DualTachyon
Member
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2023
- Messages
- 66
- Reaction score
- 51
I'm looking for a small group of seasoned radio amateurs to beta test an alternative firmware for the AnyTone AT-D168UV.
I have developed a recreation of the official firmware (based on version 1.07) from scratch. The goal is to fix many of the bugs AnyTone has yet to fix, to improve the user experience specially on the Amateur Radio side, and to expand it with new features. But before that can happen, I need to ensure my recreation is faithful to the original firmware and at least 1:1 parity in usability, features and bugs.
Currently, it works pretty well and appears to be stable. I need other people who can help me test every feature and corner of this massive firmware to make sure I didn't miss any bugs, as there are probably some here and there.
This is **not** an early-access release for people who just want to try something new. I'm looking for testers who genuinely enjoy finding bugs and helping improve software.
# What I'm looking for
* A licensed amateur radio operator with a valid callsign.
* You're comfortable using both DMR radios and a computer. You don't need to be an expert at either, but you should be comfortable trying things and learning as needed.
* You're happy flashing firmware, recovering from mistakes, and generally not afraid to experiment.
* The ideal minimum is you use the firmware in your normal operating style, and occasionally trying to break it.
* When you find a problem, you can provide clear steps to reproduce it. A video is appreciated whenever practical, but I understand that's not always possible.
* You don't mind joining a private GitHub repository to report issues and/or a private Telegram group. I already have a few testers in these 2 platforms, but I need more.
# What I'm not looking for
* Amateurs who rely on ready-made codeplugs or are not able to create their own from scratch.
* Amateurs who post questions in public places at the first sign of a problem or difficulty instead of trying to troubleshoot or browse the menus themselves.
* Amateurs who post questions in public places about things that are already covered in the instruction manual.
These types of people will waste my time and are unlikely to be able to follow instructions to the letter.
# Verification
To prevent early leaks and time wasters, applicants need to verify they are established amateur operators. The firmware implements a "License" system and you'll need to prove ownership of your callsign by doing the following:
* Copy the "Challenge Code" displayed by my firmware upon boot, and write it into your RadioID "About you" section.
* No other information is required.
Once I have this "Challenge Code", you will receive a "License" file that will unlock the firmware and instructions on installing it. The license is not a backdoor way to later open up monetisation / sell features. The firmware will always be free, but I don't have time to waste with people who shouldn't be playing with these radios.
Before any of this can happen, I will invite applicants to their platforms of choice, and instructions + firmware will be provided there.
# What this will not be
I'm not interested in turning the 168 into an OpenGD77 clone. If you like OGD77, keep using those radios. I have a different take on what the amateur radio experience should be and that's what I'm going to do after testing is complete. There might be some features or behaviours that are similar to OGD77, who knows, but I'm not aiming to make a copy.
# What this is not yet
* A finished product. I'm nearly there and with your help testing it, I will reach that goal sooner rather than later.
* A support service.
* A place to complain that something doesn't work without providing useful information.
Bugs are expected. That's why this beta exists.
If your idea of testing is "I used it for 10 minutes and it crashed once," without providing details, we're probably not a good fit.
If your idea of testing is "I spent two evenings trying to make it fail, documented everything, and now I can reliably reproduce it," I'd love to hear from you.
If that sounds like you, leave a reply with your callsign and a brief description of your radio experience, and I'll get in touch with the next steps.
# What's missing in the current firmware
* The satellite feature is not included because it appears to be a 99% copy paste of the OpenGD77 satellite feature, and I need to figure out legal / licensing issues before I release it.
* The DMR encryption feature is not there yet, mostly because it was not needed to get the firmware working. I plan on finishing it, but it is still a few weeks away.
# The long-term goal
The immediate goal of this beta is stability and feature completeness. Right now, the firmware is focused on matching the functionality of the original firmware as closely as possible. Before adding major new capabilities, I want to ensure every existing feature behaves correctly, edge cases are handled properly, and the firmware is something users can rely on every day.
Once that foundation is solid, the project will move beyond simple feature parity. That means fixing long-standing issues that exist in the original firmware, refining the user interface and overall user experience, and then expanding the firmware with entirely new capabilities. I also have plans to release a plugin SDK that will allow anyone to add their own features.
After the firmware is deemed to be relatively bug free compared to the original, I'm planning to work on the following as a first step:
* Revamp of the UI/UX for Amateur Radio usage.
* Tier 3 RX tracking (e.g. automatically changing frequencies as needed to follow active calls).
The 168 is also well placed for software based modulators and demodulators. The 168 design provides FM discriminator access to the CPU, so the possibilities are endless as long as they're within the 25kHz bandwidth of the RF chip and do not require phase access. That means FSK based things are possible, PSK based things are not.
