[chirp_users] Using CHIRP Without the Mouse

[Catherine Getchell]

Wow, thanks!  Dumb question:  Are there shortcut keys to bring up the
various menus themselves, or only shortcut keys that activate the
various menu items?  I'll have to give these a shot some time soon,
and I'll definitely let you know how they work out.  Thanks again!
Catherine

On 6/23/14, Dave Nathanson <KG6ZJO at nathanson.org> wrote:
> YAY! :-) Good for you!
>
> The File menu keyboard commands are (in order):
> New = command n
> Open = Command o
> Recent with submenu of the 8 recently opened files (no keyboard shortcut)
> Save = command s
> Save As  = no keyboard command.
> Import = alt i
> Export = alt e
> Close = command c
>
> Command is for Mac, I imagine you'd substitute the Windows key instead of
> command.
>
> The rest of the Menus are:
>
> Edit Menu:
> Cut = control x
> Copy = control c
> Paste = control v
> Delete = (no keyboard command)
> Move Up = control up arrow
> Move Down = control down arrow
> Exchange = control shift X
>
> View Menu: (No keyboard shortcuts)
> Columns = (Shows a dialog box to hide or show available columns)
> Hide Unused Fields (this command toggles the feature on or off)
> Smart Tone Modes (this command toggles the feature on or off)
> Change Language (Shows a dialog box to choose the language). Escape will
> safely close the dialog box.
>
> Radio Menu:
> Download from Radio = alt d
> Upload to Radio = alt u
> Import from Data Source with submenus of:
> 	Radio Reference.com
> 	Repeater Book
> 	przemienniki.net
> 	RFinder
>
> Query Data Source with submenus of:
> 	Radio Reference.com
> 	Repeater Book
> 	przemienniki.net
> 	RFinder
>
> Channel Defaults
> Stop
>
> Help Menu:
> Search, with input field
> Report Statistics
> Enable Developer Functions
>
>
> That is all of the menus.
>
> Escape usually closes a dialog box.
>
> You may have multiple Tabs open at once. Each tab is a radio file. I expect
> we will not need multiple tabs open.
>
> One good way to edit your channels & add more to the radio is to:
>
> 1. Download from radio into CHIRP.
> 2. Export as a CSV file.
> 3. Open that CSV file with Excel or your favorite spreadsheet app.
> 4. Make your changes there, then save as CSV file and
> 5. import csv file back into Chirp.
> 6. Upload to Radio.
>
>
> How to Export to csv file:
> alt x
> name the new file.
> press enter or return.
> This brings up another dialog box that gives you the opportunity to select
> itms to include or not include in the saved file. I always save everything.
>
> press tab 12 times then return to save the file. It will be slightly easier
> if you do not quit Chirp. Just leave it running right there.
>
> Then open that csv text file in your favorite spreadsheet app & edit. The
> first row will have the column titles. Save as csv text file when finished.
>
>
> How to import a CSV Text file into Chirp:
> alt i
> This opens the file selection dialog box, which may default to only showing
> .chirp files. We want a .csv file.
>
> Press tab once, to enter the field to select the file types to display.
> Press down arrow twice to select the third item which is .csv files.
>
> Press tab 11 times, then right arrow to enter the area to select a file. Now
> up and down arrow to select a file to import.
> Press Return to select the highlighted file.
>
> This brings up that dialog box where you can choose to omit some records. I
> always want all of them, so press tab 12 times then press Return to
> continue. That ought to perform the import.
>
> With some luck, we now have Chirp displaying all your edited memory
> locations, using the same window that we downloaded from the radio.  Great!
> Lets upload all that into the radio.
>
> How To Upload To Radio:
> Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up a dialog box to select the
> port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous
> selections. So 6 presses of the Tab key then press Return ought to get you
> past that upload dialog box.
>
> OKAY! That might do it!
> Please let me know what did or didn't work, or what could use some revision,
> and any tips you can pass on that might help the next blind Chirp user.
>
> Good Luck! :-)
>
> Best,
> Dave Nathanson
> KG6ZJO
>
> On Jun 22, 2014, at 4:47 PM, Catherine Getchell <cgtrumpet at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Dave,
>>
>> The keyboard shortcuts worked great!  I was able to download my
>> existing channels onto the computer.  What I'm not sure how to do
>> using the keyboard is add more channels to the radio.  Are there other
>> keyboard shortcuts?  Like what about for the file menu?  Thanks so
>> much for the help!
>> Catherine
>>
>> On 6/21/14, Dave Nathanson <KG6ZJO at nathanson.org> wrote:
>>> Hi Catherine,
>>>
>>> Bad news and maybe good news. First the bad news.
>>>
>>>> From the CHIRP documentation Wiki:
>>> http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/FAQ
>>> "I'm a blind ham. Can I use CHIRP with a screen reader?
>>>
>>> CHIRP uses a graphical toolkit called GTK. This lets it run on all
>>> platforms
>>> unchanged. Since GTK is native on Linux, screen reading software for
>>> Linux
>>> will work with CHIRP without any trouble. On MacOS and Windows, GTK is
>>> not
