Mac Chirp Can Not Upload to Radio

Ok, this postal service is a bit off what I normally talk well-nigh, but I wanted to add it so I'd take a spot to betoken people back to, and more chiefly be able to refer back to it myself.

Some of you may know I am an amateur "ham" radio operator, my call sign is N4IXT. As I'm also a "techie" I'm often asked to aid people program their radios using the computer. In that location are a variety of manus held radios on the market. One of the well-nigh prolific manufacturers is a Chinese company who makes very cheap (some might even say cheap) radios marketed under the names of Baofeng and BTech. Some other popular maker along these lines is Wouxun.

This postal service describes non merely the steps to program, but to also install the software you'll demand to program these radios and others.

Installing Software and Drivers

The first thing you lot'll need is the programming software itself. The software almost people employ is called CHIRP, bachelor from https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Dwelling house. Information technology has versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux, although for this article we are going to focus on Windows.

You lot'll as well need the cable for your model of radio. Sometimes the cable comes with the radio, other times you lot'll need to purchase it separately. Now if you lot were like me, and installed CHIRP, plugged in the cable, and hooked information technology to your radio, you probably got a lot of mistake messages.

Within the programming cable are some fries that help the figurer talk to the radio. The visitor who originally created these chips was called Prolific. These Chinese companies cloned the chips and their code, indeed the cables even report to Windows that they are from Prolific.

Thus when you plug in the cable, information technology tells Windows "Hey I'k a Prolific cable", and Windows goes out and downloads and installs the latest Prolific drives. Which is where the problems kickoff.

Prolific was naturally a tad upset that someone had stolen their design, and who can blame them? So they started adding a special code to their newer chips, as well equally an update to the drives so that if the bit isn't an accurate fleck from Prolific, the driver won't work.

You can verify this for yourself. On Windows 10 just go to the Cortona search area (next to the Kickoff menu) and blazon in Device Managing director. (If you are on an older version of Windows you can open up Device Managing director through the Assistants panel).

Scroll down the list to the Ports area and yous'll see the Prolific driver listed. Note that it has a big yellow exclamation mark.

Right click on the Prolific driver and pick Backdrop.

Correct in the heart nether Device Status nosotros see the problem: This device cannot start. (Code 10). While rather cryptic, what this really translates into is "Hey, we're trying to utilise the Prolific driver, but it's telling us this isn't a Prolific device."

This puts us in a bind, as we need to utilise the commuter, but the latest version doesn't piece of work. The solution so is to install the most recent version that works. Fortunately someone has fabricated that very easy to do.

Head over to iFamilySoftware at http://www.ifamilysoftware.com/news37.html and they have a detailed article describing the effect (which I've just briefly recapped hither). In improver, they have a tiny programme y'all tin download and install that will uninstall the nonfunctional version of the Prolific driver, and install the final version that really worked.

Even more of import, their app will prevent Windows from automatically updating the driver in the future. Windows frequently will effort to exist "helpful" and browse your drivers and will go "oh look, you are running an older commuter (in this example for Prolific), here let me update that for you automatically and non tell you".

Note they have versions of their program for both the 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows, and it will run on Windows XP, vii, 8, 8.ane, and 10. Just download and run, reboot, so return to Device Manager. Your Prolific driver should now appear without the exclamation mark, indicating it is now working.  Right clicking and picking backdrop should now display "The device is working properly".

Running Chirp

OK, and then at present you lot have CHIRP installed, and the correct version of Prolific, it'due south time to load up your radio with frequencies. Open up CHIRP, and so plug in your cable, and (with the radio off) plug information technology into your radio, and then plow the radio on.

CHIRP opens upward with a big blank screen. Your first step volition be to download what is currently in the radio, even if it's a make new radio with just the default handful of frequencies.  This let'due south CHIRP get a correct prototype of the radio type and what its current settings are.

Click on the Radio in the menus, and then from the dropdown selection Radio, Download From Radio.

Adjacent information technology wants to know what COM port the cable is using, who made the radio, and what model. If you aren't sure of the COM port, go back to Device Director using the previous instructions, and expand the Ports. At the very cease of the driver name is the COM port it'south using, in parenthesis.

The kickoff time you utilize CHIRP you'll probably take to central in the COM port, just type COM3, COM4, or any it was.

I too want to add together a quick note for hawkeye eyed viewers. I'm using two computers to write this commodity, 1 in which the Prolific drivers didn't work, the 2d where it did. If you look dorsum to the original image from the Device Managing director yous'll note it read COM4 at the finish. On the figurer I took the to a higher place screen shot on, the computer where I have it working, Prolific is using COM3. Again you tin can use device managing director, similar I did, to determine what the right COM port is for your estimator, and if y'all use multiple computers your COM port may be different on each.

So once you lot've entered the correct COM port, y'all'll see a drop downwardly listing for the Vendor, and CHIRP supports a LOT of radio companies. The radio I'm plugging in here is a Baofeng.

In one case you pick the vendor, the Model drop downwards will now be populated with a list of all the models CHIRP supports for that Vendor. Here, I've picked the UV-5R. My radio is actually a UV-5RA, only the UV-5R settings piece of work for information technology too. Once washed just click OK.

Side by side you are shown a alarm message.

Basically information technology's CHIRP's way of saying "Use at your own risk". Don't worry most it, CHIRP has been used on hundreds of thousands, if not millions of these radios. I've personally programmed dozens of radios with CHIRP for myself and others, so y'all can safely click YES. You may desire to click the "Do not show this next fourth dimension" option commencement, so y'all won't see this every time you update your radio.

