CHIRP

Cannot get stock programming software to work, unfortunately. :-(

I can confirm this label and memory location CHIRP error on my new 898E model, daily build 20161005 Mac OSX 10.10.5.

I got the stock Leixen software ( for this more recent model I used the latest version available v1.07 I think it was) to work on Win 7 and it correctly applied the channel labels, so it looks like a CHIRP issue.

Ahhhh, great that you were able to reproduce. I sent my original one back and have a replacement on the way -- oops. I eventually convinced myself the unit itself was defective. They must have made a hardware revision that broke CHIRP, and we just happen to be the first lucky ones to encounter it.

Yes I think the S & E models are the same, higher power etc, it's likely the new 2 separate memory banks are causing the issue. Do report back when you have the replacement!

I'm seeing the same issue on a 898e that arrived yesterday.

Replacement arrived today and as predicted, same issue. Now, whether to opt for that compact BTECH or wait..

Michael, sorry a barrage of questions/requests here:

• Could you upload an .img file with this issue?
• Does the image look different if you upload and then download again?
• Could you also capture a screenshot of how the memories look in the CHIRP GUI before upload (or a CSV export)?
• What Version does the radio label show? The radio I used is an 898S V1.05 and seems to work fine, -but it also doesn't have memories under both A and B- Stated better, it has an A and B VFO, and both can run in memory mode, but they both display the exact same memory set. Is there an updated radio that maintains the memories differently between VFOs?

My radio says 898e 1.07 with different memory banks

Okay had a chance to look further and actually the frequency information appears to be very close. Same weirdness with 1-8. The entire set of memories appears to be just shifted up by 8. So Chirp location # 1 becomes radio channel # 9, 2 to 10, etc.

I'm not sure if you saw my newer driver, since it posted just before your reply (we must have been editing posts at basically the same time). I believe this version fixes the 1-8 offset problem along with the 95-98 spots as well. With this version, your images finally look all correct on my machine.

Ah, yes we were lol. Okay tested again, and yes, the frequencies are correct now! Except instead of 1-8 being untouchable, it's now 1-6. Channels 7 & 8 are now working properly on both memory banks.

Ah, interesting. Okay, I'll take a look at the 1-6 frequency area and see what's going on there. I wonder if we're unintentionally dropping those changes because of something in the older memory layout.

It's especially awesome that they decided to add this new layout in two different model/firmware versions. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to describe this model so people can find the right one in the future.

Ah yeah, I get that. I guess since Sean and I both have 898Es, we could start there and try and find an E without separate memory banks?

David McIntyre filed one of the original 898E feature requests, and his does not have dual banks. He didn't list the label version but I can follow up with him on email and see what it says.

I'm hoping to add auto-discovery in a near-term update, so we might be able to avoid any mention of versions or banks and just let the app figure it out. Still not quite sure if that's possible but I'll certainly try.

Sorry folks, been abroad. My E model serial label says v1.07 and I have 2 memory banks, theres an addendum sheet in the manual to that effect.

To check the firmware version in your radio: Power the radio off. Press and hold P3, power on the radio. Keep pressing P3. After the usual messages the firmware level is displayed. Serial number label in bottom can state v1.05 and the actual firmware in the radio can be v1.07. I believe v1.07B is the latest.

Thanks for the info Jarmo, that makes a lot more sense. I've been able to identify the 1.07 firmware by the memory data, so I don't think there's any risk of mis-parsing the downloads. It will still be a little confusing, but this explanation shows there is some logic behind it. I can also add a pre-download message with this info to help identify versions.

I plan to commit some more work to the patch this week and hope to have something released to nightly soon. Please provide feedback on the current patch if you have opportunity to try it out (use the leixen_107.py patch attached to this issue, and the instructions in update 13).

Oh, good call Jarmo. Turns out the label is wrong. Holding P3 & powering up, it shows V1.07B.

On P3 boot my 898e shows V1.07B. Label says V1.07.

I can now confirm that loading the PY 107 module writes correctly to my Leixen VV-25HX, labeled v1.05 but actually contains v1.07B firmware. I had the same problem as Michael Nelson, that the stock software could not read or write to the radio. After being in contact with the support, Leixen has released new stock software, 2016-11-07 version for 1.07 radio's. Now i can compare Chirp and Leixen writing. And they match.

Is it safe to say that the latest version of CHIRP now supports the VV-898 V1.07 with the Dual Memory Banks?
or is this still a work in progress?

