Radioddity GD77S Quick Start Guide by Joseph Stephen VK7JS 11 May 2022 To contact Joseph Stephen, email vk7js@faithfulgenerations.com Please note. Turn on word wrap to read this document in a text editor. This Guide assumes you are running the forked version of OpenGD77 produced by Joseph Stephen VK7JS and Jan Hegr OK1TE now called AccessibleGD77. See the bottom of this document for links to the original and forked branches on Github. To install the CPS software required to communicate with your radio in order to upload Firmware, voice prompts and a code plug, please run the file called: AccessibleGD77CPSInstaller.exe in the root folder of this archive. To upload firmware, see the file called Firmware Upload.txt. To learn how to create and upload a code plug, see the file called Creating and Uploading a Code Plug.txt. If you would like to know how to create a DMR ID Database and download it to your radio so the radio can announce who just transmitted, see the "Creating and Downloading a DMR ID Database.txt" file in the docs folder. Plese note: The license and copyright information are set out in the file called license.txt. Physical Description Front panel: Top half speaker grill. Bottom half blank There is no screen on the S model. Top edge, left to right: Power/volume knob, Channel knob, Orange button, Antenna socket (female SMA) The channel knob has 16 fixed positions. the knob does not wrap around but has a hard stop at each extreme. Left side, top to bottom: PTT (Push to Talk.) SK1 (Side Key 1, also called Black button.) SK2 (Side Key 2, also called Blue Button.) Right Edge, top to bottom: Mic cover. To remove battery: 1. Place thumb in middle of top edge of speaker grill. 2. Place forefinger top middle of back edge (there is a recess). 3. Press forefinger toward thumb. 4. With other hand, slide battery downward (toward bottom of radio). Be careful because belt clip is attached to radio, not battery. To install the battery, just place it on the back of the radio behind the belt clip and push upward and it wil click in place. quick Overview. When you install the firmware and voice prompts, the radio will speak on startup since there is no screen. The voice prompt level is equivalent to level 3 on the GD77 model. Because there is no screen or keypad, functions are selected using the orange button and the SK1 and SK2 buttons. Typically, you cycle to the function you wish to set using the orange button, and use SK1 to select the next, or SK2 to select the prior value for that option. Pressing and holding SK1 and then pressing orange will cycle backward through the functions. Currently, the orange button will cycle you through the following options: * Zone Mode: SK1 and SK2 choose the zones. * Squelch/TG Mode: SK1 and SK2 adjust squelch for FM channels, or choose talk groups for a DMR channel. * Channel Mode: SK1 cycles between scan zone, scan all zones and stop scan. SK2 adds a channel or frequency to the nuisance list during a scan, or toggles between Channel Mode and VFO Mode if not scanning. (Note in VFO mode, the scan starts from the current VFO frequency and scans for 1 MHz and cycles around to the start frequency again.) Note also that the nuisance list is cleared for each new scan. The scan step in VFO scan will match the bandwidth set in the VFO. I.e. if the bandwidth is narrow, the scan step will be 12.5 KHz and if it is wide, the scan step will be 25 KHz. * Keypad mode (See below). * DTMF Contact List (FM channels only), SK1 and SK2 select DTMF contacts, PTT will dial the contact. * Filter mode SK1 and SK2 choose CTCSS or DCS codes in analog mode, and choose between several filters for digital channels (tg, contact, receive group, etc). * Timeslot mode: (Digital channels only), SK1 and SK2 choose between timeslot 1 and timeslot 2. * Color code mode: (Digital channels only), SK1 and SK2 choose color codes. * Vox mode: SK1 and SK2 enable or disable the mode. To set the vox parameters, see the Options menu below. * Options1 Mode: See below. * Options2 Mode: If you wish to hear a summary of the current channel, press and hold SK1 for more than half a second. Long hold Orange announces the current battery level. Note that if you receive a DMR signal on a different talk group to your current talkgroup, pressing and holding SK2 for more than half a second from TG Mode will change your current talk group to the received talk group. This is important, otherwise if you attempt to respond to the caller, they would not hear you. Note that if the DMR signal is from a different talk group to your current one, you are alerted with a double beep when the reception begins. You can have the DMR ID or callsign of the last station received announced automatically after their transmission, or manually request it. Enable the DMR ID option from the Options menu. When DMR ID is off, you can manually request the ID or callsign of the last station with long hold SK1 after the station