The Application Menu (abbreviated amenu) is a menu the md380tools developers added, completely separate from the original stock firmware’s menu system. How to open With md380tools firmware, It can currently be opened with the red “back” button. In KG5RKI’s fork of md380tools, it can be opened with the “#” key. You navigate through the menu with the arrow keys, the green button enters submenus, edits fields, and saves values, and the red button serves as a “back” button. »
The Application Menu includes a way to quickly change the target talkgroup “ad-hoc”. It is a temporary change - it will return to the value programmed into the selected channel once you change channels. I’m going to enter my ID (not a valid “talkgroup” since it’s a user id, but it serves as an example), 3125404. You will use something more like 3 for North America, or 3172 for “Northeast”. Select the “TkGrp” entry with the arrow keys, then press the green button to edit the field. »
The Application Menu also has some testing and setup submenus, found here. Backlight Your first options are for the backlight - here, I have a bug, where “Level Hi” should be equal to 9, the brightest backlight setting. This is likely my fault, so I’ll just go fix that number. I’d also like to set “Lo” (where the screen would be “off” in the stock firmware) to “1”, which is very dim but still readable in low light. »
During a busy QSO or net, it can be hard to catch the callsign of every participant. MD380Tools has your back with the CallLog feature, which displays a scrolling list of all recent callsigns or DMR IDs. Just press 4 to call up the log, and press 7 to return to the standard desktop. »
When DMR was first becoming popular, a codeplug circulated with some seven hundred of the most popular American users. Very quickly, that became unmaintainable, so MD380Tools allows you to flash a database of sixty thousand international users. When an incoming call arrives, you’ll see the user’s name, callsign and country. Because this database is separate from your contacts, you can keep your contact list nice and small, listing only those folks you intend to directly call or text message. »
DMR opens up a whole new world of digital ham radio, but it can be a bit awkward to use for hams who are unable to see the screen. MD380Tools solves this with a narration feature that can be enabled through the MD380Tools menu. This narrator will beep station names and other on-screen items audibly in Morse code so you can know which Zone or Channel is selected without looking at the screen. »
Your radio knows a lot of information about the network that you don’t need to see every day, but when something goes wrong you’d like to see it. Our Network Monitor features allow you to packet headers, RX and transmit frequencies, color codes, and timeslots at the push of a button. Press 8 or 9 at the desktop to see information on the incoming signal, while pressing 7 will bring you back to the default screen. »
DMR repeaters these days carry a number of talkgroups, but those talkgroups are always changing and it can be a pain to constantly update to the latest codeplugs, or to merge codeplugs from multiple repeaters in your region. MD380Tools comes to the rescue with Promiscuous Mode. Enabling this optional feature will cause your radio to play audio whenever any traffic comes in on your selected timeslot. You can then quickly jot down the settings to update your codeplug. »