KD7RJC
Member
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2023
- Messages
- 101
TL;DR at end if you just want the process.
So a couple of years ago I bought a pair of cheap GMRS radios for family use, TIDRADIO TD-H5. I couldn't help but notice how similar looking they are to radios like the Explorer QRZ-1 dual-band ham radio, and of course the TD-H5 receives the 2m and 70cm ham bands. Further digging reveals that the TD-H5 is a platform-mate to many, many radios, including the Radioddity GM-30, Pofung P15UV, TYT UV-88, Retevis RT85, Baofeng UV-15R, and Baofeng UV-13, based on what I found on a discussion thread for CHIRP.
Experimenting with what programming software I could find for the various models and confirmed as per that discussion that the "CPS" software for the Radioddity GM-30 and the TIDRADIO TD-H5 appears to be exactly the same, both packages will read from and write to the memory of the radio. I tried the CPS software for the Pofung P15UV and it would try but reject the radio.
Eventually took the risk and downloaded the file named "UV13-Firmware-V06.01.013-20211104_01013.bin" in post dating to around a year ago, backed up the existing radio's memory using the Radioddity CPS software, put the radio into firmware update mode by turning it off while holding the main PTT key and the key below it, and once the radio had a red status indicator LED on the top, applied the UV13 firmware using the Radioddity CPS software, and then followed the instruction to perform the factory reset on the menu.
After restart the radio's firmware loaded in Chinese, I was able to find the setting to put it back to English (menu option 39 on this different firmware) and it came up with only memories programmed in the now-expanded memory list, 400.something on 001, 136.something on 999. I confirmed that I was able to transmit on simplex on both amateur bands and receive on my Yaesu HT, and I confirmed that I could write to memory slots from the radio's menu system.
Trying to use the Radioddity CPS software to pull the updated channel list from the radio now no longer worked, it behaved the same as when I had tried the Pofung P15UV CPS software before doing the firmware change. I loaded the Pofung software now, and was able to retrieve the radio's memory programming. And amusingly, when I went to the File menu on the Pofung CPS software, the memory data file I'd saved with the Radioddity software was in the recent files list. My guess is that all of these programs are using a common set of program configuration files. I was able to load the stock TD-H5 memory info. Now, with it loaded into the P15UV CPS I had several hundred corrupt memory slot entries, my guess is garbage due to the difference between the very limited published number of memory slots on the TIDRADIO firmware compared to the UV13 firmware. After going through by hand and deleting all of the errant garbage entries (<Enter Key>, <Delete Key>, <Enter Key>, <Down Arrow>, repeat hundreds of times) I realized I probably should have just manually created the memory slot entries for those few that were present.
In addition to restoring the memory entries that had been present on the TIDRADIO firmware a bunch of 70cm simplex memory slot entries were added at this point. One of the problems I had with the radio as it came out of the box was that I couldn't program new memory assignments for essentially family groups, I had wanted to set up tones combined with busy-channel lockout so that we could talk to each other without clobbering other users on the service, but the way TIDRADIO had the firmware locked down it wasn't possible to write memory slots other than with repeater-shift. It simply wasn't possible to write additional simplex memory slots at all, one had to modify the original ones if one wanted to use tone and TSQ. This was the single biggest annoyance these radios originally presented.
Anyway, after applying the new memory the radio booted up again it again came up in Chinese, and it came up with Squelch set to 0, zero, big fat gooseegg. Annoying, but again after setting it back to English (menu option 39) I set sequelch up to 1 (menu option 00) and confirmed again that it seems to be working properly, and is holding settings between turning it off and back on. I also had to change the Backlight setting (menu 06) because it defaulted to "Bright" which is more like always-on.
So the caveats. First and foremost, while it's perfectly within the rules to modify a radio to turn it into a ham radio and to use it on the Part 97 amateur service, it isn't within the rules to take a Part 95 radio to modify it to use on other services/frequencies and to still use it on a Part 95 service. If you modify an GMRS radio, or a CB radio, or an FRS radio, or a MURS radio to use outside of each respective service, you're not supposed to use it on that service anymore.
Second, some TIDRADIO features don't work on the UV13 firmware. Specifically the ability to enable FM commercial broadcast reception with a single button isn't working. Briefly pushing the button above PTT below the antenna doesn't do anything anymore. Holding it down still activates the weird emergency siren thing that I don't think actually transmits just like it did before, so it's not that the button is completely ignored. There could be other features that don't work anymore, but that will require gaining some experience with the modified radio to find out.
Third, the menu options have slightly changed. Things are not in the same order on-screen as they were in the TIDRADIO TD-H5 printed manual. This isn't all that big a deal but it does mean that if one had gotten used to the way it worked then it will require a relearn.
Fourth, while the memory slots can now be named, the naming is limited to five characters. This is rather awkward from the point of view of a ham radio, since five characters won't even cover all of the callsign space for current-issue calls, let alone being able to put in geography info or other useful info. And I thought the sixteen characters on my Yaesu radios was annoyingly short...
