OK, my DM-X experience literally endth here now I’m the cost price richer again.
bangs the final nail in that coffin, with a sledgehammer
I follow the last posts with interest. As a user of this radio, I was happy at first. But, eh this but there is always-I have no way. It was not a potentiometer, sound, power … That’s enough money for that money.
Cheap, affordable and good for a beginner. As I progress as a radio amateur, I realize that there are better radios. I have definitely decided to switch to another - Anytone 878uv Plus. This baofeng will remain as a backup radio.
Dear Chinese, Make sure there are no more nervous crises and other similar cases. Thanks. 
LZ1INP 73! 
What I do know is that I get an impression of every radio that arrives here within just a few minutes, and most times first impression remains this way. What really annoys me is how difficult some radios are to work. Today I had just tuned a repeater duplexer. Looking to the window sill I looked at the display stock. I just needed to enter RX frequency, TX frequency and a CTCSS tone. That was it.
I tried these radios - just because they were available and batteries charged.
Retevis RT82 - gave up
Zastone D900 - gave up
Radioddity GD77 - gave up
Kirisun S760 - gave up
Kydera CDR300 - gave up
Kydera DR-88 - gave up
Now not all these can be keyboard programmed, but the ones that can, I couldn’t make do it.
Then I spotted an Icom U16 from the 80’s - I remembered the secret number to open up the programming and the battery died.
That left an Icom IC-32 - a brick sized dual band handheld I in the early 80’s. The secondary functions were on each key, and I got the two frequencies and CTCSS in in less than a minute.
Computers really are a necessity nowadays.
The nice bit is that while many Chinese radios are tricky to work, hardly any have been rubbish. The fact that the Icom that is nearly 40 years old still holds its own.
@paulears - in fairness to the ICOM units and ICOM in general, whilst they were functional they were dependable, and the fact a lot of the units are still functional this far down the line says a lot about what happens when you build with inherent rebuildable equipment that is possible to repair and test without a ■■■■■■ computer and expensive and/or crash prone diagnostics kit, you got something right in the long term and if you keep the core value of that employed, it pays you back in the commercial world of radio.
Some of the best kit I ever used, and some of the worst, were created in the late 70s through early 90s when radio manufacturers were still heavily on the learning curve of the impact even the crudest digital logic actually has on inherently good analogue radio systems when you are trying to revitalize your cutting edge stuff without discarding the past repeatable good elements.
Like the TS-700G, the IC-251 (and it’s HF counterpart) remains a much loved legacy of when manufacters and engineers and designers had a job to do, the resources and had to deliver and ■■■■ what the accountants thought.
Think about the IC-7000, would that ever got beyond an engineering model if the engineers had let the accountants and cost-efficiency crowd manage how it got developed? - No, it’d just ended up being an engineering model that other manufacturers having gone to the effort would have shelved until there was a clearly defined and cost-viable return on investment potential in black and white on PowerPoint presentation and only when marketing and overpaid outside consultants deemed it disruptive and marketable enough to take the radio buying world by storm.
Whatever negative may be said of ICOM and their pricing, usually, they get it right more often than not even when the item isn’t necessarily a guaranteed in-demand or necessary gap-filler.
If products and their development cycles are defining of a manufacturer’s dedication to quality and be cost-effective in the long term, a lot of manufacturers could seriously benefit from acknowledging and learning from ICOM - and I say that being a Kenwood devotee who occasionally buys into Yaseu products and the odd ICOM item.
Baofeng, and the other brands who use that same regurgitated under pinnings have cheapness in their favour - such brands are different faced AMSTRAD grade brands - who, at their best defined what could be made and sold at affordable prices and wasn’t total trash (very usable usually, their 70s kit), but went downhill rapidly by the time the IC centred 80s gen of electronics took off. I kid you not that in their computers, if they could replace metal with plastic Chinese toy manufacturers would have rejected, it was fair game to max out the profits. It’s maybe OK for casings, but when their Chinese copy drives were victims of that kind of mentality, it never bodes well for the lifespan of the goods.
