. Programming analog channels is too simple to bother making a video for really. You'll be able to figure it out when you get the radio
Bloody good video...
I am a Ham and i find your videos and explanation of DMR excellent and i have linked some of the videos to my Ham site on facebook as i find that along with helping myself , it will also help others .... my site on facebook is called Ham Radio - News , Chat & Video's if you want to join or any other licenced Hams want to join .. Also i do have DSTAR on my IC7100 and ID51e but i found DMR a little confusing (or shoukd i say , i did) until i watched your video's , thankyou and i hope you don't mind me sharing your work 73
+MALC WALLACE Thanks! I absolutely don't mind you sharing my work, you are very welcome to share it. My only request is to please not download it and then host it elsewhere. The best way to share my work is to link directly to it on UA-cam. Thank you very much for sharing my work with others, I hope many people will find it useful.
I can not find if you can help me? Thank you
And something else that I think is not working Channel Scan
+Dejan Vujcic Find what?
+Dejan Vujcic I'll have a look for you now. You can just click reply below this message to respond :)
+Dejan Vujcic when you are editing a channel, it is the second option box. You can't change it on digital channels so change to analog first then you can select 12.5 or 25KHz. Let me know if you see it now?
+radiosification I found. thank you
You're welcome!
i'm curious, are you able to enable the encryption function on this radio?
+TF141Afterburner Yes I am
does it come with the firmware? and if so, do you know if the rumors are true that it's 128bit Aes encryption?
It says it is AES128 but I don't have any way to verify that
ahh i see, a friend of mine said he thinks it's only 64bit DES encryption, but i dunno, i bought one and am waiting for it to get here so he can run an analysys on it
Sounds interesting. Will you let me know the results?
is it weather resistant at all ?
+dunno yolo I don't think so
The newer MD-390 is IP67, which means it is tested and guaranteed to stay waterproof under water up to 1m for 30mins or so.
Can you listen to the tetra nett on that one?
+Normann No, as I said in the video, it is a DMR radio. If it was a radio that worked according to the TETRA standard, I would have said it is a TETRA radio.
Sorry. Still trying to learn this. Just bought the uv-5r. And wondered if there was anyway of opening them for higher and lower frequencies.. Reprogram the baofeng to take higher and lower frequencies. apparatus itself. You think there is something like that? I see that some of the official organs are in up as much as 800.125mhz. And down to wery low like 50.. What is your experience on this area? And what do i need for listening to this tetra. What the radio has to be able to do? Im trying set myself into this. And i has just started. So im not offended if you explain it like i was and idiot:-) Maybe i am:-))))
I have heard about extending the range of the UV-5R but I haven't tried it at all myself. Extending it beyond a certain amount will not be very good because it will transmit very badly, probably with low power and will cause a lot of interference. It probably won't do any harm if you were to modify it just to receive on other frequencies though, but transmitting further than around 30MHz out of it's designed range will likely cause problems.
You won't find it easy to listen into tetra. Start with the basics first and then once you have mastered them, you might be more able to try that.
Thanks alot man. I will study more as you say. And just experiment a little with it. Why is it called Tetra? Maybe it could lift my mind a little..
It's an acronym. Google it
VHF opseg od 168 do 173 MHz
License free ?
No. None of these type of radios are licence free. Only radios which are specifically sold as licence free are. Or if they are labelled with the name of a licence free band in whichever country. So in europe it should be PMR446, in the US and Canada it should be FRS.
Good video :-)
+Richard G Thank you!
Thank you for sharing (4Z9III)
And thank you for commenting. Come back to the channel again soon!
KYDERA DM-850 ?
+Peter Mc What about it?
+radiosification do you know anything of the rig or the manufacturer?
I have heard that it is not very good because of many bugs
+Andrew MOTLS Good to know, thanks
New Subscriber
Welcome!
Thanks for sharing (K5NOV)
Thanks for the comment Lee
wide narrow selection
+Dejan Vujcic Best to respond on the same thread of comments instead of making a new one each time
+radiosification OK sorry
put some feeling into your voice, you sound like you don`t believe it that radio..
+thames Ranger I try to, but don't naturally have a very exciting sounding voice
I must say you did give a good overall look at this radio well done for that.....and yes it is a good radio. .If you heard me talk.....you would say listen to that ESSEX BOY....
thanks
i just wish i could understand him and his voice volume and tone wouldnt go down so much...good videos but his voice and volume makes it hard to listen too also the bosttom of the box raspyniess
If you buy this radio and it malfunctions you are stuck. TYT will not fix it unless you send it back to China. It also has a white screen problem for which there is maybe a fix and maybe not. it does not work on all radios. These are POS radios. You are throwing your money away. I have had 2 TYT radios. Both had malfuntions and both can not be repaired. My 9800 quit transmitting after 2 weeks. Factory said send it back to China. $280.00 to send it to China. More than the radio cost. No more cheap Chinese radios.
Well my one still works fine and I don't hear of many problems with them. Some TYT radios get screen problems but if you just open the radio and plug the cable back in they usually work again. You should buy it from a company based in your country who will provide a warranty for it if you want that sort of thing.
The MD-380 is a lot better quality than a lot of other Chinese radios out there but nobody should expect it to be as good as a Motorola, Kenwood or icom radio
Then maybe you should research the issues. You got lucky. You got one that does not malfunction. There is no way to get one fixed in the USA> I bought an extended warranty from EBAY. They found every excuse to not fix it. They are crap.
And why should I have to take the radio apart. How often do I need to do that. That is BS.
Why should I research the issues? I am not buying this radio. It's not my responsibility to make sure the radio works fine, it is the buyers.
You are pushing the faulty radio for people to buy. Obviously you have no integrity by your comment.