ICOM CS-50 Instruction Manual [en,de,fr.es,it]

PROGRAMMING SOFTWARE

CS-50

The CS-50 is a software application to set up the ID-50A or ID-50E from your PC. This manual shows system
requirements and how to use the software.

INSTRUCTIONS

System requirements

The following hardware and software are required:

Operating System (OS)

• Microsoft Windows 11 (64bit)

• Microsoft Windows 10 (32/64bit)

L Except for Windows on ARM.

L The instructions are based on using Microsoft

Windows 10.

Select either of the following programming methods:

Through a USB Cable

• USB Type-C Cable (Data communication compatible)

L

Use a proper cable according to your PC’s USB port.

• USB Port (USB 1.1, 2.0, or 3.0 port)

With a microSD card

• microSD card (User supplied)

• A microSD card reader or microSD card slot

L When “USB Connect” is set to “SD Card Mode” on the

transceiver, and the transceiver is connected to the PC
through a data communication compatible USB cable,
you can directly access the microSD card that is set in
the transceiver from the PC.
([MENU] > SET > Function > USB Connect)

About a microSD card

NOTE: The microSD and microSDHC cards are not

supplied by Icom. (User supplied)

Icom has checked the compatibility with the following
microSD and microSDHC cards.
(As of June 2023)

Brand Type Capacity

SanDisk

L Through the rest of this document, the microSD card and

microSDHC card are simply called microSD cards.

L The microSD cards listed above are usable with the

ID-50A or ID-50E, but their specications are not

guaranteed by Icom.

microSD 2 GB

microSDHC 4/8/16/32 GB

USB driver installation

To use the USB cable between the transceiver and a

PC, you must rst install a USB driver.

The latest USB driver and installation guide can be
downloaded from the Icom website.

Carefully read the guide, before installing the driver.
https://www.icomjapan.com/support/

Icom and the Icom logo are registered trademarks of Icom
Incorporated (Japan) in Japan, the United States, the United
Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, Australia, New Zealand,
and/or other countries.
Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of the Microsoft group of
companies.
All other products or brands are registered trademarks or
trademarks of their respective holders.

Programming information

• To prevent data loss, you should rst read the
transceiver setting data into the CS-50, or copy the

setting data (ICF le) of the microSD card to the

PC, and read the data into the CS-50. Then edit or
enter new software parameters.

• Before editing or entering new data, make a

backup le onto your PC. A backup le enables

easy restoring even if the setting data is
accidentally deleted.

• While reading or writing (uploading) the data
through the USB cable, NEVER turn OFF the
transceiver or the PC, and NEVER disconnect the
USB cable. Otherwise, the data could be lost or
deleted.

• While reading or writing the data to or from the
microSD card, NEVER remove the microSD card
or turn OFF the transceiver. Otherwise, the data
could be corrupted or the microSD card could be
damaged.

Updating the CS-50

The rmware and programming software may be

updated for expansion or improvement of functions.
You can update the programming software to the
latest version by downloading the update program
from the Icom website and installing it.
https://www.icomjapan.com/support/

L If an error dialog is displayed that indicates the versions

of the transceiver’s rmware and the programming

software do not match, update the transceiver’s

rmware and the programming software to the latest

version.

1

Installing the programming software

1. Sign in to the PC as the administrator.

L Conrm that no other applications are running.

2. Download and unzip the file.

3. Double-click “setup.exe.”

L If the “User Account Control” dialog is displayed,

click <Yes>.

• “Choose Setup Language” is displayed.

4. Select “English” (or “Japanese”) and then click
<Next>>.

L In this document, “English” is selected.

Select language

Click

7. After the installation has completed, click
<Finish>.

Click

8. An “Icom CS-50” item is created in the Windows
Start menu, and a shortcut icon is added to your
desktop.

5. On the “Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for
CS-50” screen, click <Next>>.

Click

6. On the “Choose Destination Location” screen,
click <Next>>.

L If desired, click <Browse...> and select another

destination folder before clicking <Next >>.

TIP:

• See the Help le of the programming software for
assistance with the functions or settings.

To open the Help le, click “Help” in the top

menu of the programming software and select
“Contents,” or simply push the [F1] key of the
PC’s keyboard.

• You can uninstall the programming software
using the “Apps & features” in the “Apps” menu.
Go to Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & features.

Conrm

Click

2

Setting up from a PC using a USB cable

To setup from a PC using a USB cable, follow the steps described below.

Step 1
Step 2

Step 3

Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7

Connecting the transceiver and your PC using a USB cable
Setting the transceiver to the Clone mode

Making an Initial setup

Reading the settings from the transceiver (p. 4)
Editing the parameters (p. 4)
Setting the transceiver to the Clone mode (p. 4)
Writing the setting data to the transceiver (p. 4)

Step 1 Connecting the transceiver and your PC using a USB cable

1. Install the USB driver.

L The latest USB driver and “USB Driver Installation

Guide” can be downloaded from the Icom website.