Fifth, it isn't yet established if the full amount of NVRAM or FLASH or whatever is used these days for memory slot storage actually has the capacity for the full 999 slots. I suspect that some of the garbage that was present was actually the programming used to hobble the GMRS version (like code referenced from the main operating firmware of the radio) and kept in storage that normally would have been used for memory slots, but I'm not entirely sure. This is something that could pose problems later if it turns out that there isn't the memory present to hold all 999.
Sixth, the casing is durable, but it's not exactly a quality product. This is a freebie-giveaway in its Explorer QRZ-1 branding for new hams. I expect that it meets the FCC minimums for transmissions on harmonics, and it can do NFM, but that doesn't mean that it's going to be up there with even Alinco, let alone the big-three. Additionally the user interface quirks that it had with TIDRADIO firmware are still there with the UV13 firmware. That said, there is one thing I do very much like, it uses the same SMA female (outside-threading on the shield) connector on the radio body that my Yaesus use, so any antennas I buy for the Yaesus will work on this radio, and the SMA to BNC adapter for using older antennas is particularly compact due to the gender of the connectors.
Now the concise TL;DR directions:
And of course the disclaimer, FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THERE IS NO WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE OF ANY KIND, AND NO LIABILITY IS ACCEPTED FOR FOLLOWING THESE DIRECTIONS. THE INDIVIDUAL PERFORMING THE MODIFICATION ACCEPTS ALL RISK, INCLUDING THE POTENTIAL TO RENDER THE RADIO PERMANENTLY NONFUNCTIONAL. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Additionally I have not tested this with anything other than my own TIDRADIO TD-H5, I don't know if this will work on a Radioddity GM-30, or on a TYT, or on a Baofeng, or on the Explorer QRZ-1.
As I work with the radio in this new configuration I'll try to provide updates on the experience.
So a couple of years ago I bought a pair of cheap GMRS radios for family use, TIDRADIO TD-H5. I couldn't help but notice how similar looking they are to radios like the Explorer QRZ-1 dual-band ham radio, and of course the TD-H5 receives the 2m and 70cm ham bands. Further digging reveals that the TD-H5 is a platform-mate to many, many radios, including the Radioddity GM-30, Pofung P15UV, TYT UV-88, Retevis RT85, Baofeng UV-15R, and Baofeng UV-13, based on what I found on a discussion thread for CHIRP.
Experimenting with what programming software I could find for the various models and confirmed as per that discussion that the "CPS" software for the Radioddity GM-30 and the TIDRADIO TD-H5 appears to be exactly the same, both packages will read from and write to the memory of the radio. I tried the CPS software for the Pofung P15UV and it would try but reject the radio.
Eventually took the risk and downloaded the file named "UV13-Firmware-V06.01.013-20211104_01013.bin" in post dating to around a year ago, backed up the existing radio's memory using the Radioddity CPS software, put the radio into firmware update mode by turning it off while holding the main PTT key and the key below it, and once the radio had a red status indicator LED on the top, applied the UV13 firmware using the Radioddity CPS software, and then followed the instruction to perform the factory reset on the menu.
After restart the radio's firmware loaded in Chinese, I was able to find the setting to put it back to English (menu option 39 on this different firmware) and it came up with only memories programmed in the now-expanded memory list, 400.something on 001, 136.something on 999. I confirmed that I was able to transmit on simplex on both amateur bands and receive on my Yaesu HT, and I confirmed that I could write to memory slots from the radio's menu system.
Trying to use the Radioddity CPS software to pull the updated channel list from the radio now no longer worked, it behaved the same as when I had tried the Pofung P15UV CPS software before doing the firmware change. I loaded the Pofung software now, and was able to retrieve the radio's memory programming. And amusingly, when I went to the File menu on the Pofung CPS software, the memory data file I'd saved with the Radioddity software was in the recent files list. My guess is that all of these programs are using a common set of program configuration files. I was able to load the stock TD-H5 memory info. Now, with it loaded into the P15UV CPS I had several hundred corrupt memory slot entries, my guess is garbage due to the difference between the very limited published number of memory slots on the TIDRADIO firmware compared to the UV13 firmware. After going through by hand and deleting all of the errant garbage entries (<Enter Key>, <Delete Key>, <Enter Key>, <Down Arrow>, repeat hundreds of times) I realized I probably should have just manually created the memory slot entries for those few that were present.
In addition to restoring the memory entries that had been present on the TIDRADIO firmware a bunch of 70cm simplex memory slot entries were added at this point. One of the problems I had with the radio as it came out of the box was that I couldn't program new memory assignments for essentially family groups, I had wanted to set up tones combined with busy-channel lockout so that we could talk to each other without clobbering other users on the service, but the way TIDRADIO had the firmware locked down it wasn't possible to write memory slots other than with repeater-shift. It simply wasn't possible to write additional simplex memory slots at all, one had to modify the original ones if one wanted to use tone and TSQ. This was the single biggest annoyance these radios originally presented.
