CHIRP

Hi Jim,

Can you please attach an image file of your radio,
I’ll look into it.

p.s. Do you have a UV2 or UV2+ radio?

Ran

Hi Ran,
Here is the info you requested.

VFO Step Size
5 = 0x00
6.25 = 0x01
10 = 0x02

12.5 = 0x03
15 = 0x04
20 = 0x05
25 = 0x06
30 = 0x07
50 = 0x08
100 = 0x09

Dual Watch = 0x00
Cross Band = 0x01
Normal = 0xFF
or = 0x02 if set to normal using CHIRP then downloaded from radio again
(Unable to combine Cross Band and Dual Watch. I selected frequencies in two separate bands and selected Dual Watch resulting in a 0x00 value.

Interesting finding:
When the step size was changed and the new image downloaded into CHIRP, the Settings window was populated with the available options. After some testing I found I did not have to change the Step size. I only had to view and accept the existing value. Every time I upload to the radio with the manufacturer's software though, I have to deal with the step value again before downloading to CHIRP.

So the settings screen is no longer blank (if I select a step size on the radio before downloading). There are however, two features/options not showing up on the settings screen.

1. A VFO model on/off option. (Off = 0x00, On = 0xFF) (0x01 manually entered seems to work)
2. An End tone on/off option. (off - 0x0, On = 0x1)

I can change those settings manually in the Browser tab, but a checkbox, Yes/No, or ON/Off choice on the Settings tab would be much appreciated. :)

Do these need to be addressed as separate issues?

Thanks again. I hope this info is helpful

Jim H.

Good Evening Ran,

My radio is the same way with the squelch tail. Quansheng's menu simply calls it End Code. By leaving the word "elimination" off the option name Off(1) means tail is ON, and On(0) means tail is Off (eliminated). (talk about confusing) They could have used a better choice of words.

I was unable to test the driver. The screen did turn red, but I received an error message when loading the module.
"Unable to load module: invalid syntax (tg_uv2p_Jul10.py, line 1)"
which is interesting since line 1 is a #Comment line.

I tried a download from the radio anyway, but there was no difference (no test driver loaded).

Awaiting further instructions...

Jim

Jim H wrote:

I was unable to test the driver. The screen did turn red, but I received an error message when loading the module.
"Unable to load module: invalid syntax (tg_uv2p_Jul10.py, line 1)"
which is interesting since line 1 is a #Comment line.

You must not right-click the link to download. You must left-click the link. Once the next page loads, left-click the "download" link near the top of the page.

Jim KC9HI

Thank you Jim U, Trying again....
Module loaded successfully. Looks good so far. Let the fun (testing) begin.

Jim H

Hello Ran,
Everything seems to be working fine with the exception of the VFO mode menu options in the settings tab.
I am not able to make changes to the radio's VFO mode by selecting the Enabled or Disabled option. I am however, able to make changes to the radio's VFO mode by manually entering the values into the Browser root->settings-> vfo_mode field.
0x00 Disabled and 0xFF or 0x01 Enabled
I successfully changed other settings back and forth multiple times and didn't have any other issues.
Thanks again for your work on this.

Good News Ran,

I retested all available settings and the module is successfully changing the settings on the radio correctly. I am satisfied with the module's performance as is, but thought you or others might benefit from what I found during my testing.

I found two radio related quirks (not bugs since the software is performing as it should).

1. If either Dual Watch or DualBand are selected and Keypad Lock is enabled
   then the Keypad Lock CANNOT be removed using the TG-UV2's keypad.
   It must be removed via software (Either CHIRP or Quansheng's TG-UV-D1.72 worked for me).
   Possible Solutions:
   A. Leave as is - Some users may like the Lockout feature during Dual Watch or CrossBand
   B. Remove the Keypad Lock from CHIRP - It is easy enough to lock & unlock using the TG-UV2
   C. Remove Dual Watch & CrossBand option - Each an be enabled/disabled via radio keypad
   D. Additional programming within CHIRP to prevent the issue or add an alert message (See A)

2. If the Priority Channel selected is either an empty memory slot
   or an FM radio broadcast station
   then the TG-UV2 will turn Priority Channel Scanning OFF
   CHIRP will retain the channel selected, but the TG-UV2 will not.
   Possible Solution:
   Awareness. Both Software & Radio are both performing as designed.

Thanks again,
Jim

Jim H wrote:

Good News Ran,

I retested all available settings and the tg_uv2p_Jul11.py module is successfully changing the settings on the TG-UV2 correctly. I am satisfied with the module's performance as is, but thought you or others might benefit from what I found during my testing.

I found two radio related quirks (not bugs since the software is performing as it should).

1. If either Dual Watch or DualBand are selected and Keypad Lock is enabled
   then the Keypad Lock CANNOT be removed using the TG-UV2's keypad.
   It must be removed via software (Either CHIRP or Quansheng's TG-UV-D1.72 worked for me).
   Possible Solutions:
   A. Leave as is - Some users may like the Lockout feature during Dual Watch or CrossBand
   B. Remove the Keypad Lock from CHIRP - It is easy enough to lock & unlock using the TG-UV2
   C. Remove Dual Watch & CrossBand option - Each an be enabled/disabled via radio keypad
   D. Additional programming within CHIRP to prevent the issue or add an alert message (See A)

2. If the Priority Channel selected is either an empty memory slot
   or an FM radio broadcast station
   then the TG-UV2 will turn Priority Channel Scanning OFF
   CHIRP will retain the channel selected, but the TG-UV2 will not.
   Possible Solution:
   Awareness. Both Software & Radio are performing as designed.

Thanks again,
Jim

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the thorough testing!

I am trying to find out if/how I can generate warnings/notifications for the "quirks" you pointed out.

