Quansheng K5 ( Intro & Chirp )

The Quansheng K5 plus and K5(8) has 200 memory slots to configure station names, frequencies and other settings. 

This is the first of a series of posts about changing or adding frequencies (or other other setting) in this Quansheng K5 memory slots. In this and my upcoming posts i will use the word "Quansheng K5" however i only have the K5 plus and K5(8). Probably it will also work using a K5 or K6. 

You can change frequency settings on the radio itself or copy the frequency list from one Quansheng K5 to another. Also it is possible to use your Quansheng to do a scan and used a received frequency as a new entry. However another easy and common used method is using some computer software to edit and create the frequency list. (This process is also called creating a code plug).

I am no expert on this and there are many tutorials about this topic. However i want to share some of my experiences with some software.

You need to connect your Quansheng K5 to your computer. Most times this is done using a programming cable. There seems also to be plug with Bluetooth that you can put in your radio, however i have not seen using the Bluetooth plug with a Quansheng.

Problems often reported are

• Not pushing the plug firmly enough in the radio. There are even posts about people who scaped of some of the plastic of the radio to make the plug fit better.
• Not having the correct USB driver for the cable.
• Not having the radio in the right mode. (See several tutorials, different things needs to be done for uploading new firmware  or upload/download settings.)

To load and edit the channels several software is available. In this post some info about one often used program.

Chirp

Chirp also connects to some databases with frequencies and when installing it also puts some frequency lists in the install directory.

I used and tested "CHIRP next-20231016 on Python 3.10.8 wxPython 4.2.0 msw (phoenix) wxWidgets 3.2.0". The Chirp software can also be used with many other radios. (Unfortunately not with my Anytone 878 UV III).

The Chirp source code can be found on GitHub and often a new releases are made available.

There is much information available including YouTube instructions from people who know the Chirp software better. See their instructions and watch their videos as most can explain it better than me. 

 
Besides editing the frequencies in Chirp it is also possible to import and export this information to a *.csv file. Unfortunately i could not find all the fields that i see on the screen in this export *.csv files.  Especially the settings for the scan lists that can be edited in the program. I also tried the 'Show extra fields' and the  'developer mode'. This also limits the possibilities to do some of the editing in Excel. 
Several other settings of the Quansheng K5 can also be edited in Chirp and it is possible to load and save all the settings using a  *.img file.

There are some items in Chirp that could be improved;

• Copy and past of multiple items.
• Better editing possibilities.
• Import and export of all columns including the scan list information.

however Chirp is a great and relative easy to use program.