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Buying a Hytera PDC760 on eBay and updating its firmware

Hytera PDC760I was in the process of planning a road trip…

For this trip I wanted to have a Hytera PDC760 in my luggage. I had been interested in the PDC760 before, but the price of almost 2400,- EUR here in Germany kept me from looking into it more closely.

I simply looked at eBay…

From the experiences I made, I created a “checklist”.

Checklist for purchasing the PDC760

Before buying the PDC760 I recommend to check the following things:

  • UxB1 or UxB2: UxB1 = LTE works in Europe / UxB2 = LTE works in North America.
  • What firmware does the device have? If the firmware is < 1.6 you need a radio info file to program the device. Find out where you can get it.
  • In which country was the device originally sold? If the device comes from another country, certain support services may only be available in that country.

UxB1 or UxB2

When I started looking on eBay, the first thing I noticed was that there are devices labeled PDC760 UxB1 and PDC760 UxB2. Sometimes, the devices are also referred to as G1 and G2. The UxB2 devices were usually a bit cheaper. What is the difference?

The PDC760 UxB2 devices were made for North America and support other LTE frequencies. As far as I know, they do not work with the LTE networks in Europe.

I found a PDC760 UxB1 device on eBay: shipped from UK, new and price with customs about half as much as a new device in Germany. Seller trustworthy, pay by paypal possible and fast delivery.

So I ordered! Two days later I received a notice from customs to pay the fees (went smoothly with credit card).

Another day later the device was delivered.

I had already obtained the SmartMDM Lite programming software and the latest firmware from the Internet.

Unpacked. Software installed. Connected and: SmartMDM Lite cannot establish a connection to the device..

Firmware v1.0.0.001A

My PDC760 came with firmware v1.0.0.001A. I found the following note in the SmartMDM Lite Release Notes:

Please contact Hytera if you need to upgrade the radio from V1.0.001 to V2.0.001.

The USB port is disabled on firmware v1.0.0.001A. The device cannot be programmed or updated via USB. The device must be updated via WLAN / IP connection. This requires an old version SmartMDM Lite, because newer versions only support the connection via USB.

A dealer was able to provide me with this old SmartMDM version. The connection between radio and SmartMDM still did not work. In the manual I learned that I need a “Radio Info File” to establish a connection.

Radio Info File (RIF)

The manual states the following:

Hytera will provide you with the radio info file in .zip. The configuration is available when the file is imported to SMART MDM Lite.

I contacted Hytera and the seller directly. Unfortunately, the seller could not help me.

I was lucky with Hytera Mobilfunk in Germany. I had someone on the phone right away who was familiar with the device. Unfortunately Hytera in Germany could not create the Radio Info File (RIF) because the device is from the UK. The serial numbers are different (Germany starts with 1, UK starts with R).

However, they offered to ask Hytera UK for the Radio Info File.

Meanwhile almost 4 weeks had passed since the delivery of my PDC760 and I still could not use the device.

Another 2 weeks passed without any feedback, so I contacted Hytera UK myself.

I was told that they were not allowed to send me any files, because i am an end customer. I would have to send my device to them to have the upgrade done there. However, there was a catch: I could not send the device directly to Hytera UK, but it had to go through the seller. My query as to whether they could not send the files to a colleague here in Germany, so that time, customs and postage could be saved, unfortunately remained unanswered.

Successful IP connection between SmartMDM Lite and PDC760

Over time, I got quite frustrated, which I let out in an e-mail to my contact at Hytera Germany.
He somehow managed to get the required radio info file. At this point, again many thanks for your support!!

After 2 months of waiting, I was finally able to successfully establish the connection between my PDC760 and SmartMDM Lite.

The upgrade process from V1.0.001A to V3.0.004101

It is not possible to upgrade directly from firmware V1.0.001A to the current firmware V3.0.004101.

In the first step I updated to V1.5. For this I used SmartMDM Lite 1.0.007.000. The connection was established via IP (WLAN).

Next, I installed the SmartMDM Lite version 1.6.03.000. The connection was established via USB. At first the connection via USB still did not work. Only after changing a setting in the Service menu in the Port Switch section it worked. However, I do not remember exactly which one it was.

Service menu

In the manual of SmartMDM Lite 1.1 I found a hint how to reach the service menu: Just type the following characters via the phone function (dialer):

*#*#4636#*#*

There, you have the possibility to influence the function of USB. The exact meaning is not quite clear to me.

After the USB connection worked, I installed firmware 2.1 or 2.7. I can’t remember exactly which one it was. Then I installed SmartMDM version 4.5 and was able to upgrade to the current firmware version 3.0.004101.

With the upgrade to firmware 3.x, the look of the Android interface has changed. It now looks more like a “normal” smartphone. Furthermore, the system language is now also in German.

To be continued…

This Post Has 9 Comments

  1. Hi
    I have the same requirement, can you provide the source for the SmartMDMLite v1.1 and rdt file please ?

    BR G6IGA

    1. What do you mean by RDT file?
      Are you talking about the RIF – Radio Info File?

      73 DK2BN

    1. I’m sorry, but I cannot provide a RIT file. Only Hytera itself can do this. The file is device-specific.

      You can try to contact Hytera directly. In my case, Hytera UK did not reply to me at first. Contact was made after sending a message to service@hytera.com.

      I got the requied SmartMDM Version from http://www.funkhandel.com, but Hytera itself can also provide the required SmartMDM version (for free), if they like to.

      Maybe you can ask a local Hytera Partner for help.

  2. Hi Bastian,

    Did you find any problems programming the PDF760 for Brandmeister DMR use?
    I am evaluating on its purchase and would like to know if it is the right unit to be used for DMR since the cost is quite high.
    I have read that some firmware gives problems in one application or aother.
    Thanks in advance
    73 de Rob 9J2RD

    1. Hi Rob,

      Brandmeister / DMR over 70cm radio works fine. But there are some “peculiarities”. For example: The microphone volume is very loud. This can not be changed.

      Brandmeister via Radio-over-IP (RoIP): The programming is OK, but it does not work reliably.

      If you want to use RoIP, maybe the DudeStar or Peanut app is the better choice.

      73 Bastian, DK2BN

  3. HI

    I have pdc760 for two years and it works well with BM. Roip works well,
    but my microphone is also overmodulated.
    I bought a vm658 external microphone that works and is not overmodulated,
    but that’s why it has other problems.
    You can hear crackling in the speaker, you can’t change channels, you can’t turn up the volume
    and the remote screen doesn’t work…

    73 Kresimir 9A7PSK

  4. Hi!
    I am trying to import channels from excel but it changes frequencies to default 353.075 MHz. Even if I write channel in MDM export file and then import same file frequency is changed !?

    Beno s56kz

    1. HI Beno,

      yes, I can confirm this. It even happens if you import the exported file again without making any changes.

      I couldn’t find a solution or update to fix this…

      73 Bastian, DK2BN

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