On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 10:31 PM, Geoffrey K. Phillips gphillips13@centurylink.net wrote:
I have just started using Chirp with my brand new Baufeng radio.
I am using a TYT usb cable with a suitable adapter routine, which sets up COM4.
Communication with the radio seems fine. I can upload and download.
However, I am having a terrible time trying to get a list input to Chirp.
Wow, it sounds like you decided to start by diving into the deep end. I hope you are a good swimmer! It sounds like you tried to use every feature of Chirp your first time, and some of those are beta features. Using the daily development builds, you should expect to encounter bugs from time to time, and report those bugs to the developers so they can be fixed. This is why the daily builds exist.
The easiest way to get data into Chirp is to click on the field you want to edit and start typing. For example, click on one of the rows under the Frequency column and type "146.52". Now hit enter. You just input the 2m calling channel into your memory file! Once you're done editing, if it's a clone mode radio like your Baofang, you need to upload to the radio before the channel is on the radio (live mode radios do this instantly).
I have tried importing .tpe files, and get errors relating to difficulty with some floating point numbers.
.tpe files are one of those beta features I mentioned. ARRL was unwilling to share details about the TravelPlus format, so it's possible there are some bugs in how Chirp reads .tpe files. It would be very helpful if you wrote a bug report and attached your .tpe file for a developer to look at. You can do that here:
http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/issues/new
I have tried with .csv files made with excel and get errors saying there are no channels.
It needs to be in Chirp csv format to work. Create the csv file with Chirp (Ctrl-N) first, then you can edit in Excel. If you edit the column heading names, Chirp will no longer be able to open the csv data.
I have even made changes to the data in an .img file (XML), and get told it's an invalid format.
Normally you should use software to generate xml.
Also I am not sure that I really understand what all the columns are in the main display.
The developers do their best to name columns intuitively. For example, the frequency column is labeled "Frequency", the column for changing your tone mode is labeled "Tone Mode", and the column for changing your tone is labeled "Tone". Knowing how to use those three columns should get your Baofang programmed such that you can use it with local repeaters.
And is there any documentation available? I sure can't find any.
I recommend reading the getting started guide: http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Beginners_Guide
Tom KD7LXL