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TYT MD-2017 Heads Up!

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N1SQB

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Received my MD-2017 today. Hooked u[p the cable to my PC and everything was fine until I tried reading the radio. The radio would begin reading then show a read failure error. After about an hour of troubleshooting, I called the vendor, in this case Two Way Radios.com. I was told that the MD-2017 was ONLY tested on Windows 10. The website does not say anything about that. I run windows 7 -32 and 64 bit versions so I am screwed pretty much. Radio is going back in the morning. Will there be a fix through firmware later on? who knows but I am going to find something better to spend my $219 on. Just giving potential buyers a heads up.

Manny
 

W2PDX

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Jan 14, 2017
Messages
76
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NY
That stinks, I hope they resolve that issue. I'm curious what you thought of the 2017 otherwise (form factor, build quality, etc). I'm seriously thinking about picking one up now that I read that the trackball can be locked.
 

N2AL

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Joined
Apr 11, 2008
Messages
417
Location
Tennessee
Received my MD-2017 today. Hooked u[p the cable to my PC and everything was fine until I tried reading the radio. The radio would begin reading then show a read failure error. After about an hour of troubleshooting, I called the vendor, in this case Two Way Radios.com. I was told that the MD-2017 was ONLY tested on Windows 10. The website does not say anything about that. I run windows 7 -32 and 64 bit versions so I am screwed pretty much. Radio is going back in the morning. Will there be a fix through firmware later on? who knows but I am going to find something better to spend my $219 on. Just giving potential buyers a heads up.



Manny



What's the possibility of running a Virtual Machine with Windows 10? I run a VM of Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro and it works pretty well.

Just a thought.
 

N1SQB

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Update:

I talked with both Chris and Anthony from Two-way radios.com. Neither one of them could explain why this is happening. They did a VM with a Win 10 pc and made it act as a Win 7 pc. They were able to read and write fine on their end. Chris told me that this issue, while not wide spread, is starting to pop up. The end result is that they are sending me a return label and issuing a full refund. I was offered another radio but I don't want to take a chance on going through this again. I will just wait a little longer and see what happens as more production units come out.

As far as my thoughts on the radio, well, I am not really impressed.I am no stranger to these radios as I have owned a few UV5R, KGUV9D, ect.. First of all, the radio is solid as far as build. Nothing feels lose. Because of the lithium-ion battery, the radio is extremely light. The antenna is another issue. It feels cheap. The problem is that if you change it, you are left with a huge gap at the base because of the wide width in the OEM antenna design. The top knob is for power and volume only, not a channel selector or squelch. The volume is also an issue. The volume pot is so sensitive that with a simple turn you can go from 0-9 ( Max volume ) in a blink of an eye. Then, of course there is the track ball. Why in the world did they put one of these things in there? You can simply touch it and it moves things on the display.Even if can be locked, it is a PAIN when you need to use it. The back light; great when it's on. However no option to toggle it on and off. The only options are: on all the time, 5,10,15 seconds,that's it...Like Moto radios, TYT allows you to assign different functions to the 3 side buttons and the 2 top buttons marked P1 and P2. Tha's fine but "light" is NOT one of those options. Maybe something they can add through firmware later on. You also do not have any brightness adjust. If it's on it's bright, otherwise it's off. Audio; lound, very clear but a bit on the tinny side without any base or low end on the voice. Alpha tags. Not too bad. You can go up to about 12 characters I believe. Keypad feels a little flimsy. If this was a $50--$80 radio, I'd say you are getting a bargain, but even with the dual DMR bands, there is still a lot of room for improvement is other areas. For $219, I am not comfortable keeping this radio or trying out another one. Again, nice radio overall, I'm not saying it's total crap. I'm sure it is fine for a good portion of people who buy it. It just has too many issues that I am not happy with for MY taste. The CPS has some nice choices and features. You can download it from them for free. Those are my first impressions albeit not what I intended this thread to be initially. LOL

Scroll down on this page and you will find the free software download link:
Look for this: "Update: The TYT MD-2017 software is now available!"

http://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog...converts_md-380_codeplug_for_tyt_md-2017.aspx


Manny
 
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jrw14493

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
69
Unboxed my MD-2017 today fresh off FedEx. Software works great on Win 7 Home Premium. None of the buttons work. I first noticed this trying to get into the menu to check FPP. Also see they're selling them for $175. Boy I sure got screwed pre-ordering @ $220. We'll see if they can make this right.
 