Anyway, after applying the new memory the radio booted up again it again came up in Chinese, and it came up with Squelch set to 0, zero, big fat gooseegg. Annoying, but again after setting it back to English (menu option 39) I set sequelch up to 1 (menu option 00) and confirmed again that it seems to be working properly, and is holding settings between turning it off and back on. I also had to change the Backlight setting (menu 06) because it defaulted to "Bright" which is more like always-on.
So the caveats. First and foremost, while it's perfectly within the rules to modify a radio to turn it into a ham radio and to use it on the Part 97 amateur service, it isn't within the rules to take a Part 95 radio to modify it to use on other services/frequencies and to still use it on a Part 95 service. If you modify an GMRS radio, or a CB radio, or an FRS radio, or a MURS radio to use outside of each respective service, you're not supposed to use it on that service anymore.
Second, some TIDRADIO features don't work on the UV13 firmware. Specifically the ability to enable FM commercial broadcast reception with a single button isn't working. Briefly pushing the button above PTT below the antenna doesn't do anything anymore. Holding it down still activates the weird emergency siren thing that I don't think actually transmits just like it did before, so it's not that the button is completely ignored. There could be other features that don't work anymore, but that will require gaining some experience with the modified radio to find out.
Third, the menu options have slightly changed. Things are not in the same order on-screen as they were in the TIDRADIO TD-H5 printed manual. This isn't all that big a deal but it does mean that if one had gotten used to the way it worked then it will require a relearn.
Fourth, while the memory slots can now be named, the naming is limited to five characters. This is rather awkward from the point of view of a ham radio, since five characters won't even cover all of the callsign space for current-issue calls, let alone being able to put in geography info or other useful info. And I thought the sixteen characters on my Yaesu radios was annoyingly short...
Fifth, it isn't yet established if the full amount of NVRAM or FLASH or whatever is used these days for memory slot storage actually has the capacity for the full 999 slots. I suspect that some of the garbage that was present was actually the programming used to hobble the GMRS version (like code referenced from the main operating firmware of the radio) and kept in storage that normally would have been used for memory slots, but I'm not entirely sure. This is something that could pose problems later if it turns out that there isn't the memory present to hold all 999.
Sixth, the casing is durable, but it's not exactly a quality product. This is a freebie-giveaway in its Explorer QRZ-1 branding for new hams. I expect that it meets the FCC minimums for transmissions on harmonics, and it can do NFM, but that doesn't mean that it's going to be up there with even Alinco, let alone the big-three. Additionally the user interface quirks that it had with TIDRADIO firmware are still there with the UV13 firmware. That said, there is one thing I do very much like, it uses the same SMA female (outside-threading on the shield) connector on the radio body that my Yaesus use, so any antennas I buy for the Yaesus will work on this radio, and the SMA to BNC adapter for using older antennas is particularly compact due to the gender of the connectors.
Now the concise TL;DR directions:
- Download and install the TIDRADIO or Radioddity CPS software for the TD-H5 or the GM-30.
- Download and install the Pofung P15UV CPS software (1.09 was used here).
- Download the UV13 firmware (UV13-Firmware-V06.01.013-20211104_01013.bin was used here).
- Plug in the radio programming cable to the PC and confirm that the drivers are properly loaded (CH340 driver, used a version 3.7 under Windows 11)
- Load the TD-H5/GM-30 CPS software, once open Select Program > Communication Port from the menu and pick the relevant Com port.
- Plug the radio in to the cable and turn it on.
- Select Program > Read from Radio, and on the new window, select OK to kick off reading the existing memory contents.
- Select File > Save to write the memory file to disk.
- Unplug the radio from the programming cable and turn the radio off. Leave the cable plugged in to the PC.
- Press and hold the PTT key and LED key, then turn the radio on. The display should be blank and the status LED should light red
- In the TD-H5/GM-30 CPS software, select Program > Tool. On the new window, Use Load to browse to find the UV13 firmware file.
- Plug the cable into the radio, then on the Tool window select Upgrade. This is the point of no-return, it will write to the radio.
- The radio reboots on completion of the upgrade process.
- Select Menu Option 40 and follow through the process to Reset the radio.
- After the radio reboots, fix the language setting etc.
- Close the TD-H5/GM-30 CPS software.
And of course the disclaimer, FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THERE IS NO WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE OF ANY KIND, AND NO LIABILITY IS ACCEPTED FOR FOLLOWING THESE DIRECTIONS. THE INDIVIDUAL PERFORMING THE MODIFICATION ACCEPTS ALL RISK, INCLUDING THE POTENTIAL TO RENDER THE RADIO PERMANENTLY NONFUNCTIONAL. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Additionally I have not tested this with anything other than my own TIDRADIO TD-H5, I don't know if this will work on a Radioddity GM-30, or on a TYT, or on a Baofeng, or on the Explorer QRZ-1.
As I work with the radio in this new configuration I'll try to provide updates on the experience.