finishes transmitting. Long hold SK1 will report the callsign for up to ten seconds after detection after which it is no longer reported as it is most likely no longer relevant. If the callsign detected comes in on a different talk group to what you have set as your tx talk group, you'll also hear the talk group name after the callsign, to both alert you that their talk group is different, and, in case you couldn't press SK2 in time to set your tx talk group to theirs while they were transmitting, you can manually set the talk group to theirs after the transmission. Monitor Mode: To Open the Squelch temporarily, i.e. turn on monitor mode, press and hold SK1 and SK2 together for more than 3 seconds from Squelch/TG mode. When you release it, your squelch level is restored. Virtual Keypad mode for GD77S. 1. The GD77S now has a virtual keypad mode. Enter it like other modes, by pressing Orange until you hear Keypad. Depending on what you have keypad mode set to, either VFO A, VFO B or the last channel will be active. 1.1. Once in keypad mode, the rotary knob is no longer used for channel selection but number and letter selection. 1.2. Read the current buffer with long hold sk1. 1.3. Add the currently selected digit or letter to the buffer with short press sk1. 1.4. Cycle through banks of symbols using short press SK2. These banks include: Bank 0: the original symbols 0 through 9, A-D, * and #, Bank 1: A through P, Bank 2: Q through Z, +-%*# space. 1.5. Backspace the last char with long press sk2. 1.6. Clear the buffer with extra long hold sk2. You'll hear a confirmation beep. 1.7. If you hit ptt, the buffer is sent as dtmf tones (if the radio is in analog mode). 1.8. If you press long hold orange, the buffer is interpreted as either a command (see below) or a frequency, or frequency pair (rx tx) and the radio is set to that frequency. 1.8.1. The frequency entry is flexible. If it is simplex, you can enter as few digits as you need to get the correct frequency, e.g. 147 for 147 mHz. 1.8.2. If you wish to enter both rx and tx, so long as the rx starts at position 1 and the tx at position 9, i.e. first 8 for rx and 2nd 8 for tx, it should work. The following will work: 14700000146400 To set rx to 147 and tx to 146400. Or, 1470000014640000 i.e. rest filled with 0s. Thus, if you wish to set frequency then dial a dtmf string, first set the frequency, then long hold sk2 to clear and then enter the dtmf code, then ptt. Note, even if you exit the mode with short ppress orange, then go back in, the buffer is preserved. 2. You can now enter a special command string followed by long hold orange to change radio functions. Commands which are supported by the virtual keypad include: 2 .1. * followed by long hold orange will toggle radio mode. Note, since the buffer is not automatically reset, pressing long hold orange again will cycle the mode back again. 2.2. Normally, the Power mode on the GD77S will adjust the channel or master power but there is no way of either clearing a channel's custom power or setting it if it is from the master. Thus, I've added a new Keypad mode command ** number, followed by long hold Orange, to do that. 2.2.1. **0 will clear the channel's custom power, forcing it back to the master value. 2.2.2. **1 through **10 will set the power to levels 1 through 10, where 1 is 50MW, 9 is 5W etc. 2.2.3. **50, **250, **500, **750, **1000, **2000, **3000, **4000, **5000, or **5100 etc will set the channel's custom power level to the nearest milliwat level supported by the radio. 2.2.4. The channel summary on long hold sk1 will now announce the channel's power level. If it is from the master value, the "from master" announcement will be spoken after the power level. 2.3. # folowed by long hold orange will toggle time slot in DMR mode. 2.4. # followed by digits followed by long hold orange will set the radio to the specified talkgroup if in DMR mode. 2.5. ## followed by digits followed by long hold orange will start a private call with the user with the specified DMR ID. 2.6. ### followed by ID followed by long hold orange will set the radio's User DMR ID. Note this is saved to flash memory so power cycling the radio will maintain this user ID. 2.7. B followed by long hold orange will toggle radio bandwidth in FM mode. Note, since the buffer is not automatically reset, pressing long hold orange again will cycle the bandwidth back again. 2.8. C followed by digits followed by long hold orange will set a CTCSS code, e.g. C854 would enter the code 85.4 hz tx tone. Add a * to set the code for rx also, e.g. C854* would set rx and tx tone to 85.4 hz. 2.9. D followed by digits followed by long hold orange to enter a DCS code, e.g. D31 would enter the DCS code 031 tx DCS code. Likewise adding a * after the digits will set rx dcs also. Note to clear a CTCSS or DCS code, enter c followed by long hold orange. Remember, if you wish to enter a new command, don't forget to clear the buffer first with long hold sk2. 