John is referring to the patch that makes leixen.py driver support dual banks of the JT-270MH.

[Dan Smith dsmith@danplanet.com] Make Jetstream JT-270MH properly a dual-bank radio

#4241

Are the VV-898S and JT-270MH variants of one another like the VV-898 and JT-720M?

Jim KC9HI

It's a little more nuanced. VV-898S (and 898E) have 2 major firmware versions, pre-1.07 and post-1.07. Pre-107 is already supported properly. The 1.07 and later firmware adds the dual-bank/vfo feature of the JT-270MH, and the ident matches. However the manufacturer printed label shows the hardware version, not firmware version. Users must hold down P3 during powerup to identify the firmware version and be able to use the right model.

So we're really 90% of the way to fixing this issue and closing it for all associated models. We should probably just add them as some kind of alias (although a good way to name them escapes me), and add a download message to check firmware version before using. Could also add an interlocked ident check during download similar to some of the Baofeng models.

Brian/Jim, Thank you for the quick follow up. Your efforts are truly appreciated. Pre-1.07/Post-107? Ouch... As always, thank yo for all the work you guys do.

For what it's worth, I just got my Leixen VV-989E v1.07 working thanks to this thread.

I started with CHIRP but had all the problems you had already stated. It's almost impossible to explain. Even experiencing the same problems, its still hard to understand your descriptions.

Thanks to the P3 button trick I learned my v1.05 is actually a v1.07. After downloading the Leixen software for the v1.07, it finally worked. It can be found here, http://www.miklor.com/VV898/VV-Software.php

Very confusing to say the least.

Even after doing the factory reset numerous times, there was still remnants of channel data from my previous attempts of programming using CHIRP when reading the radio with the factory software.

I hope CHIRP will soon work for this model version. Its awesome software. I love the export/import option.

After working and scratching my head for hours, I finally have a working radio thanks to you guys and your hard work.

Thanks again,
Bryan

Any further updates? I have a VV-898E with firmware version 1.07B. I am using the leixen_107.py from post 21 above with Chirp 20170311. It is almost working except for two things that I have noticed.

1) The first 5 memories are getting mangled.

2) The ability to directly enter a channel via keypad for Bank A is disabled.

In regards to 1, I need to create a test file, upload it and then download it again. That should help show what is happening to the first few channels. My first download appeared to download all stock channels correctly, so I think it is an upload problem.

For 2, I can get the direct entry to work by using the stock Leixen VV-898S 107 software with a new configuration. I cannot find any setting that will enable/disable this behavior. From Chirp or the Leixen software.

If someone is willing to continue working on this, I will do what I can to provide files.

I have just bought a Leixen VV-898S with FW version 1.08B

I have successfully programmed it with the Factory Software for v1.07 (I have not tried CHIRP with this radio as yet)

What might be of interest to the CHIRP staff, is that the Factory Software uses 2 separate banks of 99 memories (a separate programming window for each one), and within each bank, the FIRST 3 MEMORIES of each bank are allocated to the VFO. They seem to be TEMP storage areas for band switching. Down the left hand side of the window, which is the first column and labelled [No.], the numbers begin this way: 136, next is 245, then 400, after those the 'normal' channel numbering (rows) begins, 01, 02, 03 .... 99.

Cheers --Pete

Stan Hall wrote:

2) The ability to directly enter a channel via keypad for Bank A is disabled.

For 2, I can get the direct entry to work by using the stock Leixen VV-898S 107 software with a new configuration. I cannot find any setting that will enable/disable this behavior. From Chirp or the Leixen software.

If someone is willing to continue working on this, I will do what I can to provide files.

Same here. And I really want to upload my own channels without having to manually enter them into the Leixen software.

Hello Everyone
I am new the CHIRP forum and hope that someone out there can help us. I am just a HAM volunteer scout leader setting up several small ham bases in my camps and outposts and I bought several VV-898E radios, many are great but 2 are dead and I am not getting any support from the seller or emailing Leixen direct after a month. First I bought the 898E thinking the hi-med-lo power was a nice option verse just hi-lo but I thought this was 200 channel one bank radio but what I have is a two bank radio. So as I mentioned one radio is dead, once powered up it just displays 22.9vdc and no buttons work. The factory software says either the port is busy or the radio refused to communicate, yet CHIRP can read and write however the radio still only displays the voltage? Anyone know any tips or tricks? We looked high and low on the internet with no luck. We opened the radio and pulled the CR2032 thinking the radio would lose all programming and default to factor setting but no luck. So if anyone would like to help the boggled ham scouter I would love to hear from you in this forum or email direct: scouterdonn@gmail.com many thanks for this forum.