Next you volition see a reminder on how to hookup your radio.

Basically, turn the radio off, hook it to the computer using the cablevision, and so turn it on. Once you click OK, it will start transferring the data. You'll encounter a modest message showing you the progress, by and large takes effectually 20 to thirty seconds.

When it's done, the listing of frequencies will open up inside CHIRP. (Click on the prototype below, or any of the images in this article, to open upwardly a bigger version).

The beginning affair you should exercise is save what is there by using the File, Save menu choice. This will save it as an IMG file. I generally utilise the radio vendor, then model, and so the surface area where the frequencies are for. In this instance it'south for Shelby Canton AL. After that I put the appointment I created the file. If I later go update it, I'll practise a Salve As, and update the date. This lets me track changes over fourth dimension, or become back to an older version if I need to.

Now you are prepare to offset entering frequencies. Yous tin of form do it manually, typing each row supplying the data. You could also look upwardly the frequencies online and cut/paste into CHIRP. Radio Reference (http://www.radioreference.com/) is a good site to expect things up, merely there are many you tin can pick from.

Even easier though is to use CHIRPs built in functionality. In the Radio menu is an option "Import from data source". There is a listing of multiple sites you lot tin import from, each will let yous search on a diversity of things similar your state, county, or zip code to discover frequencies near you lot. Just be certain your cursor is sitting on empty row in the frequency list or else you may overwrite some of your existing frequencies.

The final pick is to copy from an IMG file a friend with a similar radio has sent you. CHIRP will let you lot open up multiple IMG files at the same time, and display them equally tabs across the elevation. You can just open their file and re-create/paste into yours. You lot can copy just some of the rows or their entire frequency listing.

Now that you lot have your frequencies loaded you're almost, just not quite, ready to upload to the radio. If you lot look to the very left, there are 2 tabs. The Memories tab is what you are currently on. Now click on the Settings tab.

The overwhelming bulk of settings you should leave solitary unless you have a specific demand. Yet in that location are a few you lot may wish to look at. Do note these are for the Baofeng, what you run into on the Settings tab will alter with each radio type.

On the Bones settings yous'll see Brandish Fashion A and B. This indicates what is shown on the display. Your choices are Name, Frequency, and Channel. I tend to adopt Proper name equally it shows the proper noun (such as the repeater telephone call sign), only you could alternately show the frequency of the repeater. I don't observe Channel very useful, but experience gratis to experiment and pick what you like.

Equally you lot will run across it's not big deal to make a change and re-upload to the radio. Annotation that you lot don't have to import from the radio before y'all upload dorsum to the radio every time. You lot can brand a change, upload, so if you lot don't like it brand another change and just upload again. But more on uploading in a moment.

The other thing on for this radio you might want to await at is the background colour for the display, this Baofeng can have three different background colors, and you can set the Standby, Receive (RX) and Transmit (TX) colors independently.  Just for fun I utilize the different colors but employ what works for you.

Yous can besides enable or disable the Roger Beep using the check box at the lesser. About hams observe the beep annoying, then I suggest turning it off unless yous are doing a lot of Simplex work.

Next click on the Advanced Settings.

The one thing I like to change hither for the Baofeng's is the voice. By default it is set to English language. Every time you press a button or change to a dissimilar retention channel she (it's a female person vocalization) starts talking to you. Not only practise I find this annoying, it also slows down the performance of the radio. I use the drop down to change this to OFF, but once again it should be your preference.

As a concluding pace in my setup procedure I click on the Other Settings tab.

At every meeting I go to in that location's generally half a dozen people with Baofengs, so I modify the Power-On Message to my call sign. This way when y'all turn on your radio, information technology displays the phone call sign of the owner.

There are several other tabs but these are really avant-garde items that I leave alone.

OK, at present that you accept your CHIRP image ready, information technology's time to upload. A reminder though, make sure to exercise a File Save then your IMG file will be updated and should something catastrophic happen you won't lose your hard work. (I've never had CHIRP crash, merely I have had my domicile power leave on me. Oops.)

If your radio still isn't hooked up, turn it off, then plug it into the cable, then turn it on. From the Radio menu, pick Upload To Radio.

Now information technology'due south just like the download. You are get-go prompted for the COM port, the vendor, and the Model. One time you click OK, you lot are given the reminder to turn off the radio, hook it upward, turn the radio on, and click OK. After clicking OK you may see the message about information technology being an experimental driver, just click Yes to proceed.

Once yous proceed y'all'll see the Cloning Radio progress box as it uploads the data to your radio. When information technology'south washed you'll see your radio reset, then yous're done! You lot are ready to starting time using your radio, just remember to unhook it from the programming cablevision before you try to use it.

Conclusion

The steps in this article should work for near radios, specially the critical steps at the commencement for fixing your Prolific commuter. I desire to remind you the Memories layout and Settings pages will be different for each radio, even radios from the aforementioned vendor.

Some manufacturers, for example, allow additional information in the retentivity columns such as geographic location. Others may not take multiple LED colors for the brandish.

With the information in this article though you should be able to navigate setting upwardly most of the radios that CHIRP supports.

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Source: https://arcanecode.com/2019/04/11/programming-your-baofeng-radio-with-chirp-and-solving-the-prolific-driver-issue/

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