[Ham-Mac] MacMemoriesManager

[Steve - VA3SPH]

The key challenge, I think, is that there is no universal standard to  
talk to all radio's using serial.  If we compare this to modems there  
is the basic Hayes AT command set.  All modem vendors use basic set  
and then add on addition enhancements.

For example to dial using tones...
ATDT 5151234567

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_command_set#The_basic_Hayes_command_set

This mean a programs that talk to all radio's have to be individually  
programmed for each nuance.  Some radio only support cloning and do  
not access individual memories.  Means for these radios you have to  
dump all memories make a change and then upload.  That can take some  
time with radio getting more and more memories.

Final nail in coffin (so to speak) is that some radio manufactures  
don't publish the specifications to manage radio via serial port. Even  
when you ask then they won't provide pointing to a Windows program  
which lock you into one program or developer.

Don is just one voice and I don't see us HAMs (especially Mac HAMs)  
complaining about this.

Hence in the end the cost to reverse engineer serial commands (read  
trial and error) for each new radio didn't justify payback. Reverse  
Enginnering is very dangerous as well and you can issue a command when  
you put radio in a mode you can't escape out of (firmware update).

It a shame as this program saved bacon a couple of times when I have  
had to reset radio when it got into a funky state.
It also allowed me to program memories from one radio to another  
thereby saving hour and hours programming manually.

I think down the we are going to miss this program as new radio come  
out and program gets outdated.

my 2¢

73
Steve - VA3SPH


On 17-Mar-09, at 9:11 AM, Dan Romanchik KB6NU wrote:

> I doubt that a single review killed it, especially since the other two
> reviews were positive. My guess is that it was just too expensive for
> what it does. $67 seems like a lot of money for a program that only
> manages memories.
>
> 73!
>
> Dan KB6NU