I have a VV-898E v1.08b that I would be willing to loan to a developer.

I found a problem:

Downloading from my radio seems to work fine (version 1.08b).
Making changes, then uploading to my radio seems to work fine -- but I've done very limited testing.

Saving the downloaded file works, but when it is opened later on it is identified as "Jetstream JT270MH: ". The values in the "Name" field are then all offset by 3 lines (Name4 shows up in the field for Name1, and so on). This makes it useless for uploading later on.

Workaround: If I delete the stock leixen.py, and replace it with Brian's leixen_107.py (but rename it to leixen.py), I don't experience that weirdness with the saved file being identified as "Jetstream JT270MH: ".

Perhaps the issue is that in the standard leixen.py, Jetstream JT270MH has a _model_ident of 'LX-\x89\x85\x85', and in Brian's leixen_107.py, Leixen VV-898S107 has the same _model_ident. Does anybody know how to address that?

Any progress on fixing the direct entry of channels on bank A?

Niamh, I haven't made any changes to the driver (I don't know how), but I can test to see if I get the same behavior you are seeing. Just to be clear: Is the problem that after uploading with Chirp, you can no longer manually input frequencies and/or channels on bank A? And this problem goes away if you upload an image with the stock Leixen software?

That's it exactly, If I upload the factory defauls with the stock Leixen software then the numeric keys on the mic work on channel A

Niamh, I have the same results on my radio. I saved Leixen files with the radio in both conditions (normal and locked channel A) and found "Functiom Enable" (note the spelling error) set to 0 for the normal condition, and set to 1 for the locked condition. "Functiom Enable" appears in the Leixen software in Special Function / Wireless Change Channel. This was the only difference between the two files.

I'm out of time now, but I'll try figuring out the memory address for that feature later on.

Real quick update -- When I turn "Functiom Enable" on and off in the Leixen software, upload it to the radio, then download the image with Chirp, the two images are identical. Chirp is not detecting any difference. Could it be that Chirp is not reading the entire memory of the radio?

Just to clarify my last post, I did a hexdiff on two Chirp images downloaded from the radio. One where the radio had "Functiom Enable" on, and one where the radio had that off. There was no difference between the two images, so it seems to me (a non-expert) that Chirp is not downloading the memory address where that setting is stored.

I asked Leixen tech support to tell me the memory address where "Functiom Enable" is stored. The lady who emailed me indicated that their engineer would be able to help me, but I have not had a response for the last 2 weeks. So I sent them a reminder email today.

I got the following response from Leixen:

0x0187，B3：Wirelsee start,B2:function enable

I've done some more testing. I bumped the memsize from 2000 up to 8000 and did a hexdump. I found that all the memory addresses repeat after each 2000. So address 00000000 contains the same information as address 00002000, 00004000, and so on. But address 00000187 is different. If "Functiom Enable" gets turned on/off, address 00000187 does not change, but its "twin" address 00002187 does change. Addresses 00004187 and 00006187 change as well (they are the same as 00002187).

At this point I think I need someone more experience to step in here and tell us how to solve this.

Does this address the issue of direct chanel entry in bank A?

Niahm, yes it does.

Just confirming that I tested a few settings today by making a change in Chirp, uploading to the radio, then checking the setting in the radio's menu. The following are all I tested, and they all work properly:

Key Beep
Dual Watch
MR/CHA
Scan Mode
P1 thru P3 long and short key

One thing I'd like to see added to the Settings menu is the ability to turn off the Tail Elimination feature (Menu 43). Here is a hexdiff of an image with the feature turned on vs an image with the feature turned off:

128c128

< 00000c70 40 01 00 00 40 01 00 00 ff 00 ff 00 ff fe b0 fc |@...@...........|¶

00000c70 40 01 00 00 40 01 00 00 ff 00 ff 00 ff ee b0 fc |@...@...........|

I've tested memories 1-99 (skipping only a few) on both banks A and B. Uploading and re-downloading from the radio all looks good.

