
VX-7 Commander - version 1.3


This is freeware programming software for Yaesu's VX-7r. 
It does not support all of the VX7's wide range of features, but it is coming along very quickly.  
Please read this entire document before using the VX-7 Commander. 
Use with care. Though I have thoroughly tested it, there are probably still bugs.



***DISCLAIMER***
This program is provided without warranty of any kind. If you use it and brain-dead your vx-7, that is your fault. If it screws up your PC, that is your fault.
All I can say is that this utility works for me.


LICENSE:
Please read the file LICENSE.txt for license information.


Tested on Win98SE, Win2000, WinXP.
If you have an error trying to run VX7 Commander under Windows XP, run the Reg_XP.exefile and click install.


This program was written in VB6. It requires msvbvm60.dll. Most people have it already. If you get an error, then obtain this file and place it in the VX7_Clone folder or in Windows/System. Or better yet, download and install the Visual Basic 6 Runtime Files.


THE INTERFACE:

For the interface, you have a few options:

I am using the same interface I have for my Icom Q7A. It is the improved interface by SV1ENS. I use a 1/8" stereo connector instead of a 4 conductor for my Icom, with the data on the 2nd conductor. I bought a 3/32" stereo adapter and I plugged that into my CT-91 cable. 

I have also tested with the six-transistor design found here:
http://www.icongrp.com/~sllewd/pcware.htm


It is reported that an adapted VX5 ADMS cable works as well. With this cable, you need a 1/8" stereo to 3/32" stereo adapter, and the Yaesu CT-91 cable. The 4-conductor adapter that comes with the VX5 ADMS cable will not work without modification. I do not know much about this, since I don't have the cable.

If you do not own the Yaesu CT-91 cable, you can build your own adapter using the planson this site:
http://www.icongrp.com/~sllewd/VX7Rmods.html

The plans must be followed EXACTLY for it to work! 
Some people have trouble grinding the connector down enough.

All interfaces are not created equally, and they do act differently. So be sure to use one of the interfaces above for the best results.



WHAT IS SUPPORTED:

-Add, edit, delete, cut, paste, move regular memory channels, scan edge memories, one 
touch memories

-Edit memory channel text tags, frequency, mode, step, masked, repeater shift, 
repeater shift freq, Sql Type, Tones, DCS Codes, TX Power, Half Dev, Clock Shift, Icon

-Edit most of the "Set Mode" settings

-Edit memory groups

-Font Editor

-Icon Editor

-Characters 
A-Z a-z 1-9 , : ; ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + - _ = < > ? @ [ ] ^ \ { | } . 
can be displayed for the text tags.

Entry of the complete character set is possible though a clickable table, however these will not be displayed.
(Non-displayable characters are denoted with a copyright symbol "".)


IMPORTANT:

-Before you use try to read or write data, set the port under Options > Port.

DETAILS:

Before you can do anything you must open a vx7 file, or read from the VX-7.
I have included a default.vx7 file, which is basically the factory default settings for the vx-7. Please note however, that it is from my VX-7 which has the freeband mod. Because of the configuration bytes, it may not write to your VX7 properly without enabling mods, and reading from your VX7 to set the hardware bytes first. 

The GUI is pretty self explanatory. Just double-click to edit a setting (or single click, if single-click editing is enabled).


SETTINGS MENU

Port - Select the COM port your VX7 is connected to
Use Alternate Interface - Turns on the alternate interface, if you don't like the spreadsheet format
Use Auto Shift - Automatically applies the proper repeater shift based of the Freq
Use Auto Mode - Automatically applies the proper mode based of the Freq
Single-Click Editing - One click two bring up the proer edit box in the grid, instead of a doube-click
Insert Fills Empty Rows - When inserting, empty rows will be filled, pushing channels together, rather than all grid channels (including blank ones) shifting down.
Show Status Window - Hides or Shows the Status Window, which provides some info when data is being read/written to the VX7
Visible Columns - Displays a dialog that allows you to hide grid columns that are not frequently edited


CUT-COPY-PASTE:

To select a channel or multiple channels to cut, move, or delete, click and drag the far left column on the grid (with the memory channel number) to highlight the rows. You can also right-click this column after selection for a cut-copy-paste menu.

IOn the grid, a right-click brings up a copy/Paste menu.
To copy a range of cells to other cells in the same columns of other channels, you can select any range of cells, copy them, and then paste them into another area. However, you can only paste to the same column copied from, so if you select the paste option anywhere in the row, it will paste the cells where they belong.


