As spotted by Steve VK2ZSW (thanks Steve!).

Remember all those dual band Chinese DMR radios that are coming to revolutionise the affordability of digital voice modes?  Here’s another one to add to the list, and it’s from the maker of the nearly ubiquitous MD-380 – TYT.  Interesting naming convention they’ve got going on here.

Article below from HamRadioReviews.eu, original post here – published Feb 15, 2017.

TYT just released the first ever image of the upcoming TYT MD-2017 dual band DMR handheld radio.

Back in November, a photo of a poster from PMR expo 2016 was published online, showing the MD-2017 model.  At the time it was still a rumor, as no other official information was released from TYT.  Just 10 minutes ago, the image you see above was published.  Still not at good resolution, but it provides some information.

First and foremost, it is no longer a rumour.  Second, the first 3 bullet points in the characteristics of this “leaflet”, indicate that it does support true TDMA.

It is rated as IP67 waterproof (which is always a plus) and has a GPS module.  Most likely, this will follow other models from TYT like the MD-380 or MD-390, which came in non-GPS and GPS versions.

Other than that, the model looks kind of chunky in size.  It has what looks like a proprietary antenna for waterproofing and a guard for the turning knob at the side.  There does not seem to be a channel-selection knob, which is kind of weird.  There are 4 buttons on the left side, with the PTT being in orange.  On the right side is the cover of the accessory port, which is screwed on for weatherproof-ness.

The keypad has two programmable keys (P1 and P2) which are shared with Menu and Back respectively.  Between them, there is a joystick-type rocker key with an extra button at the centre. Below these, the number keys with “0” at the left side.

The screen is colour and shows frequencies in large numbers.  This is also an indication that the radio is most likely designed with ham radio usage in mind, instead of the commercially targeted designs of previous radios from the company.

Here are the specs mentioned [my comments in square brackets]:

• Dual time slot for point to point [they probably mean simplex]
• Dual time slot for repeater
• Use Time-Division Multiple-Access (TDMA) technology
• Compatible with Mototrbo Tier I and II [we’ve seen that before]
• Lone worker
• Encryption function
• Analog and digital combined [I hope this means something more, eg. watching analog and digital at the same time]
• Single call, group call and all call
• Remote kill/stun and activate
• Firmware upgradeable

Expected release date is May 2017. No info on pricing yet.