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Reviews For: RT Systems radio programming software all models

Category: Ham Software/Apps - Other than logging

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Review Summary For : RT Systems radio programming software all models
Reviews: 314MSRP: Varies
Description:
Radio programming software & cables for a wide variety of manufacturer and model radios.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.rtsystemsinc.com/index.cfm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
104.23143.6
K4GTE Rating: 2022-07-22
Easy, Fast, and Reasonably Priced Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The easiest, fastest way to program any radio. The best !

PS- If you buy the software for a specific operating system, either PC or Apple, it is for that operating system only. You are not entitled to all operating system versions for your one purchase price, As it is with any OS specific software.
W4FID Rating: 2022-07-22
the best Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The statement that a guy changed from WIN to Apple so he already paid for the software is bogus. A new operating system is a new operating system. Does the floor mat you bought for your Ford Explorer fit your new Honda Pilot? If you change from an Android phone to an iPhone do the apps make the switch for free or do you recognize you made a change and need different software? I have used RT Systems for about 15 years for about a dozen different radios and have been 100% satisfied every time. I own their products for 6 radios -- plus the ones I have done for friends and lot of them for the county EOC over the years. Having tried the manufacturer's programming and some free stuff like CHIRP I decided long ago RT is worth it. Easier. More reliable. Better support if you call them.

ANY interconnection between any ham stuff needs to be appropriate for the devices connected. Some power leads have bare wire -- some have ring terminals -- some have spade terminals -- some have Power Poles. Coax may have UHF or BNC or N connectors. Microphones have different connectors. A Kenwood and Yaesu and Icom may or may not be interchangeable even if they have the same mechanical connector they may be wired differently. Programming between the rig and the computer is the same. You have to know what you are doing and how to connect it.

RT Systems does us all a favor. They sell and charge for what something is worth. The software costs what's fair for software. The cable costs what's fair for a cable. If you have multiple radios you may only need one cable so they are doing you a favor to not charge for both software and cable on every transaction.

Many years ago several of us were instrumental in launching our EOC stations and getting a D-Star repeater up. We had numerous manufacturers and models of equipment. We tried various manufacturer's software and other 3rd party systems. RT was by far the best and we used it to launch the EOC, our personal stuff, and brought many others on board along the way. It is by far the easiest to use.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by W4FID on 2012-04-10

I have their stuff for several Icom radios. LIKE IT. Works easier/better than other systems from other vendors including the Icom programming stuff. Done a LOT of radios at the EOC for several others. I'm OK with buying a couple cables for the several software packages I have so I always have one with me and a spare. About $15 cable for a $500 D-Star HT doesn't seem unreasonable to me. What did bite me was about $50 for the Icom pig tail the IC-92AD requires ....... but that's not RT's fault or issue.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by W4FID on 2011-09-27

I heard they were the way to go for D-Star programming since it takes a lot of inputs per repeater. A friend demoed it for my IC-V82. Liked it so well I bought it since I plan to change/reprogram that HT often. Liked it so well I got the version for the ID-880H when I got one. Liked it so well I got the version for the IC-92AD when I got one.

You can swap common inputs between rigs easily. You can import repeater info from other lists/sources fairly easily. You can revise and reload real easily if you want new or different programs. You can save by file name for trips here and trips there and just quickly reload the rig for wherever you're going next.

There is a help feature and a set of videos and great support on the phone if you need it. But mostly it's self explanatory and the learning curve is easy.
NK3V Rating: 2022-07-21
Beware Time Owned: more than 12 months.
RT Systems software pretty much performs as advertised.

But beware if you upgrade/change you computer operating system, say from PC to Apple, they want you to pay again for something you've already paid for.
EI7II Rating: 2022-05-22
RT Systems S/W ? Essential for me. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
For me ?.... essential !
I have the RT Systems S/W for all my 4 radios. To say I love it is an understatement. Yes yes.... most manufacturers make (roll) their own and it tends to be free....... but RT Systems beats them hands down.
It has many many a time saved me when I had screwed up the MENU settings on the FT991A, while experimenting with different digital modes.
Just cannot recommend it high enough.
Albert
EI7II.
KF5YUB Rating: 2022-05-22
Works Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Nice for having back up, cloning and easy programming.
K6LCS Rating: 2022-01-25
Does the Job! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
UPDATE for 2022: I am very pleased to see more Mac titles available from RT Systems! We can now program our FT-60 and FT-70 (and a lot more) without booting up the old Windows laptop!

