After much deliberation, I have to ask an honest question: what is the purpose of Chirp? To be fair, all I have been using it for is my 2 Baofengs. I have a Wouxun KG-Q10H, but use its own programming software so far because Chirp hasn’t picked it up yet. But if hooking up my ‘Fengs to Chirp does nothing more than populate a channel list with freqs, or change the messages, maybe you can explain what Chirp really does, what it’s useful for. What are memories for if they can’t be programmed with Chirp? Why are the other settings there?
It seems to me that, at least with Baofengs, Chirp is only useful for loading the radio with a list of downloaded repeaters…after that, each channel has to be manually “tuned” in VFO mode in order to process the tone and split, at least. The memory list is just there for look-up. Am I missing something here? And the radios themselves seem to forget, or change even the manual settings. I have no idea on how to make individual frequency settings stay after programming them. In Memory mode, in VFO mode, nothing stays as it was set. I guess it’s time to throw these junkers in the trash and actually spend some $$ on a real radio. 73, -= N4YVN =- -----Original Message----- From: Jim Unroe via Users <[email protected]> Sent: June 11, 2024 19:45 To: CHIRP users list <[email protected]> Cc: Jim Unroe <[email protected]> Subject: [users] Re: Two hosed Baofengs > > > On Jun 11, 2024, at 12:42 PM, Gary <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > I have two ‘Fengs, a GT-5R and a BF-F9 V2+. I have programmed both > > successfully several times, and decided to add another local > > repeater to both lists. I have included a screen shot of the last > > attempt on the BF-F9. > > I had just updated your software, and added the W3EPE repeater to > > the list (which correctly shows every entry), saved and uploaded it to > > the radio. > > > > > > After disconnecting from Chirp, I attempted to access the repeater > > (which is very close), and it failed. So I went into the radio menu, > > and went to item #25 Offset. It was set to 000.000. Supposed to be > > -5.0Mhz. So I manually set in on the keypad and exited. Tried the > > repeater again - no joy. Checked the offset - 000.000. Decided to > > try the offset itself - 444.375. No repeater, offset reset to 0. > > > > > > Checked several other freqs on the list - list says there is one, > > > radio > > shows 0. Uh-oh! Grabbed my GT-5R, and downloaded it to Chirp. Then > > disconnected and tried several repeaters. All worked. Used the radio > > menu, and the offsets were there. So I added the new repeater to > > that list and uploaded the list to the radio. Now none of the > > repeaters work, and manually checking the radio, all offsets have > > been reset to 0. They’re correct on the Chirp list, but the radio > > (neither radio) doesn’t receive the offset data, for some reason. > > AND - I can no longer manually set the offset from the radio > > keyboard. As soon as I exit the menu the offset returns to 0. Both > > radios are now like this. I reset the BF-F9 twice and tried > > reprogramming it, with no success. > > > > > > Any idea what’s happening here? Chirp was working until the last > > > update, > > and now I can’t even manually set these offsets… > > > > > > TIA,<IMG_0067.jpg> > > > > > > -= Gary =- CHIRP is working fine. You just don't yet understand how these radios work. These radios do not use or store 'offsets' for programmed channels. Repeaters use 2 frequencies. In input frequency that it listens to and an output frequency that it transmits on. In your example... Repeater input frequency: 449.375 Repeater output frequency: 444.375 Then for anyone to access the repeater, their radio has to use the same frequencies in the opposite role... User input frequency: 444.375 User output frequency: 449.375 That's it. No offset or shift direction required. So when a memory channel is programmed in your radio via the keypad or by using programming software from Baofeng or CHIRP, the radio is sent the RX frequency and the TX frequency. Because using the 444.375+ shorthand is a convenient way for hams to convey the frequency pair used by the repeater, CHIRP allows the user to enter it using this notation. But then in the background CHIRP that the 3 pieces of info (RX frequency, shift direction and offset) to calculate the actual TX frequency and stores that in the 'image' file because that is what the radio uses to operate in MR (channel) mode. It is for this reason that menu 25 (SFT-D) and menu 26 (OFFSET) have no purpose and do not function in MR mode. This is also why whenever the TX frequency and RX frequency of a programmed channel are not the same (as would be the case for a repeater, odd-split, cross-band or TX disabled channel), the upper status display area shows a "+-" symbol. If you set the MDF (Memory Display Format) of the currently selected display line to FREQ, you will see the RX frequency in the display. Then if you tap the [*] key to put the radio into "reverse" mode (or press the PTT button to transmit), you will see the display change to the TX frequency. Tapping the [*] key a second time (or releasing the PTT button) will return the display back to the RX frequency. It is only in VFO (frequency) mode that the SFT-D and OFFSET menus have a purpose and function. It is only in this mode that the individual "+" and "-" symbols will be seen. To find out what menus do not function in MR mode, consult my detailed menu reference for the BF-F8HP. https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_MenuDef.php Jim KC9HI _______________________________________________ Users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.chirpmyradio.com/postorius/lists/users.lists.chirpmyradio.com To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] To report this email as off-topic, please email [email protected] List archives: https://lists.chirpmyradio.com/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/ _______________________________________________ Users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.chirpmyradio.com/postorius/lists/users.lists.chirpmyradio.com To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] To report this email as off-topic, please email [email protected] List archives: https://lists.chirpmyradio.com/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/
