Re: [chirp_users] BAOFENG UV-5Rs acting strange when programming with Chirp
I disagree. I have four diffrent cables from Rtsystems and have never had any problems. I have their cable for the US 5 series and have programmed over 30 of the Baeofeng for club members and for the local C.E.R.T. and the cable has NEVER failed me. Maybe you are doing something wrong while attempting programming.
Jock KC6IIH
JOCK KC6IIH Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab®|PRO
-------- Original message -------- From: Fred Maxwell _chirp@mail2fm.com Date:03/16/2016 11:53 PM (GMT-08:00) To: Discussion of CHIRP chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com Subject: Re: [chirp_users] BAOFENG UV-5Rs acting strange when programming with Chirp
I disagree with the recommendation for RT Systems cables. They employ FTDI USB to serial TTL chips which have been reprogrammed with non-standard Vendor IDs and Product IDs. Their cables are no better or more reliable than any good quality cable using a standard (non-counterfeit) USB-to-serial chip. They are just a necessary evil in order to use RT Systems software and a poor choice for use with CHIRP.
From http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/CableGuide_FTDI_OEM_Cables :
Some cable vendors use the FTDI serial chip in their USB radio cables, but have changed the chip's ID codes so that the cable will not be recognized as a generic serial communications port. By default CHIRP (and some other software) will not be able to use these cables because CHIRP needs a serial port. Most notably RT Systems sells such cables.
The article at the link shown above goes on to say:
[To] use such a cable with CHIRP there are two options. You can either get your computer to recognize the OEM cable as a generic serial port by tweaking the driver setup, or you can change the cable to use the default FTDI codes, so the standard FTDI driver present in most operating systems will recognize the cable and create a standard serial port.
The first option may “break” after an OS upgrade and the second option leaves the expensive cable unusable with RT Systems software, which was the whole reason why it cost more in the first place. It’s even uglier under some versions of Windows and OS X; those interested in learning more can read what’s on the official CHIRP website.
I spent $6.99 on a cable for my BaoFeng handheld, $8.99 on a cable for my Kenwood TM-281 mobile, and $14.99 on a cable for my Yaesu FT-2900R mobile, all from Amazon with free one or two day shipping. Total spent: $30.97. The first two use Prolific chips and the latter uses an FTDI chip. They have worked flawlessly under OS X and Windows 10, requiring no mucking around with drivers or reprogramming of the chips embedded in the cables. Buying RT Systems cables for those radios would have set me back $113.04 with equivalent 2-day shipping. That’s an $82 difference — and I can think of a lot of ham-related goodies to spend $82 on.
73, Fred Maxwell KM4QLB
On Mar 16, 2016, at 11:34 PM, kc6iih via chirp_users chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com wrote:
The best and most reliable cables come from www.rtsystems.com Yes they are not cheap but they work every time.
Jock A. Soutar KC6IIH Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™ III, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message -------- From: John Randle Date:03/16/2016 7:03 PM (GMT-08:00) To: chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com Subject: Re: [chirp_users] BAOFENG UV-5Rs acting strange when programming with Chirp
For what it is worth, I think I have isolated the second problem to a "defective" USB cable. While the "defective"cable requires the older driver (as do my other two "non-defective" cables) and does a download and upload without issues, this is the only cable that then causes the radio to go into transmit after uploading a configuration file ... followed by the normal power off/power on of the radio. Disconnecting the cable immediately after the power off seems to preclude the erroneous transmit indication. The first problem is still a puzzler. While the workaround of resetting the fields is acceptable, I am still curious as to why/how this was suddenly manifested as my UV5Rs are several years old. -- John 73's de K9RSQ
On 3/14/2016 11:50 PM, John Randle wrote:
