[chirp_users] UV-5RIII better with older software

[Graham Whaley]

Hi Chirp users,
 (New list subscriber. First post)
 I recently had an issue (re)programming my Baofeng UV-5RIII with CHIRP
next-20231003, and found a 'workaround' using CHIRP daily 20200226. I
thought I'd document here for any possible future reference etc.

Backstory:
  Back in January 2020 I purchased a 'Baofeng UV-5RIII'. I've a feeling
that this model had probably just come out at that time, and I didn't
realise that getting a (b)leeding edge model might cause problems (yes, I
understand the land of 'UV-5R' firmware is a minefield... ;-).
 At that time I didn't have my license, so I grabbed CHIRP and programmed
up the radio. As well as entering some channels I changed the greeting
messages and disabled TX. As the 'III' was not listed (afaict) at the time
in CHIRP I dug around and found that the Baofeng UV-5X setting worked....
all good.

Now:
 Three years later, I finally find a reason to try and transmit, having
forgotten that I disabled TX. I grab a new CHIRP (next-20231003), find that
the recommended model is the Radioddity UV-5RX3, and have at it. Turns out
I can program up the channels and edit a few of the settings page entries,
but I:
 - cannot re-enable TX on either band listed
 - change the greeting messages

I tried with the vanilla UV-5R and the UV-5X with basically the same result
(iirc) - at least, nothing would let me re-enable TX or edit the message
text.

The workaround:
 Finally I figured I could try and dig out the original chirp version I'd
used. I dug up the old laptop which still had the chirp and the .img files
on it. Voila, using chirp 20200226 and Baofeng UV-5X I can edit and upload
the TX settings and the messages. Sorted, my radio is now back to
functional.

side note: although the radio says it is a tri-band 'III', the band button
only cycles through two bands and Chirp only shows the two (U/VHF) bands in
the settings. I don't know if this is a consequence of me meddling or not -
I have no plans to use the 1.2m/220MHz band, so I'm not too bothered.

Not sure if that makes any sense to the developers, but hopefully it might
help somebody else in the future.

For reference, my radio firmware details are:
  3B5RV01 (button 3 boot)
  151123H
  HN5RV01

I'm sort of willing to help gather any more diagnostics if necessary, I'm
fairly tech savvy. *But*, I'm wary of editing anything more on the radio in
case it reverts to non-functional ;-), so hopefully non-invasive data
gathering if possible.

I'll stay signed up to this list for a bit in case there is some feedback
or requests for more info, but if you want to ensure you reach me in the
future you might have to send a PM.

thanks,
 Graham, M7GRW
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