Hi Dan...tnx for the reply.....there is on the Yaesu website a couple of reference manuals in the FT-450D directory under Files that might be of help... the one under CAT operation looks quite technical however i know that it would be easier if you can do a hands on approach...pity we are so far apart with a lot of water in between ;-)
Yeah, it would certainly make development go quickly. I try to stock to a policy of not doing purely remote development (except for small model variations) because it's not an effective use of my time. Since this is an all spare-time and volunteer effort, I have to pick and choose my battles.
There are a number of other CHIRP contributors though. Maybe you could convince one of them, perhaps with a bribe of a Vegemite Sandwich? :)