N1SQB

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Sorry to hear this. As I stated before, the Win-7 issue seems to be sporadic. Who is selling this for $175?

Manny
 

jrw14493

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
69
Buytwowayradio had a promotion. Enter a promo code and the thing was offered at 175.

I did get an email back this morning. Says the buttons are not activated out of the box. I read it out and they're indeed programmed. They are also honoring the price and issuing me a refund for the difference. At least the customer service is good.
 

W2PDX

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2017
Messages
76
Location
NY
As far as my thoughts on the radio, well, I am not really impressed.I am no stranger to these radios as I have owned a few UV5R, KGUV9D, ect.. First of all, the radio is solid as far as build. Nothing feels lose. Because of the lithium-ion battery, the radio is extremely light. The antenna is another issue. It feels cheap. The problem is that if you change it, you are left with a huge gap at the base because of the wide width in the OEM antenna design. The top knob is for power and volume only, not a channel selector or squelch. The volume is also an issue. The volume pot is so sensitive that with a simple turn you can go from 0-9 ( Max volume ) in a blink of an eye. Then, of course there is the track ball. Why in the world did they put one of these things in there? You can simply touch it and it moves things on the display.Even if can be locked, it is a PAIN when you need to use it. The back light; great when it's on. However no option to toggle it on and off. The only options are: on all the time, 5,10,15 seconds,that's it...Like Moto radios, TYT allows you to assign different functions to the 3 side buttons and the 2 top buttons marked P1 and P2. Tha's fine but "light" is NOT one of those options. Maybe something they can add through firmware later on. You also do not have any brightness adjust. If it's on it's bright, otherwise it's off. Audio; lound, very clear but a bit on the tinny side without any base or low end on the voice. Alpha tags. Not too bad. You can go up to about 12 characters I believe. Keypad feels a little flimsy. If this was a $50--$80 radio, I'd say you are getting a bargain, but even with the dual DMR bands, there is still a lot of room for improvement is other areas. For $219, I am not comfortable keeping this radio or trying out another one. Again, nice radio overall, I'm not saying it's total crap. I'm sure it is fine for a good portion of people who buy it. It just has too many issues that I am not happy with for MY taste. The CPS has some nice choices and features. You can download it from them for free. Those are my first impressions albeit not what I intended this thread to be initially.

Manny, thanks so much for the detailed info! I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on one yet. I've never owned a TYT so I was a bit skeptical about build quality. I like the idea of a dual band DMR portable but I agree with you on the trackball. Why? I can't imagine it's less expensive for them to go that route vs. a conventional 4-way XPR-style button. Sorry about the thread hijack but I'm sure a lot of people will find your review useful in making the decision to purchase.
 

CanesFan95

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FL
This is why you wait a year or two until if/when all the bugs are worked out before buying any news rigs.
 

N1SQB

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Manny, thanks so much for the detailed info! I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on one yet. I've never owned a TYT so I was a bit skeptical about build quality. I like the idea of a dual band DMR portable but I agree with you on the trackball. Why? I can't imagine it's less expensive for them to go that route vs. a conventional 4-way XPR-style button. Sorry about the thread hijack but I'm sure a lot of people will find your review useful in making the decision to purchase.

The whole track ball thing is beyond my understanding. If you have it on your hip it can more if you happen to forget to lock it. A 4 way would have been better. I sent it back today after receiving a return label from the seller. This radio needs more time in the US market.

Manny
 

Kb2Jpd

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Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
207
Location
New York City, NY
Received my MD-2017 today. Hooked u[p the cable to my PC and everything was fine until I tried reading the radio. The radio would begin reading then show a read failure error. After about an hour of troubleshooting, I called the vendor, in this case Two Way Radios.com. I was told that the MD-2017 was ONLY tested on Windows 10. The website does not say anything about that. I run windows 7 -32 and 64 bit versions so I am screwed pretty much. Radio is going back in the morning. Will there be a fix through firmware later on? who knows but I am going to find something better to spend my $219 on. Just giving potential buyers a heads up.



Manny



Sounds like a problem with your USB ports. Most USB 3 need to kick down to USB 2 or 1 speeds.

When you are running a VM, the default is to make all your USB ports USB 2.

