04 June 2010

FT817 keypad, now with 25 onboard memories

I have been asked to develop a custom firmware for a DXpedition. Requirements where:
  • quick band/mode change
  • split control

Band/mode combinations are for 9 bands with two modes, summing up to 18 combinations. Since the standard firmware allowed 15 (or 16 if static) onboard memories, I wrote the code to use all the available Flash memory and give the operator 25 dynamic locations.

These 25 memories have to be programmed once by the operator, and they are retained after keypad power-off. They are organized in two banks, accessed from the main menu with key "#" and key "D".

The same firmware also carries A/B, A=B, split on/off, direct dial and mode set. Unused keys are locked too, so that they don't produce invalid frequency input.

More static memories could be built in, but you would loose the ability to reprogram them once out on the field.