So in my book, there are clear winners and laazy assed wannabes in the radio manufacturing world and the big four having secured long term winner status decades ago. Of the budget oriented brands, Wouxan are where Baofeng used to be, but have seemingly learnt something alone the way if the new addition to the shack is any indicated of where they’ve gone since their very early offerings - it could be down to QC being better or they shifted focus less on ‘profit is king’ on their relatively higher end and flagship items or both - but they are definitely learning more than they are failing.
Glad you got it all sorted out my friend. My DM-X (1702b) got stopped and torn apart by Our loving Canadian Border services so it is now expected to arrive today. I’m anxious to see what shape it arrives in and to see if it will work and what firmware comes installed. I hear changing firmware is not fun so I really don’t want to have to travel that road 
hopefully I can get some use out of the thing. If it’s that horrible I’m going to swallow my pride and pickup an anytone 878uv or btech 6x2 (same radio). Thanks again for everyone’s help. Stay tuned for a pic when mine arrives today. It’s only 8am here.
Cheers and 73
Nick - VA3NDP
@VA3NDP Good luck and hopefully the Canadian BP treat yours with a gentler hands than mine suffered (did a bit of digging, mine got visually ‘inspected’ at every POC it passed through, which explains the ‘Bomb Squad’ packaging state, and also discovered it had been got-at, do no doubt got checked to see if it was what it appeared to be).
Well, if all goes to buying ■■■■ - an 878UV is a pretty robust alternative i can vouch for (as do many, geniunely) and straightforward to setup unit, no hidden nasties like weird ■■■ Chinese service menus and password lockouts. It’s a bit pricier than a DM-X if you get the full-spec Plus variant but is a relative bargain in reality unless you buy as a passing interest item when it won’t be such good value, but still a sound radio worth buying.
My DM-X has been terminally terminated with extreme pleasure, thanks to the use of some power tools and currently exists in a plastic waste bag after being reduced to mix recycling material state.
Today’s project, a Wouxun 4m handheld and a 7 band Wouxun handheld received this afternoon, and a second hotspot I’ll use for dedicated YSF use.
well I got it and it is in great condition now to list the eight million issues i am already having with it in the hopes one of you guys can help me out… I cant for the life of me get the thing to read on the software MD Vs .66. windows 10 and its picking it up when i plug it in but it immediately dies out and says “read data failed” then resets itself… UGH.
sooo, because i dont have a close enought Ham repeater i thought i would just program my local Bus company (DMR) to see if i could at least hear something … I have all the info required… rx &tx - 411.4375mhz CC5 TS-1 TG-11 (dont know where to put that)… I programed it all by hand and the green light is flashing when they are talking but i have nothing coming through the speaker… probably missing something because i cant access the software… SOOOO frustrating…
the firmware is V02.02.23…
Ive also tried multiple micro usb cables… the one i am using i also use to program my Motorola cp400d and it works fine with the moto CPS…
Ive read the entire manual but it wasnt a ton of help… anything you guys can offer, the better…
thanks so much,
VA3NDP Nick
i finally got it to pick up stations i had to activate the “speaker” ICON. not being able to access the CPS is horribly frustrating… should i try and use a non Windows 10 PC??? I have tried all the MD software versions out there … .66 and .79 …
hoping for a miracle here folks… would hate to throw this thing in the trash. i am for sure going to save up and get the uv878… 
@VA3NDP *sends an essential care package, high strength painkillers, a large bottle of whiskey, and a portable nuke just in case it gets ugly…
If my experience of what wasn’t initally conclusively a duff set was anything to go by, i suggest this -
If it’s showing up in Device Manager as an 'UnAttached USB Printer" it’s at least detected - but if you try to read to make your initial radio backup and get ‘Read Fail’ and see the radio reboot, or the same with attempting to write to it, it’s where mine was - don’t even bother trying with different OS’s if you get those two results.
