As many of you may know, I work tirelessly with TYT directly to provide feedback to them (both my own and that of the end user) to enhance their products. I can honestly say it is an around-the-clock job. I spend many hours outside of normal day working with TYT to make their products the best in the Chinese market. I was the one who had them re-work the programming software for the MD-2017 and MD-9600 so they could be used with your pre-existing code plugs. This has been a game changer as far as I am concerned. So, let me jump off my soap box now...
When the MD-2017 was released, my biggest concern was the lack of storage in the radio for contacts. For most folks, 10,000 contacts is more than enough; however, I am a firm believer in the old saying that bigger is better.
From my feedback, TYT recently released a firmware upgrade for the MD-2017 to allow up to 100,000 contacts! However, in order to accomplish this, the recorder option had to go away. I was not a fan of the recorder anyhow. It was a neat concept on paper, but a useless function on the radio- kind of like a flashlight or a wrist strap.
Want to add up to 100,000 contacts into your TYT MD-2017 dual band DMR digital radio? Here's how to do it.
What you need:
- TYT MD-2017 dual band radio
- Firmware V3.33 bin
- V1.17 programming software
- Firmware launcher/installer
- Programming cable
Note: Microsoft Excel is currently required to be installed on the PC for the import of contacts to work.
Step 1: Save the correct firmware version to your desktop. In the case of the early release radios, it is V3.33 bin (non GPS)
Step 2: Double click on the "FirmwareDownloadV3.04_EN.exe" link
Step 3: Under the "User Program" section, click on "Open file upgrade". This is where you will find the file you saved to your desktop.
Step 4: Plug the programming cable in to your radio and the USB in to your computer. With the radio powered off, hold down the PTT and orange button and power the radio on. The screen will remain black but the LED light on top will flash red and green. You are now in firmware update mode.
Step 5: Write the firmware to the radio. To do this, click on the "Download file of upgrade" button. Your radio will now begin to receive the updated firmware. Once the download is complete, power the radio off and unplug the cable from the radio.
Step 6: Open the V1.17 software and plug the cable back into the radio. If you have a current code plug, the contacts that are in that will remain. This is important for your talkgroups.
Step 7: Click on the "Program" dropdown and select "Write contacts". A box will open with available buttons "Read, Write, Export, Import, and Cancel".
Step 8: If you already have a list, you will want to click the "Import" button. After you do this, select the list and import it to the software. The only notification you will get is if it was successful or not. You will not see these in your regular contact list.
Step 9: Once you get the notification that the import was successful, you will now want to power the radio on and hit the "Write button". The process will now begin. Upload times depend on the number of contacts. With the 64,000+ contacts I uploaded, it took about 5 minutes. Be patient and do not power the radio off!
Step 10: Once the download is complete, power the radio off and then back on again. Next is the most important step: You will need to go into your menu for the radio, click > utilities > radio settings > ContactsCSV, and turn it on.
Now your radio should be good to go! I think there are a few little things I would like for TYT to fix, but for the most part this is pretty awesome!! I like the display on it. It has the look of a pretty well-known firmware hack from the MD-380 days.
I installed this on my MD-2017 a few weeks ago and have been using it ever since. I also released my csv file containing over 64,000 contacts.
As always, my sales staff and I appreciate each and every one of our customers. We will continue to support you and the products we sell!
73,
Anthony R.
Sales Manager
www.buytwowayradios.com
Kenneth, if you go into the "Utilities" Menu and then the "Radio Info" Menu and then "Versions" Menu it will give you the current firmware (newest is v004.002) and Code Plug (newest is v01.21) They will allow you to once again use a CVS file with up to 100,000 contacts. The "Contacts" Menu in the radio will only show the 9999 contacts stored in memory. You will have to turn on "ContactsCVS" in the "Utilities"/"Radio Settings" menu. You will then see them listed in the "Contacts"/"ViewContactsCVS" Menu. Hope this helps.
Mike
W6MEW
73
Any updates to the contacts import. I cant get contact manager to download beyone 9999. Also I just flashed the new firmware but not sure it took. anyway to tell? it is supposted to be the 100,000 contact version.
Don't know what happened to my post yesterday confirming Tom's results with the latest (Dec. 5th) firmware and CPS update but it's now a mute point as TYT has posted on their download page an updated firmware v004.002 for the 100000 Contact CVS file. IT'S ONCE AGAIN WORKING!! With proper ID's and call signs. It's right a the top of the download page and dated 12-9-17. Thanks again for the quick response!