One problem I found which I think is a bug in the radio: I can manually enter any memory number from the hand mic except for 099. When I enter that memory, it acts as if that memory is blank so it stays on the existing memory number. It behaves the same on bank A and B, and behaves the same whether I uploaded memory 99 with chirp or programmed it manually with the radio's menu system. I'd be interested to know if others see the same behavior, particularly if they haven't uploaded to their radio with Chirp yet.

Hi, does anyone have a template I can upload to a version 1.08b radio, I can't seem to set the enable reset option, so cannot reset the radio, it seems to have been corrupted by v 1.07 of the leixen software......why is there no v1.08 from leixen OOI?

Thanks in anticipation

JD

Hi Rob, thank you so much, I actually got one from another radio a few hours ago and have managed to recover it, I will keep your images for safety.......Its odd that Leixen say the software is usable, as if I upload to the software, I have one bank of 199 memories, and when I tried to write back, I got an error, and the radio was trashed......Mine is a 1.08b

JD

Hmmm....discoveries so far.....I have lifted an image from a new unit and successfully used chirp with the updated dual memory template to upload to the corrupt unit, I was then able to master reset the unit to factory defaults......but it will not let me read or write to it from the Leixen v1.07 software, I can read/write from chirp ok. The same Leixen software will read from the new unit, I havn’t tried write yet until I know what is going on, is there a value that isn’t reset by the factory reset like device ID that is preventing read/write to the once corrupted unit?

JD

I had intermittent trouble with the Leixen software that turned out to be related to the COM port. Windows sometimes didn't like switching between Chirp and Leixen accessing the same COM port. A reboot fixed the issue for me whenever it occurred.

Yeh I don't think that is causing this specific issue, like I say, I can read from the good unit ok, just swap the radio out to the bad one, and it can't read it, swap to the good one and its ok again......Its now in an amazon locker awaiting a refund, maybe its is a faulty unit, I have a good one here now bit am really scared to flash it :( Its a VV-898 E, not sure what the E suffix dictates, maybe European ?

JD

OK sorry it's taken me a while, but having downloaded and uploaded to the radio I still get no direct channel entry on bank A.

Niamh, I confirmed yesterday that after using leixen_dualbank.py to update my radio, I am still able to do direct channel entry (and direct VFO entry) on bank A.

Are you doing anything more than downloading from the radio and reuploading?

I downloaded, changed a bunch of memories, changed one setting (time out timer), then uploaded.

Are you sure you're in channel mode and not VFO mode? Still, you should have direct frequency entry in VFO mode, but that would explain why there's no channel number on the display.

I was, so the puzzle is even greater, it isn't accepting input in VFO mode, Channel B does.

Using the "dualbank" python script addresses many of the Chirp programming issues for v1.08... thank you...

I've just encountered a scenario of Leixen VV-898E lockup... when the following settings are applied...

Settings Menu, Basic Settings...

VFO/MR set to MR
MR/CHA set to MR CHA

After uploading to radio, the display seems to lock with CHANNEL 128... and squelch is open. No control of radio until power removed and re-applied. Radio returns to same display, however... squelch seems to be back on... and the radio will accept a new upload.

UPDATE: A replacement radio has corrected this issue... apparently, the original radio had issues!

Just confirming that the leixen_dualbank.py module works on a brand-new VV-898 I got a couple of weeks ago. Without it, just got a mess.

Worth adding to the mainline?

No luck here. I'm fairly new to CHIRP and brand new to the Leixen VV-898S version 1.08. Channels scrambled as reported above using chirp-daily-20181009. Loaded module leixen_dualbank.py, looks the same. Changed name and freq in CHIRP for channels 2-11 then uploaded to the radio. Channels 1-7 that I had manually programmed still there (CHIRP should have overwritten them but did not. Channels 11 & 12 were overwritten by CHIRP. Any suggestions?
I ordered a cable & software from RT Systems; they say theirs works with V1.08. We will see...
BTW I'm using Windows 10.

Are we still using leixen_dualbank.py with the 18/10/2018 nightly?

Just got a new VV-898S and noticed that out of the box direct channel entry doesn't work on bank A nor do the up/down keys.

Faulty, or are they all like that?

Will be talking to Moonraker on Monday.

Niahm,

As far as I know, we still need to use leixen_dualbank.py for the latest build.

