Radioddity GD-88 New Firmware Release | 2023-03-30

As you know, Radioddity does care a lot for its customers. November 2022, we did release a new firmware for the Radioddity GD-88. Unfortunately, that firmware turned out to have issues with radios of a production batch that started shipping in December 2022. After we did identify the root cause we immediately did remove the firmware update from our websites and started to work on a fix for that issue. But the current COVID19-situation and the Chinese New Year period did not positively add to the overall progress. To make that long story short:
 

WE GOT IT DONE!


Of course, we did fix the nasty ‘VFO-B Unprogrammed’ bug. We also fixed those intermittent issues with the correct display of Talker Alias data. Lots of you had been asking for a single VFO-display: Yes, now it is possible. Others had been asking for DTMF-support in analog-mode: Yes, implemented as well. Some had been complaining on the audio volume difference between analog and DMR-mode: Although not all of those differences in audio-volume are originating from the GD-88 we did align the general audio-output levels of analog- and DMR-mode. Another point that often did cause headaches for those new to DMR is the fact that an RX-group was required that also does contain the addressed contact assigned to the channel: Yes, ‘was required’ but no longer is required. Besides those, some more improvements on various other aspects have been implemented.

You'll find the full details and some additional information within the corresponding release notes.

Download your copy of the complete archive from Radioddity Download Page.
 

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So, all in all we hope you will have as much fun using the Radioddity GD-88 with all those new and improved features as we do.

You may now be asking why certain, well-known other features have not been implemented or bugs have not been fixed. Our initial goal was higher (yes, some GPS&APRS-bugs still need to be tackled), and a few other features requested by our users are also asking to be implemented. But in order for our customers to not wait any longer we decided to postpone those requests and bug-fixes for a future release.

As you know, the Radioddity DB25-D and GD-88 are quite similar as they not only share the very same CPS. So, for those of you having the DB25-D: Your update will soon become available as well.

Besides a proper display of DMR ID data and an improved Talker Alias display, we plan to provide DTMF for analog mode on the DB25-D as well. As soon as the DB25-D firmware update has been released, a new and once more improved version of our extended manual will be published as well. Stay tuned!

vy 73, Radioddity Customer Support
 

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Details you should know
 

1. White screen after firmware update

It might happen, that your radio - after applying the firmware update - does show a white screen when turned on instead of the normal startup logo. Don´t worry, this is due to the fact that we do have slightly different hardware revisions out in the field that are covered by the very same firmware. In order to get rid of the white screen after updating, please proceed as follows:

1. turn off the radio
2. press the green button and keep it depressed
3. turn on the radio and wait about 2 seconds for the startup logo to be
displayed


This is a one time procedure. As soon as the startup logo is displayed as expected,
you are done and it will not be required when again turning on the radio.

Note: This procedure is only required for radios showing a white screen after the firmware update. Do not try out the procedure if your radio is not affected.

2. Single VFO

After updating the radio, you will notice that the display only shows a single VFO.That´s one of the additional features you get for free with this firmware update. Even longer Talker Alias data will be displayed Using single display mode.

To turn Single VFO on/off: MENU → Local Set → DisplayMode → Single Mode

Note: Active Single Mode will disable switching between VFO-A and VFO-B.

3. DTMF for analog

In analog mode the radio now allows to transmit so called DTMF-codes. Valid DTMF-codes are 0…9,*,# and A…D. Those DTMF-codes are generated by transmitting two different audio frequencies at the very same time. Those audio frequencies are defined by the column and the row of the DTMF code to be transmitted.

Frequency 1209 Hz 1336 Hz 1477 Hz 941 Hz
697 Hz 1 2 3 A
770 Hz 4 5 6 B
852 Hz 7 8 9 C
941 Hz * 0 # D

 

As two audio tones are transmitted at the very same time this technique is called DualToneMultiFrequency (abbreviated as DTMF) encoding.

For more details, please refer to the
complete archive from Radioddity Download Page.

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We would like to thank all Radioddity GD-88 customers for their constructive feedback.

If you do find any bug in the radio’s firmware, our CPS, or if you are missing a feature you would have expected, contact us to let us know.

If you meet any issue through the firmware updating, contact us to let us know.


3 Kommentare

Martin

hallo, auch ich habe das Problem der Lautstärke im Analog Betrieb. Es wäre echt sehr hilfreich ein Miniupdate raus zu bringen nur um das Problem zu lösen. Da ich das Gerät im Moment nur Analog nutze bin ich an einer Schnellen Abhilfe interessiert.
Vielen Dank Martin

David

I recently purchased the GD-88 and it really is a great handheld. Lots of funtions and features. The only one negative thing I can say is the Volume Level on the Analog channels. It is far too Loud, Would be great if you could fix this in your next firmware update. Again Thank you. DO7DAD David.

Andrew R

Sincerely, THANK YOU ALL for continuing to work to improve this excellent radio. Myself and the community at large truly appreciate your dedication and efforts to make the GD-88 reach its full potential.

I think it’s wise to release smaller updates more frequently vs batching too many changes into larger updates, but of course there is a balancing act involved as it is not cheap or easy to be constantly building and publishing new firmware and I understand that. We just like to at least hear that things are being worked on and that progress is being made.

I look forward to trying out the new firmware, although I am worried that you may have misunderstood the complaints about the volume control and possibly fixed the wrong thing. We need more granular control of the analog volume level, particularly at lower listening levels and then have it ramp up at a greater rate towards the max volume, if that makes sense.

Single VFO display mode sounds good, I hope it is implemented properly and that VFO-B fully shuts down or goes into a deep sleep mode so that a battery/power savings can be realized.

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