I literally tried every combo of software that had a prayer of being vaguely compatible and every ‘no uart in the cable’ driver from related ‘other brands’ equipment that used the same chassis and it was either a case of the other soft couldn’t see the device at all or it’s synthetic com port (using a straight USB and a known BF compatible non-uart 2 pin cable) but did detect it as the detached USB printer when straight USB connected. Despite it making zero sense at that point, i tried to repeat the proper process and all the known alternatives with Win7/Win2012R2/Win8 and 8.1/Win10 and it was precisely the same ■■■■■■ outcome.
So i guess the only question of whether (if the fails and reboot condition is happening for you) which type of the two programming cables you’ve used - straight USB or the USB-2Pin non-uart type (i assume the supplied listed included example is a USB-2Pin non-UART type?, since i never received mine)?
If it’s happening on both kinds, you’re probably left with the options of praying for a miracle, signing your soul away in hope of a satanic miracle, or nuking it from orbit before you go quietly or not so quietly mad i’m thinking.
Especially when it comes to potentially duff, but seemingly functional gear, it’s comparable to the most hated ‘fault’ in electronics to trace, the intermittent that’s variable in when it occurs by just about any variable you can think of - the kind of fault you either stumble on the cause first hit or spend stupid amounts of hours chasing down.
As much as it’s a disappointing place to be (irrespective of whether it’s lighting striking twice or another issue entirely), I’m inclined to point out that your keeping what remaining sanity exists is of greater value than that of a piece of potential junk - and that’s an observation coming from an irrational aging git who does the certifable way more often than is healthy.
However you proceed, keep some perspective and know when to quit gracefully
This is EXACTLY what happened to me. It’s coming up as Unattached USB printer and then the good old read fail and reboot and read and write. So I guess I’m super screwed then eh. Looks like I better get really good at trying to program it by hand 
Blows my mind how many are out there and read and write fine but ■■■ is wrong with us lol. I tried a few micro usb cables as well. A couple didn’t recognize at all and the one I’m using seems to recognize as the unattached printer as I go in and out with the plug but heaven forbid I try and read the radio lol 
.
Well, there is the added complication of the ones we have may both have the seemingly non-existent (as in unobtainable) later firmware, so may not even be compatible with what is supposed to be use for the DM-X, since some firmware on some radios renders CPS software of older releases useless comms wise. Mine actually was labelled ‘DM-X’ on the back metal plate not ‘DM-1702B’, which most talked about on here are the ‘1702B’ marked older stock/manufacture units. So there’s a software compatibility question mark, what we’re experiencing, and thirdly the fact they may not even be actual 1702B units at all. There are some DM-X’s sold that are DM-760’s with DM-X finish.
Either nuke the ■■■■■■ thing, go into potential vendor war, or just dispose of it ‘responsibly’.
I’d only suggest pursuing a refund because the AT878UV (basic GPS model, no BT function) isn’t that much more expensive than what people are selling DM-X’s at. The end result of if you can recover the money and eventually affording an 878, experience wise of chinese sets, it’s the difference between a cheap kai car that makes an airfix model kit look high grade and a perfect chinese copy of a Rolls Royce or Bentley. ■■■■, if the user experience of using the 878 didn’t sell itself, then the CPS whilst looking generically much like most examples, is actually not a wisdom-tooth extraction type experience - editing small number of presets is painless, or just create a few template ‘fake’ entries, export to CVS and fill out more quickly and easily via spreadsheet (the import and export bit is stable and makes the same process on RTSystem’s ADMS software look like a game of self-torture).
Don’t think for one minute i’m saying the 878 is your level best option, there are good high-channnel and user database size capacity Alinco and Wouxun DB Dual mode units too as well as the usual main brand LMR/DMR suspects, but the 878 has been everything anyone ever said was good proved to be spot on without exception - it was literally a benchmark of how you build a dual market DMR radio which is as easy to hand program as it’s bulk programmable by CPS. Just remember to follow the Bridgecom System’s instructions to set it in the right ‘commercial mode’ to unlock the keypad for direct frequency entry from the outset and it’s painless after that.
I had zero detection and comms issues from the outset, and given i run Server editions of Windows mostly as low-excess-bagged Workstation setups, nothing is ever usually entirely transparent to set up, but the 878 and cable set up without any connectivity issues.
