New Tech, ID-5100A

[WTSMatt]

Good morning,
I just got my TECH license and have my ID-5100 installed in my truck. I posted a general question over in BOOTCAMP but wanted to dive deeper in this category. I apologize in advance for my noob questions. I want to confirm my firmware is up to date as this is a used radio. I've searched and found how to download and update my radio but cant find how to tell if its needed. I've posted a pic of the version below. Can anyone confirm I'm current? Also, I have the RT systems programming software and need to input repeaters and everything. Another member recommended the app REPEATER BOOK which I downloaded but I was hoping there was maybe a sheet, file, etc that I could just move into the RT Systems software and upload that way. My travel is limited to the western US so I dont think I need repeaters in GA for example. I am looking into my local HAM club for guidance as well but figured I'd cast a line out here since this forum has been so educational for me.
Matt

 

[OTH Overland]

@WTSMatt Looks like you have the latest. the DSP laste uptate to 1.14 was back in Jan of 2020, the cloning cable was 1.2 in 2015 so all should be good. The 5100 is a good solid radio, have had mine for several years, biggest issue I have with it is the contrast of the screen, definatly not the easiest on the eyes in my opionon. In repeater book you can select just the area you want to download. I often select different areas when i travel and move them to a separate memory bank in the radio so can have them pre-programed if i am out of service and can not search the app for a repeater in case of emergency.

You have to be logged in to the site and not a guest to do exports. Select the North American repeater tab, then pick your state, at the top there is tab for "proximity" there you can search by zip code etc, add in a radius, and then you can select what types of repeaters, services they offer etc. there is also check box for "open repeaters only" then you only get repeaters that are open for anyone to use. when done there is an export button, select the type of export such as RT systems and it will create an export file on your computer in a format recognized by your programming software. Then it can be imported, placed in the memory locations you want and downloaded to your radio. I usually put repeaters in thier own memory bank, that way i dont have to scroll past them when trying to fine one of my often used favorites such as the national calling channels or Overland bound. For general use I keep the left side of the radio set on the 2m caling channel (or what ever channel i am currently using), and the righ side set to scan a list of my favorites including my local police/fire frequenices (receive only).

I have not played around with the Digital DSTAR part of the radio as of yet. There are plenty of YouTubes out there for this radio.

If you search around the interwebs you will find some people posting lists of frequencies for HAM and all other services which may or may not be useful depending on what you are looking for. While the radio will only transmit on the approved HAM bands (unless modified) it does receive a pretty wide band of frequenices that you can listen too as sort of a poor mans scanner. Radio Reference is also another site that you can search for all types of frequenices.

 

[WTSMatt]

Great! Thank you. I got the freq's uploaded into the RT Systems, just gotta get it into the radio next. I appreciate the help!

 

[WTSMatt]

So I'm still trying to program my radio using RT-Systems. There is an option to de-select certain repeaters if your radio does not do them. I'm having a hard time figuring out which, if any, my radio does not use. The options to get rid of are....Yaesu Fusion Systems, P25, DMR and DStar. I know my radio does Dstar but what about the others? I need to slim down my channels to fit in the radio.

 

[M Rose]

So I'm still trying to program my radio using RT-Systems. There is an option to de-select certain repeaters if your radio does not do them. I'm having a hard time figuring out which, if any, my radio does not use. The options to get rid of are....Yaesu Fusion Systems, P25, DMR and DStar. I know my radio does Dstar but what about the others? I need to slim down my channels to fit in the radio.

Your radio only does analog repeaters and DStar. Yasue System Fusion , p25, DMR, all need to be set up with the appropriate talk group and node…. Which your radio doesn’t support. For DSTAR, you need to go register your call sign and make sure you actually have DSTAR repeaters in the area.

I need to play around with RT-Systems some more as it’s been a long while since I built a repeater list from scratch. But what I normally do (from memory) is build a master repeater list and export it to an XLS sheet. Then I break the XLS sheet into regions by either geographic locations ie state and county. Then I import the the region I am going to be using.

another thing… first step to making a repeater list is to connect the radio to the PC, and upload the radio to RT-System (or any other programming software). This is needed to get the radio settings synced with the programming software. When done correctly repeaters that aren’t supported by your radio won’t be able to be entered into your database.

 

[WTSMatt]

Awesome! I think I got it working. I uninstalled then reinstalled the RT software and it seems to off done all the steps correctly. Thanks for your help!