I just uploaded an image using Chirp to my radio and I seem to have direct channel entry available for anything except channel 99 (for both banks A and B). After I enter the three digits (099), the radio stays on the current channel and does not change. I'm not sure if it always did this, if it's a defect in my radio, or if Chirp somehow caused it.

If direct channel entry doesn't work for you on a brand new radio, use the Leixen software and see if "Functiom Enable" is checked. I think that disables direct channel entry.

David, my only suggestion for you is to close Chirp, open Chirp, load module leixen_dualbank.py, download from the radio, make changes to the Chirp file, then upload to the radio. From your description, it's not clear to me if you uploaded/downloaded before loading leixen_dualbank.py. In my testing, that would sometimes screw things up. I needed a new Chirp session with leixen_dualbank.py loaded in order to ensure things worked smoothly.

Good luck!

Rob Owens wrote:

Niahm,

If direct channel entry doesn't work for you on a brand new radio, use the Leixen software and see if "Functiom Enable" is checked. I think that disables direct channel entry.

It works fine on Bank B, on Bank A it doesn't nor do the up/down keys on the microphone although the up/down keys on the radio do work.

The latest Leixen softwat appears to be V107 and it seems not to download from v1.08B firmware, CHIRP reads the radio fine.

Looks like we still need to use leixen_dualbank.py with the latest CHIRP.

Any plans to get this included in CHIRP itself?

Hi, I'm a new Leixen VV 898S user. My new radio reports firmware version 1.08B. I'm using Windows 10 and the latest daily update of Chirp, 20190626. I can successfully read from and write to the radio. I've been using Chirp for some time with Baofeng UV-3R and UV-5R radios very succcesfully.

Having come across a number of problems programming this radio I looked through the list of Issues on the Chirp website and found this thread. This seems to be describing the issues I'm having, mainly:

• Chirp doesn't handle the 2 memory banks (A and B) that the radio uses. I find the Odd numbered Chirp memories equate to the A bank in the radio and the even numbered memories equate to the B bank.
• I can seem to be able to program memories below 7 in the A Bank and 8 in the B bank.
• If I try to program a memory above about 56 (Chirp memory), nothing appears on the radio.
• I can't give the memories in the radio a name. If I try, all I get is a blank display (no frequency or name on the display for that memory).

I see that this has been ongoing for some time but that there seems to be some sort of workaround using a supplementary Python file called "leixen_dualbank.py" which I have found at the top of this thread.

Could I please ask if someone could let me know how to use this file, where should I put it, etc. Can I leave it in place when I use Chirp to program other radios?

Does it fix all known issues or are there still some "gotchas" to be aware of?

Many thanks in advance for any assistance provided.

Tim

Tim Fox wrote:

Hi, I'm a new Leixen VV 898S user. My new radio reports firmware version 1.08B. ....

Could I please ask if someone could let me know how to use this file, where should I put it, etc. Can I leave it in place when I use Chirp to program other radios?

Does it fix all known issues or are there still some "gotchas" to be aware of?

Many thanks in advance for any assistance provided.

Tim

Hi Tim,

I have also just got hold of a Leixen VV-898S.

After fumbling around with the dual bank problem; I found this thread.

The answer to how to deal with the leixen_dualbank.py file is found above. https://chirp.danplanet.com/issues/4069#change-15597 and then read on.

.

.

Now for my problem ... in a similar vein.

Following the above link for 'how to load the python script' and using the latest daily Chirp proggie for Windows '24-Aug-2019 00:07',

!https://i.postimg.cc/rpqPHn6L/John-2019-08-26-at-12-59-48.jpg!

I get the following error when loading the python script:

!https://i.postimg.cc/L5vXz0M6/Unable-to-load-module.jpg!

Any tips?

John Kitchener wrote:

Any tips?

My bad. I did a poor job of downloading the python script. Hint it's only 36.5kB

!https://i.postimg.cc/j247J9B5/John-2019-08-26-at-15-31-37.jpg!

Looks good

!https://i.postimg.cc/hj9JH6Dr/John-2019-08-26-at-15-35-10.jpg!

Another question.

Is the Leixen VV-898S Dual Bank build sufficiently stable for inclusion in the CHIRP daily build?

!https://i.postimg.cc/t4xK7mdW/John-2019-08-26-at-18-45-44.jpg!

Hi,

There are bugs in the Chirp Lexion dual band python script.

1. This radio supports UHF from 400-480, however the script limits the range to 400-470Mhz.

!https://i.postimg.cc/FswWNQKy/Cirp-Leixen-VV-898-S-Freqency-out-of-supported-range.jpg!

