8c9828e386
Add a Theme selector in Display Options that cycles three presets with a live preview: Custom (CPS-editable, default), BASIC 80s (Commodore 64 light-blue on blue) and Terminal (green-on-black night / black-on-green day). Presets fill all theme items for a cohesive look. The selection is stored in the codeplug custom-data area (new THEME_PRESET block), which is migration-safe (missing block -> Custom) and needs no settings reset. CPS theme edits only ever change the Custom theme. Documented in MANUAL.md and the README. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
171 lines
7 KiB
Markdown
171 lines
7 KiB
Markdown
# FreeTRX — User Manual
|
||
|
||
Feature and usage guide for **FreeTRX** (a fork of [OpenGD77](https://opengd77.org))
|
||
on the **TYT MD-UV380 / Retevis RT-3S** and **Baofeng DM-1701 / Retevis RT-84**.
|
||
|
||
## How to read this manual
|
||
|
||
Each feature is tagged so you can tell what is unique to FreeTRX and what is
|
||
inherited from upstream OpenGD77:
|
||
|
||
- 🟢 **[FreeTRX]** — new or noticeably changed in FreeTRX.
|
||
- ⚪ **[OpenGD77]** — inherited from upstream OpenGD77, documented here for
|
||
convenience. For exhaustive coverage of upstream behaviour, see the official
|
||
OpenGD77 user guide.
|
||
|
||
> Most day-to-day operation (VFO/Channel, FM, DMR, scanning, hotspot, CPS sync) is
|
||
> standard OpenGD77. This manual focuses on **how to reach each feature** and marks
|
||
> clearly what FreeTRX adds or changes.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Buttons at a glance
|
||
|
||
The MD-UV380 / RT-3S has **PTT**, **SK1** (upper side key), **SK2** (lower side
|
||
key), the **top / orange** button, and a keypad with **green** (✓ / menu), **red**
|
||
(✗ / back), arrows, `0`–`9`, `*` and `#`.
|
||
|
||
| Control | Action |
|
||
| --- | --- |
|
||
| **Green** | Menu / confirm |
|
||
| **Red** | Back / exit |
|
||
| **Top / orange** button | Open the **quick menu** (VFO or Channel) — ⚪ [OpenGD77] |
|
||
| **SK1** (hold) | Show frequency / secondary info |
|
||
| **SK2** (hold) | Modifier for other keys |
|
||
| **SK2** (short tap) | **Toggle mute** on VFO/Channel — 🟢 [FreeTRX] |
|
||
| **SK2** (extra-long) | Monitor / open squelch — ⚪ [OpenGD77] |
|
||
| **SK1 + SK2** | Reverse repeater — ⚪ [OpenGD77] |
|
||
| **`#`** (hold, VFO) | Toggle the **spectrum scope** — ⚪ [OpenGD77] |
|
||
| **SK2 + green** (Channel) | Open **Channel Details** editor — ⚪ [OpenGD77] |
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Display & UI
|
||
|
||
### Segmented S-meter — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
The signal meter under the top status bar is drawn as discrete blocks: **9 green**
|
||
blocks for S1–S9 (4 dB each) and **6 red** blocks for S9+10…+60 (10 dB each), with
|
||
a scale-label row beneath (`S1 S3 S5 S7 S9 / +20 +40 +60`). The leading block fills
|
||
proportionally.
|
||
|
||
### 7-segment "LED" frequency font — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
On the VFO and the SK1-held frequency view, the frequency is rendered in a
|
||
7-segment "LED" style (lit segments only). "MHz" matches the frequency colour
|
||
(green on RX, red on TX).
|
||
|
||
### Screen dimming — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
Optionally dims the backlight after inactivity to **100 / 50 / 30 / 15 %** of the
|
||
configured brightness (only in **Auto** backlight mode). Any activity restores full
|
||
brightness. Set it in **Menu → Options → Display Options → Screen Dim**.
|
||
|
||
### Theme presets — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
Pick a colour theme on the radio at **Menu → Options → Display Options → "Theme"**
|
||
(◀/▶ to change; the screen updates live):
|
||
|
||
- **Custom** — the theme edited via the CPS or the on-radio colour editor (default).
|
||
- **BASIC 80s** — a Commodore-64 look (light blue on blue).
|
||
- **Terminal** — a green terminal (green-on-black at night, black-on-green by day).
|
||
|
||
Editing colours in the CPS only affects **Custom**; the two built-in presets are
|
||
fixed. Every element (S-meter, frequencies, menus) follows the selected theme.
|
||
|
||
### Main-menu icons — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
Each top-level menu entry has a small icon next to it.