I have been maintaining several UV5R's with Chirp for a couple of years without any issues. I am currently running Chirp Daily Build 20151126 on W10 to program several UV5R's. I have recently experienced two strange programming operation issues, with all the UV5R's, that I have not previously encountered. First problem: After downloading the current configuration of the UV5R's, I then proceeded to add some new memory channels that use Digital Coded Squelch settings. When programming the DCS settings, I first set "DTCS", then I set the individual T-DCS and R-DCS codes and then I set Cross to "Tone -> Tone" (as this is what the existing DCS memory channels reflect), but as soon as I set the offset direction, Chirp changes "DTCS" to "Cross" and changes "Tone -> Tone" to "DTCS->". As these settings are not what is required (or at least what is currently reflected in the older DCS memory channels), I then have to go back and reset "DTCS->" to "Tone -> Tone" and "Cross" to "DTCS". Is there any reason why my initial inputs are being over-ridden? Second problem: After successfully uploading a new configuration to the UV5-R's, the UV5R's automatically go into transmit mode about 5 seconds after they restart if the programming cable is left connected to the radio. This seems to be a new issue that I had not previously experienced. Any suggestions on either problem will be greatly appreciated. -- John 73's de K9RSQ
_______________________________________________ chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users This message was sent to Jock at kc6iih@aol.com To unsubscribe, send an email to chirp_users-unsubscribe@intrepid.danplanet.com _______________________________________________ chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users This message was sent to Fred at _chirp@mail2fm.com To unsubscribe, send an email to chirp_users-unsubscribe@intrepid.danplanet.com
On Mar 17, 2016, at 3:22 AM, kc6iih via chirp_users chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com wrote:
I disagree.
Then suggest what corrections you believe are necessary to the people who maintain the CHIRP website, since that was the source of the information I quoted.
I have four diffrent cables from Rtsystems and have never had any problems.
There are people who have never had any problems with $6,900 Audioquest AC power cords, but that doesn’t mean that you need to spend $6,900 for an AC power cord — or that is will perform better than one which costs $20. (See: http://www.elusivedisc.com/AUDIOQUEST-NRG-WEL-SIGNATURE-SERIES-AC-POWER-CORD... )
I have their cable for the US 5 series and have programmed over 30 of the Baeofeng for club members and for the local C.E.R.T. and the cable has NEVER failed me. Maybe you are doing something wrong while attempting programming.
I have never had a programming failure attributable to any cable. So why would I spend $30+shipping to buy each RT Systems cable when I’ve had 100% success using standard $7-$15 cables I’ve bought from Amazon?
According to a post made on 7/8/2014:
RT systems recently changed their USB cable IDs so they will only work with their software. The older cables didn't have that problem.
Source: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/128927-RT-Systems-Radio-progra...
— Fred Maxwell, KM4QLB
-------- Original message -------- From: Fred Maxwell _chirp@mail2fm.com Date:03/16/2016 11:53 PM (GMT-08:00) To: Discussion of CHIRP Subject: Re: [chirp_users] BAOFENG UV-5Rs acting strange when programming with Chirp
I disagree with the recommendation for RT Systems cables. They employ FTDI USB to serial TTL chips which have been reprogrammed with non-standard Vendor IDs and Product IDs. Their cables are no better or more reliable than any good quality cable using a standard (non-counterfeit) USB-to-serial chip. They are just a necessary evil in order to use RT Systems software and a poor choice for use with CHIRP.
From http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/CableGuide_FTDI_OEM_Cables http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/CableGuide_FTDI_OEM_Cables :
Some cable vendors use the FTDI serial chip in their USB radio cables, but have changed the chip's ID codes so that the cable will not be recognized as a generic serial communications port. By default CHIRP (and some other software) will not be able to use these cables because CHIRP needs a serial port. Most notably RT Systems sells such cables.
The article at the link shown above goes on to say:
[To] use such a cable with CHIRP there are two options. You can either get your computer to recognize the OEM cable as a generic serial port by tweaking the driver setup, or you can change the cable to use the default FTDI codes, so the standard FTDI driver present in most operating systems will recognize the cable and create a standard serial port.
The first option may “break” after an OS upgrade and the second option leaves the expensive cable unusable with RT Systems software, which was the whole reason why it cost more in the first place. It’s even uglier under some versions of Windows and OS X; those interested in learning more can read what’s on the official CHIRP website.