TEXT TAGS:

***Unsupported characters are denoted by a copyright symbol "". ***

If you have unsupported characters in your text tags that you read from the VX-7, you can cut, paste, move the channel and it will leave the tags with those characters intact, provided you do NOT edit the text tag of these channels. 
If the program sees a copyright symbol "" in the text tag, it will ignore any grid data and will use the old tag.

To enter a text tag that contains non-displayable characters:
Double-click the grid cell where you want to enter the tag. Be sure the cursor is flashing.
Hit the [F12] key to display the dialog.
Click a character to add it to the tag. If the character is displayable, it will appear
in the box at the bottom. If the character is not displayable, a copyright symbol "" will
be displayed in place of the character. When you write to the VX7, the character you clicked will appear in the tag, even though it can not be displayed in VX7 Commander.
The last 5 characters in the table are the user-defined characters.

Note: to enter a text tag containing non-displayable characters, you must enter the complete
tag using this dialog.



DELETING:
Deleting channels frees them up for the "Next Available Memory" storage feature.


RECOVER DELETED MEMORIES:
You can manually recover memories previously deleted using VX7 Commander.
If you do a [BAND]+[VM]+[4] reset to the VX7, the memories are marked as unused, but the memory data is still there. So if you need to recover this, then just read the data from the VX7 and choose this menu item. Memory one is not recoverable. Please note this will also reset any changes you have made to grid data since your last save.


WIPE UNUSED MEMORIES:
Normally, if a memory is deleted, the memory data is still there. Checking this option will clear this memory data when written/saved so the memories are not recoverable. This might be helpful to those doing memory mapping, to clear some of the "junk" from memory.



FIND:
You can search for memories, by tag or frequency.
This is a case-insesitive substring search. Wildcards are NOT supported, as the wildcard characters could be valid tag characters. But, wildcards are not needed. Just type part of the freq or tag that you know.

Example:

Searching for "456" would find the frequencies "456.000", "145.600", "123.456" etc
Searching for "ABC" would find the tags "ABCDEF", "MMABCM", "nnnABC" etc



DUPLICATE FREQUENCY CHECK:
This will check all of you memories for duplicate frequencies, and report back.
If the report says "Duplicates: 19, 100, 233" that means that these 3 memories have the 
same frequency. 



CSV EXPORT:
You can manually configure the csv exported.
This will allow you to export a CSV in the format of the program of your choice.
You can just leave the settings at their default if you plan to export a CSV for import back into VX7 Commander.



CSV IMPORT:
The CSV import features assumes the first line is a header.
Any file exported by VX7 Commander should be able to be imported back in, as long as the file uses the default header applied, regardless of the other settings used for export. 
The exported CSVs now have a field for the memory number, so you can have different CSVs with different memory ranges stored in them. 
Importing multiple CSVs is supported.

Of course, most fields still need to be in valid "VX7 Commander format".
The frequency field must exist for import, all other fields are optional. If the mode field is omitted, the default mode will be applied based on the frequency.
VX7 Commander also applies a 12.5 KHz step when the imported frequency needs it.
If other fields are omitted, defaults are applied.



TPE IMPORT:
This is designed for import of ARRL Travel Plus files. I do not own this CD, so please let
me know if this works for you.

VX5 EVE IMPORT:
This will import the main memory data from a VX5 .EVE file.

VX5 RDF IMPORT:
This will import the main memory data from a VX5 .RDF file.

You can keep importing files until the memory is full.
Each import starts at the next line after the highest used memory entry.
So, if the last memory in the file is used, import does nothing.

ICON EDITOR & FONT EDITOR:
Left click to fill, right click to erase. You can also hold the mouse button down and drag.
You can save the current font or icon to a file, to allow easy exchange of fonts and icons.

AUTO SHIFT
If you enable this menu item, VX7 Commander will apply the default repeater shift when manually entering frequencies. It will apply this after you are finished entering the frequency. The auto-shift is based on the US shifts listed in the manual. Non-US users will still have to edit these manually. If there are any major errors in the manual, let me know.

PRINT
This will print the VX7 main memory data to your default printer.
Be aware that if you print all of it, it will be 15+ pages, so specify a range unless you are sure you want to print it all.

I think everything else should be self explanatory, but if I have omitted anything or you have a question email me.




Jim
KC8UNJ

Jimbo_48393@yahoo.com




