[chirp_users] VX5 trouble

Tom Hayward
Tue Mar 6 20:32:04 PST 2012


On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 20:28, Dan Smith <dsmith at danplanet.com> wrote:
> Fair warning: I have never laid hands on a VX-5. I wrote the driver
> purely in speculation and have had reports that it works.

Ok, my guess is I'm using more or different features than any of the
previous testers (of they would have had this problem too!)...

>> Now I put the VX5 in memory recall mode and look for memories 201-216.
>> They're not there! However, if I try to create a new memory with the
>> VX5, the VX5 shows those slots are taken.
>
> Perhaps the driver is not properly setting some used/empty bit?

Possibly. My hunch is that there is some other sort of read error on
the memory, so it's skipping the whole channel. I've been using Chirp
for quite some time with the VX5 and the first time I had this problem
was also the first time I tried programming a NFM / half-deviation
memory.

>> No luck. I got CLONE ERROR on the display, and this in the terminal:
>>
>> "Clone failed: Radio did not ack block 1"
>
> If this happened and then you were able to upload/download it again
> later, I think it was probably an intermittent cable/connection issue,
> or some stale data in the serial buffer.

I'll clarify: After this point, I was never able to successfully
upload my previous img (180+ channels programmed). I was only able to
upload a new mostly blank img. Neither my "backup" image from last
week, or my newer one with the NFM channels will load, only the mostly
blank image (I need to try adding thing to the empty image to see
if/when it breaks).

>> 9. Download from radio VX5
>> 10. Add memory 1: 146.52
>> 11. Upload to radio VX5
>
> Does this mean add memory 1 where it didn't exist before? If so, that
> blows my theory above out of the water.

It means a blank image with only slot #1 programmed.

>> I'm not sure what to try next. I can provide img files if needed.
>
> If I were you, I'd start downloading images, making small changes,
> downloading more images and doing the binary diff dance. I can do it for
> you, but it's much (much) harder to do so without hands on the radio. I
> can help you through it on IRC if you like :)

I definitely need to do some in-depth poking. The first thing I'd like
to confirm is the half-deviation bit. All I know is that I've been
using Chirp for months successfully, and now have catastrophic failure
after using the half-deviation feature for the first time :)

To the innocent bystanders on the list: I would avoid using the VX5's
NFM / half-deviation mode with Chirp until I research this a bit more.
Or, if you're adventurous, try it and report your findings!

Tom KD7LXL



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