If you have an old USB hub, connect it and then connect your programming cable thru it and attempt to read your radio. Your computer will sense the old hub and kick down. Should work for all Windows systems.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

N1SQB

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Sounds like a problem with your USB ports. Most USB 3 need to kick down to USB 2 or 1 speeds.

When you are running a VM, the default is to make all your USB ports USB 2.

If you have an old USB hub, connect it and then connect your programming cable thru it and attempt to read your radio. Your computer will sense the old hub and kick down. Should work for all Windows systems.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You're assuming I'm using USB 3 ports which I am not. 2.0 only using Win-7 OS. Again, in device manager it shows the ports all working fine and the cable has no yellow caution symbols in the port it is connected to. Either way, the radio is on its way back via ups.

Manny
 

Caddyman30

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Joined
Jun 30, 2017
Messages
1
FYI... received radio back and tested it. First, read the radio with my programming cable (I know it works because I use it every day) and radio read and wrote just fine. Secondly, used returned cable with radio and same result, worked just fine. Honestly, not sure what the problem is. I have other Window 7 users and it works for them just fine as well. If I hear anything back from TYT or can come up with a clear, cut reason as to why it did not work on the OP's end, I will post my findings.
 

Meestor_X

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Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
172
FYI... received radio back and tested it. First, read the radio with my programming cable (I know it works because I use it every day) and radio read and wrote just fine. Secondly, used returned cable with radio and same result, worked just fine. Honestly, not sure what the problem is. I have other Window 7 users and it works for them just fine as well. If I hear anything back from TYT or can come up with a clear, cut reason as to why it did not work on the OP's end, I will post my findings.
Your post makes it sound like you posted earlier.
"received radio back"? from where? You didn't say why you sent it in or where you sent it or any details...
"not sure what the problem is."? What problem? What problem are you referencing?
 

teufler

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I want to add to N1SQB's comments. On the antenna and the large hole when the antenna i removed, When I got my 390, it came with a short and a long antenna. Had the 201`7 about 5 days, took off the short antenna and I replaced it with the uhf long antenna. There is little sma connection support for an antenna that has a smaller foot print then the small antenna that has a wide base foot print. The short antenna forces support to the radio case, while the long antenna puts all the stress on the sma connector. So 4 days into owning the radio, the sma connector broke . What broke was the thread portion or the silver threads, not the center conductor. The long antenna on the 390, displaces the antenna on the case. So now looking for a source that can repair the sma connector on a tyt 2017
 

N1GMV

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Jun 26, 2017
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Raleigh NC
I find that if I count to 7 slowly before I hit the OK button when about to write to radio it works fine.
 

N1GMV

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Jun 26, 2017
Messages
66
Location
Raleigh NC
I want to add to N1SQB's comments. On the antenna and the large hole when the antenna i removed, When I got my 390, it came with a short and a long antenna. Had the 201`7 about 5 days, took off the short antenna and I replaced it with the uhf long antenna. There is little sma connection support for an antenna that has a smaller foot print then the small antenna that has a wide base foot print. The short antenna forces support to the radio case, while the long antenna puts all the stress on the sma connector. So 4 days into owning the radio, the sma connector broke . What broke was the thread portion or the silver threads, not the center conductor. The long antenna on the 390, displaces the antenna on the case. So now looking for a source that can repair the sma connector on a tyt 2017

Ship it to me, and for $190 it will be as good as new. Seriously, what are you willing to pay for the repair including shipping? At $75/hr it will probably take 2 hours plus shipping so you are are going to be at about $190 to get it back. I think you need to fix it yourself or keep the battery pack, throw it in the trash and buy another. That's how you fix Chinese stuff.
 

Kb2Jpd

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Messages
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Ship it to me, and for $190 it will be as good as new. Seriously, what are you willing to pay for the repair including shipping? At $75/hr it will probably take 2 hours plus shipping so you are are going to be at about $190 to get it back. I think you need to fix it yourself or keep the battery pack, throw it in the trash and buy another. That's how you fix Chinese stuff.



http://www.miklor.com/COM/Review_MD2017.php

My good colleague John Miklor wrote a decent overview of the MD2017.

Maybe you should share notes so you don't have so many issues with a brand new radio.

I usually have one dedicated laptop or computer just for programming radios. I however program TYT radios using a Raspberry Pi.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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