I just purchased one off e-bay was curious as to how hard they are to program where can I get software any cables I need or can you program on the fly? any advice will be appreciated.
As already mentioned, the programming software is proprietary to /\/\, but NLA through their online sales outlet. It's kind of a quandry.
If you just have the one radio, and you are only going to have it programmed once or twice while it is yours, you may find it easier to just have a radio shop do the work. Typical programming costs for conventional analog units is about $30 to $50.
If there is a ham radio club near you, they may be able to help you for free or minimal charge.
If you do decide to acquire the software and cables, study the existing threads here and on the batboard about programming this radio and other /\/\ legacy radios. There's lots of good info for the reading, and you should learn some of the do's and don'ts of programming. Rule #1 is when you first read a radio: save a copy of the codeplug to your hard drive or a memory card. That way, if you make a mistake that you can not correct, it is usually possible to blow a known good codeplug back into the radio. Read, save, program to your heart's delight, save the new codeplug under a different file name (do not overwrite the original!) and then, and only then should you write back to the radio.