tk500 - Experimental Software for
the Yaesu VR-500 Receiver

Overview

tk500 is open source software designed for the Yaesu VR-500 receiver. Though it is chiefly intended for Linux, MacOS X, and BSD users, tk500 will work on Microsoft Windows, too. An introductory article about this software appeared in July 2002 Monitoring Times magazine.

The current, experimental version of tk500 can program three versions of VR-500: USA, Japanese, and Export. It can:

• read a memory image from the VR-500 receiver.
• read an RT Systems .RDF file (for the VR-500) and extract the memory image data.
• display most data from a memory image using a graphical user interface.
• permit the user to set an enhanced mode within the radio and choose a new NAM (narrow AM) mode, a feature not documented in the Yaesu VR-500 Operating Manual.
• permit the user to change frequency, mode, and step information.
• check for duplicate frequencies.
• program the radio, i.e., write the updated memory image back to the VR-500 receiver.
• save a memory image in a template file for further use or examination.
• extract the frequency, label, mode, and preferential flag for each of the 1000 memory channels from a memory image and export them to a csv (comma-separated values) file.
• sort memory channels by frequency or by label within any bank or all banks.
• perform sanity checks on the frequency, mode, and step values and alert the user to errors or questionable values.

I implemented tk500 in the Tcl/Tk scripting language which enables it to run on a variety of operating systems. The free Tcl/Tk interpreter software must be installed on your computer prior to using tk500. I am looking for beta testers to try tk500 in the MacOS X environment.

tk500 is distributed free of charge, but it is neither shareware nor in the public domain. tk500 is a copyrighted work released under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation. tk500 is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

Memory Channel Files

	Ch,MHz,Mode,Pref,Label

All the other lines will contain these fields:

	Channel number (0 - 999)
	Frequency in MHz
	Mode, case insensitive (optional: am, usb,
		lsb, cw, nfm, wfm)
	Preferential flag p (optional)
	Label (an optional 8-char name)

This is a sample memory data .csv file:

	Ch,MHz,Mode,Pref,Label
	0,0.0000,nfm,,
	1,460.5250,nfm,p,"Kendl P1"
	2,460.5750,nfm,p,"KC Fire1"
	3,460.3750,nfm,p,"Kendl P2"
	4,462.9750,nfm,p,"KC Fire2"
	5,155.4750,nfm,p,"ISPERN"
	6,155.5800,nfm,p,"Oswego P"
	7,145.1700,nfm,,"IH rptr"
	8,146.5200,nfm,,"ham"
		...

When the mode for a memory channel imported from a CSV file is not specified, the mode will set according to the Auto Band plan.

You can use a separate text editor or spreadsheet program to create, edit, and print memory channel files.

Computer Interface Adaptor

Tsunetaka Mitsuyasu describes, in Japanese, his 2-transistor home made interface.

Stefano Sella IW3IBF describes, in Italian, a 2-transistor home made interface, but Rubens Monteiro Luciano PU2RML had to replace DZ1, the 4.7 volt Zener diode, with a 3.3 volt white LED acting as a Zener to make the circuit function properly with his VR-500.

Mr. Skinny uses a MAX-232 IC based interface.

Acknowledgments

tk500 is undergoing development. To download a beta test version, including source code, click on the appropriate link to the left.