Using Software to Program Ham Radios

Phill Vanderschaegen KF7SJK

Programming Ham Radios

The following information relates to VHF(2m) and UHF(70cm) radios. Ham radios can be programmed without the use of software, but it is much more difficult. Using software makes the job very much easier. If you only use a very few frequencies/repeaters you can get by without software. However, if you program many frequencies/repeaters your life will be much better if you use software. There are two main sources for radio programming software, RT Systems and Chirp. I have used both, I use Chirp for my cheap Baofeng HTs and RT Systems for my Yaesu radios.

There are other less well know radio software sources. Other software may be available for your radio. You can search Google using your radio model, brand and "programming software" to find the other programs.

Programming Ham radios involves several steps once you have the software.

1. Selecting which frequencies/repeaters you want to use. This may not be as easy as it looks. If you're just going to be using your radio in one location the job will be simpler. If you plan to travel with your radio things get tougher. The repeater sources below do not always have the correct status for repeaters. A repeater can be off line, but still be listed. If you plan on travelling be advised that some of the repeaters that you program may not be there. Here are a few sources for locating repeaters:

   Repeater Locator Map

   Repeater Book

   RadioReference.com

   Repeater Search Page (nice)

   Worldwide Repeater Directory Smartphone APP

2. Creating your programming file Once you have selected the frequencies you wish to program you need to enter the data. Both Chirp and RT Systems software is in spreadsheet format. You will need to carefully enter the information, making sure to get all the frequencies entered error free. You can play around with how you want to organize your frequencies. For example, you can sort them by frequency or by the alpha numeric name you give each entry.
3. Programming the radio Programming the radio involves connecting the cable, downloading the data in the radio and then uploading your new data to the radio. A step that did not make sense to me when I began using these programs was the need to download from the radio first. I don't know why this is required, but it is. Here's generic instructions to program your radio.
1. Turn your radio off and attach the cable to the USB port on your computer and to the radio. Unfortunately every model of Yaesu radio I own requires a different cable.
2. Your radio will need to be set to "Clone" mode in order to communicate with the computer.
3. Download the data from the radio into a new file. Be careful, if you don't use a new file you will overwrite all the hard work you did creating your desired frequencies.
4. Upload your data from the file you created to your radio.
5. Unplug the radio and check to see if you have uploaded the data successfully.

I like to program all my radios with the same set of data. You can copy the same data file to different radios using the file "export/import" function. I save the file I want to copy to other radios in the .csv format. This .csv file can then be opened in the program used for the radio I'm copying to.

Some typical programming cables. All of these connect to the USB port on the computer.

Left to right: Baofeng HT, Yaesu VX-8, Yaesu FT-7900, Yaesu FT-60 and Yaesu FT-2900.

Organizing Your Frequencies

Memory Banks

Many radios allow you to set up memory "banks". Essentially memory banks allow you to have many different configuratons in a single radio. The power of the memory bank feature is that you can select a bank and the radio then operates on only the memory channels included in that bank. I cannot imagine using a raadio that does not allow banks. For example I have seperate banks for local ham frequencies, frequences for highways I regularly travel, banks for monitoring public service frequencies and more. Currently I have 10 different banks in my Yaesu FT-7900, this is half of the 20 memory banks that can be programmed into the FT-7900. A Yaesu FT-60, a very popular HT, can hold 10 memory banks. Without banks you would have to scann all the frequencies that you have in your radio's memory. Using banks you can subdivide your frequencies into usable chunks.

One of the neat things about memory banks is that any frequency/repeater(AKA Channel) can be placed in multiple banks. For example, I include 146.52(VHF National Calling Frequency)in all my ham frequency banks.

How to Organize Your Frequencies(Channels)

Ham radios will allow you to have 100s or even 1000s of channels in memory. Somewhere in the process of accumulating repeaters and frequencies you will be confronted with the dilemma of how to organize your list. The three main options are by frequency, by name or by locaion. Or possibly you may come up with your own way to organize things. The good news is that programming software will allow you to sort your lists almost any way you want. If your radio allows you to use banks then you must decide how to organize those banks.

I list my repeaters by location and then sort within a location by frequency. Here are a few examples how I organize things. One bank is just the local repeaters and simplex frequencies we use. Another bank is the previous, but with local law enforcement and fire included. Another bank is repeaters along a route that I regularly travel(Madras to Portland over the Cascades via Highway 26). Another is an alternate route from Madras to Portland, via the Columbia River Gorge(We use this when the mountains are impassable due to snow.). If I go wandering in eastern Oregon I have another bank that includes most of the repeaters in eastern Oregon.

I have two Yaesu FT-7900 radios, one is my base station and the other in mounted in my truck. Both radios are programmed exactly the same. This reduces confusion on my part. This also means that the commands to control the radios are the same and I have a "cheat sheet" with commonly used commands near by at all times. I also keep a 3 X % card with a list of what the banks contain. My HTs are also programmed with the same data as my FT-7900s. This also reduces confusion.

Two photos of my FT-7900, the photo on the left shows bank selection and the photo on the right is the radio scanning.

Programming Software

Screen Shot of RT Systems Software for FT-7900

(All RT software for different radios looks the same.)

Screen Shot of Radio Settings in RT Systems Software for FT-7900

It is possible using RT software to enter many of the radio settings, thus not having to lookup/remember the complex number of menu options.

Screen Shot of Chirp for Baofeng UV-5