I am SO confused......

[GeeTee]

Decided after a 20 year absence from the Ham world that I would ease my way back in by trying out GMRS radios first. I picked up a couple of Tidradio TD-H3 Plus radios from Amazon because it sounded like they had all the features I wanted. I've lost track of how many programming videos I've watched, but I recently ran into something I am just stumped on. After much trial and error I thought I finally had everything set up the way I wanted. However, when I powered on my radio this morning I noticed that it now says, "Welcome TD-H8"????? 

The firmware and hardware versions have been verified as the latest for my  H3 Plus. (Not an H8) As far as I can tell from numerous searches is that I must have fudged a setting somewhere? Does anyone have any idea as to why my radio would suddenly think it's an H8? Another question I had was that this radio was "supposed" to be switchable between Ham, GMRS, and Normal mode by using the BT, star keys and then turning on the power knob. I have been unsuccessful in getting it to come up as anything but a GMRS radio. Could this be related to the H8 displaying?  It's also frustrating as I am a reitred IT specialist, and feel like I should be able to figure this out on my own. Any help you can throw this old man's way would be greatly appreciated. 

 

[WRUE951]

36 minutes ago, GeeTee said:

Decided after a 20 year absence from the Ham world that I would ease my way back in by trying out GMRS radios first. I picked up a couple of Tidradio TD-H3 Plus radios from Amazon because it sounded like they had all the features I wanted. I've lost track of how many programming videos I've watched, but I recently ran into something I am just stumped on. After much trial and error I thought I finally had everything set up the way I wanted. However, when I powered on my radio this morning I noticed that it now says, "Welcome TD-H8"????? 

The firmware and hardware versions have been verified as the latest for my  H3 Plus. (Not an H8) As far as I can tell from numerous searches is that I must have fudged a setting somewhere? Does anyone have any idea as to why my radio would suddenly think it's an H8? Another question I had was that this radio was "supposed" to be switchable between Ham, GMRS, and Normal mode by using the BT, star keys and then turning on the power knob. I have been unsuccessful in getting it to come up as anything but a GMRS radio. Could this be related to the H8 displaying?  It's also frustrating as I am a reitred IT specialist, and feel like I should be able to figure this out on my own. Any help you can throw this old man's way would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Did you program with Chirp??   When your Tidradio H3 Plus shows "H8" on the display, id's likely indicates a confusion or malfunction in the radio's programming or the firmware, causing it to incorrectly display a different model designation or to attempt to operate in a mode or with settings more appropriate for an H8 radio. 

• If you've recently programmed your H3 Plus with software like CHIRP, there might be a conflict in the programming, potentially leading to the "H8" displays.    Solution: Try deleting all channels and reloading your configuration file or using the CHIRP software to re-program your radio and upload the correct settings for the H3 Plus. 

[GeeTee]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I didn't want to write a novel on the first post, but I (think) have already done what you suggested. Does using the factory reset from the menus accomplish the same thing? I did the factory reset and wiped everything so it looked like it did out of the box. I then followed all the steps I did previously and went item by item through the menus to personalize the radio. The only thing I can say is that when I powered on the 2nd radio a few mins ago, it boots up with the TidRadio logo where the other one says welcome to H8. It seems I did screw the pooch somewhere. Where would I get this configuration file you speak of?

I don't use Chirp but do use ODMaster to set up the radio to my liking. (buttons and adding some custom channels to monitor) As I think I mentioned, I checked the firmware and hardware version against the TidRadio website and the 2nd radio (which I haven't touched yet) and they match. I hope all of this makes sense? Is Chirp better than OD Master? 

[marcspaz]

Radios are not like IT, where we have to do updates for security reasons.  We would only update radios to fix a bug or to gain new software based features.  So, I would avoid updating the firmware because, like computers, if it fails there is a chance you can brick the radio.

What I would recommend is to make a good copy of both radio setting in ODMaster, and then do the Over The Air cloning from the good radio to the one you are having issues with.

 

Hold the bottom button on the side while turning each radio on, and then once they are both in the Wireless Copy mode, press the main transmit button on the radio you want to clone from.  The other radio will automatically start receiving after a handshake.

 

To load the Ham, GMRS or Normal (unlocked) firmware from onboard storage, you press and hold both the main PTT and the * (lock) button while turning the radio on.

[GeeTee]

Ok, maybe I'm doing a poor job of communicating this..... so, lets start over.

1. Yes, I agree that IT is not radio... However I was a General class HAM operator for many years before I got out. Granted that was 20+ years ago and things were a whole lot different. Hell, I'm from the days of working alongside my dad swapping physical crystals into radios to get new frequencies. (I'm over 70)

2. I have stated that the hardware and firmware versions are identical (and the most current versions according to Tidradio website) on both radios. I never performed any firmware upgrades. I only programmed some additional channels and made some button changes (using ODMaster).

3. As for programming each of the 41 items in the radio setting menu, I used parts 1 and 2  of this video series from Youtube to manually adjust each radio setting. 

4. I have attempted the PTT/*/power on process on both radios without success.

I hope this makes things a little clearer. I just read on another forum that there are 2 different models of the H3 plus? One can change modes using the process described above. The other is GMRS only. Interestingly, when I connect to these radios via ODMaster, it will only read from the radio if I connect using the TD-H3 GMRS setting. Could this be the issue all along? Could it be that I am following instructions that were meant for the regular H3's that do not apply the H3 Plus GMRS only radio?

Thanks for trying to help me I know this isn't exactly the perfect medium to try and convey what's going on.  A phone or video call would probably work much better.