1. When adding a memory for a frequency that falls on a 12.5 khz step, chirp says that 12.5 is not a valid step, however it is valid for this radio.

John Kitchener wrote:

Hi,

There are bugs in the Chirp Lexion 898S dual band python script.

1. This radio supports UHF from 400-480, however the script limits the range to 400-470Mhz.

!https://i.postimg.cc/FswWNQKy/Cirp-Leixen-VV-898-S-Freqency-out-of-supported-range.jpg!

1. When adding a memory for a frequency that falls on a 12.5 khz step, chirp says that 12.5 is not a valid step, however it is valid for this radio.

I think I saw the second problem and it seems to have been with a "Nightly" I reverted to an older nightly and 12.5kHz wasn't a problem.

Niamh Holding wrote:

I think I saw the second problem and it seems to have been with a "Nightly" I reverted to an older nightly and 12.5kHz wasn't a problem.

Problem is still present in linux daily builds, 6.25 and 12.5 kHz are not working as expected. Also, I really would appreciate if the .py script workaround will be integrated into main release, maybe with a separate dualbank menu choice or even with auto sensing..

Unable to load module: invalid syntax leixen_dualbank.py, line 1

User error!

Just bought the VV-898E, kinda bumbed to find out about the "dual memory" shenanigans - which effectively halfs the memory for some. I can however confirm the that the script "leixen_dualbank.py":https://chirp.danplanet.com/attachments/5237/leixen_dualbank.py modified by Alessandro Dogliotti in "Note 91":https://chirp.danplanet.com/issues/4069#note-91 of this thread works with the VV-898E, but has to be used with VV898SDualBank available in the daily builds - I was using daily-20200107."

Hah, I see years later this is still ongoing. It seems like the original fix got very close, all that was left was channels 1-6 not working properly. Seems like the current fix could at least be merged, under a new "dual bank" version of the radio. At least it would get the radio mostly working for users without having to load a module?

Actually I was just testing whether the ticket is still valid (I'm on a crusade to weed out stale tickets from the database).
So, if there's still activity (or activity requested), then we'll keep this open. Thanks!

I can confirm with a Leixen VV-898S v1.08 radio, the built-in Chrip profile still does not work, but the module from Alessandro Dogliotti in Note 91 does work.

Bernhard, is it possible to implement the module in a daily release? It's actually working, and i don't see a reason why we should keep a 3 yrs ticket open without any more work demanded.

I tried to get in touch with Brian, the original mantainer (his work has been very helpful on his topic) but he doesn't log in since october, so i guess he either had personal problems or lost interest in the topic.

I also opened a request for giving this issue a new mantainer but it got closed without explications.

Thanks for your time.

This requires that the creator of that module checks it in.
In order to be included, it must pass certain tests.
Hopefully, one of the developers familiar with the Leixen VV-898S can take this task.

Bernhard Hailer wrote:

This requires that the creator of that module checks it in.
In order to be included, it must pass certain tests.
Hopefully, one of the developers familiar with the Leixen VV-898S can take this task.

I understand, but Brian did a couple posts in 2018 and rest of his activity is back to 2016.
I don't know how we can find an active developer with leixen availability and experience, i opened a ticket to ask for one to have a look here and was closed without further informations.

That makes me sorry, because we (well, i just edited the py script to accept new style offsets, following what Tom Hayward did on main script) actually have a working solutions and the one in the daily DOESN'T work with dual bank radios and doesn't even specify that dual band radios are not supported, or doesn't give a tip about >=1.07 firmwares, so users without familiarity with this topic actually don't have the tools to understand that the default model doesn't work and the solution is here requesting approval.

Hi Alessandro, you could do it yourself, actually. Please review the Wiki: Developers, and join the developers mailing list. If the changes are minor, then you can try to post it just there. If you wish to continue developing for Chirp, then you will find the necessary instructions also in said Wiki article. Thanks!

Can we seek a new developer for this? it's opened since 4 yrs, we already have a tested solution yet the chirp public can't access it.

I made a video showing how I got this working on my radio. If anyone is struging getting this to work on their VV-898S, I hope this video will help. https://youtu.be/Us8UQOXmBoo

John Kitchener wrote:

Hi,

There are bugs in the Chirp Lexion dual band python script.

