[chirp_users] Using CHIRP Without the Mouse
Hi everyone, I'm new to the list. I downloaded CHIRP to use with my BaoFeng UV5 because programming it is a beast using the radio itself. I am totally blind and use a screen reader called JAWS that verbalizes what's on the screen. I use the keyboard, not the mouse, for all computer operations because the mouse is totally a visual interface.
When I tried to use CHIRP, I discovered that there seems to be no way to access any of the menus or menu commands via keyboard. Does anyone have any suggestions, tips, etc for how to do this? It may not be possible, but before I abandon it totally, I thought I'd send a query to see what's out there. Thanks.
Catherine KE4LAM
Hi Catherine,
Bad news and maybe good news. First the bad news.
From the CHIRP documentation Wiki: http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/FAQ "I'm a blind ham. Can I use CHIRP with a screen reader?
CHIRP uses a graphical toolkit called GTK. This lets it run on all platforms unchanged. Since GTK is native on Linux, screen reading software for Linux will work with CHIRP without any trouble. On MacOS and Windows, GTK is not native and thus screen readers on these platforms will see CHIRP as a blank window. This cannot and will not be changed, as it would mean writing CHIRP three times, once for each platform, or dropping support for MacOS and Windows entirely."
Ok, here is some slightly better news. CHIRP does have keyboard support for all or most menu commands, even if they may not be not exactly what you expect.
Generally the first command is to "Download From Radio" (menu title is Radio). Or from the keyboard press alt d at the same time. On a Macintosh, you might expect that to be command d, but it is really option d. Oh, it looks like JAWS is a Windows, app, so you are probably using Windows. I'm on Macintosh, but I expect it will be exactly the same.
After reading your message, and remarking to myself about the courage it must take to approach daily life without sight, I spent some time more or less discovering the following keyboard sequences, please let us know if they work for you, and how to improve these tips for you, and people in your situation. If we do OK, maybe I will make an addition to the CHIRP documentation. On the other hand, if your screen reader can't see anything in CHIRP, the following may not be so useful.
I'm going to assume you have already installed CHIRP and the necessary other files, including the correct driver your your USB to Serial cable. Be sure that the cable is firmly plugged into the radio and all that.
After connecting your radio cable & launching CHIRP.
Pressing alt d will bring up a dialog box titled "Radio" that asks you to choose the port to use (or USB driver to use), the radio make & the radio model. When this dialog box comes up, you can press tab once to select the first pop up menu to select the port or USB driver. Use the up or down arrows to select the driver you need. The driver will not be named bluetooth, but it might say cu.usb serial or similar.
Then press tab twice to get to the second choice, the radio make. use up & down arrows to select.
Then press tab once to get to the 3rd field, the radio model. This will only include model numbers that match the radio make. Again, use the up & down arrows. Then press tab twice to pass over the cancel button & land on the OK button, where enter or return will be the same as pressing OK.
This ought to initiate a download from the radio. For some radios CHIRP will display a dialog box with helpful tips on how to successfully connect to that particular radio.
After the Download From Radio is completed successfully, you may make changes to that info on screen, save, and upload back to the radio.
The radio data will be displayed much like a spreadsheet. There are 2 tabs, named Memories and Settings. We want Memories. There is also several fields across the top of the windows which we probably do not need to change right now. Press tab 6 times, then down arrow to get into the spreadsheet rows. Press down arrow many times to get to the memory row you want to edit.
Up and down arrows will select a row. Each memory location is a row. While you are in a row, the return key will select the current data field, so you can edit it, then press return again to deselect. Right arrow will move to next data field in the same row, press enter to edit.
Column titles depend on which radio you are using. I believe the column titles for any of the BaoFeng UV-5R series of radios are: Memory Location number, Name, Frequency, Duplex, Offset, Tone Mode, Tone TX, Tone Squelch RX, DTCS code, DTCS Rx code, Cross Mode, Mode, Power, Skip. It is possible to drag the columns to a different sequence.
Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up that dialog box to select the port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous selections.
Those are the most important CHIRP commands.
I hope this helps, please let us know.
Best, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO
On Jun 20, 2014, at 8:59 PM, Catherine Getchell cgtrumpet@gmail.com wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm new to the list. I downloaded CHIRP to use with my BaoFeng UV5 because programming it is a beast using the radio itself. I am totally blind and use a screen reader called JAWS that verbalizes what's on the screen. I use the keyboard, not the mouse, for all computer operations because the mouse is totally a visual interface.
