[chirp_users] Importing a CSV file into the memory of an Alinco DJ-G7T

[Dan Smith]

> I believe others already have, at least two or three times looking at
> the bug tracker, many of which have patches.  I didn't want to clutter
> it with duplicates.
> 
> https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&scope=&issues=1&q=DJ-G7T

Fair enough. I've never taken patches through the bug tracker as a general rule, although people attach them there sometimes. That's why those issues aren't open and have comments about following the process. I also need a test image of the radio in order to add it to the tree, not just a patch. If you can muster the github steps to get that submitted that would be great. However, if you can either test one of the existing patches and attach your test image, or open a new one with your image and patch, I can work the process for you.

> As far as I know this is the US version of the DJ-G7.  Here in
> Australia we have a 4MHz-wide 2m band (144-148MHz) and nearly all the
> FM repeaters are in the upper 2MHz.
> 
> The other difference is the European DJ-G7 uses 9kHz spacing for MW
> broadcast reception -- whereas the US DJ-G7 uses 10kHz (annoying,
> because Australia has had a 9kHz spacing on MW since 1978).
> 
> Other than that, I suspect the two sets are practically identical.

Neither of those are likely to impact CHIRP, so yep, should be okay.

> I'll have to do some investigation then.  The files I'm working with
> are here (patch, image dump from radio and my repeater listing):
> 
> http://static.vk4msl.id.au/chirp/2023/01/13-djg7t/

I can probably turn that into a patch, but I need someone to test it before I'll put it in. If you'll open an issue for this, we can collaborate on getting something tested and into the tree.

> I guess a feature to allow one to import memory channels from a CSV
> (overwriting existing ones) would be handy as copying and pasting
> channels gets cumbersome.

Feedback from the legacy version was that copy and paste was far more flexible and user-friendly, and even being a CLI and developer type myself, that's how I do it. I rarely want to import everything from my master list into every radio, given a non-overlapping set of supported features, bands and modes.

The legacy version had a very complex import mechanism, which I never used, and if you watch some of the youtube videos people have made, it far complicates for them what would be much easier with copy and paste. The mere existence seemed to make people think they had to do import instead of copy/paste. Having a just-overwrite-everything import is an option and I could add that, and may in the future, but for the moment copy and paste is the workflow.

Sometimes simpler is better, especially in a GUI app.

> Another prospect might be a CLI interface, so I could just prepare the
> file, then tell `chirp` to download from the radio (or load from an
> existing image), replace the channels, then upload it back to the
> radio.

There is a CLI in the git tree and some people do use it. If you find it useful, feel free to file a feature request to have it included in the source distribution.

--Dan