Task flows

Step-by-step flows for the 22 most frequent or most important tasks, with press counts per radio class. Keys use the logical names from information-architecture.md; the reference mapping is SELECT = green/Menu, BACK = red/Back, QUICK = *, CONTEXT = #, TALK_TARGET = SK2, MONITOR = SK1.

Radio classes

Counting rules

• One press = one short or long key press, or one knob/encoder detent. PTT counts as a press.
• "+n" means "plus n navigation presses that depend on list position". Budgets assume the target is in the first 5 items or found by typing.
• Text typing counts each key press (T9 predictive: one press per letter).
• Budget = the target maximum (P1). A flow that needs more is a design bug.

Caller actions (opened by CONTEXT on Home)

Numbered, so a digit picks directly:

1. Talk to (their TG, or them privately if the call was private)
2. Private call
3. Message
4. Radio check
5. Call alert
6. Position (request or show)
7. Save as contact
8. Speak status
9. Save to channel (shown only when the channel has temporary changes)

1. Change channel

• K: turn the channel knob (on radios with an encoder, CAP_ENCODER, one detent per channel). Or NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN.
• M, V: NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN (V: or front encoder).
• By number or name (all keypad classes): type digits or T9 letters on Home, Find shows matches, SELECT.
• Feedback: Home redraws the channel name within 50 ms; voice prompt says "Channel 4, County fire".

2. Change zone

1. SELECT (Hub).
2. 4 (Zones). The zone list opens with the current zone focused.
3. NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN to the zone (or type its first letters).
4. SELECT: the radio switches to that zone (on the knob's channel, or channel 1 on encoder radios) and returns to Home. CONTEXT on a zone instead opens its channel list to pick a different channel.

Shortcut: type the zone name on Home (Find lists zones too). Assignable side-key function "Zone picker" makes it 1 + n + 1.

3. Switch talkgroup: this transmission only, or permanently

One-shot (this transmission and its replies):

1. TALK_TARGET: picker opens. Order: Channel default, Reply to last heard, the channel's listen list, recent talkgroups, speed dials, "Type a number".
2. NAV_DOWN to TG 91 (or type 9,1).
3. PTT: transmits to TG 91. Home shows "PTT → TG 91 (reply 10 s)" and reverts to the channel default after the reply window.

Temporary (until channel change): step 3 is SELECT instead of PTT. Home shows "Temporary TG 91 · Back to revert".

Permanent: step 3 is long SELECT. Banner "TG 91 is now the default for County DMR". Revert is done the same way.

Without the side key: QUICK, 8 opens the same picker.

TG not in the codeplug: on Home type 3,1,0,0; Find's first result is "Talk to TG 3100"; PTT (one-shot) or SELECT (temporary).

4. Call back the last station heard

During the reply window (default 10 s): just PTT. Home already shows "Reply → TG 91" or "Reply → K1ABC (private)".

After the window:

1. CONTEXT (#): caller actions for the last heard.
2. 1 (Talk to): sets their TG (or them privately) as the temporary talk target; or PTT directly with item 1 focused.

Older station: SELECT, 3 opens Recent, NAV_DOWN to the station, PTT. (Long CONTEXT was Recent until #18 gave it the talk target picker.)

5. Private call a contact by name or ID

By name:

1. On Home type T9 letters (5,6,3 for "Joe"). Find lists Joe Smith K1ABC first.
2. CONTEXT: contact actions. 2 (Private call) or simply PTT with "Private call" focused.

Shortcut: in Find, focus the contact and press PTT: talk target choice for a person is private call, for a TG group call.

By ID: type the ID (3,1,0,1,2,3,4); Find shows "Private call 3101234" (name from the ID database if present) and "Talk to TG 3101234"; focus the private call line and PTT.

6. Send a text message

1. Pick the recipient: CONTEXT (last caller) or Find by name, then CONTEXT.
2. 3 (Message): the composer opens with Canned messages listed first ("OK", "On my way", "Call me", "QSY TG 91", user-defined), then "Write…".
3. Canned: NAV_DOWN to it, SELECT = Send. Written: NAV_DOWN to "Write…", SELECT, type (T9), SELECT = Send.
4. Status strip shows "Sending…", then "Delivered" (if confirmed data) or "Sent, no confirmation" with what to do on failure ("No answer from K1ABC. Retry with Select, or Back to keep in Drafts").

Long BACK from the composer keeps the text as a draft (P4).

7. Read a new message

Banner is up (8 s): CONTEXT opens it. Banner gone: the status strip shows an envelope with the count; SELECT, 2 opens Messages with the newest unread focused; SELECT opens it. In the message: CONTEXT = Reply (canned first), Call, Delete (with Undo), Save sender.