2.10. Command A1 through A16 followed by long hold orange, copy current channel settings or VFO (depending on Keypad mode setting in Options 2 menu) to channel 1 through 16 in the current zone, overwriting its prior contents. Use the command A with no digits to create a new channel and append that channel to the current zone. 2.11. Extra long hold SK1 will speak the current VFO or channel summary depending on whether the Keypad is in VFO A, VFO B or channel mode. 2.12. Use the command AC immediately followed by a name, then a space, then a code to add a DTMF contact. To make that contact an autodial for a partticular channel, prefix the name with ADZZCC where ZZ is the zone number and CC the channel number. Thus, if you wish to add an auto dial contact to channel 2 in zone 1, which dials *12345 when you first hit PTT on that channel, the command would look like the following: "ACAD0102 *12345" followed by long hold orange. When editing a DTMF code, you can add a P where you want a 1 second pause. Note that if after the second has expired, if a carrier is detected, e.g. due to the audio response from an allstar node still playing back, the radio will wait until the carrier is dropped before continuing to send the DTMF tones. 2.13. Save the last prompt (recorded with SK1+ptt)to custom prompt 1 through 32 using the virtual keypad command *##digits. E.g. *##1 will save the last recorded prompt to custom prompt 1 (see below for how to record and use custom voice prompts). You can also use *##* or *##*text to save to the next available slot. 2.14. To edit a channel name use e followed by channel number followed by name, e.g. e1hello to name channel 1 in the current zone hello. 2.15. To delete a channel, use delN where n is a channel number, e.g. DEL16 to delete channel 16. This will delete the channel 16 from the radio. 2.16. Recall channel to VFO, use R command. For example, if your Keypad mode is set to VFO A, then R5 long hold orange will recall channel 5 to VFO A. 2.17. S swap two channels, e.g. S5 10 long hold orange will swap channel 5 with channel 10. Note there is only a space between the channel designators. There is no space between the S and first channel designator. There is also now a shortcut to return to Channel Mode from any mode on the GD77S. If you rotate the channel knob from any mode (other than Keypad mode), the GD77S will immediately return to Channel Mode. For example, if you hit the orange key to change to say Power Mode, a quick flick of the rotary knob up and back will return the radio to Channel Mode without having to press the Orange key multiple times to get back to Channel Mode. Options Mode: Since there are only 16 physical knob positions on the GD77S, the options have been divided into Options 1 and Options 2 menus. Cycle to one of these modes using the Orange button like all other modes. In this new mode, similar to the Keypad mode, the channel knob is used to select the option and SK1 and SK2 are used to change the option's values. Long hold SK1 repeats the current option and its value, and long hold SK2 resets the option to its factory default. These Modes contain the following options: Options1: * Master Power, * Band Limits, * Hotspot Mode, * FM Mic Gain, * DMR Mic Gain, * FM Beep, * DMR Beep, * RX End Beep, * DTMF Volume, * VHF master Squelch, * UHF master Squelch, * CSS Tail Elimination, * TOT master (needed for PTT latch), * PTT Latch, (Enable TOT (timeout timer. Note that PTT Latch will not work without a Timeout defined. This is by design. Also, when PTT Latch is enabled, like on the GD77, beeps are automatically enabled when you press and release PTT so you know when transmission has started and stopped) * Eco Level (5 levels of battery save mode), * AutoZone Options 2 contains: * Vox Threshold, * Vox Tail, * Keypad mode (see below), * Volume (10 to 100), * Rate (1 to 10), * Phonetic spell (on/off), * DMR ID announcement (on/off), * Record prompt mode (PTT Prompt), (see below), * Review Prompt (All Prompt) (see below), * Edit start, and * Edit end (see below), * Firmware Info. Keypad Mode: In the options 2 menu, there is now a Keypad Mode option. You can set this to VFO A, VFO B or Channel. When you cycle the radio to Keypad mode with orange, it will now say keypad mode VFO A, or VFO B or the channel name, followed by the character you would be selecting. If you set keypad mode to VFO A for instance, as soon as you cycle to keypad mode, VFO A is now active immediately. Similarly, if you had set keypad mode to VFO B, VFO B would be active. If set to channel, then whatever channel was active before is still active. Extra long hold of sk1 in Keypad mode will now speak the summary of the active VFO or channel so you can figure out what is set without having to exit keypad mode to find out. Long hold orange will save whatever you change back to either VFO a or VFO b as appropriate but saving to the current channel will