Yaesu: chirp and ft3d

[Madduck00]

got the radio today, got my license about 10 days ago.
i'm trying to learn a lot, really fast, i.e. today, to determine what i put in my suitcase. i'm on the road for the next 4 days for work, if i can learn to program this radio whilst sitting in a hotel room great, if not i dont want to carry my laptop and the radio as dead weight.

what i've got: ft3d, mac book, the USB cable that came with the radio and i bought the programming cable and software for the radio.
i didnt notice it when i purchased the extra cable and software but it appears the software will only work on windows. also, i asked the salesman if the cable needed to program the radio was included, he said no. when i opened the box and saw a cable i was a bit miffed, but i could be wrong. i cant seem to find any other reason to use the included cable other than for programming and updating. i dont know what i dont know so i may be completely missing something.

my questions:
*will the USB cable included with the radio work to program and update the radio?
*is chirp capable of programming the radio?

i really hope chirp will work for this radio without the need of the windows software, i'll be spending some time sunday afternoon sitting in a hotel. if nothing will load and connect tho i'm not going to pack this stuff along.

thanks much for helping a noob. i appreciate your time

cheers

 

[k6cpo]

The cables that come with the Yaesu System Fusion radios aren't usable for programming but are intended for firmware updates. Myself, I wouldn't use CHIRP to program a radio as complex at the FT3D. It's just not sophisticated enough. And I'm skeptical of anything that's "free." I've read too many horror stories about CHIRP bricking radios.

What programming software and cable did you buy? I'm assuming that you are a Mac user. If you purchased from RT Systems, I'd get in touch with them and arrange to return the software and cable and wait until they produce a Mac version. They're working on it. In the meantime, you can learn how to program the radio by hand; a skill that all hams should have.

And you really don't need a cable at all to program this radio. All you need is a MicroSD card of the proper size and a reader for it. You can write programming information to the card in your computer, transfer it to the radio and read the programming from the card.

 

[nd5y]

Chirp only works with radios listed at Home - CHIRP or https://trac.chirp.danplanet.com/chirp_daily/LATEST/Model_Support.html. I don't see the FT-3D listed.

 

[Station51]

Or use a compatible computer perhaps

 

[ko6jw_2]

You can set up a virtual machine on your Mac to run Windows and, thus, radio programming software. I would invest in the RT Systems software, skip the cabe and use the SD card option. Pricey, but it works. I have an FT70 and an FT2. Both Chirp and the Yaesu freeware failed on the FT70. RT Systems worked very well. The FT2 and 3 are very complex and versatile devices and you need the correct software or you will run into trouble.

By the way, I am running Wires-X software on the virtual machine on my Mac and using the Yaesu SCU-19 cable have used Fusion to connect to rooms without the need of the HRI-200 box. Great for traveling.

Have fun with your new radio and license.

 

[Madduck00]

thank you everyone for your help.

The cables that come with the Yaesu System Fusion radios aren't usable for programming but are intended for firmware updates. Myself, I wouldn't use CHIRP to program a radio as complex at the FT3D. It's just not sophisticated enough. And I'm skeptical of anything that's "free." I've read too many horror stories about CHIRP bricking radios.

What programming software and cable did you buy? I'm assuming that you are a Mac user. If you purchased from RT Systems, I'd get in touch with them and arrange to return the software and cable and wait until they produce a Mac version. They're working on it. In the meantime, you can learn how to program the radio by hand; a skill that all hams should have.

And you really don't need a cable at all to program this radio. All you need is a MicroSD card of the proper size and a reader for it. You can write programming information to the card in your computer, transfer it to the radio and read the programming from the card.

thank you for the intel about the cable, between this info and ko6jw_2's info i'll be keeping and eye on RT Sys for them to complete their work on coming out with a Mac version. and i like the idea of using the SD card. i think having a couple different cards around for my different travels would be a good idea. i'm heading to southern colorado and ouray in a few weeks, i also plan on spending more time in northern az in the future. i'll slip in the current card for the region i'm going to. (if y'all think this is a waste or bad idea please speak up. i'm want to be efficient.) i'd planned on learning how to program it manually without a doubt. i'll add the SD to my need to know list.

You can set up a virtual machine on your Mac to run Windows and, thus, radio programming software. I would invest in the RT Systems software, skip the cabe and use the SD card option. Pricey, but it works. I have an FT70 and an FT2. Both Chirp and the Yaesu freeware failed on the FT70. RT Systems worked very well. The FT2 and 3 are very complex and versatile devices and you need the correct software or you will run into trouble.

By the way, I am running Wires-X software on the virtual machine on my Mac and using the Yaesu SCU-19 cable have used Fusion to connect to rooms without the need of the HRI-200 box. Great for traveling.

Have fun with your new radio and license.

i'd planned on running windows on my mac until you guys mentioned the SD cards. since the mac version from RT Sys's isn't out yet i'm sure i'll know how to program the SD cards before it does. in that case i may be forgoing the wire/software route completely.

re: the italicized text, i had no idea what that sentence meant, i had to research it a bit before i responded.
i'll do some more research into the wires-x system, thanks. i really dont understand how this digital world of ham works. i wanted an aprs HT because i wanted something i could carry when mtn biking and hunting. when it comes time to get a mobile rig i'm sure my brain will be hurting even more trying to figure out how to set it up. but, no pain-no gain!

thank you for your time ladies/gentlemen.