1. This radio supports UHF from 400-480, however the script limits the range to 400-470Mhz.

!https://i.postimg.cc/FswWNQKy/Cirp-Leixen-VV-898-S-Freqency-out-of-supported-range.jpg!

1. When adding a memory for a frequency that falls on a 12.5 khz step, chirp says that 12.5 is not a valid step, however it is valid for this radio.

I too can confirm this issue. I just recently bought VV-898S FW version 1.08B anad having the same problem. Being in Australia our UHF CB band is within the 477Mhz and while this version radio is supposed to support upto 480MHz, it seemed to be limited to 470MHz only and there is no way to change this limitation. Editing or adding any frequency greater than 47MHz will result in the same Frequency out of supported range.

I hope there is a work around for this problem so I can use this radio for my intended purposes ie: UHF CB operatig within the 477MHZ range.

Johnny Five wrote:

Unfortunately it seems that you need to have at lease one 'dummy' file in the bank under 470mhz for the bank to work correctly otherwise the channels don't show up and radio is stuck in VFO mode, can anyone else confirm that having all channels in a single bank between 470-480mhz causes this same issue?

Included is the file im trying to use if you add one channel under 470 into the uhf bank it works otherwise i cant get radio to show the channels in A bank

Thank you for your report. I don't have a real knowledge of the full chirp script, i just tried to keep it updated with the new split variables and later with the new band limit. I am not sure the OEM program allow for 470-480 mhz frequencies, but i am happy anyway that you found a workaround.

I still hope this will be followed by a reputable mantainer and put into stable release one day..

bump

the module has been reported as non working on the chirp-next version.

i'll see if i can manage to double check the original and new module, finding the culprit

Alessandro Dogliotti wrote in #note-112:

the module has been reported as non working on the chirp-next version.

i'll see if i can manage to double check the original and new module, finding the culprit

Hi,

The dualbank.py module is still not working with the chirp-next version.

Any progress?

We seem to be further away from a fix than ever?

John Kitchener wrote in #note-113:

Alessandro Dogliotti wrote in #note-112:

the module has been reported as non working on the chirp-next version.

i'll see if i can manage to double check the original and new module, finding the culprit

Hi,

The dualbank.py module is still not working with the chirp-next version.

Any progress?

We seem to be further away from a fix than ever?

Hello John, sadly i had a lot happening in my life in the last 6 months and i did not do any work on that. For now, the only workaround i have is to use chirp-legacy.

Alessandro Dogliotti wrote in #note-114:

Hello John, sadly i had a lot happening in my life in the last 6 months and i did not do any work on that. For now, the only workaround i have is to use chirp-legacy.

Tks Alessandro,

I do hope real life comes good for you.

I'll re-try chirp legacy to see if anything has changed.

Note: The other option for Lexien owners is factory software which is kinda klunky; but it works and is better than button programming .

I have the VV-898S, Firmware V1.08. see http://www.leixen.com/user_e/user_c.htm

CURRENT WORKAROUND: Use Vendor/Model "Jetstream JT270MH" in CHIRP. It's listed as a compatible radio in the above leixen_dualbank.py file, and has the dual memory bank support working in the CURRENT deployed version of CHIRP leixen.py. I've confirmed this works with the Leixen_VV-898S by uploading from the Leixen vendor software, and downloading with CHIRP and it looked correct. Then edited A and B banks and uploaded back to the radio, and I can see all the channel names. IMPORTANT OPTION: If wanting to see custom channel names, enable "Alias Enable" as a CHIRP settings basic option, then turn on radio menus 20/21 for NameSYS/NameCHA. I'll see if I can update the source code and list the Leixen Dual Bank as an "alias" for this radio. This is my first time touching the CHIRP source code, so still figuring that out.

I did comb through the leixen_dualbank.py file and compared to current leixen.py, and the only significant addition would be
480MHz Support (from 470): The documentation I can find on this radio lists support for up to 470MHz tx, 520MHz rx. The OEM software doesn't have any problem attempting to assign values up to 550 TX/RX, so figured I'd keep the support for 480MHz in the source code update

Brian Graham wrote in #note-116:

CURRENT WORKAROUND: Use Vendor/Model "Jetstream JT270MH" in CHIRP.

Ooh! thanks very much.

I'll give it a whiel shortly.

Cheers

John Kitchener wrote in #note-117:

Brian Graham wrote in #note-116:

CURRENT WORKAROUND: Use Vendor/Model "Jetstream JT270MH" in CHIRP.