When I tried to use CHIRP, I discovered that there seems to be no way to access any of the menus or menu commands via keyboard. Does anyone have any suggestions, tips, etc for how to do this? It may not be possible, but before I abandon it totally, I thought I'd send a query to see what's out there. Thanks.
Catherine KE4LAM _______________________________________________ chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users
Hi Dave!
Wow, thanks! I will definitely try alt+d. I had tried alt+r, thinking that might bring up the radio menu, but no dice. I could get the screen reader to read the menu headings but not actually activate the menus. So I may be able to make this work. Yes, I had downloaded the driver, and the device manager told me it was on com 3. So it's just getting chirp to talk to the radio. I'm leaving in ten minutes to go out of town for a couple of days but will try this when I get back. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks a million! Catherine
On 6/21/14, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO@nathanson.org wrote:
Hi Catherine,
Bad news and maybe good news. First the bad news.
From the CHIRP documentation Wiki:
http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/FAQ "I'm a blind ham. Can I use CHIRP with a screen reader?
CHIRP uses a graphical toolkit called GTK. This lets it run on all platforms unchanged. Since GTK is native on Linux, screen reading software for Linux will work with CHIRP without any trouble. On MacOS and Windows, GTK is not native and thus screen readers on these platforms will see CHIRP as a blank window. This cannot and will not be changed, as it would mean writing CHIRP three times, once for each platform, or dropping support for MacOS and Windows entirely."
Ok, here is some slightly better news. CHIRP does have keyboard support for all or most menu commands, even if they may not be not exactly what you expect.
Generally the first command is to "Download From Radio" (menu title is Radio). Or from the keyboard press alt d at the same time. On a Macintosh, you might expect that to be command d, but it is really option d. Oh, it looks like JAWS is a Windows, app, so you are probably using Windows. I'm on Macintosh, but I expect it will be exactly the same.
After reading your message, and remarking to myself about the courage it must take to approach daily life without sight, I spent some time more or less discovering the following keyboard sequences, please let us know if they work for you, and how to improve these tips for you, and people in your situation. If we do OK, maybe I will make an addition to the CHIRP documentation. On the other hand, if your screen reader can't see anything in CHIRP, the following may not be so useful.
I'm going to assume you have already installed CHIRP and the necessary other files, including the correct driver your your USB to Serial cable. Be sure that the cable is firmly plugged into the radio and all that.
After connecting your radio cable & launching CHIRP.
Pressing alt d will bring up a dialog box titled "Radio" that asks you to choose the port to use (or USB driver to use), the radio make & the radio model. When this dialog box comes up, you can press tab once to select the first pop up menu to select the port or USB driver. Use the up or down arrows to select the driver you need. The driver will not be named bluetooth, but it might say cu.usb serial or similar.
Then press tab twice to get to the second choice, the radio make. use up & down arrows to select.
Then press tab once to get to the 3rd field, the radio model. This will only include model numbers that match the radio make. Again, use the up & down arrows. Then press tab twice to pass over the cancel button & land on the OK button, where enter or return will be the same as pressing OK.
This ought to initiate a download from the radio. For some radios CHIRP will display a dialog box with helpful tips on how to successfully connect to that particular radio.
After the Download From Radio is completed successfully, you may make changes to that info on screen, save, and upload back to the radio.
The radio data will be displayed much like a spreadsheet. There are 2 tabs, named Memories and Settings. We want Memories. There is also several fields across the top of the windows which we probably do not need to change right now. Press tab 6 times, then down arrow to get into the spreadsheet rows. Press down arrow many times to get to the memory row you want to edit.
Up and down arrows will select a row. Each memory location is a row. While you are in a row, the return key will select the current data field, so you can edit it, then press return again to deselect. Right arrow will move to next data field in the same row, press enter to edit.
Column titles depend on which radio you are using. I believe the column titles for any of the BaoFeng UV-5R series of radios are: Memory Location number, Name, Frequency, Duplex, Offset, Tone Mode, Tone TX, Tone Squelch RX, DTCS code, DTCS Rx code, Cross Mode, Mode, Power, Skip. It is possible to drag the columns to a different sequence.
Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up that dialog box to select the port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous selections.
Those are the most important CHIRP commands.
I hope this helps, please let us know.
Best, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO
On Jun 20, 2014, at 8:59 PM, Catherine Getchell cgtrumpet@gmail.com wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm new to the list. I downloaded CHIRP to use with my BaoFeng UV5 because programming it is a beast using the radio itself. I am totally blind and use a screen reader called JAWS that verbalizes what's on the screen. I use the keyboard, not the mouse, for all computer operations because the mouse is totally a visual interface.
When I tried to use CHIRP, I discovered that there seems to be no way to access any of the menus or menu commands via keyboard. Does anyone have any suggestions, tips, etc for how to do this? It may not be possible, but before I abandon it totally, I thought I'd send a query to see what's out there. Thanks.
Catherine KE4LAM _______________________________________________ chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users
chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users
Hi Dave,
The keyboard shortcuts worked great! I was able to download my existing channels onto the computer. What I'm not sure how to do using the keyboard is add more channels to the radio. Are there other keyboard shortcuts? Like what about for the file menu? Thanks so much for the help! Catherine
On 6/21/14, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO@nathanson.org wrote:
Hi Catherine,
Bad news and maybe good news. First the bad news.
From the CHIRP documentation Wiki:
http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/FAQ "I'm a blind ham. Can I use CHIRP with a screen reader?
CHIRP uses a graphical toolkit called GTK. This lets it run on all platforms unchanged. Since GTK is native on Linux, screen reading software for Linux will work with CHIRP without any trouble. On MacOS and Windows, GTK is not native and thus screen readers on these platforms will see CHIRP as a blank window. This cannot and will not be changed, as it would mean writing CHIRP three times, once for each platform, or dropping support for MacOS and Windows entirely."
Ok, here is some slightly better news. CHIRP does have keyboard support for all or most menu commands, even if they may not be not exactly what you expect.
Generally the first command is to "Download From Radio" (menu title is Radio). Or from the keyboard press alt d at the same time. On a Macintosh, you might expect that to be command d, but it is really option d. Oh, it looks like JAWS is a Windows, app, so you are probably using Windows. I'm on Macintosh, but I expect it will be exactly the same.
After reading your message, and remarking to myself about the courage it must take to approach daily life without sight, I spent some time more or less discovering the following keyboard sequences, please let us know if they work for you, and how to improve these tips for you, and people in your situation. If we do OK, maybe I will make an addition to the CHIRP documentation. On the other hand, if your screen reader can't see anything in CHIRP, the following may not be so useful.
I'm going to assume you have already installed CHIRP and the necessary other files, including the correct driver your your USB to Serial cable. Be sure that the cable is firmly plugged into the radio and all that.
After connecting your radio cable & launching CHIRP.
Pressing alt d will bring up a dialog box titled "Radio" that asks you to choose the port to use (or USB driver to use), the radio make & the radio model. When this dialog box comes up, you can press tab once to select the first pop up menu to select the port or USB driver. Use the up or down arrows to select the driver you need. The driver will not be named bluetooth, but it might say cu.usb serial or similar.
Then press tab twice to get to the second choice, the radio make. use up & down arrows to select.
Then press tab once to get to the 3rd field, the radio model. This will only include model numbers that match the radio make. Again, use the up & down arrows. Then press tab twice to pass over the cancel button & land on the OK button, where enter or return will be the same as pressing OK.
This ought to initiate a download from the radio. For some radios CHIRP will display a dialog box with helpful tips on how to successfully connect to that particular radio.
After the Download From Radio is completed successfully, you may make changes to that info on screen, save, and upload back to the radio.
The radio data will be displayed much like a spreadsheet. There are 2 tabs, named Memories and Settings. We want Memories. There is also several fields across the top of the windows which we probably do not need to change right now. Press tab 6 times, then down arrow to get into the spreadsheet rows. Press down arrow many times to get to the memory row you want to edit.
Up and down arrows will select a row. Each memory location is a row. While you are in a row, the return key will select the current data field, so you can edit it, then press return again to deselect. Right arrow will move to next data field in the same row, press enter to edit.
