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F4HWN firmware port for the UV-K1 and UV-K5 V3 using the PY32F071 MCU

This repository is a fork of the F4HWN custom firmware, who was a fork of Egzumer custom firmware. It extends the work done for the UV-K5 V1, based on the DP32G030 MCU, and adapts it to the newer UV-K1 and UV-K5 V3 built around the PY32F071 MCU. It is the result of the joint work of @muzkr and @armel.

A big thanks to DualTachyon, who paved the way by releasing the very first open-source firmware for the UV-K5 V1. None of this would have been possible without that initial work !

A note for developers who intend to fork this project

This firmware is distributed under the Apache 2.0 License, carrying forward the original copyright of DualTachyon, whose work laid the foundation for the UV-K5 open-source ecosystem. If you create a fork or a derived version, we strongly encourage you to keep your work open source.

Keeping your fork open:

• aligns with the intent and spirit of the Apache 2.0 License
• supports the amateur-radio and embedded-development community
• avoids unnecessary fragmentation
• allows others to study, audit and improve the firmware

It is also very much in line with the ham spirit: sharing knowledge, experimenting together and helping each other, rather than closing things off or claiming them as your own.

Maintaining an open-source fork is the best way to help build a healthy and sustainable ecosystem for everyone.

Warning

EN - THIS FIRMWARE HAS NO REAL BRAIN. PLEASE USE YOUR OWN. Use this firmware at your own risk (entirely). There is absolutely no guarantee that it will work in any way shape or form on your radio(s), it may even brick your radio(s), in which case, you’d need to buy another radio. Anyway, have fun.

FR - CE FIRMWARE N’A PAS DE VÉRITABLE CERVEAU. VEUILLEZ UTILISER LE VÔTRE. Utilisez ce firmware à vos risques et périls. Il n’y a absolument aucune garantie qu’il fonctionnera d’une manière ou d’une autre sur votre (vos) radio(s), il peut même bousiller votre (vos) radio(s), dans ce cas, vous devrez acheter une autre radio. Quoi qu’il en soit, amusez-vous bien.

Note

EN - About Chirp, as many others firmwares, you need to use a dedicated driver available on this repository.

FR - A propos de Chirp, comme beaucoup d’autres firmwares, vous devez utiliser un pilote dédié disponible sur ce dépôt.

Caution

EN - I recommend to backup your calibration data with uvtools2 just after flashing this firmware. It’s a good reflex to have.

FR - Je recommande de sauvegarder vos données de calibration avec uvtools2 juste après avoir flashé ce firmware. C’est un bon réflexe à avoir.

Donations

Special thanks to Jean-Cyrille F6IWW (2 times), Fabrice 14RC123, David F4BPP, Olivier 14RC206, Frédéric F4ESO, Stéphane F5LGW (2 times), Jorge Ornelas (4 times), Laurent F4AXK, Christophe Morel, Clayton W0LED, Pierre Antoine F6FWB, Jean-Claude 14FRS3306, Thierry F4GVO, Eric F1NOU, PricelessToolkit, Ady M6NYJ, Tom McGovern (3 times), Joseph Roth, Pierre-Yves Colin, Frank DJ7FG, Marcel Testaz, Brian Frobisher, Yannick F4JFO, Paolo Bussola, Dirk DL8DF, Levente Szőke (2 times), Bernard-Michel Herrera, Jérôme Saintespes, Paul Davies, RS (3 times), Johan F4WAT, Robert Wörle, Rafael Sundorf, Paul Harker, Peter Fintl, Pascal F4ICR (2 times), Mike DL2MF, Eric KI1C (2 times), Phil G0ELM, Jérôme Lambert, Meinhard Frank Günther, Eliot Vedel, Alfonso EA7KDF, Jean-François F1EVM, Robert DC1RDB, Ian KE2CHJ, Daryl VK3AWA, Roberto Brunelli, Robert Boardman, Stephen Oliver, Nicolas F4INE, William Bruno and Daniel OK2VLK for their donations. That’s so kind of them. Thanks so much 🙏🏻

Table of Contents

• My Features
• Main Features from Egzumer
• Manual
• Compiling and Building from Docker
• Flashing the Firmware with UVTools2
• Credits
• Other sources of information
• License

Main features and improvements from F4HWN:

• several firmware versions:

• Bandscope (with spectrum analyzer made by Fagci),

• Broadcast (with commercial FM radio support),

• Basic (with spectrum analyzer and commercial FM radios support, but without certain functions such as Vox, Aircopy, etc.),

• RescueOps (specifically designed for first responders: firefighters, sea rescue, mountain rescue),

• Game (with a small breakout game),

• improve default power settings level:

• Low1 to Low5 (<~20mW, ~125mW, ~250mW, ~500mW, ~1W),

• Mid ~2W,

• High ~5W,

• User (see SetPwr),

• improve S-Meter (IARU Region 1 Technical Recommendation R.1 for VHF/UHF - read more),

• S-Meter (S0/S9) Level EEPROM settings that were introduced in the Egzumer firmware are now ignored and replaced by hardcoded values to comply with the IARU Recommendation.

