DB-20G now on Chirp

[GrouserPad]

I figured I would let everyone know, I updated Chirp tonight and saw the Radioddity DB20G is now on the supported radios list. Which Im sure means the other brands of this same radio likely work with it as well. Consider this a friendly heads up. I think we all prefer Chirp over most all oem software. 

[GrouserPad]

11 minutes ago, WSHH887 said:

The DB20 OEM software is pretty simple.  What does CHIRP software do with this radio that the OEM software won't?  I spent years programming control equipment.  Every manufacturer had their own proprietary software.  But once you learn the software none were significantly easier than the rest.  So far it seems the same way with radios.

 

Use whatever software you like friend. I was just letting others know it was available on Chirp now, as this has been asked about for a very very long time and it’s a popular radio. 
 

does Chirp do anything that the oem software doesn’t? Probably not, but if we are all being honest about using all the different software iterations Chirp is by far the most straightforward and not finicky when it comes to device hardware and driver compatibility with different computer operating platforms. Try installing the oem software from a few other mfg’ers (wouxon being one) on an old windows or really new windows version and you have to do a lot of computer fiddling. Just my experience as I’m not a real computer savvy guy. 

[amaff]

2 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

That doesn't make any sense to me.  I'm not going to write to the radio until Chirp can read from it without errors.

That's because I mis-read where exactly the issue was, sorry. Yeah, it definitely sounds like Chirp then, if you were able to program the same split in using the OE software. 

I don't have split tones on any of my gear stuff, fwiw, and it seems to work fine.

EDIT: playing around with this, I'm not able to replicate the issue. I'm running it on Linux at the moment, so MAYBE that has something to do with it, but I'm able to get both a simplex and a repeater channel with split DCS tones put into Chirp without it complaining.

 

[WRYS709]

1 minute ago, WRNC421 said:

Working just fine for me (see attached). Care to share a screen capture of the error? You can also submit a bug report using the Help menu. 

It would also help to know which dated version of ChirpNext he is using.  He was not very cooperative when I asked him for more specifics about his situation...

[UncleYoda]

There is a problem that will prevent me from using Chirp to write to the DB20-G.  After downloading channels, there are 2 channels (22 and 38) highlighted in red which have a mouse-over notice that says list index out of range.  Both of these are set to .725 with split DCS tones.  Other channels with same frequency but CTCSS tone are OK, and so are channels with DCS same on both in and out.  I'll have to stick with the company software until Chirp developer(s) fix this.

 

There are no frequency range settings for GMRS mode (not surprising).  The channel list shows that TX Disable can be set to Enabled for 8-14, but whether the radio will actually transmit I can't test until I can write to the radio after the above issue is fixed.

 

Update: I added a fake channel (.625 simplex on 44) with split DCS tones (1N, 2N) and Chirp read that OK.  So I don't know exactly what combination triggers the error.

Update2: Added another fake channel (.725 simplex on 46) with split DCS (773N, 1N) and this one does generate the error.  And, tried a couple more combinations... doesn't appear to be related to frequency, just DCS split.

[WRYS709]

2 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

Update2: Added another channel (.725 simplex on 46) with split DCS (773N, 1N) and this one does generate the error.  And, tried a couple more combinations... doesn't appear to be related to frequency, just DCS split.

Is that the Redman1 repeater?

[GrouserPad]

3 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

There is a problem that will prevent me from using Chirp to write to the DB20-G.  After downloading channels, there are 2 channels (22 and 38) highlighted in red which have a mouse-over notice that says list index out of range.  Both of these are set to .725 with split DCS tones.  Other channels with same frequency but CTCSS tone are OK, and so are channels with DCS same on both in and out.  I'll have to stick with the company software until Chirp developer(s) fix this.

 

There are no frequency range settings for GMRS mode (not surprising).  The channel list shows that TX Disable can be set to Enabled for 8-14, but whether the radio will actually transmit I can't test until I can write to the radio after the above issue is fixed.