Column titles depend on which radio you are using. I believe the column titles for any of the BaoFeng UV-5R series of radios are: Memory Location number, Name, Frequency, Duplex, Offset, Tone Mode, Tone TX, Tone Squelch RX, DTCS code, DTCS Rx code, Cross Mode, Mode, Power, Skip. It is possible to drag the columns to a different sequence.
Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up that dialog box to select the port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous selections.
Those are the most important CHIRP commands.
I hope this helps, please let us know.
Best, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO
On Jun 20, 2014, at 8:59 PM, Catherine Getchell cgtrumpet@gmail.com wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm new to the list. I downloaded CHIRP to use with my BaoFeng UV5 because programming it is a beast using the radio itself. I am totally blind and use a screen reader called JAWS that verbalizes what's on the screen. I use the keyboard, not the mouse, for all computer operations because the mouse is totally a visual interface.
When I tried to use CHIRP, I discovered that there seems to be no way to access any of the menus or menu commands via keyboard. Does anyone have any suggestions, tips, etc for how to do this? It may not be possible, but before I abandon it totally, I thought I'd send a query to see what's out there. Thanks.
Catherine KE4LAM _______________________________________________ chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users
chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users
YAY! :-) Good for you!
The File menu keyboard commands are (in order): New = command n Open = Command o Recent with submenu of the 8 recently opened files (no keyboard shortcut) Save = command s Save As = no keyboard command. Import = alt i Export = alt e Close = command c
Command is for Mac, I imagine you'd substitute the Windows key instead of command.
The rest of the Menus are:
Edit Menu: Cut = control x Copy = control c Paste = control v Delete = (no keyboard command) Move Up = control up arrow Move Down = control down arrow Exchange = control shift X
View Menu: (No keyboard shortcuts) Columns = (Shows a dialog box to hide or show available columns) Hide Unused Fields (this command toggles the feature on or off) Smart Tone Modes (this command toggles the feature on or off) Change Language (Shows a dialog box to choose the language). Escape will safely close the dialog box.
Radio Menu: Download from Radio = alt d Upload to Radio = alt u Import from Data Source with submenus of: Radio Reference.com Repeater Book przemienniki.net RFinder
Query Data Source with submenus of: Radio Reference.com Repeater Book przemienniki.net RFinder
Channel Defaults Stop
Help Menu: Search, with input field Report Statistics Enable Developer Functions
That is all of the menus.
Escape usually closes a dialog box.
You may have multiple Tabs open at once. Each tab is a radio file. I expect we will not need multiple tabs open.
One good way to edit your channels & add more to the radio is to:
1. Download from radio into CHIRP. 2. Export as a CSV file. 3. Open that CSV file with Excel or your favorite spreadsheet app. 4. Make your changes there, then save as CSV file and 5. import csv file back into Chirp. 6. Upload to Radio.
How to Export to csv file: alt x name the new file. press enter or return. This brings up another dialog box that gives you the opportunity to select itms to include or not include in the saved file. I always save everything. press tab 12 times then return to save the file. It will be slightly easier if you do not quit Chirp. Just leave it running right there.
Then open that csv text file in your favorite spreadsheet app & edit. The first row will have the column titles. Save as csv text file when finished.
How to import a CSV Text file into Chirp: alt i This opens the file selection dialog box, which may default to only showing .chirp files. We want a .csv file.
Press tab once, to enter the field to select the file types to display. Press down arrow twice to select the third item which is .csv files.
Press tab 11 times, then right arrow to enter the area to select a file. Now up and down arrow to select a file to import. Press Return to select the highlighted file.
This brings up that dialog box where you can choose to omit some records. I always want all of them, so press tab 12 times then press Return to continue. That ought to perform the import.
With some luck, we now have Chirp displaying all your edited memory locations, using the same window that we downloaded from the radio. Great! Lets upload all that into the radio.
How To Upload To Radio: Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up a dialog box to select the port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous selections. So 6 presses of the Tab key then press Return ought to get you past that upload dialog box.
OKAY! That might do it! Please let me know what did or didn't work, or what could use some revision, and any tips you can pass on that might help the next blind Chirp user.
Good Luck! :-)
Best, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO
On Jun 22, 2014, at 4:47 PM, Catherine Getchell cgtrumpet@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Dave,
The keyboard shortcuts worked great! I was able to download my existing channels onto the computer. What I'm not sure how to do using the keyboard is add more channels to the radio. Are there other keyboard shortcuts? Like what about for the file menu? Thanks so much for the help! Catherine
On 6/21/14, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO@nathanson.org wrote:
Hi Catherine,
Bad news and maybe good news. First the bad news.
