Why does the Kenwood software need to be "maintained"? It works, it's not faulty, what is there to maintain?

On 11/05/2025 21:44 EDT nicheath--- via Users users@lists.chirpmyradio.com wrote:

I am able to connect to the radio and read using Kenwoods MCP-1A software and I see the TX/RX lights on my serial adapter flash accordingly. Unfortunately this software is no longer being maintained. So I really would like to use CHIRP.

The process to submit a bug request is described here, that's the best way to submit an issue:

https://www.chirpmyradio.com/projects/chirp/wiki/How_To_Report_Issues

Good luck,

Ken, N2VIP

On May 11, 2025, at 22:04, nicheath--- via Users users@lists.chirpmyradio.com wrote:

Hello, I see the TM-281 is listed as supported and in the code comments it shows it is identical to the TM-271. Indeed if I connect to the radio using putty and send the ID command it returns TM-271.

I am able to connect to the radio and read using Kenwoods MCP-1A software and I see the TX/RX lights on my serial adapter flash accordingly. Unfortunately this software is no longer being maintained. So I really would like to use CHIRP.

I have proved out my cable connection by using the MCP-1A software.

In CHIRP it doesn't seem even try sending data as my LEDs for TX/RX never light up when I hit connect.

I noticed in the MCP1-A software that there is setting read from the radio with the name of "Data Speed" with two options: 1200bps and 9600bps. I have tried setting it to 9600bps and writing that to the radio and connecting with CHIRP and still no connection and not TX/RX lights.

But I don't think this is the ultimate problem as I don't even see the TX light flash with CHIRP trying to send ID at the different speeds. I did notice in the debug log that it never tries 1200bps. It seems like CHIRP just isn't actually opening the serial port and writing to it.

Also I noticed rts/cts is set to true but that should be false, I think. I'm not sure how to change that in chirp in the UI.

Here is the debug log.

