[chirp_users] Total Confusion

[Tom Hayward]

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 10:31 PM, Geoffrey K. Phillips
<gphillips13 at centurylink.net> wrote:
> I have just started using Chirp with my brand new Baufeng radio.
>
> I am using a TYT usb cable with a suitable adapter routine, which sets up
> COM4.
>
> Communication with the radio seems fine. I can upload and download.
>
> However, I am having a terrible time trying to get a list input to Chirp.

Wow, it sounds like you decided to start by diving into the deep end.
I hope you are a good swimmer! It sounds like you tried to use every
feature of Chirp your first time, and some of those are beta features.
Using the daily development builds, you should expect to encounter
bugs from time to time, and report those bugs to the developers so
they can be fixed. This is why the daily builds exist.

The easiest way to get data into Chirp is to click on the field you
want to edit and start typing. For example, click on one of the rows
under the Frequency column and type "146.52". Now hit enter. You just
input the 2m calling channel into your memory file! Once you're done
editing, if it's a clone mode radio like your Baofang, you need to
upload to the radio before the channel is on the radio (live mode
radios do this instantly).

> I have tried importing .tpe files, and get errors relating to difficulty
> with some floating point numbers.

.tpe files are one of those beta features I mentioned. ARRL was
unwilling to share details about the TravelPlus format, so it's
possible there are some bugs in how Chirp reads .tpe files. It would
be very helpful if you wrote a bug report and attached your .tpe file
for a developer to look at. You can do that here:

http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/issues/new

> I have tried with .csv files made with excel and get errors saying there are
> no channels.

It needs to be in Chirp csv format to work. Create the csv file with
Chirp (Ctrl-N) first, then you can edit in Excel. If you edit the
column heading names, Chirp will no longer be able to open the csv
data.

> I have even made changes to the data in an .img file (XML), and get told
> it's an invalid format.

Normally you should use software to generate xml.

> Also I am not sure that I really understand what all the columns are in the
> main display.

The developers do their best to name columns intuitively. For example,
the frequency column is labeled "Frequency", the column for changing
your tone mode is labeled "Tone Mode", and the column for changing
your tone is labeled "Tone". Knowing how to use those three columns
should get your Baofang programmed such that you can use it with local
repeaters.

> And is there any documentation available? I sure can't find any.

I recommend reading the getting started guide:
http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Beginners_Guide


Tom KD7LXL