 

Update: I added a fake channel (.625 simplex on 44) with split DCS tones (1N, 2N) and Chirp read that OK.  So I don't know exactly what combination triggers the error.

Update2: Added another channel (.725 simplex on 46) with split DCS (773N, 1N) and this one does generate the error.  And, tried a couple more combinations... doesn't appear to be related to frequency, just DCS split.

Ah darn. I’ll see if I can test it out tonight. I haven’t tried it yet. 

[WSHH887]

The DB20 OEM software is pretty simple.  What does CHIRP software do with this radio that the OEM software won't?  I spent years programming control equipment.  Every manufacturer had their own proprietary software.  But once you learn the software none were significantly easier than the rest.  So far it seems the same way with radios.

[WSHH887]

Fair enough.  I can see the advantage of being able to use one software for multiple manufacturers radios.  I'll probably get it and play with it.  One thing for sure the instructions have got to be better than the OEM software (really lack of instructions) for this radio.  But I'm sort of used to everything from no instructions to chinglish  to well written ones.

[UncleYoda]

31 minutes ago, WSHH887 said:

What does CHIRP software do with this radio that the OEM software won't?

I didn't see anything major at first glance.  I mentioned one thing, regarding ch. 8-14, that might be different (don't know yet).  One thing Chirp is typically better at compared to most CCR software is copying channels and moving channels in a block rather than one at a time.  But the DCS split problem could be important as more of the private repeaters are likely to go to split tones, though not necessarily DCS.

 

2 hours ago, WRYS709 said:

Is that the Redman1 repeater?

No, and I'm not getting specific as it is by permission.

[WRUU653]

35 minutes ago, WSHH887 said:

What does CHIRP software do with this radio that the OEM software won't? 

It works on a Mac.

[WSHH887]

Fortunately, since I retired I will never have to deal with Mac again.  I'm an old DOS dinosaur (like DOS 1.0).  I lamented the origin of Windows.  

Then again I really hate the two, three and four step delete processes that have come about because folks did stupid duff like deleting all the files on an entire hard drive.

[WRUU653]

The Retevis RA25 and the Anytone 779UV are also listed. I noticed that all three are separately listed as well and not the typical “see this or that model”. 
I for one am glad to see these added being a Mac guy. 

[UncleYoda]

46 minutes ago, WSHH887 said:

I'll probably get it and play with it.

Chirp is quirky for DOS/Windows users.  Be sure to read the online help page.

[amaff]

1 hour ago, WSHH887 said:

The DB20 OEM software is pretty simple.  What does CHIRP software do with this radio that the OEM software won't? 

It's simple, but it's clunky as hell.

Being able to copy and move entire lines (or hell, an entire table of channels) at once, instead of doing them cell by cell, is nice.

But if you don't screw around with your config much and just set it up once and use it, then there's no reason the OE software won't work.

[amaff]

8 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

Update2: Added another fake channel (.725 simplex on 46) with split DCS (773N, 1N) and this one does generate the error.  And, tried a couple more combinations... doesn't appear to be related to frequency, just DCS split.

Does it do it if you program in the DCS split tone through the OE software? If so, then it might be something weird with the radio. if not, then it'd be worth reporting the issue to Chirp so it can potentially be corrected/

[WRUU653]

3 hours ago, amaff said:

Being able to copy and move entire lines (or hell, an entire table of channels) at once, instead of doing them cell by cell, is nice

This^^^

I like to program my radios so they are the same. Being able to copy and paste is very useful. 

[SteveShannon]

5 hours ago, WSHH887 said:

The DB20 OEM software is pretty simple.  What does CHIRP software do with this radio that the OEM software won't?  I spent years programming control equipment.  Every manufacturer had their own proprietary software.  But once you learn the software none were significantly easier than the rest.  So far it seems the same way with radios.

Read and write from/to CSV files, import frequencies from external sources such as Repeaterbook; copy, paste, channels like working in a spreadsheet. 
RT Systems does all that too. 
 

