Icom IC-F5061/62 - locked on TX after writing codeplug from "identical" radio :(

[g8tzl2004]

I have a VHF Icom IC-F5061/62 mobile which is running very early version 1.0 firmware.

I also have an "identical" IC-F5061/62 which is running 1.2 firmware. I successfully programmed the v1.2 firmware radio a few months ago.

In order to program the v1.2 firmware radio I needed to use "early" CS-F5060 v1.1 software which is only designed for the F5061/62 mobile. The current version 5.x software is designed for both the Icom F3160 portable and F5060 mobile series but only works on radios which use newer v2.x firmware.

I used the CS-F5060 v1.1 software to successfully READ/WRITE the current v1.0 firmware radio...and saved the original codeplug (just in case!!).

I then decided to "save time" (rather than manually inputting around 100 new channels) by writing the codeplug from the "identical" v1.2 firmware F5062 to the current v1.0 firmware F5062 radio.

However, as soon as the codeplug download completed, the IC-F5061/62 immediately started to TX (red LED light). It is possible to power down the radio but as soon as its powered up again the IC-F5061/62 immediately starts to TX again. A 30 second Time Out Timer was already enabled (thankfully!!) so after 30 seconds the radio switches to RX...BUT there is no communication between the radio and the software and I am unable to write back the original codeplug

The radio is RXing but I am unable to use the front keys to change channels etc although the on/off key works.

If I press P0 and P3 at power up, the radio displays the firmware version (v1.0) and checksum...but does NOT then start to TX but goes into RX mode. Pressing the mic PTT does NOT cause the radio to TX. If I press P0 and P4 at power up, the radio goes into DEALER mode and if I then press P3, CLONE is displayed...but there is no comms between the radio and software so I can't write back the original codeplug.

Any ideas for a fix?

Maybe a firmware update might work...assuming there is comms between the radio and the firmware update software...and assuming its possible to write new firmware with a standard serial programming cable? I have access to v2.x firmware.

I'm generally very careful when programming radios and usually try to avoid writing a codeplug from another radio...ah well

Thanks

 

[jeepsandradios]

Only chance is a firmware update if the older software wont write to it.

 

[g8tzl2004]

UPDATE: I updated the firmware from v1.0 to v5.5 and the radio is now working OK although the RX is a bit deaf so I guess the original alignment data has been lost?

The firmware update process FAILED twice but worked on the third attempt!! Running the firmware update process was reasonably straightforward. The firmware software reported the following when starting the update:

COM Open OK
Connecting OK
Pre-Processing OK
Writing ROM data...error in writing ROM data.

The 1st error was at around 1% of writing the ROM data, the 2nd error at 72% and the 3rd attempt was successful and CLONE NG appeared on the LCD.

Maybe the eeprom had got corrupted and it took 3 attempts to clear the errors??

The "standard" OPC-1122 serial programming cable worked OK for firmware updating...the 3rd party cable I used had pins 1,2,7 and 8 connected.

I need to research whether the alignment data is always lost when the firmware is updated...so it needs to be saved and then written back OR whether the eeprom got corrupted and the alignment data lost.

I think the alignment data is saved in a hidden area of the codeplug/.icf file but it is NOT normally written back to the radio when using the CS-F5060 software in "normal" mode. However, I think its possible to write back the "hidden" alignment data by switching on "Maker Reserve" in the CS-F5060 software. As I saved the original codeplug, hopefully this will also have saved the alignment data which I can write back using the Maker Reserve trick???