Yaesu: Help with Programming a FT2DR

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KB2ZY0

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KB2ZYO Here:
I was gifted a FT2DR Radio a few Days ago, and am having one heck of a Time trying to find good info on how to program it. Some people say that it's as simple as Programming a Micro SD card with Yaseu's ADMS 8 Software, and sticking the SD card back into the radio. I have tried this and it does not work. Neither does Chirp, or anything else I have tried.

Has anyone else had this problem?
 

k6cpo

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If the FT-2DR is anything like it older brother, the FT-1DR, you have to actually tell the radio to read from the micro SD card to bring in the programming on the card. (See Page 155 of your manual...)
 

MTS2000des

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If the FT-2DR is anything like it older brother, the FT-1DR, you have to actually tell the radio to read from the micro SD card to bring in the programming on the card. (See Page 155 of your manual...)

yeah, tried that. I'm in the same boat as the O/P. Got a brand spanking new FT-2DR and I feel like the ADMS-8 was written by the same people that brought us CCRs. Except this ain't no $50 radio.

So...

There is no driver for the included SCU-20 cable or on Yaesu's website. So I cannot read/write using the included cable.

Grabbed a handy 8GB SD card. Put it in the radio. Formatted fine. Removed it, inserted into PC.

The lovely ADMS-8 option to "read/write to SD card" is greyed out.

Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? I program APX and XTS/XTL radios all day long, troubleshoot MCC7500s at work, but I am getting nowhere with this.

Will be a shame if this goes back to HRO but I don't have hours to dial in crap by hand and a $450 radio should be a little more intuitive than this.

Anyone have ideas?
 

chief21

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As an experiment, I downloaded the ADMS-8 software from the Yaesu site. I was also unable to read a working miniSD card.

Regarding the cable, the HELP file included with ADMS-8 says that only the SCU-19 (USB) or SCU-16 (serial) cables can be used. If I recall correctly, the SCU-20 cable might only be used for firmware updates.

One alternative already mentioned in the popular RT Systems software. Another less expensive alternative is the software from G4HFQ... only $15 (software only).

Check it out.... G4HFQ Software - FTB2D Details

John- AC4JK
 

k6cpo

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yeah, tried that. I'm in the same boat as the O/P. Got a brand spanking new FT-2DR and I feel like the ADMS-8 was written by the same people that brought us CCRs. Except this ain't no $50 radio.

So...

There is no driver for the included SCU-20 cable or on Yaesu's website. So I cannot read/write using the included cable.

Grabbed a handy 8GB SD card. Put it in the radio. Formatted fine. Removed it, inserted into PC.

The lovely ADMS-8 option to "read/write to SD card" is greyed out.

Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? I program APX and XTS/XTL radios all day long, troubleshoot MCC7500s at work, but I am getting nowhere with this.

Will be a shame if this goes back to HRO but I don't have hours to dial in crap by hand and a $450 radio should be a little more intuitive than this.

Anyone have ideas?

One of my club members was told by a Yaesu tech that the ADMS-6 software (for the FT-1D) was junk. Apparently, that hasn't changed when it comes to ADMS-8.

RT Systems software works great with the FT-2DR. using the card to transfer the data.

I've never had any issues with RT Systems software on ANY radio. The only thing is you have to use their cables and it only runs on Windows.

As an experiment, I downloaded the ADMS-8 software from the Yaesu site. I was also unable to read a working miniSD card.

Regarding the cable, the HELP file included with ADMS-8 says that only the SCU-19 (USB) or SCU-16 (serial) cables can be used. If I recall correctly, the SCU-20 cable might only be used for firmware updates.

One alternative already mentioned in the popular RT Systems software. Another less expensive alternative is the software from G4HFQ... only $15 (software only).

Check it out.... G4HFQ Software - FTB2D Details

John- AC4JK

I tried the G4HFQ software for my FT-1D. It didn't work any better than the ADMS-6. $15 wasted... I've learned my lesson and I will always go with RT Systems from now on.
 

K4SVT

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it is the SCU-19 Driver for the FT-2DR..not SCU-20..just throwing it out there..SCU-19 cable and SCU-19 Driver looks like the best fit.

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk
 

MTS2000des

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Well, what a shame that Yaesu puts out software that is useless. I have an FTM-400DR that I have no issues using the ADMS software with, reading and writing with both the included cable and/or Micro-SD card.

Wanted to get this up and running but it looks like I'll have to shell out more $$$$ just to program the thing.

And I have yet to receive a response from Yaesu on these issues. Not a good sign when one has spent just shy of $500 on a radio. I like the products but their support is about on par with a Chinese radio vendor. That would be ok with me if they were priced accordingly.

Oh well, it will sit another week until I have time to play with it.
 

K4SVT

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Chirp has it for the FT-1DR..not 2DR...that bites..

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk
 

AK9R

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Folks, please try to stay on topic. The OP is looking for help programming an FT2DR.
 

