VA3XPR Toronto's Digital Ham Radio Repeater Connection
Within days of the recent announcement that some innovative hams had reverse engineered or “hacked” the TYT MD-380 DMR radio, new experimental firmware has surfaced that will allow this wildly popular radio to function as a DMR scanner.
DON’T MISS: Hams hack $110 DMR radio to allow support for D-STAR, P25 and System Fusion
This new experimental firmware, which comes in three different versions, allows the following functionality:
- Monitor all talkgroups;
- Monitor all talkgroups and private calls;
- Monitor all talkgroups, private calls, and the ability to upload alternate firmware.
When using the TYT-MD 380 with this new firmware, the radio functions in a “talkgroup-free” mode, allowing it to receive traffic on any talkgroup like a traditional scanner and if the user transmits, it will use the talkgroup used by the other station. This is an especially useful feature for anyone looking to easily monitor all talkgroups on a DMR repeater or if they travelling and are not familiar with the talkgroups in use on a given repeater.
For anyone looking to make use of this experimental firmware, it can be downloaded here. Of course with all experimental software, users are cautioned to do this at this own risk.