>>> native and thus screen readers on these platforms will see CHIRP as a
>>> blank
>>> window. This cannot and will not be changed, as it would mean writing
>>> CHIRP
>>> three times, once for each platform, or dropping support for MacOS and
>>> Windows entirely."
>>>
>>>
>>> Ok, here is some slightly better news. CHIRP does have keyboard support
>>> for
>>> all or most menu commands, even if they may not be not exactly what you
>>> expect.
>>>
>>> Generally the first command is to "Download From Radio" (menu title is
>>> Radio). Or from the keyboard press alt d at the same time. On a
>>> Macintosh,
>>> you might expect that to be command d, but it is really option d. Oh, it
>>> looks like JAWS is a Windows, app, so you are probably using Windows. I'm
>>> on
>>> Macintosh, but I expect it will be exactly the same.
>>>
>>> After reading your message, and remarking to myself about the courage it
>>> must take to approach daily life without sight, I spent some time more
>>> or
>>> less discovering the following keyboard sequences, please let us know if
>>> they work for you, and how to improve these tips for you, and people in
>>> your
>>> situation. If we do OK, maybe I will make an addition to the CHIRP
>>> documentation. On the other hand, if your screen reader can't see
>>> anything
>>> in CHIRP, the following may not be so useful.
>>>
>>> I'm going to assume you have already installed CHIRP and the necessary
>>> other
>>> files, including the correct driver your your USB to Serial cable. Be
>>> sure
>>> that the cable is firmly plugged into the radio and all that.
>>>
>>> After connecting your radio cable & launching CHIRP.
>>>
>>> Pressing alt d will bring up a dialog box titled "Radio" that asks you
>>> to
>>> choose the port to use (or USB driver to use), the radio make & the
>>> radio
>>> model.
>>> When this dialog box comes up, you can press tab once to select the
>>> first
>>> pop up menu to select the port or USB driver. Use the up or down arrows
>>> to
>>> select the driver you need. The driver will not be named bluetooth, but
>>> it
>>> might say cu.usb serial or similar.
>>>
>>> Then press tab twice to get to the second choice, the radio make. use up
>>> &
>>> down arrows to select.
>>>
>>> Then press tab once to get to the 3rd field, the radio model. This will
>>> only
>>> include model numbers that match the radio make. Again, use the up &
>>> down
>>> arrows.
>>> Then press tab twice to pass over the cancel button & land on the OK
>>> button,
>>> where enter or return will be the same as pressing OK.
>>>
>>> This ought to initiate a download from the radio. For some radios CHIRP
>>> will
>>> display a dialog box with helpful tips on how to successfully connect to
>>> that particular radio.
>>>
>>> After the Download From Radio is completed successfully, you may make
>>> changes to that info on screen, save, and upload back to the radio.
>>>
>>> The radio data will be displayed much like a spreadsheet. There are 2
>>> tabs,
>>> named Memories and Settings. We want Memories.
>>> There is also several fields across the top of the windows which we
>>> probably
>>> do not need to change right now.
>>> Press tab 6 times, then down arrow to get into the spreadsheet rows.
>>> Press
>>> down arrow many times to get to the memory row you want to edit.
>>>
>>> Up and down arrows will select a row. Each memory location is a row.
>>> While
>>> you are in a row, the return key will select the current data field, so
>>> you
>>> can edit it, then press return again to deselect. Right arrow will move
>>> to
>>> next data field in the same row, press enter to edit.
>>>
>>> Column titles depend on which radio you are using. I believe the column
>>> titles for any of the BaoFeng UV-5R series of radios are:
>>> Memory Location number, Name, Frequency, Duplex, Offset, Tone Mode, Tone
>>> TX,
>>> Tone Squelch RX, DTCS code, DTCS Rx code, Cross Mode, Mode, Power, Skip.
>>> It is possible to drag the columns to a different sequence.
>>>
>>> Upload To Radio is alt u. That will bring up that dialog box to select
>>> the
>>> port, radio make & radio model again. It will remember your previous
>>> selections.
>>>
>>> Those are the most important CHIRP commands.
>>>
>>> I hope this helps, please let us know.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Dave Nathanson
>>> KG6ZJO
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jun 20, 2014, at 8:59 PM, Catherine Getchell <cgtrumpet at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>> I'm new to the list.  I downloaded CHIRP to use with my BaoFeng UV5
>>>> because programming it is a beast using the radio itself.  I am
>>>> totally blind and use a screen reader called JAWS that verbalizes
>>>> what's on the screen.  I use the keyboard, not the mouse, for all
>>>> computer operations because the mouse is totally a visual interface.
>>>>
>>>> When I tried to use CHIRP, I discovered that there seems to be no way
>>>> to access any of the menus or menu commands via keyboard.  Does anyone
>>>> have any suggestions, tips, etc for how to do this?  It may not be
>>>> possible, but before I abandon it totally, I thought I'd send a query
>>>> to see what's out there.  Thanks.
>>>>
>>>> Catherine KE4LAM
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