It sounds like you've only partially programmed the radio. With every DMR radio I've ever programmed, you need to do the following, generally in this order:
*
Create contacts. Contacts are usually just a DMR ID, with a "personal vs group" flag, and a description.
* Personal contacts generally refer to a specific person.
* Group contacts generally refer to talkgroups, and other "special functions".
*
Create channels. A channel is the
combination of a contact with a set of RF parameters.
* For a DMR channel, this is the TX/RX frequencies, timeslot, and colour code.
* For an analog channel, this is the TX/RX frequencies, plus information about CTCSS/DCS codes.
*
Create zones. A zone is a list of channels.
* For the MD-UV380 (similar but possibly not the same as your MD-UV390), a zone is two lists of channels, one used by the "top" VFO and the other used by the "bottom" VFO.
When you're finished programming and
using the radio, you would first select a zone using the on-screen menus, then select a channel using the larger knob on top. When you key up, the radio transmits on the frequency and timeslot selected, and the digital packets that the radio sends will contain the colour code and target contact info, along with whatever digitized audio that the radio hears (from your voice).
If you haven't created your channels and zones yet, those need to be your next steps.
Also ... if you live in an area with several DMR repeaters and want to be able to use all of them, you'll need to create separate sets of channels for each one. For example, if the repeaters are connected to Brandmeister and you want to use the primary US talkgroup (whose ID is 3100), you would create the following channels:
* Contact "Group 3100" on "Repeater A"
* Contact "Group 3100" on "Repeater B"
* Contact "Group 3100" on "Repeater H" (where "H" is my hotspot at home)
A hotspot is just like any other repeater, you need to create a set of channels for it. The only real difference is that, with a hotspot, the TX and RX frequencies will be the same (unless you have a really expensive hotspot that can transmit and receive on different frequencies at the same time, in which case you actually have a repeater).
Something else to think about ... on my own radios, I've assigned a letter to each repeater I use, and I make the channel names
using that repeater, start with that letter (so for TG 3100 I would have contacts called "A 3100 US", "B 3100 US", and so forth). This can make it easier to tell which channels are which, both within the programming software (when you're building your zones), and when you're using the radio - especially if the radio doesn't show the current zone name on the screen. (The MD-UV380 does, I'm assuming the MD-UV390 does as well, so a big part of this would be whether it makes it easier to tell which channels are which within the software.)
Good luck.