8. Radio check

1. Pick the target (last caller: CONTEXT; contact: Find, CONTEXT).
2. 4 (Radio check). Status strip "Checking K1ABC…"; tone and banner "K1ABC answered (0.8 s)" or "No answer from K1ABC after 3 tries. They may be off, out of range, or on another channel."

9. Adjust volume, squelch and power

• Volume: the volume knob (analog on the reference radios). If the board reports the volume position, Home shows a volume bar for 1 s. No presses in firmware.
• Squelch (FM): QUICK, 2, NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN (live: hear it change), QUICK or BACK to close. Temporary; long SELECT saves.
• Power: QUICK, 1 cycles levels (Low, Mid, High; each press advances, voice "Power high"). BACK closes.

10. Enable privacy

DMR channel: QUICK, 6 toggles Privacy. If the channel or contact has no key: the tile says "No key for this channel. Add one in Settings > Privacy or in qdmr" and stays off. Home shows a privacy icon and the talk target chip "Private" (blue + icon, P5). Making it permanent: long SELECT on the tile.

Per-contact key: privacy follows the talk target automatically when the contact has a key; Home shows the icon whenever the next transmission will be encrypted.

11. Scan

Start: Tools > Scan (SELECT, 6, 1), or a side key set to Scan. Quick tile 7 and a long TALK_TARGET are dual watch instead (dual-watch.md); if it is running, the scan stops it, staying on the selected channel. Home shows "Scanning: Zone Local" in the status strip and the channel name updating; when a channel stops the scan, Activity shows it.

While scanning (Home keys): PTT talks on the channel that last stopped (or the start channel if none, setting); NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN skip ahead; CONTEXT on a stopped channel gives "Skip channel for now" (nuisance delete), "Stay here" (stop scan on this channel), "Always skip" (edit scan list, permanent). BACK stops scanning and returns to the start channel.

11b. Dual watch

Two channels, A and B (any channel of any zone, or the VFO); PTT talks on the selected one. The behavior, screens and per-radio keys are in dual-watch.md.

Start: QUICK, 7 (tile 7, Dual watch; long TALK_TARGET does the same). The first time the B picker opens: a channel number, then SELECT. For a B in another zone or the VFO: UP to the Zone row, SELECT, pick the zone (or the VFO), SELECT, then the channel. Later starts use the last B (kept across power off) and take two presses. QUICK, 7 again stops it.

While it runs (Home keys): PTT talks on the selected channel and the watch goes on; CONTEXT, 1 talks on the other channel (an A/B side key or NAV_LEFT/NAV_RIGHT: one press); NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN and the knob move the selected channel; CONTEXT also changes A or B and shows the last caller. With Settings > Talk > Dual watch talk back on, a call that ends on the other channel selects it for 10 s so PTT answers there; CONTEXT, 1 goes back. BACK stops, staying on the selected channel.

The budgets are the ones tests/host/uiFlowTest.c checks ("11 dual watch ..."). Zone scan starts in 3 (Tools > Scan: SELECT, 6, 1).

12. Enter a VFO frequency

Enter VFO: SELECT, 4, VFO is the first row in Zones: SELECT. (Or type "VFO" in Find.) Home shows the frequency large.

On Home in VFO, digits enter a frequency directly: 4,4,6,0,0,0 is 446.000 MHz (the decimal point is implied after the band's MHz digits; * inserts it explicitly). Preview shows "446.000 MHz" as you type, out-of-band digits are refused as you type with a hint ("UHF 400-480"). SELECT tunes, and so does CONTEXT while digits are typed. NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN step by the step size (Settings › Talk › VFO step; Auto follows the width). Mode and tone are quick tiles 4 and 3. "Save as channel" is in CONTEXT.

13. Lock and unlock keys

Lock: long QUICK (*). Banner "Keys locked. Hold * to unlock." PTT, monitor, volume and emergency stay active (configurable). Any other press shows the hint with the invalid tone. Unlock: long * again.

14. Check GPS

Status strip shows a GPS icon: hollow = searching, solid = fix, crossed = off. Details: SELECT, 6, 2 (Tools > Position): fix state, satellites, lat/long, grid locator, altitude, last sent report and next one. CONTEXT there: Send position now, Turn GPS off. Position of another station: caller actions 6.

15. Enter hotspot or USB network mode

1. Connect USB.
2. SELECT, 6 (Tools), 3 (Hotspot) or 4 (USB network).
3. SELECT = Start. Screen shows link state (host connected, mode, frequency, TS/CC, traffic and the current talker).

