CHIRP

It would depend on if the radio is crippled by firmware or just by configuring the band limits. It would help to be able to look at an image from the radio. If it is a firmware limitation, there is nothing that CHIRP can do.

Jim KC9HI

Hi,

When I bought the radio, the frequencies were up to my country limitation, however when I reset the whole radio, the frequencies went down to the ones mentioned above.

I attached an image from the radio.

Felipe,

This is what I came up with up with. I took the image that you supplied which was set to EU band limits (see band_limits_EU.png) and edited it to have the typical factory "full" band limits (see band_limits_Full.png). I then created a custom driver module which is only capable of updating the band limits of a QYT KT8900 type radio. Follow the instructions below to see if it works.

Part I - begin

1. save the btech-set_kt8900_band_limits.py and QYT_KT8900_full_band_limits.img files to a convenient location (note: do not right-click the files to download)
2. load CHIRP
3. click Help in the menu bar and enable the ✓ Enable Developer Functions setting in the list that appears
4. click File in the menu bar and choose Load Module in the list that appears
5. locate and load the btech-set_kt8900_band_limits.py test driver module saved in step 1 Part I - end

At this point CHIRP will have a red background to indicate that it is running with an externally loaded driver module.

Part II - begin

1. click File in the menu bar and choose Open in the list that appears
2. locate and load the QYT_KT8900_full_band_limits.img file that was save in step 1 (Part - I)
3. click Radio in the menu bare and choose Upload to Radio in the list that appears
4. make sure the correct Port: is still selected and click the [OK] button (note: the upload will very quick)
5. click Help in the menu bar and disable the Enable Developer Functions setting in the list that appears
6. click File in the menu bar and choose Quit in the list that appears Part II - end

Now the band limits should be set to the typical factory band limits (130-179 MHz and 400-520 MHz) of the older radios that don't have crippled TX ranges. Now load CHIRP as you normally would and test to see if your radio will now transmit on frequencies within the full frequency ranges.

Jim KC9HI

Hi Jim,

I followed the instructions that you provided, however when I reach to the "upload to radio" step I encounter with an error that says "error reading data from radio". (see upload_error.png)

I notices that this error only appears when I load the module "btech-set_kt8900_band_limits.py"

I attach the debug.log file.

Felipe,

See if @#2@ resolves the issue.

Jim KC9HI

Jim,

I tried with #2 and shows another error: "ERROR: Clone failed: The extra ID is short, aborting.

I attach another debug_2.log file.

At least we are sneaking up on it. Give @#3@ a try.

Jim KC9HI

Sure, I appreciate the effort. #3 shows the same error.

Weird. It works just fine here with my radios. But unfortunately I don't have the specific KT8900 model.

I am going to bypass the error for now. I just want to get your band limits updated. I am hoping that once that happens, you will be good.

Jim KC9HI

Once I have my band limits updated, I swear i'm going to be good. I tried the #4 and the error changed for the first one that I upload.

Ok. Here's @#5@.

Jim KC9HI

for a brief moment i thought it would work, because the clone took a couple of seconds before showing me an error.

This has got to work. But it is going to take some time because @#6@ will be doing the full upload.

Jim KC9HI