TIMMYG StudiosHardware Radios
Run Tommy's Radio on a real handheld — the two supported radios, what each costs you, cables and Bluetooth adapters, and which parts work on each connection.
tRadio can drive a real handheld on your desk: its screen shows your channel, its keypad and knob change channels, and game audio comes out of its speaker. It is a control surface for the in-game radio, not a second radio.
A UV-32 showing a tRadio zone and channel on its own screen, with its softkeys labeled by the radio it is mirroring.
The two radios
| BTECH DM-32 | Baofeng UV-32 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | about $60 | about $40 |
| What tRadio does to it | nothing permanent | replaces its firmware, permanently |
| Still a working two-way radio afterward | yes | no |
| Reversible | nothing to reverse | no |
| Connections | cable, or Bluetooth adapter | cable, or built-in Bluetooth |
The DM-32 keeps its stock firmware. tRadio loads into RAM on connect and is gone at the next power cycle. Nothing is written to flash. Unplug it and it is an ordinary DM-32 again.
The UV-32 does not. Making it a terminal means writing new firmware over its own, and the stock firmware is not recoverable. You end up with a $40 screen, keypad and speaker that only does tRadio. Buy a UV-32 for this purpose, not one you were using for anything else.
What works on each connection
| Screen | Keypad & knob | LED | Speaker | Microphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DM-32 — cable | yes | yes | yes | needs the tip fix | no |
| DM-32 — Bluetooth adapter | yes | yes | yes | needs the tip fix | no |
| UV-32 — cable | yes | yes | in development | needs the tip fix | not yet |
| UV-32 — built-in Bluetooth | yes | yes | in development | yes | not yet |
On the UV-32 that means the full keypad, both side keys, Menu, Home, PTT and the channel knob all report to the Companion. Its LED is not mapped — the colored cues you see in photographs of it are the screen, not a lamp.
The UV-32 over its own Bluetooth is the only connection with nothing in the accessory jack, so its speaker works untouched.
The 2.5 mm tip
Every cable and adapter plugs into the same two-pin accessory jack, and the 2.5 mm plug physically pushes the speaker contact out of circuit — the same way an earpiece mutes the speaker. So with anything plugged in, audio plays to a disconnected speaker.
The fix is mechanical: file the 2.5 mm plug's tip down to the first black band. The shortened tip still reaches the data contacts but stops short of the one that cuts the speaker. File the plug, not the radio.
The microphone stays disconnected either way. There is no filing trick for it.
What to buy
These are the exact parts this was built and tested against. Nothing here is an affiliate link, and any equivalent part works.
| Part | What it is for |
|---|---|
| BTECH DM-32 | The radio that keeps its own firmware |
| Baofeng UV-32 | The radio that becomes a terminal, permanently |
| Programming cable | Connects either radio; the UV-32 needs it once to be flashed |
| Bluetooth adapter | Wireless for the DM-32 — the UV-32 has its own |
The cable is a standard two-pin "K-plug" USB programming cable, as sold for BTECH and Baofeng handhelds. tRadio is tested against BTECH's PC03-class cable, which uses an FTDI chip. Avoid the cheapest unbranded cables — counterfeit chips need driver workarounds, and the failure looks like a radio that will not connect.
The Bluetooth adapter for the DM-32 is BTECH's BT-A1D. It frees you from the cable but not from the jack: the speaker still needs the tip fix.
The UV-32 needs the cable once, to write its firmware. After that it connects over its own Bluetooth.
Setting it up
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Install the tRadio Companion app on the PC you play on. There is no download yet — when the app is released this step will link it.
-
Connect the radio. Plug in the cable, pair the adapter, or power on an already-flashed UV-32 near the PC. Pick your radio in the Companion's settings, and set a preferred port if you have several serial devices.
-
Flash the UV-32, if that's your radio. The Companion walks you through it and warns before the irreversible step. Skip this for a DM-32.
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Turn on audio, if you did the tip fix. Audio routing is off by default, because on an unmodified radio the sound plays into a disconnected speaker.
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Start the game. The radio picks up your channel, zone and theme, and its keys drive the in-game radio. Nothing to configure on the server.
The Companion when everything is connected. Play tRadio sounds on the radio is off, which is the default — turn it on only after the tip fix, or the audio plays into a disconnected speaker.
Microphone and battery
Neither radio's microphone is usable yet. With a cable or adapter in the jack the mic is mechanically disconnected; over the UV-32's Bluetooth it is available but tRadio cannot yet read it. Talk through your PC microphone meanwhile.
The UV-32's battery level is not reported yet. Both are being worked on.
Next steps
- The radio won't connect → Troubleshooting
- Learn the radio you're now holding → Usage
- Change what the screen shows → Zones and channels
- Match its colors to your server → Dispatch panel theming
Tommy's Radio
Still stuck? Support can answer it directly.
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