I have developed a recreation of the official firmware (based on version 1.07) from scratch. The goal is to fix many of the bugs AnyTone has yet to fix, to improve the user experience specially on the Amateur Radio side, and to expand it with new features. But before that can happen, I need to ensure my recreation is faithful to the original firmware and at least 1:1 parity in usability, features and bugs.
Currently, it works pretty well and appears to be stable. I need other people who can help me test every feature and corner of this massive firmware to make sure I didn't miss any bugs, as there are probably some here and there.
This is **not** an early-access release for people who just want to try something new. I'm looking for testers who genuinely enjoy finding bugs and helping improve software.
# What I'm looking for
* A licensed amateur radio operator with a valid callsign.
* You're comfortable using both DMR radios and a computer. You don't need to be an expert at either, but you should be comfortable trying things and learning as needed.
* You're happy flashing firmware, recovering from mistakes, and generally not afraid to experiment.
* The ideal minimum is you use the firmware in your normal operating style, and occasionally trying to break it.
* When you find a problem, you can provide clear steps to reproduce it. A video is appreciated whenever practical, but I understand that's not always possible.
* You don't mind joining a private GitHub repository to report issues and/or a private Telegram group. I already have a few testers in these 2 platforms, but I need more.
# What I'm not looking for
* Amateurs who rely on ready-made codeplugs or are not able to create their own from scratch.
* Amateurs who post questions in public places at the first sign of a problem or difficulty instead of trying to troubleshoot or browse the menus themselves.
* Amateurs who post questions in public places about things that are already covered in the instruction manual.
These types of people will waste my time and are unlikely to be able to follow instructions to the letter.
# Verification
To prevent early leaks and time wasters, applicants need to verify they are established amateur operators. The firmware implements a "License" system and you'll need to prove ownership of your callsign by doing the following:
* Copy the "Challenge Code" displayed by my firmware upon boot, and write it into your RadioID "About you" section.
* No other information is required.
Once I have this "Challenge Code", you will receive a "License" file that will unlock the firmware and instructions on installing it. The license is not a backdoor way to later open up monetisation / sell features. The firmware will always be free, but I don't have time to waste with people who shouldn't be playing with these radios.
Before any of this can happen, I will invite applicants to their platforms of choice, and instructions + firmware will be provided there.
# What this will not be
I'm not interested in turning the 168 into an OpenGD77 clone. If you like OGD77, keep using those radios. I have a different take on what the amateur radio experience should be and that's what I'm going to do after testing is complete. There might be some features or behaviours that are similar to OGD77, who knows, but I'm not aiming to make a copy.
# What this is not yet
* A finished product. I'm nearly there and with your help testing it, I will reach that goal sooner rather than later.
* A support service.
* A place to complain that something doesn't work without providing useful information.
Bugs are expected. That's why this beta exists.
If your idea of testing is "I used it for 10 minutes and it crashed once," without providing details, we're probably not a good fit.
If your idea of testing is "I spent two evenings trying to make it fail, documented everything, and now I can reliably reproduce it," I'd love to hear from you.
If that sounds like you, leave a reply with your callsign and a brief description of your radio experience, and I'll get in touch with the next steps.
# What's missing in the current firmware
* The satellite feature is not included because it appears to be a 99% copy paste of the OpenGD77 satellite feature, and I need to figure out legal / licensing issues before I release it.
* The DMR encryption feature is not there yet, mostly because it was not needed to get the firmware working. I plan on finishing it, but it is still a few weeks away.
# The long-term goal
The immediate goal of this beta is stability and feature completeness. Right now, the firmware is focused on matching the functionality of the original firmware as closely as possible. Before adding major new capabilities, I want to ensure every existing feature behaves correctly, edge cases are handled properly, and the firmware is something users can rely on every day.
Once that foundation is solid, the project will move beyond simple feature parity. That means fixing long-standing issues that exist in the original firmware, refining the user interface and overall user experience, and then expanding the firmware with entirely new capabilities. I also have plans to release a plugin SDK that will allow anyone to add their own features.
After the firmware is deemed to be relatively bug free compared to the original, I'm planning to work on the following as a first step:
* Revamp of the UI/UX for Amateur Radio usage.
* Tier 3 RX tracking (e.g. automatically changing frequencies as needed to follow active calls).
The 168 is also well placed for software based modulators and demodulators. The 168 design provides FM discriminator access to the CPU, so the possibilities are endless as long as they're within the 25kHz bandwidth of the RF chip and do not require phase access. That means FSK based things are possible, PSK based things are not.
