R20 - impossible to program!

[wbswetnam]

I just got my ICOM R-20 a few days ago, and am I ever disappointed with this radio! First off, I paid the extra $50 for the CS-208 programming software. I plugged in the radio to my computer's USB port, and it refused to load the driver from the CD. I tried everything - I even copied the contents of the installation folder to the desktop and tried to install it from there, but to no avail. I appears that the driver isn't even on the CD (so where are we supposed to get it from??????).

Then I thought, "Well, I guess I'll program the memory channels manually through the keyboard", but that is a major undertaking. I can't figure out the instructions in the manual... and no, I'm not a noob. I've had various scanners and shortwave receivers over the years, including ICOM (I still love my R-75). But programming the R-20 manually is beyond me.

Has anyone else had any problems with the data cloning process on the R-20???

 

[KD9KSO]

All I can say is don't buy the AR8200 if you're having trouble with the ICOM

Wish I could help but I haven't bought this receiver yet.

 

[N8IAA]

Have you tried letting your pc find the driver? I run a laptop with XP home and it found my RS USB cable the first time I turned it on. Same with any cable on Windows 7. Try that and see if it works. Icom software is not easy to work with. Had an IC-2720 mobile and it was almost easier to program by hand
Larry

 

[wbswetnam]

Which file?

Does anyone know exactly which file in the installation file folder is the driver? I got the software program itself to install, but because the COM port setting isn't established, it won't work until I have the driver installed properly.

I have completely given up on programming this thing through the keyboard. The software is my only hope. Otherwise, I'm putting it up for sale on eBay!

 

[KD9KSO]

Right click on each file in the folder and select properties.

 

[wbswetnam]

Have you tried letting your pc find the driver? I run a laptop with XP home and it found my RS USB cable the first time I turned it on. Same with any cable on Windows 7. Try that and see if it works. Icom software is not easy to work with. Had an IC-2720 mobile and it was almost easier to program by hand
Larry

OK I allowed Windows XP find a driver. That was a mistake - now when I plug in the radio to the USB drive, it doesn't do anything at all. There's no acknowledgment from the computer that the radio is plugged in. When I try to run the CS-208 software, it asks for the location of the COM port of the radio. No matter which COM port I try, it gives an error message box saying "Cannot access COM (port tried). Check the following: the COM port settings; cloning cable connections; transceiver power is ON"

I also tried some data entry in the program itself. It is not at all intuitive - how do I set a channel as USB or LSB? How do I import from another file type? I made an Excel spreadsheet with all the data for how I wanted the radio configured, but it doesn't seem to be able to import files that are not of it's own type.

 

[Tom_G]

Isn't the correct software the CS-R20?
I am not sure what the 208 software is.
Let me know.

 

[N8IAA]

Isn't the correct software the CS-R20?
I am not sure what the 208 software is.
Let me know.

Well, CS-208 would be for the IC-208 dual band transceiver. That would make it very difficult to program the R-20 which uses the CS-R20 software. Maybe exchanging the software for the correct package would make it easier. I should have recognized that earlier
Larry

 

[wbswetnam]

Ah-HA!

Isn't the correct software the CS-R20?
I am not sure what the 208 software is.
Let me know.

You're right! They sent me the wrong software! Duh! No wonder it doesn't work. I'll call them tomorrow and demand they exchange software packages with me.

 

[nanZor]

I can help step you through the keyboard if you want so at least you can listen and scan a little bit before offering it up for sale. The manual can definitely leave one's head spinning.

Throw a couple of freqs my way and I'll step through it with some pointers and gotchas to make it easier...

Actually, I'll start a new thread focusing on the keyboard, since this one has the focus on R20 software ...

 

[Tom_G]

wbswetnam - I sent you a PM with some additional info.
Thanks,

 

[Fast1eddie]

Brother, I can understand how you feel. I bought my R20 a year or so back with many of the accessories, life was good then, ha. Could not program that thing to save my ***. It really bothered me for awhile to do it, but I ended up selling everything at a loss. Did not get a bad deal, and vowed ever to buy Icom. I hope you get up and running, it is a sweet radio but the learning curve was too steep for the minimal amount off time I had.

 

[wbswetnam]

ICOM products

Thanks Edward. The only other ICOM product I have is an R75 I bought back in 1999. It, too, can be hard to understand at first but I eventually mastered it. It's been a good receiver but I wanted to go with a broadband receiver for a change. I plan to keep plugging away at the R20 and hope that it eventually sinks in. I just wish I were buddies with the Japanese engineers who designed this thing to begin with!

 

[wbswetnam]

Success!

OK, I managed to roll back the old driver, install the new one, and after several hours of laborous data entry to the R20 program, I wrote it to the receiver. As I write this, the R20 is happily scanning through local police and fire frequencies. Thanks to all who helped me out with this unit!

 

[ka3jjz]

If someone were to write something up about how to program the R20 via the keyboard, I'm certain we can find a home on the wiki for it somewhere (hint hint)

best regards..Mike