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The History of the CHIRP Program

CHIRP is a user-created radio program that responds to the need of the ham amateur radio community for software to control the relatively new D-STAR packet-based technologies for digital amateur radio, although it can also be used on non-D-STAR radios as well. Due to its ability to run on multiple platforms, support for an increasing variety of radios, and availability in multiple languages, CHIRP has become widely used and supported by a substantial community of users and contributors.

D-STAR
- D-STAR, or Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio, is a packet-based protocol for digital voice and data originally developed by the Japan Amateur Radio League. It is especially useful because it not only results in better signals than analog technology but it also allows radios to connect to the internet. In 2011, Icom became the first manufacturer to produce D-STAR capable radios.
CHIRP Capabilities
- The CHIRP program runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS and is currently compatible with several models of radio from Alinco, Baofeng, Icom, Jetstream, Kenwood, Puxing, Yaesu, and Wouxun; it supports multiple languages, including Polish and Italian. It simplifies the process of inputting call signs and repeaters into radios and allows users to copy information from the memory of one radio into a computer and then load that information into other radios.
CHIRP History
- Dan Smith created the CHIRP program in 2010 and has been steadily adding support for additional radio models and languages with the help of a wide community of volunteer developers from the amateur radio community. On 9 March 2012, Smith released CHIRP Version 0.2.0, which includes a new CSV parser, 220MHz repeater offset calculation and stock configurations as well as support for several new radio models and bug fixes.
CHIRP Future Development
- On the CHIRP website, Dan Smith mentions that he is looking for people to help translate CHIRP into languages in which it is currently unavailable. He also seeks volunteers to loan radios currently not supported for development purposes. He encourages developers to help with ongoing projects and users to report bugs and other issues.

Ham Radio