wwara-chirp 2.0.4

WWARA CHIRP Export Script Update

WWARA CHIRP Export Script Update

Note: This is a work in progress. The script is mostly functional, and the documentation is aspirational.

Please report any issues or bugs you encounter, and feel free to contribute to the documentation or code.

Overview

This repository contains an updated CHIRP export script for the Western Washington Amateur Relay Association (WWARA).

WWARA maintains a database of coordinated repeaters west of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State, between the Canadian border and the Oregon borders. WWARA publishes a nightly extract of their database in various CSV variations.

This script is intended to be used with the WWARA-rptrlist-DATE.csv file. The v2.x.x updates address a longstanding format change for CHIRP import files, moving away from XML in favor of CSV due to improved compatibility and reliability. These updates also implement a modern Python packaging structure to facilitate installation, especially managing dependencies.

Background

CHIRP, an open-source tool for programming amateur radios, initially supported XML as an import format for radio frequency data. However, the XML import feature had issues, including strict schema requirements and formatting constraints that frequently resulted in validation errors. Users experienced challenges due to the XML schema’s rigidity, which required fields in precise order and allowed minimal flexibility. These limitations hindered interoperability and led to CHIRP adopting CSV as the preferred import format. CSV files are easier to create and maintain, and they seamlessly integrate with CHIRP’s features, allowing users to import frequency data across a wide range of supported radios without the schema-related errors encountered with XML.

Prerequisites

wwara_chirp is tested on python 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, and 3.13

Installation

To install the package, you can use pip to install the package from PyPI for the latest stable release. bash pip install -i wwara-chirp
or from the test PyPI for the latest pre-release version.

pip install -i https://test.pypi.org/simple/ wwara-chirp

you can also upgrade the package to the latest stable version. bash pip install -i --upgrade wwara-chirp

Usage

To export WWARA repeater data for CHIRP programming, run the script with the following command:

• wwara_chirp <input_file> <output_file>

• <input_file> is the CSV file containing WWARA repeater data and

• <output_file> is the CSV file to be generated for CHIRP import. (Be sure the output_file does not exist.)

The script is intended to read the daily WWARA input file, convert the data to CHIRP format, and write the output file in CSV format for CHIRP import. The output file should be imported to a new CHIRP channel list, and specific entries can be copy and pasted to the desired radio memory channels of the user's radio file.

Future Plans

As CHIRP evolves, this script will be maintained to reflect any new updates or changes in CHIRP\’s file compatibility. Contributions and bug reports are welcome and encouraged, as the goal is to provide a reliable and user-friendly tool for WWARA members and other amateur radio operators.

License

This project is now licensed under the GPL-3.0 License to allow the reuse of code from the code from the chirp project, which is also licensed under GPL-3.0. This change ensures compatibility and compliance with the licensing terms of the chirp project.

If the chirp project is ever published to PyPi under a more permissive license, such as the MIT License, we can consider switching back to the MIT License for this project. This would allow for greater flexibility and ease of use for contributors and users.

For more details, see the LICENSE.txt file in this repository.

Contact

This project is maintained by Tom Sayles (KE4HET) on a volunteer and as time allows basis.

For questions, please reach out to the maintainers or open an issue on this repository.