I spent $6.99 on a cable for my BaoFeng handheld, $8.99 on a cable for my Kenwood TM-281 mobile, and $14.99 on a cable for my Yaesu FT-2900R mobile, all from Amazon with free one or two day shipping. Total spent: $30.97. The first two use Prolific chips and the latter uses an FTDI chip. They have worked flawlessly under OS X and Windows 10, requiring no mucking around with drivers or reprogramming of the chips embedded in the cables. Buying RT Systems cables for those radios would have set me back $113.04 with equivalent 2-day shipping. That’s an $82 difference — and I can think of a lot of ham-related goodies to spend $82 on.
73, Fred Maxwell KM4QLB
On Mar 16, 2016, at 11:34 PM, kc6iih via chirp_users <chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com mailto:chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com> wrote:
The best and most reliable cables come from www.rtsystems.com http://www.rtsystems.com/ Yes they are not cheap but they work every time.
Jock A. Soutar KC6IIH Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S™ III, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message -------- From: John Randle Date:03/16/2016 7:03 PM (GMT-08:00) To: chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com mailto:chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com Subject: Re: [chirp_users] BAOFENG UV-5Rs acting strange when programming with Chirp
For what it is worth, I think I have isolated the second problem to a "defective" USB cable. While the "defective"cable requires the older driver (as do my other two "non-defective" cables) and does a download and upload without issues, this is the only cable that then causes the radio to go into transmit after uploading a configuration file ... followed by the normal power off/power on of the radio. Disconnecting the cable immediately after the power off seems to preclude the erroneous transmit indication. The first problem is still a puzzler. While the workaround of resetting the fields is acceptable, I am still curious as to why/how this was suddenly manifested as my UV5Rs are several years old. -- John 73's de K9RSQ
On 3/14/2016 11:50 PM, John Randle wrote:
I have been maintaining several UV5R's with Chirp for a couple of years without any issues. I am currently running Chirp Daily Build 20151126 on W10 to program several UV5R's. I have recently experienced two strange programming operation issues, with all the UV5R's, that I have not previously encountered. First problem: After downloading the current configuration of the UV5R's, I then proceeded to add some new memory channels that use Digital Coded Squelch settings. When programming the DCS settings, I first set "DTCS", then I set the individual T-DCS and R-DCS codes and then I set Cross to "Tone -> Tone" (as this is what the existing DCS memory channels reflect), but as soon as I set the offset direction, Chirp changes "DTCS" to "Cross" and changes "Tone -> Tone" to "DTCS->". As these settings are not what is required (or at least what is currently reflected in the older DCS memory channels), I then have to go back and reset "DTCS->" to "Tone -> Tone" and "Cross" to "DTCS". Is there any reason why my initial inputs are being over-ridden? Second problem: After successfully uploading a new configuration to the UV5-R's, the UV5R's automatically go into transmit mode about 5 seconds after they restart if the programming cable is left connected to the radio. This seems to be a new issue that I had not previously experienced. Any suggestions on either problem will be greatly appreciated. -- John 73's de K9RSQ
chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com mailto:chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users This message was sent to Jock at kc6iih@aol.com To unsubscribe, send an email to chirp_users-unsubscribe@intrepid.danplanet.com _______________________________________________ chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com mailto:chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users This message was sent to Fred at _chirp@mail2fm.com To unsubscribe, send an email to chirp_users-unsubscribe@intrepid.danplanet.com
chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users This message was sent to Fred at _chirp@mail2fm.com To unsubscribe, send an email to chirp_users-unsubscribe@intrepid.danplanet.com
I have four diffrent cables from Rtsystems and have never had any problems. I have their cable for the US 5 series and have programmed over 30 of the Baeofeng for club members and for the local C.E.R.T. and the cable has NEVER failed me. Maybe you are doing something wrong while attempting programming.
The RTSystems cables changed at some point to cater to their newer generation of software. They stopped identifying as generic FTDI devices and getting assigned a COM port in windows (or tty on UNIX) so that the software could identify the cable and be "more automatic". This is, of course, the opposite of what CHIRP people need.
Just because you have one cable that works well doesn't mean they are a good option for people looking for a new cable.
I would recommend against them. FTDI cables, yes, but not those.
--Dan
participants (3)
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Dan Smith -
Fred Maxwell -
kc6iih