Mike W. - W6MEW
73
I can confirm the MAJOR PROBLEM Tom has had with the Dec 5th release of the new 4.002 firmware and v1.21 CPS. No longer can access over 9999 contacts and no longer has the callsign and QTH info show on screen. Are you all working with TYT on this issue as you did to get the v3.33 firmware to accept 100,000 contacts and display the call and QTH info on screen? You have a large group of MD-2017 owners depending on your input! Thanks in advance,
Mike - W6MEW 73
My tyt md-2017 from previous firmware that i flashed i have 100,000 contacts , if i flash with the latest firmware which is 10,000 will it work? Will it decrease my contact list? Or it will remain 100,000 ? I really need to know before flashing , is anyone here knows more details pls , let me know many thxs Anthony
Just got Version 1.20 CPS and the latest MD-2017 Firmware (12-5-2017). Just got it today and did the new CPS and did the firmware.
A MAJOR PROBLEM with this firmware. My radio and 2 other prople have had the same problem, the radio no longer shows Contact name when you receive someone, just the ID#. My personal contacts by friends have their call sign and name and always worked. The radio shows that the contacts are on the list, but not receiving the Name/Call sign. Also, Oddly, when a Private Call is sent or by a receiving, that normal contact info is working normally, but in normal reception, just a ID#.
Those who want to use that info, don't do the firmware change. I do not use the DMR-MARC cvs list so I do not know if that works OK or if everyone using the full list may have the same problem.
Did you ever fix this is Id unknown issue I'm having this problem also.
Long press the # to lock trackball.
Please... is there any way to turn off the trackball without disabling the entire keyboard? It is just too easy to accidentally change channels. If I can not, I will need to return the radio just purchased and use MD-380's instead. It's a really annoying "feature". I can program the side buttons for channel change but if the keyboard is locked, these don't allow channel change. Please. I like the radio but this is a deal breaker. We are getting ready to purchase a group of radios but this needs to be fixed.
Ok, I've screwed it up. Not sure which step I did wrong, but my TYT MD-2017 is now in chaos mode, with scrambled words on the screen. Is there a way to restoring this to normal? I tried writing the last codeplug, and it appears the data is there, but still in unreadable chaos.
Thanks
There is no way to accurately describe how much I hate this radio. Trackball?
I uploaded the data dump from DMR-MARC and can see the contacts in the radio but am not seeing them in the software when I read the radio. Other than exporting them back out into a CSV file, is there a way to see them on the contact listing?
Once they're in the radio, will a firmware update clear them or is there another way to dump them out of the radio?
73,
John
KC4LZN
Dear Gentlemen:
I have an interesting question in regards to the 380 tools firmware hack.
In the Des Moines,IA area we have a analog uhf repeator assigned to 443.675/448.675.
After the 380 tools firmware is installed that repeator will no longer work on the md-380 where it worked just fine before 380 tools was installed.
Our 443.400/448.400 works just fine after the install.
I know this sounds strange but what would cause that repeator pair to quit working after the 380 tools install?
Is their a small block of frequencies affected by the 380 tools firmware hack?
This is not limited to just one md-380 but everyone I have updated.
I am at a total loss for explanation.
Thank you:Kevin (n0iwt)
Hi Chris, unfortunately there is currently no way to just wipe out all contacts at once. You will need to manually delete them one by one.
Is there a way to bulk clear the digital contacts section? I accidentally uploaded all my contacts there and I'm having to manually delete each one, one at a time which is painfully slow at 10,000 contacts. Re-importing a csv with only 20 contacts only overwrites the first 20 digital contacts and doesn't clear out the rest.
Hi Ron, this could be due to a couple of factors. First, do you have the GPS or non-GPS version of the MD-2017? Are you using the correct version of the software for that particular version of the radio? Second, did you perform an upgrade of the firmware prior to programming the radio?
If your MD-2017 was purchased from Buy Two Way Radios, give us a call toll-free at 1-800-584-1445 or enter our live chat weekdays from 8 AM to 6 PM ET and we will be happy to assist you.
I have an MD-2017 and I;lve managed to load the 3.36 bin. I upgraded to CPS 1.17 and am trying to read/write the radio and the CPS program keep aborting. With 1.16 I had the same behavior intermittently and it seemed like powering the radio off/on and or reseating the usb cable or both or neither in the reverse order backwards. You get my drift.
Is this normal behavior for this software?
I'm running WIN10 on a brand new Dell laptop.
Thanks,
Banging his head on the desk.
I need more information. Do you mean the contact ID shows up unknown after it is programmed into the radio, after the contact list is uploaded into it, or after a new user is registered in the database? The answer is different depending on which one of those it is.
We only carry the non-GPS version of the MD-2017 at this time. You may need to contact TYT to obtain the correct version for your radio.
contact id comes up unknown, any ideas