Ooh! thanks very much.

I'll give it a whirl shortly.

Cheers

And it works fine for my Leixen 898S using "Jetstream JT270MH" in CHIRP.

Both 100 slot memory banks are editable.

Love if you can instigate up to 480Mhz support for the Leixen 898S in an update.

Thanks again.

Hi,

Does anyone know what these squelch settings change? See pic

I have both a VV898S and a VV998 - has anyone tried this with a VV998? They are very similar but do have separate CPS programs.

I've had them both on the shelf since they are (were?) such a PITA to program. Thanks to all that got the VV898S working with CHIRP!

73, Ron N1LSJ

Ron Kimball wrote in #note-120:

I have both a VV898S and a VV998

I cannot answer your question re Chirp; but I can personally recommend these Leixen radios as useful bits of Amateur kit as

1. They have almost clean Transmitters

1. And good sensitivity at 12dB SINAD.

Dan Smith wrote in #note-122:

If someone can try this test module,

Hi Dan,

Tks for your ongoing attention to this issue.

I canna see the test module?

Tks

Any update on this? Looking for people with 898S and 898 radios to test downloads, uploads and ideally post debug logs before I put this change into the tree.

Apologies for not testing. I have an 898S and will test it in a day or so.

Alessandro Dogliotti wrote in #note-108:

Johnny Five wrote:

Unfortunately it seems that you need to have at lease one 'dummy' file in the bank under 470mhz for the bank to work correctly otherwise the channels don't show up and radio is stuck in VFO mode, can anyone else confirm that having all channels in a single bank between 470-480mhz causes this same issue?

Included is the file im trying to use if you add one channel under 470 into the uhf bank it works otherwise i cant get radio to show the channels in A bank

I am testing on and Leixen 898S, Firmware V 1.08B.

Bank-A
I am seeing something akin to the above, however no matter what I seem to fiddle ... nothing is written in to Bank A i.e MR mode does not work. Well at least I cannot see or access it.

Bank-B
I can successfully write VHF and UHF channels to Bank B via Chirp. UHF is fine from 400Mhz to 480Mhz. Channel names are displayed IF configured in the Leixen programming software, see image below i.e everything works fine except the V/M button. Nor does V/M work if I program one of the function keys.

Bank A seems 'stuck' in VFO mode. Any frequency can be accessed by direct frequency entry from the keypad and the range and can be stepped between 136-174Mhz, 100-260Mhz and 400-520Mhz. The MR key does not work

Whilst I can write and read to Bank A it seems to stay in VFO mode.

So I think my old 898S radio is faulty. I've tried a full factory reset, but no change.

I probably cannot contribute further.

My channel B frequencies and channel alias's can be successfully programmed via Chirp.

However Chirp does not support the full feature set of the Leixen programming software.

Using a judicious mix of both should satisfy most users.

Okay, the thing the module is trying to address is selecting the proper dual-bank radio type when used with the 898S. Does that work for you?

Other bugs with the driver (which it sounds like you're hitting) will probably be best addressed by someone who uses the radio a lot.

Yes the A/B dual bank problem is fixed.

Chirp is writing and reading Tx frequencies up to 480Mhz i.e. Chirp can write AND read any mix of VHF and UHF channels supported by the radio to both A and B bands.

Apart from some specific settings that are not available in Chirp (which may not impact everyone); as far as I can determine Chirp is working.

However, for my radio:

a). it won't report/ use A band memory locations and
b). the VFO/MR button/function appears to be inoperative.

After much testing, I now believe that these are faults with my radio as neither the Lexien programming software, Chirp, or front panel fiddles will address the problems.

But B band for my radio is fine and supporting 7 character name alias's which I prefer over channel. So for me, I have a 100 channel B band radio and I can use Band A in VFO mode. :)

I'll fiddle some more to see if I can't unravel my radios strange quirk and report back if I find anything.

Okay, I'll include this fix for the "unexpected locations" issue in tomorrow's build which will close this. Please open another bug for the subsequent issue if/when you think there's something CHIRP could do about it.

Thanks!

Thanks Brian,

Good to see this one written off.

And ... I finally got A bank working correctly. It is exactly as Johnny Fiv identified above.

For A bank to work it requires a VHF frequency set in at least one A bank channel AND this config in settings.

The happily working radio