Also, save a file with the OEM software, then change the frequency ranges of the radio and try to write the software to the radio, even though the channels you’ve programmed are well within the range you chose. It won’t work. 
It will with RT Systems and I bet it will with Chirp. 
The OEM software is worse than simple; it’s bad. 

[tcp2525]

6 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Read and write from/to CSV files, import frequencies from external sources such as Repeaterbook; copy, paste, channels like working in a spreadsheet. 
RT Systems does all that too. 
 

Also, save a file with the OEM software, then change the frequency ranges of the radio and try to write the software to the radio, even though the channels you’ve programmed are well within the range you chose. It won’t work. 
It will with RT Systems and I bet it will with Chirp. 
The OEM software is worse than simple; it’s bad. 

Yep, the import/export is the best feature radio programming should have. I can make massive code plugs for the Anytone 878 very quickly using this feature in conjunction with Excel with CSV files.  

[UncleYoda]

7 hours ago, amaff said:

Does it do it if you program in the DCS split tone through the OE software? If so, then it might be something weird with the radio. if not, then it'd be worth reporting the issue to Chirp so it can potentially be corrected/

That doesn't make any sense to me.  I'm not going to write to the radio until Chirp can read from it without errors.

[WRTC928]

13 hours ago, WSHH887 said:

The DB20 OEM software is pretty simple.  What does CHIRP software do with this radio that the OEM software won't?  I spent years programming control equipment.  Every manufacturer had their own proprietary software.

I haven't used the DB20 OEM software, but with most OEM software, it's difficult or impossible to cut/paste the data of 100+ channels from CHIRP into the OEM programmer. I have several different brands of radios that I like to have programmed with the same channels, so that matters to me. However, the OEM software of some radios adds bells and whistles that the CHIRP software doesn't include, so I program the channels in CHIRP, "read" the radio into the OEM software, make my tweaks, and upload the result to the radio. I don't know why the OEM programmers can't just make their spreadsheet easy to cut/paste into.

[RoadApple]

19 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

Chirp is quirky for DOS/Windows users.  Be sure to read the online help page.

Interesting to hear, as I've had no issues with it on Windows 10 or 11.  Using it to program 4 different radios. Perhaps I've just been lucky so far...

[UncleYoda]

2 minutes ago, RoadApple said:

Interesting to hear, as I've had no issues with it on Windows 10 or 11.

By quirky I meant how it works, such as keys to press (CTRL-BKSP instead of DEL), and that it tries to anticipate what to put in some columns based on what you enter in others, and that it doesn't show RX DCS when tones are same, and so forth.

[WRYS709]

20 minutes ago, RoadApple said:

Interesting to hear, as I've had no issues with it on Windows 10 or 11.  Using it to program 4 different radios. Perhaps I've just been lucky so far...

I have been using Windows 11, 10 and even XP in Parallels for years on my collection of Macs to be able to program my collection of wireless radios that are not Chirp compatible.  At this point, it is about the only reason left that I continue to have to use Windows at all!

[WRYS709]

On 6/6/2025 at 8:03 PM, GrouserPad said:

I think we all prefer Chirp over most all oem software. 

Technically speaking some radios' CPS software is still required to be able to change certain non-Channel oriented settings that are not covered in Chirp and hence in those situations, I prefer the OEM CPS software for sure!

PS: Why did you select this clunky "let's vote on each response" style of dialogue for this issue?!?  I find it distracting, annoying and downright unhelpful for reading a commentary on these issues!

[WRNC421]

On 6/7/2025 at 10:48 AM, UncleYoda said:

Update2: Added another fake channel (.725 simplex on 46) with split DCS (773N, 1N) and this one does generate the error.  And, tried a couple more combinations... doesn't appear to be related to frequency, just DCS split.

Working just fine for me (see attached). Care to share a screen capture of the error? You can also submit a bug report using the Help menu.