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UV5R computer programming problem

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Sarge47

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Sep 14, 2010
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Out in The Sticks...
When I first pgrm this radio it took me awhile using chirp and trial and error method. I successfully prog 51 freqs. I even went back in Chirp and added subtracted and changed some freqs. The problem started because i had to restart my pc which shutdown chirp. Since then i cannot program freqs. Chirp will start but with a blank sheet.Clicking on radio, Upload to radio is grayed out. Download From radio is available. However when clicked it makes me authorize ports as in first time successful prg BUT get port error msg. After many bad retries I decided to get new cable with advertised FTDI with FT 232R chipset.
Same problem. Any help appreciated.
Thanks, Sarge
 

KC9HI

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Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 13, 2013
Messages
269
When I first pgrm this radio it took me awhile using chirp and trial and error method. I successfully prog 51 freqs. I even went back in Chirp and added subtracted and changed some freqs. The problem started because i had to restart my pc which shutdown chirp. Since then i cannot program freqs. Chirp will start but with a blank sheet.Clicking on radio, Upload to radio is grayed out. Download From radio is available. However when clicked it makes me authorize ports as in first time successful prg BUT get port error msg. After many bad retries I decided to get new cable with advertised FTDI with FT 232R chipset.
Same problem. Any help appreciated.
Thanks, Sarge
Hi Sarge,

You cannot just load CHIRP and start out by selecting File -> New to start programming. CHIP will not know which one of over 100 supported radio models you are attempting to program.

The first thing you must do with CHIRP is to download from your radio. This will create a template that is compatible with your radio. The brand and model of radio will then show in the tab. It will look something like: | Baofeng UV-5R: (Untitled)* X |

I assume that your tab with the 51 channels reads something like: | Generic CSV: Untitled.csv X |

A generic tab like this cannot be uploaded to any radio. That is why the "Upload To Radio" function is greyed out.

But all is not lost. CHIRP has a multi-tabbed interface. Load your "Generic CSV" into one tab. Now download from your radio to create a "Baofeng UV-5R" tab.

Now you can "cut & paste" the 51 programmed memories from the "Generic CSV" tab to the "Baofeng UV-5R" tab. Make any additional edits to the "Baofeng UV-5R" tab and then perform an "Upload To Radio".

Don't forget to save the "Baofeng UV-5R" tab to a .img file. Once you do this, you will be able to load the saved file at a later time, make edits, and then upload the changes to your radio.

Jim KC9HI
 

pricci4040

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Joined
Jan 8, 2015
Messages
25
Location
Cocoa FL
windows 10 chirp

I want to download Chirp to my computer for my UV-5R+ the site I have seen is saying not recommended for windows. I have windows 10 what do I use to download it. Thanks Peter.
 

KC9HI

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Mar 13, 2013
Messages
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I want to download Chirp to my computer for my UV-5R+ the site I have seen is saying not recommended for windows. I have windows 10 what do I use to download it. Thanks Peter.

Either you misunderstood or the site was incorrect. CHIRP works fine with Windows XP through Windows 10.

What you don't want is the CHIRP v0.4.1 stable build. It is 17 months old and not recommended for Baofeng radios. This is because there have been quite a few new models and firmware versions that had to be addressed in daily builds over the last year. So what you need is the most recent CHIRP daily build.

Depending on the chip in your programming cable, getting a compatible device driver installed and selected can be an issue.

Jim KC9HI
 

jgorman21

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Feb 21, 2008
Messages
584
Location
Glenmont N.Y.
CHIRP Programming Probelms

Hello.

I hope someone can help. I tried following Jim's instructions above. Doing the basic CSV file. Making a radio template image file, etc etc. Then copy and past the contents of the CSV to the new image file. But the "upload to radio" tab is still greyed out?

What am I doing wrong? What else can I do?

I was trying to help an friend re-program his Yaesu VX 5.

Thanks.
 

cmdrwill

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Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Messages
3,984
Location
So Cali
snip
What am I doing wrong? What else can I do?

I was trying to help an friend re-program his Yaesu VX 5.

Thanks.

ALWAYS read the radio into the programming software, CHIRP in this case, FIRST.....
Then make sure yo can see the 'channels' that are in your radio.

THEN make changes to that.
 

blackbird77

Newbie
Joined
Apr 6, 2018
Messages
2
Location
Cedar Hill, MO
As cmdrwill implied you have to load the information you want into a copy of the file you download from your radio. You should make a copy of that file so you always have the original downloaded file. This file has a .img extension.

Data from the .csv files you import from data sources must be copied to an image (.img) file for upload to your radio.

I wrote these basic CHIRP instructions for first time users based on my own experience from just a few days ago, and I hope they are helpful. I am certainly not an expert, so please don't critique me too roughly.

CHIRP for first time users:
1. Open CHIRP.
2. Connect USB cable to computer then to radio. Turn Radio on and select a frequency/channel that is not in use.
3. In CHIRP, click Radio, Download From Radio
4. Select a Port, Vendor and Model. Answer questions or click OK after reading any pop-up windows. Wait for Cloning to complete.
5. Select File, Save. This will create the original image (.img) file for your radio. Enter a name for your file or use the provided default filename. I like to use the default filename and add "_original" to the end so I can clearly see this is my original image file. Select a folder or use the option to Create Folder, then click the Save button. CHIRP automatically adds a .img extension to the end of the filename.
6. Make a copy of the image file you just created using Windows File Manager (maybe Windows Explorer depending on which version of Microsoft Windows you have) or Finder (if you have a Mac). This copy is the file you will use to make changes to upload to your radio.
7. In CHIRP, close the tab you just created with your newly downloaded image file. Click the X on the right of the tab or click File, Close.
8. Click File, Open. Select the copy of your image file (in my case, that's the file that ends with "_original.img". Click Open. This is the file you will upload to your radio after making changes to it. Note that you can select the Memories and Settings in the left navigation bar of the image tab in CHIRP. It is probably obvious, but the Settings page lets you change all the options that are available in the menu of your radio. This is much easier than clicking through the menu option in your radio.
9. You have multiple options for editing the image file you will upload to your radio. Here are some examples...
- You can manually edit the image file by typing frequencies and related data in the fields for each memory location you want to load.
- You can click Radio, Query data source to open data in a new tab in CHIRP. You can copy and paste rows from this tab to your image tab. You can also click File, Export to save this as a .csv file for later use.
- You can click Radio, Import from data source to import information directly into the image file you have open.
- You can click Radio, Import from stock config to import information directly into the image file you have open.
- You can click File, Open to open a previously saved img or csv file.
10. Once you have edited the image file with the data you want to upload to your radio, save it with whatever name you want.
11. If you have multiple tabs open, select the tab containing the image file you want to upload. Click Radio, Upload to radio. Select Port, Vendor and Model. If your radio is still connected, these will already be selected from the download you did earlier. Click OK and respond to any popup windows.
12. Congratulations! You just loaded the data from your image file into your radio.
13. Turn your radio off, then disconnect the USB cable from your radio and computer.

This is what I learned the first time I used CHIRP, and it is intended to be a quick primer on using CHIRP. I will probably come back later and edit these instructions because I'm sure they need improvement - and I expect I mistyped some things too. Please feel free to offer suggestions or just copy and paste these making your own changes.

Jim - KC0MDV
 
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