We have been spending a lot of time working with different radio programming software lately. Some of the common flaws that we have seen:
- There is not a good way to move frequencies around in the programming software. Cut, copy, and paste should be included in all radio programming software. These functions have been around since the 1970s. Why doesn’t all radio programming software have this? For example moving a frequency from channel 14 to channel 7, should not require retyping the frequencies for channels 8 through 14.
- There is not a good way to share data between different models of radios. For example, if you setup a handheld for the frequencies that you want to use, you should be able to reuse that programming to setup a mobile for the same system. Again, this should not require retyping all of the frequencies for your channels.
- Because so much time is spent on developing great hardware, it appears that many radio manufacturers don’t spend enough time developing great programming software. Much of of software that we have seen is just not very “user friendly.”
All of these issues above increase entry errors which, in a worst case scenario, can cause radios:
- to be on the wrong frequencies
- to be wideband when they should be narrowband
- to be unable to access the system because of incorrect CTCSS (PL) tones
- etc.
If radio manufacturers are unwilling to invest in radio programming software with simple features like this, maybe they should consider contributing to an open source radio programming software, like CHIRP. (CHIRP is surely not perfect but it does solve the three problems mentioned above.)
