btech-uv-50pro¶
BTECH UV-50PRO — dual-band mobile with no CAT, keyed through an external interface
Vendor: BTECH · class: rig
Status: untested — catalogued from documented sources, not yet proven here.
Not maintainer-verified: nobody on this project has run this hardware yet. The two facts are recorded separately on purpose (D-027) — a correct recipe and a tested device are different claims.
What it is¶
A BTECH UV-50PRO, a dual-band (2 m / 70 cm) FM mobile transceiver. It has no CAT: the computer cannot read or set its frequency. For digital modes it is keyed through an external sound-card interface, either on a serial control line (RTS or DTR) or by VOX.
What you can do with it¶
Run FM digital modes — the radio is keyed to transmit through the same shared rigctld every other program uses, selecting Hamlib NET rigctl and PTT method CAT, with the band set by hand on the radio because there is no CAT to set it from the computer.
Setup¶
Wire the interface to the radio's data port. hammunition station set --rig btech-uv-50pro --rig-device <the interface's /dev/serial/by-id/ path> --rig-ptt-line rts (or dtr, whichever keys it on your interface), then install rig-service. For VOX instead, --rig-ptt-line vox: no service runs and each program's PTT method is set to VOX. See docs/guides/rig-control.md.
Known problems¶
No frequency control: a logger or digital-mode program fed by this service reads the dummy model's frequency, not the radio's, so set the band by hand. Opening the serial port raises RTS and DTR, so a radio keyed on either line may key briefly when the service starts — until the bench has measured it, start the service with the radio switched off or on a dummy load. The wrong control line is a radio that never keys or one held keyed, which is why --rig-ptt-line is required and nothing defaults it. This entry is untested here (D-073 §12).
What is not yet known¶
The UV-50PRO cannot be identified on USB because it has none. What the bench must record, through whichever interface is used on it (D-073 §3d): (1) which control line keys it — RTS or DTR — and that the other line does nothing; (2) that nothing is sent on the serial line itself — strace -f -e trace=write,ioctl on the running rigctld shows only line ioctls on the port and no write to it; (3) whether starting the service keys the radio even briefly, because opening a tty raises RTS and DTR before hamlib sets them; (4) that VOX keys it as the alternative, with the audio level that does it.
Who can close it: the maintainer owns this hardware; the gap closes at the next capture session.
Access and permissions¶
Group membership required: dialout — added at install, applies at next login.
Software that makes it useful¶
Upstream: https://baofengtech.com/