only be temporal until you change the knob. If you wish to save to a channel permanently, you must use A1 through a16 command explicitly. The a0 or a command on its own has been removed as it is no longer necessary because it previously copied vfo A to channel but since you can now explicitly make vfo A or B active, it isn’t needed. In volume and rate modes, the name of the voice is spoken as part of the prompt name. In the Record prompt mode, ptt will not transmit, it will only encode a voice prompt. This makes it easier to record voice prompts since you do not need to hold down two keys like on the GD77. SK1 will repeat the recorded prompt. SK2 will autotrim silence or ambient noise from the start and end of the clip. Long hold SK2 will save the current prompt to the next available slot (not associated with any text). In Review Prompt mode, SK1 and SK2 will select and play the next/prior saved prompts. Long hold SK2 will copy the current prompt back to the edit buffer for further editing. In edit start and edit end modes, SK1/SK2 will adjust either the start or the end (as appropriate) and long hold SK1 will repeat the edited prompt. Long hold SK2 will undo the edit of the start or end and return it to its original value. In any of the Options modes, extra long hold SK1 will speak the current VFO or channel summary depending on whether the Keypad is in VFO A, VFO B or channel mode. This way you can go to Options 2, choose Keypad mode and cycle between VFO A, B and the last known channel, and verify what is in the VFO or channel using extra long hold SK1. AutoZones feature. An AutoZone is a pseudo zone created on the fly based on channelized frequencies calculated via a formula with heuristics applied. I.e. these zones do not take up any memory for the channel data. 1. Cycle to the Options menu with the Orange button. 2. Use the channel knob to choose Autozones from the Options menu. 3. Use SK1 to cycle through the names of the AutoZones and use SK2 to enable or disable an AutoZone. 4. Press orange to exit Options Mode. Once you've enabled all the autozones that you want, you can then choose them from the Zones mode using SK1 and SK2 like any other zone. If an AutoZone has duplex available for a particular channel, such as a UHF CB channel, an extra long hold of SK1 will toggle between simplex and duplex mode from Squelch Mode. (You'll hear none for simplex and either plus or minus for a plus or minus repeater offset as defined by the AutoZone). The following autoZones are available: * Mrn (The international VHF Marine band), * UHF CB (The Australian 80 channel UHF cb band), * GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) band, * FRS (Family Radio Service) band, * MURS (Multi-use Radio Service) band, * NOAA ()(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) band, * PMR446 (Personal Mobile Radio) band, and, * US Rail (US Railway band). When an AutoZone is active, the rules for that band are adhered to, for example: In the Australian UHF cb band, channels 22, 23, 61, 62 and 63 are receive only, and duplex (extra long SK1) may only be enabled on channels 1 through 8 and 41 through 48. The correct repeater offset (750 kHz) is automatically applied when duplex is toggled. When NOAA or US Rail are active, all channels are receive only. When GMRS is active, duplex (extra long SK1) may be used on channels 15 through 22 and the correct repeater offset is applied. all other channels only allow simplex operation. For the marine band, use extra long SK1 to cycle between simplex and deuplex for supported channels. Please note that transmission withihn AutoZones is subject to the Band Limits menu option in the main Options Menu, as well as the restrictions of the specific AutoZone. If you think you should be able to transmit and can't, check that the GD77S Band Limits is appropriately set. Please note: To toggle the band limits between on and off on the GD77S, hold down SK1+PTT while powering on the radio. It goes without saying that you must hold the relevant license for transmission in any of these bands not governed by a class licence. If a zone has more than 16 channels, use extra long hold SK2 to select the next channel bank. Each time you long hold SK2, you'll move up by 16 channels. (This is because the GD77S has 16 physical channel positions.). Once you've reached the last bank, extra long hold SK2 will return you to bank 0. Note this works in Squelch Mode. The radio will remember the last bank when power cycling the radio. Resetting the radio's settings to default. If you need to reset the radio's settings to their default values, power off the radio, hold sk2, then power on the radio. You'll hear "Update Settings". You'll then need to reset all of your favorite options. Occasionally, due to changes in the firmware, updating the firmware may force a settings reset. If this happens, you'll hear the message "Update Settings" and you will need to reset your favorite