ORIGINAL: Getting communications/serial port programs to work on some computers can be a hassle. I find if I perform my radio programming sessions AFTER going through and eliminating a lot of "Windows Startup" utilities and programs, that that makes my system "cleaner" and much less prone to comms errors.

With that said, I own and trust the software package from RT Systems for my FT-8800 (and MANY other radios, too). Like any reliable programming software offering, it allows not only the programming of frequency and alpha characters, but also intimate Menu items.

Their hours for voice support are posted on their Web site. My email inquiries get answered in a reasonable amount of time. Updates to the main program are posted on their Web site - making upgrading painless.

Clint Bradford, K6LCS
AB6RO Rating: 2021-04-30
Makes programming a snap; great service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have RT programming software for 13 different radios. All I can say is, the application makes programming a snap. If you've used any spreadsheet program such as Excel or LibreOffice Calc, you're already there. Just enter a frequency/tone once, then it's cut/paste to any other radio. And, while programming in the past required a special cable for each radio type, many now have an SD card interface. And, as far as customer service, my experience has been nothing but great. I needed a couple of serial numbers to re-install the programmer on a new computer, so I called customer service near the end of the day on a Friday. But no problem, I had my serial numbers in 5 minutes. So, in short, I will continue to use RT for my next radios.
KA3ZAI Rating: 2021-04-27
Outstanding Support Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My 4th programming software from RT Systems...
I recently purchased (March 2021) the programming software and interface cable from RT for a new Btech UV50X3 tri-band mobile rig. Worked flawlessly the few times I used it. However, the radio somehow got it's CPU scrambled and customer support helped me figure that out. Software is communicating with the radio just as it should now. 5-STARS for RT Systems!

This is my third programming software from RT Systems. This current one bought today for my new FTM-400. I was able to copy and paste from my 991A's programming software from RT into the FTM-400's program. Worked like a charm. Save yourself the headache and use this instead of the free software. You WILL NOT be disappointed.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KJ3LR on 2019-01-02

This programming software works great for my FT 991A.
I did encounter an issue and Rob from CS called me and resolved my issue. Customer service is tops!
WA9GVK Rating: 2020-09-21
IC-2300H: RT S/W made life so much easier Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Guess I must be getting too old to figure out all of the button pushes and correct sequence order to properly program the ICOM IC-2300H. Using the RT software with their cable (that connects through the rig's speaker jack) made it a breeze. In fact, the software showed that several settings I had tried to manually program were not what I intended. The software made it so easy to put in my desired settings and channel names. Yes, the cable and software is very pricey, but the ease and effectiveness of use made it all worthwhile.
NS3L Rating: 2020-07-12
There's no better way to program rigs.. RT Systems rocks!!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been using RT Systems software and programming cables for years.. I've programmed and backed up all my rigs and even a few club station rigs with absolutely zero problems and in just minutes had them on the air..!!! What's great is the ease of use and intractability between their programs. You can have multiple programmers running at the same time and cut and paste seamlessly between rigs. It's so simple. Program updates are a strong point. RT Systems keeps all the various programmers regularly updated and they're always adding new programmers. One other strong point is their programming cables.. Their cables are of the highest quality and all are equipped with the latest chip technology and connectors to work with the rig being programmed. You just can't program a rig without having one of their dedicated cables. They're very specific cables with the latest FTDI chips to work with whatever brand rig you have. If you try to program without a RT Systems dedicated cable, there's a strong possibility you'll either be unsuccessful, or worse, you could brick that very expensive rig..!!! Sure it costs a little more to purchase both the software and cable, but ask yourself if a few extra bucks for a dedicated cable, is worth the gamble of possibly bricking a rig?? Try getting a bricked a rig fixed.. I would not even hesitate to say good luck.. It "would" be very expensive to say the least..!!

So go like everyone else who've made the right choice and went with RT Systems software along with their dedicated programming cables. You know you made the right decision once you quickly program and backup your rigs in mere minutes..!! Steve NS3L