2. Turn OFF the transceiver.

3. Connect the USB cable, as shown below.

4. Turn ON the transceiver.

Transceiver

PC

USB
Type-C

To the [USB] port To a USB port

USB cable

USB Type-A
or Type-C

Step 2 Setting the transceiver to the Clone mode

z Set the transceiver to the Clone mode.

(MENU > SET > Others > Clone > Clone Mode)

• “Ready...” is displayed.

Step 3 Making an Initial setup

When you start the CS-50, the Initial Setup window is displayed. Before using the software, follow the steps
below to make a initial setup to send the transceiver version information.

1. Click the “COM Port” radio button.

2. Click <Search...> to display the ID-50 Search
window.
Select the appropriate transceiver and click
<OK>.

• The COM port number will be set in the input eld.

3. Click <OK> to open the programming screen.

NOTE:

• When the transceiver version information is not
correctly sent to the software, some items may
not be displayed on the software.

• If you want to make the initial setup again, select
“Initial Setup” in the <Option> menu.

1 Click

2 Click and select a port

3 Click

3

Setting up from a PC using a USB cable

Step 4 Reading the settings from the transceiver

Follow the steps below to write the setting data that is edited with the CS-50 to the transceiver using a USB
cable.

z Click

menu to read the data from the transceiver.

NOTE: Make a backup copy of the original setting
data on the PC before editing.

, or select “Read ← TR” in the <Clone>

Step 5 Editing the parameters

z Enter Memory channels, call signs, repeater lists,

set scan and other settings using the CS-50.

L See the CS-50 Help le for assistance.
L Save the setting data in the Icom Cloning Format

(ICF) le format in a folder on your PC.

TIP: If you have an ICF le to write to the

transceiver, click or select “Open... Ctrl+O” in the

<File> menu, and then select the le.

Step 6 Setting the transceiver to the Clone mode

z Set the transceiver to the Clone mode.

(MENU > SET > Others > Clone > Clone Mode)

• “Ready...” is displayed.

Step 7 Writing the setting data to the transceiver

While reading from the transceiver

You can write the edited Memory channels, call signs, repeater list, scan and other settings to the transceiver.

NOTE: Writing the setting will overwrite the current setting data on the transceiver.

1. Click
menu.

2. Select the items you want to write to your
transceiver, and then click <OK>.

3. Click <OK> on the confirmation dialog.

• Starts writing to the transceiver.

, or select “Write → TR” in the <Clone>

While writing to the transceiver

4. After the writing is completed, turn OFF the
transceiver, then turn it ON again to operate it
with the edited setting data.

Writing completed

4

Setting up from a PC using a microSD card

To setup from a PC using a microSD card, follow the steps described below.

Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4

Saving the setting data onto a PC
Making an Initial setup
Editing the parameters (p. 6)
Writing the setting data to the transceiver (p. 6)

Step 1 Saving the setting data onto a PC

1. Save the transceiver’s setting data onto the
microSD card.

L Insert a microSD card into the transceiver, and

save the setting data from “Save Setting” on the
transceiver’s MENU screen.
( [MENU] > SET > SD Card > Save Setting)

2. Turn OFF the transceiver, and then remove the
microSD card.

3. Insert the card into the PC’s card slot or an
external card reader, as shown below.

4. Copy the transceiver’s setting data (ICF le),
stored in the “Setting” folder of the card to a PC
local folder.

Transceiver

microSD
card

Into a card reader

PC

or

Into the microSD
card slot

NOTE: If you use a brand new microSD card, rst

format the card using the transceiver. See the
ID-50A/ID-50E Basic Manual for details on the
formatting procedure.

“Setting” folder

NOTE: When “USB Connect” is set to “SD
Card Mode” on the transceiver and the
transceiver is connected to the PC through a
data communication compatible USB cable,
you can directly access the microSD card
that is set in the transceiver from the PC.
([MENU] > SET > Function > USB Connect)

Step 2 Making an Initial setup

When you start the CS-50, the Initial Setup window is displayed. Before using the software, follow the steps
below to make a initial setup to send the transceiver version information.

1. Click the “microSD” radio button.

2. Click <Open...> to display the data le selection
window.

3. Select the setting data (ICF le) copied from the
transceiver in step 4 of “Saving the setting data
onto a PC,” as described above.

4. Click <OK> to open the programming screen and

read the selected le.

NOTE:

• When the transceiver version information is not
correctly sent to the software, some items may
not be displayed on the software.

• If you want to make the initial setup again, select
“Initial Setup” in the <Option> menu.

1 Click

2 Click and select a le

3 Click

5

Setting up from a PC using a microSD card

Step 3 Editing the parameters

1. Enter Memory channels, call signs, repeater list,
set scan and other settings using the CS-50.

2. Save the setting data in the Icom Cloning Format

(ICF) le format in a folder on your PC.

L See the CS-50 Help le of the for assistance.

TIP: If you have an ICF le to write to the

transceiver, click or select “Open... Ctrl+O” in the

<File> menu, and then select the le.

Step 4 Writing the setting data to the transceiver

Copy the saved setting data in Step 3 above to the microSD card, and then write it to the transceiver.

