FTM-500 and Multiple SD Card Files

The Yaesu FTM-500 recently received a firmware update allowing the radio to create up to 10 different .dat files to be stored on the SD card.

The purpose of this article will be to guide you through the process of knowing which file to choose within the directory on your machine when accessing the saved data on your SD card using RT Systems software.

The first .DAT file created by the radio onto the SD card will be named CLNFTM500D. The next entry would be labeled CLNFTM500D01. The numbers would then increase with the last available file being labeled CLNFTM500D09. 

Before the firmware update, the radio would write only one file to the SD card, and by default, our software would automatically locate and use that file. Now, the software has been updated to address that change. The function has changed slightly to allow you to chose which of those backup files to use. This is different from the automatic process of the previous versions.

When clicking Communications | Read Data from SD Card using the programming software, a directory will now appear allowing you to choose the specific file you wish to read into the radio. If you are not sure which one to use, select the file with the highest number. (We are not sure what will happen if you repeat the Backup process in the radio more than 10 times. We will edit this article when we learn more to help you know which of the default files too select to get the latest configuration of the radio from the card.) The menu will appear as shown in the screenshot below.

Now, notice the first two entries, $index - Copy and $index. These two entries are NOT radio data files and should NOT be chosen. The programmer will not read these two entries as they do not contain radio data. These files are something that the radio writes for its use in this process. Our best guess is that it has something to do with the file names or simply the number the radio used last for the file names. In any case, it is NOT radio data.)

Clicking Communications | Write Data to SD Card has changed also. This process will bring up a the same window allowing you to choose which .DAT file on the SD card to write the data to. You are also able to name the file in this directory to allow for easy identification of your data. The radio will display and filename when choosing on the radio which file to read from. See the screenshot below for an example.

This is a GREAT new feaure of this radio. Now you can save different files to different names on the SD card to use at different times. What a WONDERFUL addition to the functionality of this radio.