On 2013-04-11 09:46, Dean Gibson AE7Q
wrote:
Marco:
Presently, Chirp communicates with the Yaesu FT-897D only in clone
mode. It's been quite some time, but as I recall, one can
read/write memory in the FT-897 (and I think the FT-857 and FT-817
series as well) using two commands (one for read, and one for
write) that provide a radio memory address and just transfer just
two bytes of memory. As I recall, it was reasonably quick if the
timing was right, to transfer significant amounts of data in a
short time.
Are you planning to make that kind of change to Chirp? That would
be more convenient for users than going into clone mode. On the
FT-897D, you have to press two ("MODE") buttons that are very
close to each other and also close to a knob, as you power
on the unit. It's a little awkward, and even more so if one has
fat fingers (I don't). Then, if you accidentally remember the
wrong pair of buttons and press the two "BAND" buttons just below
the two "MODE" buttons when you power on, the radio executes the
diagnostic "relay cleaning" operation.
Just another "wild" suggestion ...
Upon closer examination of my old Java code from 2006 (in file
SerialIO.java that I sent you, Marco), I see that two bytes is the minimum
transfer amount. You just have to be careful to not specify too
long a transfer length (see the code). The command to read blocks
of memory is 0xBB (see function "get"), and the command to write
blocks of memory is 0xBC (see function "update").
I know these are old radios (but still being manufactured and sold
new), but this would be a nice improvement to Chirp's handing of
these radios.