[2025-05-11 20:29:59,543] chirp.logger - DEBUG: CHIRP next-20250509 on Win32 (Unknown 10.0:22000) (Python 3.10.8) [2025-05-11 20:29:59,623] chirp.wxui - DEBUG: Using locale: en_US (276) [2025-05-11 20:29:59,631] chirp.wxui - DEBUG: Translation loaded=True for CHIRP: en_US (bg_BG,de,el,en_US,es,fr,hu,it,ja_JP,nl,pl,pt_BR,ro_RO,ru,tr_TR,uk_UA,zh_CN) from C:\bin\chirp-next-20250509-win64\chirp\locale [2025-05-11 20:29:59,639] chirp.wxui - DEBUG: Translation loaded=False for wxstd: en_US (af,an,ar,ca,ca@valencia,co,cs,da,de,el,es,eu,fa_IR,fi,fr,gl_ES,hi,hr,hu,id,it,ja,ka,ko_KR,lt,lv,ms,nb,ne,nl,pl,pt,pt_BR,ro,ru,sk,sl,sq,sv,ta,tr,uk,vi,zh_CN,zh_TW) [2025-05-11 20:30:00,177] main - INFO: Python/3.10.8 // Windows/Windows-10-10.0.22000-SP0 // CHIRP/next-20250509 // wx/4.2.0 msw (phoenix) wxWidgets 3.2.0 [2025-05-11 20:30:00,228] chirp.wxui.main - DEBUG: Recent is now ['Z:\Ham\Yaesu_VX-6_20220831.img', 'Z:\Ham\Anysecu_WP-9900_20231119.img', 'Z:\Ham\Anysecu_WP-9900_20230529.img', 'Z:\Ham\Anysecu_WP-9900_20230529.img', 'Z:\Ham\Anysecu_WP-9900_20230529.img', 'Z:\Ham\Anysecu_WP-9900_20230529.img', 'Untitled.csv'] [2025-05-11 20:30:00,492] chirp.wxui.main - INFO: Server reports next-20250509 is latest [2025-05-11 20:30:03,506] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: All system ports: [{'device': 'COM1', 'name': 'COM1', 'description': 'Communications Port (COM1)', 'hwid': 'ACPI\PNP0501\1', 'vid': None, 'pid': None, 'serial_number': None, 'location': None, 'manufacturer': '(Standard port types)', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM9', 'name': 'COM9', 'description': 'USB Serial Port (COM9)', 'hwid': 'USB VID:PID=0403:6001 SER=A9SFJXJGA', 'vid': 1027, 'pid': 24577, 'serial_number': 'A9SFJXJGA', 'location': None, 'manufacturer': 'FTDI', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM4', 'name': 'COM4', 'description': 'com0com - serial port emulator (COM4)', 'hwid': 'COM0COM\PORT\CNCA1', 'vid': None, 'pid': None, 'serial_number': None, 'location': None, 'manufacturer': 'Vyacheslav Frolov', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM3', 'name': 'COM3', 'description': 'com0com - serial port emulator (COM3)', 'hwid': 'COM0COM\PORT\CNCB1', 'vid': None, 'pid': None, 's erial_number': None, 'location': None, 'manufacturer': 'Vyacheslav Frolov', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM6', 'name': 'COM6', 'description': 'USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM6)', 'hwid': 'USB VID:PID=1A86:7523 SER= LOCATION=1-1', 'vid': 6790, 'pid': 29987, 'serial_number': '', 'location': '1-1', 'manufacturer': 'wch.cn', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM13', 'name': 'COM13', 'description': 'USB Serial Port (COM13)', 'hwid': 'USB VID:PID=0403:6001 SER=AB0LC5EGA', 'vid': 1027, 'pid': 24577, 'serial_number': 'AB0LC5EGA', 'location': None, 'manufacturer': 'FTDI', 'product': None, 'interface': None}] [2025-05-11 20:30:03,717] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Selected <class 'chirp.drivers.kenwood_live.TM281Radio'> [2025-05-11 20:30:03,718] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Automatically chose last-used port COM13 for Kenwood TM-281 [2025-05-11 20:30:05,448] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Using port 'COM13' [2025-05-11 20:30:05,448] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Selected <class 'chirp.drivers.kenwood_live.TM281Radio'> [2025-05-11 20:30:05,455] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Serial opened: Serial<id=0x1a9ae406230, open=True>(port='COM13', baudrate=9600, bytesize=8, parity='N', stopbits=1, timeout=0.25, xonxoff=False, rtscts=True, dsrdtr=False) (rts=True dtr=True) [2025-05-11 20:30:05,455] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Selected <class 'chirp.drivers.kenwood_live.TM281Radio'> [2025-05-11 20:30:05,455] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Recorded last-used port COM13 for Kenwood TM-281 [2025-05-11 20:30:05,456] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 4800 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:30:05,571] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:30:06,649] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:06,649] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:06,649] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 115200 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:30:06,756] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:30:07,839] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:07,839] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:07,839] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 57600 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:30:07,947] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:30:09,027] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:09,027] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:09,027] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 38400 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:30:09,134] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:30:10,216] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:10,216] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:10,216] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 19200 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:30:10,324] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:30:11,400] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:11,400] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:11,400] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 9600 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:30:11,508] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:30:12,591] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:12,591] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:12,591] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 4800 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:30:12,700] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:30:13,775] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:13,775] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:13,775] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 115200 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:30:13,883] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:30:14,956] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:14,956] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:14,956] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 57600 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:30:15,063] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:30:16,140] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:16,140] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:16,140] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 38400 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:30:16,248] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:30:17,328] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:17,328] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:17,328] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 19200 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:30:17,436] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:30:18,511] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:18,511] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:18,511] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 9600 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:30:18,619] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:30:19,697] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:30:19,697] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:30:19,697] chirp.wxui.clone - ERROR: Failed to open serial: No response from radio Traceback (most recent call last): File "chirp\wxui\clone.py", line 808, in _actual_action File "chirp\drivers\kenwood_live.py", line 101, in __init__ File "chirp\drivers\kenwood_live.py", line 157, in get_id chirp.errors.RadioError: No response from radio [2025-05-11 20:30:26,285] chirp.wxui.bugreport - DEBUG: Created page start [2025-05-11 20:30:26,292] chirp.wxui.bugreport - DEBUG: Created page creds [2025-05-11 20:30:26,316] chirp.wxui.bugreport - DEBUG: Created page existbug [2025-05-11 20:30:26,326] chirp.wxui.bugreport - DEBUG: Created page update [2025-05-11 20:30:31,384] chirp.wxui.bugreport - DEBUG: Created page newbug [2025-05-11 20:40:50,755] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: All system ports: [{'device': 'COM1', 'name': 'COM1', 'description': 'Communications Port (COM1)', 'hwid': 'ACPI\PNP0501\1', 'vid': None, 'pid': None, 'serial_number': None, 'location': None, 'manufacturer': '(Standard port types)', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM9', 'name': 'COM9', 'description': 'USB Serial Port (COM9)', 'hwid': 'USB VID:PID=0403:6001 SER=A9SFJXJGA', 'vid': 1027, 'pid': 24577, 'serial_number': 'A9SFJXJGA', 'location': None, 'manufacturer': 'FTDI', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM4', 'name': 'COM4', 'description': 'com0com - serial port emulator (COM4)', 'hwid': 'COM0COM\PORT\CNCA1', 'vid': None, 'pid': None, 'serial_number': None, 'location': None, 'manufacturer': 'Vyacheslav Frolov', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM3', 'name': 'COM3', 'description': 'com0com - serial port emulator (COM3)', 'hwid': 'COM0COM\PORT\CNCB1', 'vid': None, 'pid': None, 's erial_number': None, 'location': None, 'manufacturer': 'Vyacheslav Frolov', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM6', 'name': 'COM6', 'description': 'USB-SERIAL CH340 (COM6)', 'hwid': 'USB VID:PID=1A86:7523 SER= LOCATION=1-1', 'vid': 6790, 'pid': 29987, 'serial_number': '', 'location': '1-1', 'manufacturer': 'wch.cn', 'product': None, 'interface': None}, {'device': 'COM13', 'name': 'COM13', 'description': 'USB Serial Port (COM13)', 'hwid': 'USB VID:PID=0403:6001 SER=AB0LC5EGA', 'vid': 1027, 'pid': 24577, 'serial_number': 'AB0LC5EGA', 'location': None, 'manufacturer': 'FTDI', 'product': None, 'interface': None}] [2025-05-11 20:40:50,974] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Selected <class 'chirp.drivers.kenwood_live.TM281Radio'> [2025-05-11 20:40:50,974] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Automatically chose last-used port COM13 for Kenwood TM-281 [2025-05-11 20:40:58,620] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Using port 'COM13' [2025-05-11 20:40:58,620] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Selected <class 'chirp.drivers.kenwood_live.TM281Radio'> [2025-05-11 20:40:58,620] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Serial opened: Serial<id=0x1a9ae761750, open=True>(port='COM13', baudrate=9600, bytesize=8, parity='N', stopbits=1, timeout=0.25, xonxoff=False, rtscts=True, dsrdtr=False) (rts=True dtr=True) [2025-05-11 20:40:58,620] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Selected <class 'chirp.drivers.kenwood_live.TM281Radio'> [2025-05-11 20:40:58,620] chirp.wxui.clone - DEBUG: Recorded last-used port COM13 for Kenwood TM-281 [2025-05-11 20:40:58,620] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 4800 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:40:58,730] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:40:59,828] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:40:59,828] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:40:59,828] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 115200 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:40:59,938] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:41:01,036] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:01,036] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:01,036] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 57600 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:41:01,146] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:41:02,245] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:02,245] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:02,245] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 38400 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:41:02,355] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:41:03,439] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:03,439] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:03,439] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 19200 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:41:03,549] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:41:04,584] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:04,584] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:04,584] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 9600 with delimiter "('\r', ' ')" [2025-05-11 20:41:04,691] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID [2025-05-11 20:41:05,723] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:05,723] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:05,723] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 4800 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:41:05,826] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:41:06,900] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:06,900] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:06,900] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 115200 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:41:07,010] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:41:08,017] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:08,017] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:08,017] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 57600 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:41:08,127] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:41:09,185] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:09,185] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:09,185] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 38400 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:41:09,295] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:41:10,337] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:10,337] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:10,337] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 19200 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:41:10,447] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:41:11,528] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:11,528] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:11,528] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - INFO: Trying ID at baud 9600 with delimiter "(';', '')" [2025-05-11 20:41:11,637] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - DEBUG: PC->RADIO: ID; [2025-05-11 20:41:12,711] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Timeout waiting for data [2025-05-11 20:41:12,711] chirp.drivers.kenwood_live - ERROR: Giving up [2025-05-11 20:41:12,711] chirp.wxui.clone - ERROR: Failed to open serial: No response from radio Traceback (most recent call last): File "chirp\wxui\clone.py", line 808, in _actual_action File "chirp\drivers\kenwood_live.py", line 101, in __init__ File "chirp\drivers\kenwood_live.py", line 157, in get_id chirp.errors.RadioError: No response from radio _______________________________________________ Users mailing list users@lists.chirpmyradio.com https://lists.chirpmyradio.com/postorius/lists/users.lists.chirpmyradio.com To unsubscribe, send an email to users-leave@lists.chirpmyradio.com To report this email as off-topic, please email users-owner@lists.chirpmyradio.com List archives: https://lists.chirpmyradio.com/hyperkitty/list/users@lists.chirpmyradio.com/