R2AJP

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I had the same issue with FT2DR. I found this workaround:

1. Open ADMS-8\bin diectory on your disk. There is a config.xml file
2. Open config.xml in any text editor. Change value <CpuType>2</CpuType> to 1. It will be <CpuType>1</CpuType> then. Save the file.
3. Run Ft2dAdms8.exe. Now user interface will be in Japanese, but menu options are at the same places and now they are not gray!
4. Find option for reading sd card (it on the same place as english version) and click it. You will be prompted to open BACKUP file on sd card. Choose and open this file on sd card. After loading a message appears. Click OK.
5. Now save file on your computer. Simply press Ctrl+S and give a name to the file
6. Exit from app
7. Edit config.xml again and set <CpuType>2</CpuType>
8. Now you can edit your settings as you like using english user interface.Save changes at the end and exit app
9. Set <CpuType>1</CpuType> again to write your changes to sd card
10. Run Ft2dAdms8.exe again in Japanese
11. Open your previously saved file with settings
12. Choose from menu sd write. You will be prompted to select dir to write BACKUP file. Select original dir on sd card and overwrite original file.
13. That is all. Put sd card in ft2d and restore backup

Hope it will work for you too,
R2AJP
 

k6cpo

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I went to a club meeting last night that featured a presentation on Yaesu System Fusion. It was given by Chris Wilson, the national sales manage for Yaesu America.

During the presentation software for the FT-2DR came up and he stated that "Yaesu is a radio manufacturing company, not a software company." Based on this statement and the issues with ADMS-6 and ADMS-8, I'd be inclined to rely on RT Systems instead. In fact, if buy Yaesu-branded boxed software for any other Yaesu HT or mobile, you'll find RT Systems discs when you open it up.
 

MTS2000des

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I went to a club meeting last night that featured a presentation on Yaesu System Fusion. It was given by Chris Wilson, the national sales manage for Yaesu America.

During the presentation software for the FT-2DR came up and he stated that "Yaesu is a radio manufacturing company, not a software company."

That's too bad that Yaesu, The Radio, has such a poor attitude towards a high end product that they are putting much effort into convincing prospective purchases of subscriber equipment to shell out $450 a pop to buy and say, "buy your own software, we don't care"

The digital ham radio market is flooded with disparate systems: D-Star, System Fusion, DMR, NXDN, and P25.

The competition give away fully functional software (DMR ham specific radios like the Connect Systems and Tytera), Icom even provides free software with their D-Star products. Hams expect to be able to program and configure their radios "out of the box" without having to shell out more money for third party software. Again, at the price point these radios sell for, it is not unreasonable to provide basic but fully functional software. If Yaesu is going to take that attitude, then pull the half-butt files off their site and post a link to RT Systems or (whatever third party vendor) and call it a day.

I ended up buying the FT-2D Programmer from RT via Digital Download for $25 tonight. Programmed my FT-2D in about 30 minutes. There are a couple of Fusion machines in town, including one setup for digital in- analog out.

R2AJP, thanks for posting this workaround. Again, annoying that a "radio company" sells a high tier product with garbage software, but hey, don't let that dissuade you from getting an FT-2DR. It is still a great radio.
 

NC2H

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May 30, 2016
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One Step Closer

I was able to write and read a BACKUP.dat file TO and FROM the SD Card using the ADMS software after making the change to the xml file.

I cannot Read from SD on the FT2D, selecting option 2 and hitting DISP does nothing.
If I select Write to SD, it goes through the motions and ends up with COMPLETE, but the file does not change on the SD Card.

I have the latest firmware installed.

Any thoughts?

Craig, NC2H


I had the same issue with FT2DR. I found this workaround:

1. Open ADMS-8\bin diectory on your disk. There is a config.xml file
2. Open config.xml in any text editor. Change value <CpuType>2</CpuType> to 1. It will be <CpuType>1</CpuType> then. Save the file.
3. Run Ft2dAdms8.exe. Now user interface will be in Japanese, but menu options are at the same places and now they are not gray!
4. Find option for reading sd card (it on the same place as english version) and click it. You will be prompted to open BACKUP file on sd card. Choose and open this file on sd card. After loading a message appears. Click OK.
5. Now save file on your computer. Simply press Ctrl+S and give a name to the file
6. Exit from app
7. Edit config.xml again and set <CpuType>2</CpuType>
8. Now you can edit your settings as you like using english user interface.Save changes at the end and exit app
9. Set <CpuType>1</CpuType> again to write your changes to sd card
10. Run Ft2dAdms8.exe again in Japanese
11. Open your previously saved file with settings
12. Choose from menu sd write. You will be prompted to select dir to write BACKUP file. Select original dir on sd card and overwrite original file.
13. That is all. Put sd card in ft2d and restore backup

Hope it will work for you too,
R2AJP
 

k6cpo

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Joined
Dec 30, 2013
Messages
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Location
San Diego, CA
I was able to write and read a BACKUP.dat file TO and FROM the SD Card using the ADMS software after making the change to the xml file.

I cannot Read from SD on the FT2D, selecting option 2 and hitting DISP does nothing.
If I select Write to SD, it goes through the motions and ends up with COMPLETE, but the file does not change on the SD Card.

I have the latest firmware installed.

Any thoughts?

Craig, NC2H

When you get tired of fussing with it, there is always RT Systems...
 

KE0GXN

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Both radios I purchased so far I have also purchased the corresponding RT Systems software. It is well worth the money...

Sometimes when you pay nothing for something, you get what you pay for. ;)

I do not regret shelling out for RT.
 

NC2H

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May 30, 2016
Messages
2
Not ready to give up yet!

Looks like all brands of MicroSD cards are not compatible with the FT2D (at least 2GB). After several friends went through their junk drawers of SD cards, only the Lexar card would work to create a backup file from the radio (Kingston and PNY failed).

Once I read the BACKUP.dat from the Lexar SD card into the ADMS software, I was able to SEND DATA TO SD CARD WITHOUT changing the XML file.

When you get tired of fussing with it, there is always RT Systems...
 
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