settings in the various menus. This does not affect your codeplug. Hotspot Mode: To change hotspot mode, press and hold SK1 while powering on. You will cycle through the various hotspot modes each time you do this. Auto Dial Contact. Associating a DTMF contact with a channel (auto dial contact): You can associate a DTMF contact with a channel such that the first time you press PTT on that channel during a session, the associated DTMF string will be dialled. It will not be dialled again until you reboot the radio or reset it with long hold SK2. TO do this, add a contact to the contacts list and give it the following name format: ADXXYY where AD means auto dial, XX is the 1-based zone number and YY is the 1-based channel number, (padding with leading 0s so each is two digits.) The letters "AD" must be in uppercase if entered from the CPS software's contact list. SO, if you wish to dial a contact on channel 1 in zone 1, call the contact AD0101. If you wish to dial a contact on channel 1 in any zone, use 00 for the zone number, e.g. AD0001. To toggle the feature so you can redial, or so it doesn't dial the first time with PTT, press and hold SK2 on the FM channel associated with the contact. Also, if you go to a channel with an auto dial contact and you decide you don't want to auto dial it, if you either go to virtual keypad or the DTMF dialer and dial something from either, the auto dial is toggled off since you've dialled something else. You can of course toggle it on again with long hold SK2. You can now add contacts to the GD77S using the virtual keypad. Dial the string AC followed by a name then a space, then the DTMF code string. Thus, if you wish to add an auto dial contact to channel 2 in zone 1, which dials *12345 when you first hit PTT on that channel, the command would look like the following: "ACAD0102 *12345" followed by long hold orange. To delete the contact, use the command without any DTMF code. For example, to delete the contact AD0102, use the command ACAD0102 followed by long hold orange. To add a non-autodial contact, the name can be anything else not starting with AD, e.g. "ACBYE *73" would add a contact BYE and the code *73. Replay DMR Audio: You can now replay the last 5 seconds of DMR audio. This works for both TX and RX so one can test the sound of one's audio without using parrot. Press and hold SK2 to replay the DMR audio. This feature uses a circular buffer so it always remembers the last approximately 5 seconds of audio regardless of whether it is from a received station or your own last transmission. Note long hold SK2 has multiple functions depending on the context: * On a DMR channel with no signal: replay last five seconds of audio. * On a DMR channel with signal: set TX tg to RX tg. * On an analog channel in a non-autozone: toggle DTMF dialer. * On an analog channel in an autozone: choose next channel bank. * on any channel, from Options 2 Mode only, replay last recorded voice prompt (see below). Custom Voice Prompts You can create up to 32 custom voice prompts to be spoken for contact or channel names. 1. SK1+PTT allows you to record a prompt (up to about 3 seconds). 2. Long hold SK2 from Options 2 Mode only will repeat the prompt for verification. (Press orange key until you hear Options 2, then use long hold SK2). 3. Save the prompt to custom prompt 1 through 32 using the virtual keypad command *##digits. E.g. *##1 will save the last recorded prompt to custom prompt 1. 4. Edit a channel or contact name using the virtual keypad mode or CPS software and place a ##digit where you want the prompt to be spoken. E.g. if you want custom prompt 1 to be spoken after the letters of your callsign, then add ##1 after your callsign in the name. 5. If you wish to associate a custom voice prompt to a string, use the command *##1hello for example to associate custom voice prompt 1 with the text "hello." 6. To delete a custom prompt, save an empty prompt to the prompt position, e.g. press and release SK1+ptt, then issue the virtual keypad command *##digits followed by long hold orange. 7. Note the prompt will follow the voice rate of the rest of the prompts. Note for more detailed information about each of the menu options, please consult the manual, OpenGD77_User_Guide.pdf. It is out of date in some areas, so where there is a conflict, this AccessibleGuideGD77.txt file is more up-to-date. Links: The most recent version of the source of the accessible fork of OpenGD77 can be found at: https://github.com/HegrJan/BlindGD77 The original version can be found at: https://www.opengd77.com/downloads/releases/R2021052901/sources_and_tools/ The official Radioddity firmware (required to upload the OpenGD77 firmware) can be found at http://radioddity.s3.amazonaws.com/2021-01-26_GD-77_CPS_%26_Firmware_Changelog_Ham_Version.zip Ian Spencer's great tutorial in MP3 and PDF format can be found at http://www.spencerweb.net/Downloads/OpenGD77/opengd77.html End of guide.