MD380/390 DMR Codeplug Instructions
I’ve spent some time putting together this codeplug that I would like to share with everyone. Follow the 
instructions below to use it. The plug will get updated periodically, so check back often for new repeaters and info to be added. I datestamp all of my plugs with the date on the very back, so if you get one today (the date this article is being written) it should show “20160414” on the end of the name. This means that the last update to that plug was 04/14/2016. I find this format easier to sort chronologically in a windows environment. I’ve also added ALL Regional, Statewide and Brandmeister Area talkgroups to this codeplug so that expansion later will be easier.
Follow the instructions below to use this plug. The current version contains ALL repeaters in Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Updates will be made as more repeaters are added, and I plan to add more States also. Next on the list is Arkansas, then perhaps Kansas, and so on. I also have the repeaters for the Dayton Hamvention of 2016 loaded into this plug; plus some random repeaters in Albuquerque, California and Seattle.
Instructions:
Feel free to make any changes you’d like to this codeplug for your own use. My basic concept in writing this codeplug was to put everything in alphabetical order. I’ve named the Zones for their State, then city, and arranged them in the correct order. Example: “TX.Dallas” “TX.Southlake” “OK.Tulsa1” and so on. Since each zone is limited to 16 channels, I generally separate each zone by repeater. My basic reason for this doing is because this codeplug is for an HT, and usually an HT won’t reach out to multiple repeaters, due to distance. I also add all 4 accepted Simplex frequencies to each Zone, when space is available. For a listing of those Simplex frequency settings, follow this link.
***NOTE: If you have a new radio, proceed to the instructions below. If you have a current codeplug in your radio, I highly suggest READING your current codeplug into your computer and saving that codeplug before making any changes. That way, if you load this new plug and you don’t like it, or it doesn’t work for whatever reason – you can reload your original codeplug and not lose anything.
- Download and install the TYT MD390 programming software. This software will work for the MD380 or MD390 radios. Download the codeplug from this link (take notice of the date stamp, as stated above). Also download the latest version of the N0GSG Contact Manager software (version 1.23 is used in this example)
- After the software is installed, open the codeplug and click on the “General Setting” option from the left-hand menu. In this menu, enter your Radio Name and Radio ID. Your Radio ID was supplied by DMR-MARC and is 7-digits long. If you don’t have a Radio ID yet, follow this link. For Radio Name, I usually enter my callsign, but you can call it whatever you’d like.
- At the bottom-right of the same window, find the Intro Screen section and fill out the “Intro Screen Line 1” and “Intro Screen Line 2” fields. These can be anything you want, and it will be the message you see when you power on the radio. If you don’t want to change this, then just skip this step
- Save the codeplug somewhere on your computer where you can find it later. I suggest changing the name to something new.
- Open the N0GSG Contact Manager software that you downloaded earlier. Once opened, click on File->Open Codeplug and go find the new codeplug that you just saved and named.
- Once the codeplug is open inside of the N0GSG Contact Manager, you should see only Group Contacts inside of the Contacts tab at the bottom. These will be your talkgroups and are already set to each channel in the radio.
- This is the step that will differ for each person. Click on the “Import Contacts from the DMR-MARC Database” button on the right side. Once the new window opens, search the database by your State name. Highlight all contacts from the search results and click the “Add Selected Records” button. All other fields should remain at their default setting. Repeater this step for other States you might want to add, but be aware that this radio will only hold 1000 contacts.
- Click “Done Searching” when you are finished adding all the contacts you’d like.
- Click File->Save As from the top menu and save the codeplug. I will usually save it under another name, to just be safe. But you can choose to save it as whatever you’d like.
- Close the N0GSG Contact Manager Software
- Open the MD390 software again
- Open the codeplug that you just saved from the N0GSG software
- Connect your radio to the USB cable and write the new codeplug into your radio. After the radio reboots, you should have everything that this codeplug has to offer.
Comment and Suggestions are welcome.