|
||
|
||
### Mute indicator — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
While muted, a bold **"M"** appears in the status bar (just left of the battery)
|
||
and the **red LED flashes** (0.5 s every 2 s). See *Mute* below.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Audio
|
||
|
||
### One-tap mute — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
- A **short tap of SK2** on the VFO/Channel screen toggles the speaker mute on/off.
|
||
(Exception: while a DMR QSO is on screen, SK2 keeps its "set TX talkgroup to the
|
||
incoming one" role.)
|
||
- Turning the **volume knob fully down** also counts as muted.
|
||
- Mute is shown by the **"M"** indicator and the flashing red LED (above).
|
||
- Mute is also available in the Channel/VFO **quick menu**.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Operating
|
||
|
||
### VFO & Channel modes — ⚪ [OpenGD77]
|
||
Switch between direct-frequency **VFO** mode and stored **Channel** mode with the
|
||
mode toggle. Most operating happens here.
|
||
|
||
### Spectrum scope (VFO sweep) — ⚪ [OpenGD77]
|
||
A real-time signal-strength-vs-frequency graph centred on the VFO frequency.
|
||
- **Enter/exit:** in **VFO mode**, **hold `#`** (long press). Hold `#` again to leave.
|
||
- **Left / Right:** move the centre frequency across the band.
|
||
- **Up / Down:** change the sweep **span / step** (zoom in / out).
|
||
- **SK2 + Up/Down:** adjust **gain**; **SK2 + Left/Right:** adjust the
|
||
**noise-floor** reference (how the trace fills the screen).
|
||
- The gain / noise-floor / step settings are remembered.
|
||
- The scope is **VFO-only** (not available in Channel mode).
|
||
|
||
### Scanning — ⚪ [OpenGD77]
|
||
Channel and VFO scanning with hold/pause behaviour, per the upstream OpenGD77
|
||
controls.
|
||
|
||
### Quick menu — ⚪ [OpenGD77] (with 🟢 [FreeTRX] additions)
|
||
Press the **top / orange** button to open the quick menu for the current screen
|
||
(VFO or Channel). It holds filters (FM/DMR), Talkaround, Roaming, Mute, VFO↔Channel
|
||
copy, and — on the Channel screen — the FreeTRX **new channel** / **Delete Channel**
|
||
items (see below).
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## Channels & zones
|
||
|
||
### Channel Details editor — ⚪ [OpenGD77]
|
||
Edit an existing channel's parameters (name, frequencies, tones, power, bandwidth,
|
||
timeslot, colour code, groups, …). From the Channel screen, press **SK2 + green**.
|
||
Press **green** to save.
|
||
|
||
### Create & delete channels on the radio — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
No PC/CPS required. Open the **Channel quick menu** (top/orange button) and scroll
|
||
to the bottom:
|
||
- **New channel** — creates a blank **145.500 MHz FM** channel in the first free
|
||
slot, adds it to the current zone, and opens **Channel Details** to edit it. The
|
||
new channel is immediately selectable in the zone.
|
||
- **Delete Channel** — deletes the selected channel after a confirmation (**green**
|
||
confirms, **red** cancels). It is also removed from every zone that referenced it.
|
||
The last remaining channel can't be deleted, and read-only/APRS channels are
|
||
protected.
|
||
|
||
> **Back up your codeplug** (via the CPS) before bulk edits — changes are written
|
||
> straight to the radio and there is no on-device undo.
|
||
|
||
### Zones — ⚪ [OpenGD77]
|
||
Select zones from **Menu → Zone**. The virtual **All Channels** zone lists every
|
||
channel. (On-radio *zone* editing is planned for a future FreeTRX release.)
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## DMR
|
||
|
||
### DMR operation — ⚪ [OpenGD77]
|
||
Talkgroups/contacts, timeslots, colour codes, RX groups, and hotspot mode, all per
|
||
upstream OpenGD77. The AMBE voice codec is merged in at flash time (see
|
||
[`TOOLS.md`](TOOLS.md)).
|
||
|
||
### DMR reliability fix — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
FreeTRX resolves a hard-fault (freeze needing a battery pull) on the DMR path that
|
||
affected recent self-built OpenGD77 revisions — the codec is called through C
|
||
function pointers instead of inline assembler that modern GCC miscompiled.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
## About & versioning — 🟢 [FreeTRX]
|
||
|
||
**Menu → Firmware info** shows the **FreeTRX version** (semantic versioning, e.g.
|
||
`FreeTRX v0.4.0`) alongside the git commit ID. Pre-1.0 builds are published as
|
||
pre-releases. See [`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md) for the full history.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
*Building, flashing and tools are covered in [`TOOLS.md`](TOOLS.md); the project
|
||
overview is in [`README.md`](README.md).*
|