 

[ko6jw_2]

To be clear, you need programming software to use the micro SD cards. The software communicates with the card and writes data and then the card goes in the radio and the contents of the card are written to the radio. The only thing you don't need is the cable (you do need a card reader).

I suggest you check out hamoperator.com for information on Fusion. They have lots of resources including the Wires-X Bible.

The FT3 has built in GPS. The GPS information is sent with the System Fusion transmission and is decoded by some (not all) Fusion radios. This is not the same as APRS which requires a digipeater. The FT3 can be set up for conventional APRS (Band B) and so you have the best of both worlds. However, it is not the same a GPS stand alone units. It will give you position, heading, speed etc, but it has no maps. Useful if you know how to navigate with a compass and have a map, but the only way to display your position on a map would be to use APRS and an app like APRS.fi. This assumes that you are in range of an APRS digipeater and have an internet connection.

This is a complex radio. Not impossible and a lot of fun, but there is a learning curve.

 

[VK4FAST]

Almost, but not quite: http://art.hunteranalytics.com

Sophisticated, no. Writing for it is about as simple as it gets.
The difficult part is the grunt work of using the radio to write a hundred files,
and pulling the SD card in & out 100 times to find valid ranges.

Even for RT Systems software, you don’t need a programming cable. It can modify the SD card save file.
I didn’t even bother supporting the cable at all. If they’d given it a USB mass storage mode, the programming cable would be redundant (surprise).

Anyhow, this doesn’t help the OP because it’s also Windows software.
I’m not in love with Windows any more than you are, but it’s the platform you write for if you want people to use your software.

 

[ham1138]

RT Systems software for FT3D is out now. Software rocks using a microSD card to transfer files. I’m using a 4MB card and a microSD to SD card adapter.

 

[n9upc]

We, Yaesu, do not suggest using CHIRP as it can damage your radio beyond repair. They will tell you that when you call into our technical support department.

We do offer free software to program our radios on our website. Yes, if you wish to use a cable you will need to purchase the SCU-19 which is part of the SCU-39 kit. The SD card requires no additional items except the purchase of a SD card. (BTW, a 16 GB card is more than sufficient for memory and other functions.)

 

[k6cpo]

We, Yaesu, do not suggest using CHIRP as it can damage your radio beyond repair. They will tell you that when you call into our technical support department.

We do offer free software to program our radios on our website. Yes, if you wish to use a cable you will need to purchase the SCU-19 which is part of the SCU-39 kit. The SD card requires no additional items except the purchase of a SD card. (BTW, a 16 GB card is more than sufficient for memory and other functions.)

I used the supplied cable and free software off the Yaesu site when I first got my FT1D handheld. I programmed one repeater into the radio as a test. When that turned out fine, I then tried to add the rest of my repeater list. At that point the radio and software quit talking to each other. I immediately tossed the Yaesu software and bought the RT Systems disc for the radio. Never looked back and now I won't use any "free" software on my radios.

 

[vagrant]

Never looked back and now I won't use any "free" software on my radios.

It is fantastic to just copy and paste frequencies from one radio to another using RTSystems for each radio. So much time saved. $25 well spent each time, plus they have updates. Hell, I even use it for some old ass Yaesu VR-500 handheld receiver.

I should note that I had trouble one time with whatever cable and software on one of the radios. The cable and software I purchased along with a radio and all were used. RTSystems had me scan the serial number on the back of the disk and I think they sent new software and a new cable. I don't even think I paid shipping. I didn't whine or complain about anything, they offered it. The software I had was old and they just straight up sent me the upgrade. At this point I've spent around $400 or more on software and cables from them. That's what happens when you own too many radios from handhelds, to mobiles, to HF.

I used Chirp once or twice to program a Baofeng or two. I have not used a Baofeng in years, Chirp even more so, but it was a great solution at the time. I would probably use Chirp again for the Baofeng, but I would never risk it on anything else. The free Yaesu and Kenwood software for their radios works, but it caused me pain. The $25 RTSystems aspirin works fine.

Additionally, I use a Mac as my primary computer, but I use Windows PC's, laptops and tablets because it's better to embrace it versus the pain. Yes, that means Unix too. Seriously, a $100 Windows OS tablet can be good medicine in the radio world.

 

[prcguy]

I use the free software from Yaesu to program my FT3D and I'm using the USB-68 cable from RT Systems. The cable also works with my FT2D and a laptop making the FT2D into a hotspot.

 

[jaspence]

Another vote for the RT software. I have it for several radios, and it is just more consistent in the layout and programming steps.

 

[k6cpo]

I got the "buy the best you can" bug when I went through US Navy diving school and was outfitting myself for recreational diving. In a sport like that it's your life on the line so buying cheap gear just isn't in the cards. This carried over into my photography endeavors. The photography forums were full of posts about the pitfalls of buying bargain equipment. When I got my ham radio license, it was a deja vu situation as the ham forums were just the same.

Life's too short to buy cheap gear...

 

[AA6IO]

Life's too short to buy cheap gear...
[/QUOTE]
One of the best comments I’ve ever seen on these forums.

 

[k6cpo]

Life's too short to buy cheap gear...

One of the best comments I’ve ever seen on these forums.
[/QUOTE]

Thank you