From the CHIRP documentation Wiki:
http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/FAQ "I'm a blind ham. Can I use CHIRP with a screen reader?
CHIRP uses a graphical toolkit called GTK. This lets it run on all platforms unchanged. Since GTK is native on Linux, screen reading software for Linux will work with CHIRP without any trouble. On MacOS and Windows, GTK is not native and thus screen readers on these platforms will see CHIRP as a blank window. This cannot and will not be changed, as it would mean writing CHIRP three times, once for each platform, or dropping support for MacOS and Windows entirely."
Ok, here is some slightly better news. CHIRP does have keyboard support for all or most menu commands, even if they may not be not exactly what you expect.
Generally the first command is to "Download From Radio" (menu title is Radio). Or from the keyboard press alt d at the same time. On a Macintosh, you might expect that to be command d, but it is really option d. Oh, it looks like JAWS is a Windows, app, so you are probably using Windows. I'm on Macintosh, but I expect it will be exactly the same.
After reading your message, and remarking to myself about the courage it must take to approach daily life without sight, I spent some time more or less discovering the following keyboard sequences, please let us know if they work for you, and how to improve these tips for you, and people in your situation. If we do OK, maybe I will make an addition to the CHIRP documentation. On the other hand, if your screen reader can't see anything in CHIRP, the following may not be so useful.
I'm going to assume you have already installed CHIRP and the necessary other files, including the correct driver your your USB to Serial cable. Be sure that the cable is firmly plugged into the radio and all that.
After connecting your radio cable & launching CHIRP.
Pressing alt d will bring up a dialog box titled "Radio" that asks you to choose the port to use (or USB driver to use), the radio make & the radio model. When this dialog box comes up, you can press tab once to select the first pop up menu to select the port or USB driver. Use the up or down arrows to select the driver you need. The driver will not be named bluetooth, but it might say cu.usb serial or similar.
Then press tab twice to get to the second choice, the radio make. use up & down arrows to select.
Then press tab once to get to the 3rd field, the radio model. This will only include model numbers that match the radio make. Again, use the up & down arrows. Then press tab twice to pass over the cancel button & land on the OK button, where enter or return will be the same as pressing OK.
This ought to initiate a download from the radio. For some radios CHIRP will display a dialog box with helpful tips on how to successfully connect to that particular radio.
After the Download From Radio is completed successfully, you may make changes to that info on screen, save, and upload back to the radio.
The radio data will be displayed much like a spreadsheet. There are 2 tabs, named Memories and Settings. We want Memories. There is also several fields across the top of the windows which we probably do not need to change right now. Press tab 6 times, then down arrow to get into the spreadsheet rows. Press down arrow many times to get to the memory row you want to edit.
Up and down arrows will select a row. Each memory location is a row. While you are in a row, the return key will select the current data field, so you can edit it, then press return again to deselect. Right arrow will move to next data field in the same row, press enter to edit.
Column titles depend on which radio you are using. I believe the column titles for any of the BaoFeng UV-5R series of radios are: Memory Location number, Name, Frequency, Duplex, Offset, Tone Mode, Tone TX, Tone Squelch RX, DTCS code, DTCS Rx code, Cross Mode, Mode, Power, Skip. It is possible to drag the columns to a different sequence.
Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up that dialog box to select the port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous selections.
Those are the most important CHIRP commands.
I hope this helps, please let us know.
Best, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO
On Jun 20, 2014, at 8:59 PM, Catherine Getchell cgtrumpet@gmail.com wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm new to the list. I downloaded CHIRP to use with my BaoFeng UV5 because programming it is a beast using the radio itself. I am totally blind and use a screen reader called JAWS that verbalizes what's on the screen. I use the keyboard, not the mouse, for all computer operations because the mouse is totally a visual interface.
When I tried to use CHIRP, I discovered that there seems to be no way to access any of the menus or menu commands via keyboard. Does anyone have any suggestions, tips, etc for how to do this? It may not be possible, but before I abandon it totally, I thought I'd send a query to see what's out there. Thanks.