Option (Connections): "Start hotspot when a hotspot host connects", default off. When on, a banner says "Hotspot started by host. OK stops it."

While active: BACK goes Home; the hotspot keeps running and Home's status strip shows "HOTSPOT" with the traffic. Stop: SELECT = Stop on the hotspot screen or CONTEXT on Home > "Stop hotspot". PTT on the radio while in hotspot mode explains "Hotspot mode: the radio relays network traffic. Stop hotspot to talk locally."

16. See who is talking

No presses: on RX the Activity region shows, in order of what's known: name (contact, else ID database), callsign, talker alias (as it arrives), DMR ID, TG and TS, RSSI, distance and bearing if a position is known. On 128x64, the two most important lines (name or callsign, TG) are shown and CONTEXT > Speak status or the RX detail view (CONTEXT, then SELECT on the header) shows the rest. Outside Home, the status strip shows "RX TG 91 · K1ABC".

17. Emergency (if enabled in the codeplug)

Hold EMERGENCY (top/orange key) 1.5 s. A rising tone during the hold, then "EMERGENCY" full screen in red with a word label, the radio sends the alarm and (per codeplug) opens the mic. Cancel: hold the same key 1.5 s. If emergency is not configured, the hold gives a hint "Emergency is not set up on this radio" instead of nothing. On radios without a top key it is an assignable long press only, never on PTT or a key used for typing.

18. Copy a channel to the VFO, switch the VFO's mode

On a channel: QUICK, 4 ("To VFO"). What is in effect on the channel now (frequencies and offset, mode, bandwidth, power, tones, color code, timeslot and talk target, temporary changes included) becomes the VFO's own settings, the VFO opens on Home and the toast says "Copied to VFO". The channel is unchanged; the VFO's values are kept like its other settings (no dot). A channel the VFO can't hold (a mode this build's VFO lacks, a frequency outside the radio's bands) is refused with a toast and nothing changes. The same is on a key: Settings > Keys > Copy to VFO, or the VFO/MR key's long press where a radio has one. In the VFO "Already in VFO". The full rules are in dmr-voice.md 2.2.

In the VFO: QUICK, 4 ("Mode") switches the VFO FM / DMR on its frequency, kept (no dot): FM → DMR uses the VFO's color code (1 at first), slot and talk target (talkgroup 9 at first); change them with quick tiles 2, 3 and 8. Home's mode chip changes color and word. A channel has no temporary mode change.

19. Monitor and hear all

• MONITOR. FM: hold it, the squelch opens. DMR: press it, digital monitor (hear all: all TGs on this frequency and timeslot) goes on; press again for off (#19).
• Latched from quick settings: QUICK, 5. Home shows "DMon" (DMR) or "Mon" (FM) until turned off or the channel changes.
• While hear all is on, every call shows its TG; the reply window lets you answer on it with PTT.

20. Change a channel's timeslot or color code on the fly

• Timeslot: QUICK, 2 (toggles 1/2), BACK.
• Color code: QUICK, 3, type the code (7) or NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN, SELECT.
• Both temporary with a dot on Home; long SELECT in quick settings or CONTEXT > 9 on Home saves to the channel.
• Hearing traffic on the other timeslot or CC with hear all on shows a hint "Heard on TS2 CC3. Press # to switch" (CONTEXT > "Use TS2 CC3").

21. Edit a channel

1. SELECT, 5: Channels opens on the channel in use. NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN or typing finds another one.
2. SELECT: the channel's settings.
3. NAV_DOWN to the row. Two-value rows (timeslot, mode, bandwidth) flip on SELECT; rows with more values (power, PL / DCS tone, color code, time-out) open a spinner: turn the knob (or NAV_UP/NAV_DOWN) to the value, SELECT keeps it; frequencies and the ID take digits; the name opens text entry; the TX contact opens a picker.
4. Long SELECT saves. Changed rows show a dot until then; BACK with changes asks "Discard the changes to this channel?".

Changing the channel in use for now is shorter from quick settings (flow 20). This flow is for saved changes, other channels and rows quick settings don't have.

22. New channel from current settings

1. SELECT, 5, NAV_UP to the first row, "New from current", SELECT: an unsaved copy of the channel in use (with its temporary changes) or of the VFO, at the lowest free number.
2. Change what differs (flow 21, step 3), for example the name and the TX contact.
3. Long SELECT saves it. Add it to a zone with qdmr for now (issue #44 adds it to the current zone).

Summary

Every task except typed entries (IDs, frequencies, free text) completes in six presses or fewer, inside the NHTSA six-input guideline.

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