Ran

Hi Ran,

My personal opinion is that the Keypad Lock option is unnecessary in CHIRP for the TG-UV2 and TG-UV2+ since it only takes a long press of the F key to lock and unlock on the radios themselves, but I can see how someone might want to intentionally hard-lock the radio into the Dual Watch or CrossBand mode.

After taking a closer look I realized there was no ability for a user to select the channels they wanted for Dual Watch or CrossBand within CHIRP, and once the keypad is locked upon upload there would be no ability to select them later on the TG-UV2.

Giving the user the ability to select the Main Channel and Sub Channel from within CHIRP would not only reduce the headache of being locked into DualWatch or CrossBand, but would be a great feature to add to the Settings tab regardless. (Immediately prior to the DW or CB choice?)

I have experimented a little and am able to set the Main and Sub Channels manually in the Browser tab under vfos[2]. (Most likely the same for both TG-UV2 and TG-UV2+
vfos[2][0] is the Main Channel
vfos[2][1] is the Sub Channel

"current" and "chan" are the setting I changed to upload my chosen channels to the radio.
The values are Channel 0 = 0x00, Channel 10 = 0x0A, etc...)

While "current" and "chan" don't have to match, I found it best and less confusing when they did (avoids interesting little flukes).

I did not find out what the "memno" setting was for, so I've left it as found ( 0xCB ) and haven't noticed any issues.

The Quansheng programming software did not have the ability to select main and sub channels, or choose between Dual Watch, CrossBand and Normal monitoring, so I am very please to see this ability in CHIRP.

P.S: Since CHIRP is now showing the Settings options for the TG-UV2 and changing them correctly, I don't know if the above still falls under the same issue, or if it needs to be started separately.

Jim

Jim H wrote:

B. Remove the Keypad Lock from CHIRP - It is easy enough to lock & unlock using the TG-UV2

What happens if a user locks the keypad when Dual Watch or Dual Band is enabled? Does the keypad become "unlockable"? If not, then what happens if the radio configured this is is downloaded to CHIRP and then uploaded back again. Is the radio now "unlockable"? If not, then I would suspect that the way CHIRP is currently locking the keypad is not fully implemented in the same way as how the radio locks the keypad from the keypad.

Jim KC9HI

Hi Jim (U),

The radio doesn’t let you to lock during dual watch ( actually most of the functions are “locked” during this mode ).

I can do the same with the driver ( not allowing to set “lock” when dual watch is enabled and vice versa) however I would like to notify the user somehow.

Ran

Hi Jim & Ran,

Jim - That is precisely the process I used to identify the situation, so we are hinking along the same lines.

Since as Ran said and I also found on the UV2, the radio doesn't allow combining any two of the keypad lock, dual watch, or cross band modes, and each have their own included keypad lock feature, I propose a "short & simple" option as a solution that would inform the user without requiring an additional message.

Immediately after providing the option to select Primary and Secondary Channels
(I"m stuck on that now - Couldn't do that with the manufacturer's software)
Provide a choice via radio buttons or check boxes (only one option is selectable)
Options = Normal - Keypad Lock - Dual Watch - Cross Band
Set "Normal" as the pre-selected default.

[x] Normal
[ ] Keypad Lock
[ ] Dual Watch
[ ] CrossBand

The user will then be able to see their selection change and realize they can't select two optiona at the same time. (If you find a way to add a notice, it can always be added later.)

(Of course the simplest solution would be to add the Kepad Lock otion the the existing Normal, Dual Watch, CrossBand drop down menu, but I'm not sure how intuitive that would be.)

If users really want to Combine options and lock the radio into Dual Watch or Cross Band mode (a feature the radio itself does not allow), and are comfortable enough to do so using the Browser -> Root -> Settings screen, then they will understand if they need to return to CHIRP to unlock the radio later.

FYI: Just because I'm used to using the keypad to enable/disable these features does not mean I'm not exited to see these features available in CHIRP. The more I look into CHIRP's feature list the more exited I get. I just don't want to keep adding "one more thing" and extending the time on this issue when you (Ran) have already fixed the original issue I had.

Jim

That is embarrassing. "THINKING along the same lines"
Sorry Jim U.

Jim

Hi Jim,
Sorry for the delay, my day job kept me busy in the past weeks, and as it sponsors my hobbies, it, sometimes :), gets priority...

Anyway, I submitted the following fixes today:
Fix 1: Accepts "un initialized" ufo step values (the problem that started it all :))
Fix 2: Adds support for end tone elimination setting
Fix 3: Adds support for VFO mode enable setting
Fix 4: Inhibits keypad lock when in dual watch or crossmode, there is also a note in the keypad lock setting description. The check box does not update "on the fly" but the actual setting does.
Fix 5: Don't set a priority channel if empty or Broadcast-FM memory. unfortunately i couldn't get the channel list to update on the fly (i.e. when adding/deleting channels) but if you change to an empty or broadcast channel it will be saved to the memory( and radio ) as "un set". I also added a note in the setting's description stating this.
If all goes OK, these changes will be available shortly in the release chirp package.

As for the primary/secondary channel configuration, if you are still interested in this, please open a new issue, this is different than the others (mainly as I don't know yet how to handle it...) as the radio allows you to have both (pri &sec) in VFO mode in the same band and it is not clear to me how this is represented (and potentially manipulated) in the memory image.

Ran

Thanks Ran,
I will watch for the next release.
Jim H

Hi Ran,
I downloaded & installed chirp-daily-20220808.
Fixes 1, 2, and 3 have been implemented, but Fix 4 and 5 were not included (yet?).

Jim H

Hi Jim,
You are correct, unfortunately 4 and 5 were rejected (for good reason of course) and I need to modify them and re-submit.

I hope to do so shortly.

Ran