Catherine KE4LAM _______________________________________________ chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users
chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users
chirp_users mailing list chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/chirp_users
Wow, thanks! Dumb question: Are there shortcut keys to bring up the various menus themselves, or only shortcut keys that activate the various menu items? I'll have to give these a shot some time soon, and I'll definitely let you know how they work out. Thanks again! Catherine
On 6/23/14, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO@nathanson.org wrote:
YAY! :-) Good for you!
The File menu keyboard commands are (in order): New = command n Open = Command o Recent with submenu of the 8 recently opened files (no keyboard shortcut) Save = command s Save As = no keyboard command. Import = alt i Export = alt e Close = command c
Command is for Mac, I imagine you'd substitute the Windows key instead of command.
The rest of the Menus are:
Edit Menu: Cut = control x Copy = control c Paste = control v Delete = (no keyboard command) Move Up = control up arrow Move Down = control down arrow Exchange = control shift X
View Menu: (No keyboard shortcuts) Columns = (Shows a dialog box to hide or show available columns) Hide Unused Fields (this command toggles the feature on or off) Smart Tone Modes (this command toggles the feature on or off) Change Language (Shows a dialog box to choose the language). Escape will safely close the dialog box.
Radio Menu: Download from Radio = alt d Upload to Radio = alt u Import from Data Source with submenus of: Radio Reference.com Repeater Book przemienniki.net RFinder
Query Data Source with submenus of: Radio Reference.com Repeater Book przemienniki.net RFinder
Channel Defaults Stop
Help Menu: Search, with input field Report Statistics Enable Developer Functions
That is all of the menus.
Escape usually closes a dialog box.
You may have multiple Tabs open at once. Each tab is a radio file. I expect we will not need multiple tabs open.
One good way to edit your channels & add more to the radio is to:
- Download from radio into CHIRP.
- Export as a CSV file.
- Open that CSV file with Excel or your favorite spreadsheet app.
- Make your changes there, then save as CSV file and
- import csv file back into Chirp.
- Upload to Radio.
How to Export to csv file: alt x name the new file. press enter or return. This brings up another dialog box that gives you the opportunity to select itms to include or not include in the saved file. I always save everything.
press tab 12 times then return to save the file. It will be slightly easier if you do not quit Chirp. Just leave it running right there.
Then open that csv text file in your favorite spreadsheet app & edit. The first row will have the column titles. Save as csv text file when finished.
How to import a CSV Text file into Chirp: alt i This opens the file selection dialog box, which may default to only showing .chirp files. We want a .csv file.
Press tab once, to enter the field to select the file types to display. Press down arrow twice to select the third item which is .csv files.
Press tab 11 times, then right arrow to enter the area to select a file. Now up and down arrow to select a file to import. Press Return to select the highlighted file.
This brings up that dialog box where you can choose to omit some records. I always want all of them, so press tab 12 times then press Return to continue. That ought to perform the import.
With some luck, we now have Chirp displaying all your edited memory locations, using the same window that we downloaded from the radio. Great! Lets upload all that into the radio.
How To Upload To Radio: Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up a dialog box to select the port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous selections. So 6 presses of the Tab key then press Return ought to get you past that upload dialog box.
OKAY! That might do it! Please let me know what did or didn't work, or what could use some revision, and any tips you can pass on that might help the next blind Chirp user.
Good Luck! :-)
Best, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO
On Jun 22, 2014, at 4:47 PM, Catherine Getchell cgtrumpet@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Dave,
The keyboard shortcuts worked great! I was able to download my existing channels onto the computer. What I'm not sure how to do using the keyboard is add more channels to the radio. Are there other keyboard shortcuts? Like what about for the file menu? Thanks so much for the help! Catherine
On 6/21/14, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO@nathanson.org wrote:
Hi Catherine,
Bad news and maybe good news. First the bad news.
From the CHIRP documentation Wiki:
http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/FAQ "I'm a blind ham. Can I use CHIRP with a screen reader?
CHIRP uses a graphical toolkit called GTK. This lets it run on all platforms unchanged. Since GTK is native on Linux, screen reading software for Linux will work with CHIRP without any trouble. On MacOS and Windows, GTK is not native and thus screen readers on these platforms will see CHIRP as a blank window. This cannot and will not be changed, as it would mean writing CHIRP three times, once for each platform, or dropping support for MacOS and Windows entirely."
