TYT MD-UV390+ Will Not Transmit on DMR

When I try to transmit on the local DMR repeater, the red Tx LED flashes four times, then I hear a low single tone and it stops transmitting. Can anyone tell me what the 4 flashes and low tone means? I am guessing I have something set wrong in the code plug, but have no guesses what to look for. There is no troubleshooting information in the manual. I am using RT Systems software and cable. The radio works correctly in analog mode. I bought the radio in April 2025 from BuyTwoWayRadios.com. This is my first experience with DMR.

Thank you!
N8OAY

What have you set in the codeplug? There is, in my humble opinion, a huge risk with alternate software, because it has usually been developed to be easier/better/more understandable than the genuine software, but allows mistakes to go through unchecked.

What you will have to do is a stage by stage, time consuming rebuild. Start with the working analogue codeplug. Add in your local repeater data, one talkgroup at a time. Pick one. Add your ID, set tx and rx, and have just one talkgroup you know is actually active on the repeater. If this one talkgroup setting has an error, far less to find. Do you actually have any other receiver for the repeater, so you know if you are getting in, and out but are not hearing anything, or are not even getting in. The beep suggests the repeater is not happy with your access parameters and is not locked up, so probably something in what you are sending it does not like or understand. Could be missing digital ID or an incorrect one, or wrong slot for the group intended, stuff like that?

Your radio is transmitting to the repeater, however, it is not receiving a handshake signal from the repeater. You are either out of range, or there is a codeplug isssue.

I do have another radio - Anytone AT-D168UV, that does work, but being 5 watts, it is a case of holding it in just the exact right spot to hit the repeater. I got the TYT because it transmits 10 watts. I will check the code plug one more time, and post a copy of the settings if the 390 still fails to work.

Thank you for your assistance!
N8OAY

I think you just answered the query? You have to hold the anytone in exactly the right spot or it doesn’t reach the repeater, Increasing the power in this kind of scenario rarely produces extra gain. How is receive? If you dial up the repeater set to analogue, how strong is that? Are you certain you are not getting in, but the radio cannot hear the repeater?

While trouble shooting this, I did discover that I had reversed the Time Slot for the “Local” talk group and “Parrot”. Correcting that did not resolve the problem with the TYT MD-UV390+ not transmitting in DMR mode.

This problem is either a programming problem or a defective radio. I took it with me today. Within eyesight of the DMR repeater, I get the same 4 flashes of the red Tx LED and a low tone. If I can find the OEM programming cable, I will try using the OEM software instead of RT Systems. I never tried to use the OEM software, having bought the RT Systems software before I received the radio. (I have had TYT branded cables with Prolific chip sets that I was never able to get working, and am aware of a problem with some TYT cables having bogus chips, so I did not even consider using the cable that shipped with the 390.) Also at the time, I was not aware of this radio using a “straight through” cable because this radio has the chip in the radio. If I can’t get the radio to work with the OEM software using either the OEM or RT Systems cable, I will have to assume it is defective.

Regarding the comment about third-party software, RT Systems is well respected in the USA and I have been using their software since I got my first computer-programmable radio which was a Yaesu VX5R, 20+ years ago. I have read reports of Chirp causing problems with some Yaesu radios, so I have never tried to use it, even for radios that are advertised as being “Chirp Compatible”.

Regarding my comment about having to hold the Anytone AT-D168UV in exactly the right spot, that is because it only transmits 5 watts. The TYT MD-UV390+ transmits 10 watts, which is the reason for buying it. I live about 5 miles from the DMR repeater on the 2nd floor of a 3-floor building, and have one wing of that building, and a taller office building, between me and all of the repeaters that I need to use.

In all my years selling DMR to hams, not one radio has been faulty. In every case, it was a programming issue. Without your software, I can’t offer to look at the codeplug. The only suggestion is to find somebody with the sane radio and your 3rd party software who can load it in. Why not try the manufacturer approved version and read the radio? Maybe that will reveal something? It’s so easy for some fields in the data stream to contain information that is wrong but cannot be seen? Maybe the Radio has some data that is essential but the software you are using ignores it? Alternative software and firmware are fine once the thing actually works. Treat them as potential upgrades not immediate replacements. As I said, start with a very simple codeplug. Minimal typing. Flesh it out when it works. The killer with ham codeplug creation is you are always stuck without TWO radios as you can’t hear what is happening.

Is it safe and permissible to upload *.rdt and *.csv files here? I did manage to get the OEM version 2.41 to work with the RT Systems cables. I can post the OEM software .rdt file read from the radio, and I can post a csv file exported from the RT Systems software that I used to program what is currently in the radio. I will note that the few talk groups, the Time Slot, Color Code and Group/Private setting match exactly what is in the Anytone radio that works for the repeater.

This is the first time I have seen the OEM software, and I totally have no clue how it works. If that software was the only option for programming this radio, I would have sent the radio back for a refund without even trying to use it…way too many popups that only show one thing at a time instead of a coherent spreadsheet GUI.

I’m sorry if my comments about the OEM software for the TYT MD-UV390+ sounds offensive to anyone, but I absolutely would never try to use it.

In fairness, that’ why there is appeal in the 3rd party ones, but I also bet you will have seen things not in the 3rd party one - buried inside little menus, little boxes that appear to mean very little.rdt file link

You can see if you can load this file - it’s on my server and is a couple of years old or so and says ham and marine - I don’t know which version of the 390 it was for, apart from it says gps. It has in it the local ham repeater, so might help you work out what a working radio looks like, data wise?
Paul

The only differences in your code plug that are obvious to me is the 60 second Time Out Timer and Talk Group 9990 Parrot being a Group Call instead of Private, and I have not programed any Scan Lists.

What do I need to do to post a copy of my code plug? I have a .rdt file from the OEM program and a .csv spreadsheet from the RT Systems program. When I click the Upload button, it only allows images.