Get Started
Programming Your Radio
A radio is useless until it’s programmed. How to load local repeaters with CHIRP or the maker’s software, what every setting means, and the mistakes that trip everyone up.
The short version: use a computer, not the keypad. Download the radio’s current settings first and save a backup, then add your local repeaters and upload. Most “my radio doesn’t work” problems are a wrong offset or tone.
What you need
- Software: CHIRP is free and supports hundreds of radios. Yaesu, Icom and Kenwood also offer their own software, and paid programs like RT Systems are popular for Yaesu radios.
- A programming cable for your exact radio. Many cheap cables use counterfeit chips that won’t install. A cable with a genuine FTDI chip, or the maker’s own cable, saves hours.
- Some newer radios program over a plain USB cable or Bluetooth.
The settings that matter
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Frequency | The repeater’s output, the frequency you listen on. |
| Offset / duplex | The shift for your transmit frequency. Usually 600 kHz on 2 m and 5 MHz on 70 cm in Canada. Plus or minus depends on the repeater. |
| Tone mode | Tone sends a CTCSS tone to open the repeater. TSQL also mutes your receiver unless the tone is present. “None” sends nothing. |
| Tone frequency | The CTCSS tone, for example 110.9 Hz, when the repeater needs one. |
| Mode | FM for most repeaters, or DN/DV, DMR and so on for digital. |
| Power | Use the lowest power that works reliably. |
| Name | A short label like “VE6DOK” so you know what you’re on. |
Example: the VE6DOK repeater
- Frequency: 442.075 MHz
- Duplex: +, offset 5.000 MHz (you transmit on 447.075)
- Tone mode: None, since no tone is needed
- Mode: FM (Yaesu System Fusion radios can also use the digital side)
- Name: VE6DOK
More local repeaters are on the Local Repeater Quick Reference.
Step by step with CHIRP
- Install CHIRP and the cable driver, then plug in the cable and turn the radio on.
- Choose Radio → Download from radio, and pick your make, model and port.
- Save that file right away as your backup. If anything goes wrong, you can put it back.
- Add your repeaters and simplex channels, one row per channel.
- Choose Radio → Upload to radio.
- Test each channel: listen, then key up briefly with your call sign and check you’re getting into the repeater.
DMR and codeplugs
- DMR radios use a codeplug, a file that holds channels, talkgroups, contacts and zones together.
- You’ll need a free DMR ID from RadioID.net before you can transmit.
- Start from a club or repeater owner’s codeplug when you can. Building one from scratch is a big job.
- See DMR for the basics.
Common mistakes
- Offset in the wrong direction, or offset set but duplex off.
- TSQL instead of Tone, so you hear nothing because the repeater doesn’t send the tone back.
- Wrong tone frequency. Check the current tone with the repeater owner or RepeaterBook.
- No backup before uploading.
- Narrow FM on a wide repeater, which makes you sound quiet and distorted.
- Cable or driver problems. If the software can’t find the radio, it’s almost always the cable.
Last updated October 2026.