Ok, here is some slightly better news. CHIRP does have keyboard support for all or most menu commands, even if they may not be not exactly what you expect.
Generally the first command is to "Download From Radio" (menu title is Radio). Or from the keyboard press alt d at the same time. On a Macintosh, you might expect that to be command d, but it is really option d. Oh, it looks like JAWS is a Windows, app, so you are probably using Windows. I'm on Macintosh, but I expect it will be exactly the same.
After reading your message, and remarking to myself about the courage it must take to approach daily life without sight, I spent some time more or less discovering the following keyboard sequences, please let us know if they work for you, and how to improve these tips for you, and people in your situation. If we do OK, maybe I will make an addition to the CHIRP documentation. On the other hand, if your screen reader can't see anything in CHIRP, the following may not be so useful.
I'm going to assume you have already installed CHIRP and the necessary other files, including the correct driver your your USB to Serial cable. Be sure that the cable is firmly plugged into the radio and all that.
After connecting your radio cable & launching CHIRP.
Pressing alt d will bring up a dialog box titled "Radio" that asks you to choose the port to use (or USB driver to use), the radio make & the radio model. When this dialog box comes up, you can press tab once to select the first pop up menu to select the port or USB driver. Use the up or down arrows to select the driver you need. The driver will not be named bluetooth, but it might say cu.usb serial or similar.
Then press tab twice to get to the second choice, the radio make. use up & down arrows to select.
Then press tab once to get to the 3rd field, the radio model. This will only include model numbers that match the radio make. Again, use the up & down arrows. Then press tab twice to pass over the cancel button & land on the OK button, where enter or return will be the same as pressing OK.
This ought to initiate a download from the radio. For some radios CHIRP will display a dialog box with helpful tips on how to successfully connect to that particular radio.
After the Download From Radio is completed successfully, you may make changes to that info on screen, save, and upload back to the radio.
The radio data will be displayed much like a spreadsheet. There are 2 tabs, named Memories and Settings. We want Memories. There is also several fields across the top of the windows which we probably do not need to change right now. Press tab 6 times, then down arrow to get into the spreadsheet rows. Press down arrow many times to get to the memory row you want to edit.
Up and down arrows will select a row. Each memory location is a row. While you are in a row, the return key will select the current data field, so you can edit it, then press return again to deselect. Right arrow will move to next data field in the same row, press enter to edit.
Column titles depend on which radio you are using. I believe the column titles for any of the BaoFeng UV-5R series of radios are: Memory Location number, Name, Frequency, Duplex, Offset, Tone Mode, Tone TX, Tone Squelch RX, DTCS code, DTCS Rx code, Cross Mode, Mode, Power, Skip. It is possible to drag the columns to a different sequence.
Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up that dialog box to select the port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous selections.
Those are the most important CHIRP commands.
I hope this helps, please let us know.
Best, Dave Nathanson KG6ZJO
On Jun 20, 2014, at 8:59 PM, Catherine Getchell cgtrumpet@gmail.com wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm new to the list. I downloaded CHIRP to use with my BaoFeng UV5 because programming it is a beast using the radio itself. I am totally blind and use a screen reader called JAWS that verbalizes what's on the screen. I use the keyboard, not the mouse, for all computer operations because the mouse is totally a visual interface.
When I tried to use CHIRP, I discovered that there seems to be no way to access any of the menus or menu commands via keyboard. Does anyone have any suggestions, tips, etc for how to do this? It may not be possible, but before I abandon it totally, I thought I'd send a query to see what's out there. Thanks.
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On 06/23/2014 08:12 PM, Catherine Getchell wrote:
Wow, thanks! Dumb question: Are there shortcut keys to bring up the various menus themselves, or only shortcut keys that activate the various menu items? I'll have to give these a shot some time soon, and I'll definitely let you know how they work out. Thanks again! Catherine
Catherine:
The shortcuts for the menus follow the usual Windows keys.
Alt-F brings up the FILE MENU
Alt-E brings up the EDIT MENU
Alt-V brings up the VIEW MENU
and
Alt-R brings up the RADIO MENU
And you can move up and down the items in each menu using the UP and DOWN ARROWS.
Hope this helps...
participants (3)
-
Bruce Marshall -
Catherine Getchell -
Dave Nathanson