Need help with Chirp
- Thread starter Duhs0001
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k6cpo
Member
More information would be helpful, such as what radio, where you got the cable, do you have the correct drivers, etc.
teufler
Member
First go to Control panel, device manager, then see what com ports you have recognied. You should see your cable there. If not, thats your first problem. If you do see it, then within Chirp, Radio, download from radio, set your com port, then the brand of radio and then the model. If the brand is not there, Chirp has not been adapted to your radio.
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
They seem to have added many radios since I last looked at this - here's their wiki page
Home - CHIRP
It also has its own mailing list (link below)
chirp_users Info Page
One thing about this software - it does not like any RT Systems cables; they have a proprietary chip in them that works with RT Software only. For whatever radio you have, you should be using that manufacturer's cable, likely along with a USB-serial device, since computers these days don't have serial ports.
In fact, the CHIRP wiki has extensive information about this here....
FAQ - CHIRP
There's a lot of information here about cables and how to set up your radio for cloning...I'd start reading their wiki first, and join their mailing list to get support.
Mike
Home - CHIRP
It also has its own mailing list (link below)
chirp_users Info Page
One thing about this software - it does not like any RT Systems cables; they have a proprietary chip in them that works with RT Software only. For whatever radio you have, you should be using that manufacturer's cable, likely along with a USB-serial device, since computers these days don't have serial ports.
In fact, the CHIRP wiki has extensive information about this here....
FAQ - CHIRP
There's a lot of information here about cables and how to set up your radio for cloning...I'd start reading their wiki first, and join their mailing list to get support.
Mike
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
There seems to be a lot anecdotal evidence on both sides of this statement. I have been told that RT Systems cables work just fine with other software, but RT Systems software requires RT Systems cables.
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
Yeah according to their FAQ page, if you have a RT Systems cable from their 'Version 4' packages, it's not likely to work with Chirp. Evidently the older ones (pre version 4) can work, but it takes a fair amount of finagleing to get these to work.(that's from the cable guide wiki page)
Mike
Mike
k6cpo
Member
Problems with programming the Chinese (particularly Baofeng) radios and problems with Chirp is an ongoing topic in every single amateur radio forum I participate in.
People don't want to pay for quality products, such as the software and cables available from RT Systems when there are other, cheaper (or free) products available. I have a question for them: "What would you rather have? Software that will successfully program your radio the first time, or hours of aggravation and frustration?"
The answer is don't cheap out on programming solutions. A $4.95 cable from a Chinese supplier on eBay is probably not going to work and if you don't have a good cable, you might as well just quit right now. Also, if you don't have the right build of Chirp, you're not going have too much luck either.
Yeah, the RT Systems software and cable aren't cheap, but they aren't exorbitantly expensive either. They are reasonably priced and the bottom line is that THEY WORK!
"You get what you pay for."
(I have no affiliation with RT Systems. I just know their products work because I've used them on multiple radios very successfully.)
People don't want to pay for quality products, such as the software and cables available from RT Systems when there are other, cheaper (or free) products available. I have a question for them: "What would you rather have? Software that will successfully program your radio the first time, or hours of aggravation and frustration?"
The answer is don't cheap out on programming solutions. A $4.95 cable from a Chinese supplier on eBay is probably not going to work and if you don't have a good cable, you might as well just quit right now. Also, if you don't have the right build of Chirp, you're not going have too much luck either.
Yeah, the RT Systems software and cable aren't cheap, but they aren't exorbitantly expensive either. They are reasonably priced and the bottom line is that THEY WORK!
"You get what you pay for."
(I have no affiliation with RT Systems. I just know their products work because I've used them on multiple radios very successfully.)
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Quick answer: software that runs on my operating system of ch'oice. Longer answer: despite the myopic: views of commercial products like the RT Systems software, there are operating system other than Windows and people that run them do not want to have to jump through hoops to get Windows based software to work. Chirp, for all the issues that people encounter with it, is the only real attempt to acknowledge that hams use other operating systems.
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