Is it worth it to try the advertised programming cable ?? They market it like this.
It is only for BaoFeng DM-860 DM-1701 DM-X Tier II DMR radio
Main Feature:
Support Win XP/Win7/Win8/Win10
Compatible with BaoFeng DMR Tier I & II Walkie Talkie
Package :
1 X Programming Cable
That’s the USB-2pin cable that was missi g on my kit as supplied, so yes worth a try, although it sounds like you’re where I was.
As for signals/activity on a frequency you hand programmed in, digital mode, unless the radio is in monitor/promiscuous mode set to monitor all slots/codes and the traffic actually is DMR, you won’t necessarily hear transmissions just see activity.
In common, outside of open monitor mode, until you actively join the frequency by going on air even momentarily, you’ll see traffic/frequency use but hear nothing when in digital mode. That’s why people typically (where function exists) enable double shot (both time slots) all codes monitor or promiscuous mode so they can see any or all traffic and can hear any compatible digital traffic on the frequency.
Not sure if it’s available on the DM-X, since I never really got to in-use test (given the amount of frequencies I monitor and/or use - there’s no way I’ll be manually setting up for my needs).
But if it’s available, use it (refer to the manual or programming guide, since my DM-X paperwork is hamster bedding now). If it’s actually DMR traffic being indicated, that’ll open the receiver to it.
Those expensive digital mode capable scanners you can buy are using promiscuous mode to ‘hear’ regardless of cc and ts actually in use by whatever traffic is heard.
But (irrespective of how but using the right modulation mode) whether what you end up hearing is garbage or clear depends on if they are using encryption as well.
Not sure about out there, but on VHF 2M, you’d find here that on the simplex segment, any or all of DMR/DSTAR/C4FM and FM using the same frequencies group. It’s only, here, that calling frequencies have defined digital and FM specific allocated (by bandplan, not license mandatory required or in law) frequencies.
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My record for being able to program one radio with manufacturer supplied software is 7 computers. The six available in my office all failed, and I tried it in the recording studio. The computer I use for Cubase, and it happily read and was able to write. I have two of these computers. The only difference between them being processor speed, but there is one possible reason. In the studio, it is in a cupboard 4.5m away from the mixer and desk and I have two under floor USB extender cables with electronics in the connectors. One has a hub to allow the mouse, keyboard and music keyboard to be fed into the PC, and the other is empty. I plug in USB sticks and other devices at the desk. The radio USB cable plugged in here. I’m going to order another and try connecting radios via it, into the office machines. This cable is the only difference. Same mother boards, same psu, same Windows 10 installation. A coincidence?
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My cable came today the 2pin (pictured above). Shockingly enough, it still doesn’t work. It’s behaving the EXACT same way it did when I used the microSD cable instead. So, thinking it was the cable was obviously another 20$ mistake.
I’m using a Windows 10 IBM / Lenovo laptop that is almost brand new. Absolutely no luck getting it to program or even recognize the radio.
I would be forever grateful is someone has some type magic answer that can help me out. I’m just beyond frustrated with this entire purchase. 
Thanks for listening folks
Nick / VA3NDP
Dude, can I help you?
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I’m all ears if you have any ideas. I’ve tried both cables, ALL three versions of the CPS. I’m thinking of trying a different PC now. I just can’t figure out what the issue Is.
Thanks
Four days ago I happily programmed some radios on the office PC. Last night when I shut down - I got that annoying install updates and shut down, or install updates and restart. No option for don’t install them. Today - I cannot read or write to those radios. I think it’s replaced the drivers again. I ran out of time to fix it. I mentioned before the 7th computer programmed one other brand of radio when 6 would not. How can a chipset in a dongle, or in a radio cause so much grief? I don’t blame the radio manufacturers - testing on even a few computers doesn’t mean a trouble free life!
I’m going to try and older laptop later today and pray that it woks. If not, I have a new DMR radio. Should I try and “roll back” the driver on my windows 10 machine ? I don’t even know where to start with that but I’m certain I will figure it out but man this thing just does NOT want to program.