I make no promises or assurances that these will work. They DO work in my radios and include every active UK DMR repeater at the time of upload.

MD380 G0NEF-UK Updated 7/7/2017

MD2017-G0NEF-UK Updated 7/7/2017

MD- 2017-DMR-DB.csv User database (current on 12th July 2017)

How to directly upload a .csv  user data base to an MD-2017 (correct on 12th July 2017, using TYT’s own software and firmware).

You must have Microsoft Excel installed on the PC for this to work. If Excel is not installed you will get an “Excel Fail” error and the process will not work. If you don’t have Excel consider downloading a the free trial version : https://products.office.com/en-gb/try

Go to this link and download the special CSV enabled firmware and CPS software from TYT: http://www.tyt888.com/uploadfile/upfiles/20170711144846.zip

If you don’t have a suitable .csv database file you should download the one above or you will need to create your own. Note that the structure of the .csv file used for the direct upload user database is different to the structure use by the CPS so you can’t use the same .csv file for both! If your not sure, use mine, it works and has every user that was in the worldwide DMR database on 7th of July 2017.

There are two stages to the process. The first is updating the firmware, the second is uploading the .csv database.

Uninstall any other versions of the MD-2017 CPS software that you may have previously installed first.

I strongly recommend you uninstall any other versions of the MD-2017 CPS software that you may have before installing the special/new CSV version as conflicts can occur. It is likely that that future versions of the CPS will have the CSV option included but CPS V1.17 does not and if you have MD-2017 CPS V1.17 installed the CSV upload will not work correctly with firmware (CSV)V3.33. You may find the database in the radio displaying nothing but “????”.

Unzip the TYT zip file you just downloaded, you will have a new folder called “MD-2017 100000 Contacts”.

From inside this folder install the firmware updater application using the file called “FirmwareDownloadv3.04_en” as well as the special CSV enabled version of the CPS app using “CPS 2017 V1.16 setup”. So 2 applications to install before going any further. You MUST install this version of the CPS and no other.

Open the “Operation.doc” file. This has the instructions on how to update the firmware on the radio. Follow the instructions and use the firmware that is located in the “MD-2017 100000 Contacts folder”. Make sure you use non GPS (TYT2017-UV(CSV)-V3.33) for a non GPS radio and the GPS version (TYT2017-UV(GPS-CSV)-P3.33) for a GPS enabled radio. Using the incorrect firmware type will prevent the radio from working, it may become stuck in the firmware update mode with no way out. So don’t try it in the hope of making a non GPS radio into a GPS one.

As the official instructions are in “Chinglish” I’ve added my own guide below.

Firmware update instructions (to be used in conjunction with the Operation.doc instructions).

Start by connecting the programming cable to the radio. Do not plug it in to the computer yet.

As noted in the instructions, to upgrade the firmware you must press both the orange button on the top of the radio plus the PTT button, at the same time as you turn on the radio. The LED on the top of the radio will flash green and red.

Once the radio is on and the LED is flashing green/red connect the radio to your computer with the programming cable.

The “Firmware Download” software you installed will be found in the “Program Files (x86) – FirmwareDownloadV3.04 – DMR Firmware Download v3.04en” folder and it’s called “UpgradeDownload”. Open this application.

It is the “User program” section of this app that you use. The “Open File Upgrade” button is used to select the firmware to load (from the MD-2017 100000 Contacts) folder. Once you have selected the firmware press the “Download File of Upgrade” button to update the radio. This takes about a minute.

Close the “UpgradeDownload” app once you have upgraded the radios firmware.

Once the firmware upgrade is done, turn off the radio, then unplug the programming cable from the computer.

Turn the radio on as normal. If you have the correct firmware installed, on the radio go to the Menu and – Utilities – Radio Settings – and you should see a new ContactCSV option. Turn ON ContactsCSV

UPLOADING THE DATABASE.

With the radio on as normal, do not press any buttons, with no flashing LED’s, plug the programming cable back in to the computer.

Now open the MD-2017 CPS V1.16 code plug app that you just installed.

DO NOT try to import the contacts into the Digital Contacts of your code plug. The user .csv database is stored in a different part of the radios memory. Instead carefully follow the steps below.

In the CPS app go to the top options bar and select “Program” and go down and select “write contacts”. A small window will open. Chose “import” and select a suitable .csv database file (if in doubt use my DMR DB csv file, it works and includes names and locations).

You will need to wait a few moments while the .csv is imported, then you should see an “import success” message. You must have Microsoft Excel installed on the PC for this to work. If Excel is not installed you will get an “Excel Fail” error and the process will stop.

Assuming you have seen the “import success” message, with the radio in normal operating mode now press “write” to send the database to the radio. This takes around 10 minutes to complete.

And that’s it. You should now have a database of DMR users on your radio.

You won’t see these user ID’s in the normal code plug, they are stored separately in the radio.

If you’re not seeing the contact names when receiving make sure that Menu – Utilities – Radio Settings – ContactCSV is On.

Still not seeing any contacts? Check in Menu- Contacts to see if the you can see the CSV contacts. If not you may need to re-load the contacts csv file or it may be that the .csv file is not formatted correctly.

If you see lots of “????” on the radios screen during receive or when you look in the .csv database via the radios contacts menu then there was most likely a miss-match between the CPS you used and the Firmware installed on the radio. Uninstall ALL versions of the CPS, then re-install the special CSV version of the CPS and try again. If that fails try re-flashing the radio firmware, again ensuring you have the matching (CSV) version.

If you only see the number “2”, “1” or “0” when receiving then it is likely that the database you have used is incorrectly formatted.

There are some limitations. If the radio is in “Monitor” mode the user ID is displayed and not the contact details. This function disables the ability to record audio files on the TYT MD-2017 as the memory used for the contact database is the memory that would be used to save the audio recordings. I assume the same method will work with the Retevis-RT82 and any other clones.

I am providing this guide as is, I offer no guarantee of success and won’t be held responsible if anything goes wrong during the update. I didn’t write the firmware!!!