• improve bandscope (Spectrum Analyser):

• add channel name,

• add save of some spectrum parameters,

• improve UI:

• menu index is always visible, even if a menu is selected,

• s-meter new design (Classic or Tiny),

• MAIN ONLY screen mode,

• DUAL and CROSS screen mode,

• RX blink on VFO RX,

• RX LED blink,

• Squelch level and Monitor,

• Step value,

• CTCSS or DCS value,

• KeyLock message,

• last RX,

• move BatTxt menu from 34/63 to 30/63 (just after BatSave menu 29/63),

• rename BackLt to BLTime,

• rename BltTRX to BLTxRx,

• improve memory channel input,

• improve keyboard frequency input,

• add percent and gauge to Air Copy,

• improve audio bar,

• and more...

• new menu entries and changes:

• add SetPwr menu to set User power (<20mW, 125mW, 250mW, 500mW, 1W, 2W or 5W),

• add SetPTT menu to set PTT mode (Classic or OnePush),

• add SetTOT menu to set TOT alert (Off, Sound, Visual, All),

• add SetCtr menu to set contrast (0 to 15),

• add SetInv menu to set screen in invert mode (Off or On),

• add SetEOT menu to set EOT (End Of Transmission) alert (Off, Sound, Visual, All),

• add SetMet menu to set s-meter style (Classic or Tiny),

• add SetLck menu to set what is locked (Keys or Keys + PTT),

• add SetGUI menu to set font size on the VFO baseline (Classic or Tiny),

• add TXLock menu to open TX on channel,

• add SetTmr menu to set RX and TX timers (Off or On),

• add SetOff menu to set the delay before the transceiver goes into deep sleep (Off or 1 minute to 2 hours),

• add SetNFM menu to set Narrow width (12.5kHz or 6.25kHz),

• rename BatVol menu (52/63) to SysInf, which displays the firmware version in addition to the battery status,

• improve PonMsg menu,

• improve BackLt menu,

• improve TxTOut menu,

• improve ScnRev menu (CARRIER from 250ms to 20s, STOP, TIMEOUT from 5s to 2m)

• improve KeyLck menu (OFF, delay from 15s to 10m)

• add HAM CA F Lock band (for Canadian zone),

• add PMR 446 F Lock band,

• add FRS/GMRS/MURS F Lock band,

• remove blink and SOS functionality,

• remove AM Fix menu (AM Fix is ENABLED by default),

• add support of 3500mAh battery,

• improve status bar:

• add SetPtt mode in status bar,

• change font and bitmaps,

• move USB icon to left of battery information,

• add RX and TX timers,

• improve lists and scan lists options:

• add new list 3,

• add new list 0 (channel without list...),

• add new scan lists options,

• scan list 0 (all channels without list),

• scan list 1,

• scan list 2,

• scan list 3,

• scan lists [1, 2, 3],

• scan all (all channels with or without list),

• add scan list shortcuts,

• add resume mode on startup (scan, bandscope and broadcast FM),

• new actions:

• RX MODE,

• MAIN ONLY,

• PTT,

• WIDE NARROW,

• 1750Hz,

• MUTE,

• POWER HIGH (RescueOps),

• REMOVE OFFSET (RescueOps),

• new key combinations:

• add the F + UP or F + DOWN key combination to dynamically change the Squelch level,

• add the F + F1 or F + F2 key combination to dynamically change the Step,

• add F + 8 to quickly switch backlight between BLMin and BLMax on demand (this bypass BackLt strategy),

• add F + 9 to return to BackLt strategy,

• add long press on MENU, in * SCAN mode, to temporarily exclude a memory channel,

• add short press on [0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5], in * SCAN mode, to dynamically change scan list.

• many fix:

• squelch,

• s-meter,

• DTMF overlaying,

• scan list 2 ignored,

• scan range limit,

• clean display on startup,

• no more PWM noise,

• and more...

• enabled AIR COPY

• disabled ENABLE_DTMF_CALLING,

• disabled SCRAMBLER,

• remove 200Tx, 350Tx and 500Tx,

• unlock TX on all bands needs only to be repeat 3 times,

• code refactoring and many memory optimization,

• displays the live screen of the Quansheng K5 on your computer via a USB-to-Serial cable,

• and more...

Main features from Egzumer:

• many of OneOfEleven mods:

• AM fix, huge improvement in reception quality

• long press buttons functions replicating F+ action

• fast scanning

• channel name editing in the menu

• channel name + frequency display option

• shortcut for scan-list assignment (long press 5 NOAA)

• scan-list toggle (long press * Scan while scanning)

• configurable button function selectable from menu

• battery percentage/voltage on status bar, selectable from menu

• longer backlight times

• mic bar

• RSSI s-meter

• more frequency steps

• squelch more sensitive

• fagci spectrum analyzer (F+5 to turn on)

• some other mods introduced by me:

• SSB demodulation (adopted from fagci)

• backlight dimming

• battery voltage calibration from menu

• better battery percentage calculation, selectable for 1600mAh or 2200mAh

• more configurable button functions

• long press MENU as another configurable button

• better DCS/CTCSS scanning in the menu (* SCAN while in RX DCS/CTCSS menu item)

• Piotr022 style s-meter

• restore initial freq/channel when scanning stopped with EXIT, remember last found transmission with MENU button

• reordered and renamed menu entries

• LCD interference crash fix

• many others...