1. Copy the setting data (ICF file) into the “Setting”
folder in the “ID-50” folder on the microSD card,
as shown below:

Double-click

Double-click

2. Remove the microSD card from the PC and
insert it into the transceiver.

3. Write the setting data to the transceiver.

([MENU] > SET > SD Card > Load Setting)

• The loaded setting data overwrites the current
settings.

L Refer to the ID-50A/ID-50E Advanced Manual for

details on loading the setting data.

4. Turn OFF the transceiver, then turn it ON again to
operate the transceiver with the loaded settings.

NOTE:

• The loading contents can be selected between
“ALL,” “Except My Station,” and “Repeater List
Only.” When you want to load only the repeater
list into the transceiver, select “Repeater List
Only.”

• The original Skip settings in your repeater list
can be kept when loading. When “Keep ‘SKIP’
settings in the Repeater List?” is displayed, select
<Yes> to keep the Skip settings in the repeater
list. See the ID-50A/ID-50E Advanced Manual for
details.

Double-click

Copy the

ICF le here

6

Downloading the latest ICF le and CSV les

Download the Zip le containing the latest Comma Separated Values (CSV) les and the ICF le from the Icom

website:

https://www.icomjapan.com/support/rmware_driver/

1. Right-click on the downloaded compressed file
and select “Extract All...” to unzip it.

• A “50_USA_yymmdd”* folder, for example, will be

created in the same place where the downloaded le

is saved.

File name (Example):

50_USA_yymmdd.zip

Shows the

2. Save the unzipped file in a folder on your PC.

version

Shows the
updated date

Contents of the downloaded ZIP le

(As of June 2023)

• Settings le (ICF le)

Example: 50_USA_yymmdd.icf

All setting data of the transceiver is saved in the

ICF le. See pages 4 and 6 to set up.

• GPS memory (CSV le)

Example: 50_USA_Gps_yymmdd.csv

• Repeater list (CSV le)

Example: 50_USA_Rpt_yymmdd.csv

The name of a CSV le represents the content.

• See page 9 to edit.

• See page 8 to import.

• See page 9 to export.

7

Importing the Repeater list

Read this section before importing the repeater list in a Comma Separated Values (CSV) le into the CS-50.

NOTE: When a cable is used, the settings, except the repeater list, can be kept by doing the following
procedures.

1. Reading the setting data from the transceiver

z Click , or select “Read ← TR” in the <Clone>

menu to read the data from the transceiver.
(p. 4)

L Before editing, make a backup le of all the

transceiver’s data onto your PC in case of data loss.

2. Importing a Repeater list

1. Select the “Repeater List” folder or double-click
on it to show each repeater group on the tree
view screen.

"Repeater list"
folder

Repeater Group

2. Click “Import...” in the <File> menu, and then click

“All....”

L The repeater information in a CSV le is imported,

and sorted into groups, according to the group
number.

NOTE: When you select “Group...”, all repeater

information in the le is imported into the

repeater groups selected in step 1.
If you select the “Repeater List” folder in step 1,
“Group...” cannot be selected.

3. Select the CSV file, saved in “Downloading the

latest ICF file and CSV files” described on the

previous page, and then click <Open>.

4. Click <OK> in the dialog.

Click

5. In the “Keep ‘USE (FROM)’ settings in the
Repeater List?” dialog, click <Yes> or <No> to
start importing.

Click

• Yes: The original “USE (FROM)” settings set in
the CS-50 are kept.

• No: All the “USE (FROM)” settings are

replaced with the imported CSV les.

TIP:
About the “USE (FROM)” setting

Select whether or not the repeater can be selected
as an access repeater (FROM), when you rotate
[DIAL].
If you select <NO>, the repeater is not displayed in
the “FROM” selection, and is skipped during a DR
scan.

Importing the GPS Memory (CSV le)

When you import the GPS Memory, select “GPS
Memory” folder or each GPS Memory group on the
tree view screen in step 1.

8

Editing and Exporting the Repeater list

Read this section before editing and exporting the repeater list.

1. Editing the Repeater list

1. Select a repeater group in the “Repeater List”
folder on the tree view screen of the CS-50.

2. Edit the necessary items in the repeater list.

L See the CS-50 Help le for details.

2. Exporting the Repeater list

1. Select the “Repeater List” folder, or each repeater
group on the tree view screen.

<Tree view screen of the CS-50>

“Repeater List”
folder

Repeater group

2. Click “Export” in the <File> menu, and then click

“Group...” or “All....”

NOTE: If you select the “Repeater List” folder in
step 1, “Group...” cannot be selected.

• Group...: Exports repeater information entered
in only the selected group.

• All...: Exports repeater information entered
in all groups.

3. Save the data in a CSV file to a folder on your
PC.

Exporting the GPS Memory (CSV le)

When you export the GPS Memory, select “GPS
Memory” folder or each GPS Memory group on the
tree view screen in step 1.

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Jun. 2023

9

A7749-1EX

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