Manual

Up to date manual is available in the Wiki section

Radio performance

Please note that the Quansheng UV-Kx radios are not professional quality transceivers, their performance is strictly limited. The RX front end has no track-tuned band pass filtering at all, and so are wide band/wide open to any and all signals over a large frequency range.

Using the radio in high intensity RF environments will most likely make reception anything but easy (AM mode will suffer far more than FM ever will), the receiver simply doesn’t have a great dynamic range, which results in distorted AM audio with stronger RX’ed signals. There is nothing more anyone can do in firmware/software to improve that, once the RX gain adjustment I do (AM fix) reaches the hardwares limit, your AM RX audio will be all but non-existent (just like Quansheng’s firmware). On the other hand, FM RX audio will/should be fine.

But, they are nice toys for the price, fun to play with.

Compiling and Building from Docker

This project provides a Docker-based build system to compile all firmware editions for the UV-K1 and UV-K5 V3. Everything is handled through the compile-with-docker.sh helper script.

All build outputs are generated inside the build/<Preset> directory, according to the CMake presets defined in CMakePresets.json.

Prerequisites

• Docker installed on your system
• Bash environment (Linux, macOS, WSL, Git Bash on Windows)

Build Script Overview

The script compile-with-docker.sh performs the following actions:

1. Builds the Docker image (uvk1-uvk5v3) if it does not already exist.
2. Removes any previous build directory to ensure a clean configuration.
3. Runs CMake using the selected preset inside the Docker container.
4. Builds the firmware and outputs .elf, .bin and .hex files for the chosen edition.

Usage

./compile-with-docker.sh <Preset> [extra CMake options]

Available Presets

• Custom
• Bandscope
• Broadcast
• Basic
• RescueOps
• Game
• Fusion
• All (builds all editions sequentially)

Examples

Build a single edition:

./compile-with-docker.sh Fusion
./compile-with-docker.sh Bandscope
./compile-with-docker.sh Broadcast

Build everything:

./compile-with-docker.sh All

Passing Additional CMake Options

You can pass extra configuration options after the preset name. These are forwarded directly to cmake --preset inside the container.

Examples:

./compile-with-docker.sh Bandscope -DENABLE_SPECTRUM=ON
./compile-with-docker.sh Broadcast -DENABLE_FEAT_F4HWN_GAME=ON -DENABLE_NOAA=ON
./compile-with-docker.sh Bandscope -DSQL_TONE=600

Notes

• The first run may take a few minutes while Docker builds the base image.
• Running with All will build every firmware variant in sequence.
• Each build runs inside Docker, so your host environment remains clean.

Flashing the Firmware with UVTools2

You can flash the UV-K5 V3 and UV-K1 directly from your web browser using the cross-platform WebSerial-based UVTools2.

It works on Chrome, Chromium and Edge (desktop versions), and does not require installing any driver or software on your computer.

Steps to flash the firmware

• Open UVTools2 in flash mode (or click the Flash Firmware tab).
• Connect your radio to your computer using a compatible USB programming cable (USB-C or Baofeng/Kenwood like double jack USB cable).
• Make sure your radio is in DFU mode (flash mode).
• Select the firmware .bin file on your computer.
• Click on Flash Firmware, then select the serial port associated with your radio.
• The progress bar will guide you through the flashing steps.

Once finished, your radio restart with the new firmware.

Steps to dump or restore calibration data

UVTools2 can also dump and restore calibration data, which is highly recommended. It’s best to create a dump right after installing F4HWN firmware, and to restore it before installing another firmware (or when returning to the stock firmware, for example).

Dump

• Open UVTools2 in dump mode (or click the Dump Calib tab).
• Power on your radio in normal mode.
• Click Dump Calibration Data.

When the process is complete, click Download calibration.dat to save the file to your computer.

Note

A good practice is to rename your calibration file using the serial number of your radio, which you can find on the label on the back of the device once you remove the battery. This helps avoid mixing up calibration files when you own multiple units.

Restore

• Open UVTools2 in restore mode (or click the Restore Calib tab).
• Power on your radio in normal mode.
• Select your calibration.dat file on your computer.

Click Restore Calibration Data and wait until the process fully completes.

Other sources of information

• k1-teardown

Credits

Many thanks to various people:

• Muzkr
• Andrej
• Egzumer
• OneOfEleven
• DualTachyon
• Mikhail
• Manuel
• @wagner
• @Lohtse Shar
• @Matoz
• @Davide
• @Ismo OH2FTG
• OneOfEleven
• @d1ced95
• and others I forget

License

Copyright 2023 Dual Tachyon https://github.com/DualTachyon

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.