I am trying to go in the same direction as you Juergen as I am a hard core do-it-yourselfer. So far, nothing is easy.
After a few chaotic visits with my audi, I decided that I wanted to pick a HA manufacturer that made its sofware available to the public. There are a few. I picked phonak.
I downloaded and intalled the software iPFG 2.3. No key required and it runs w/o NOAH. It seems very easy to use and has a lot of great features that I know that my audi would never take the time to do with me. Feedback calibration and automatic fine tuning as you listen to different situations as a couple examples.
This is where I am (still lots of unknowns)-
I recently bought a hi pro from ebay for $305.
I need to get a null modem serial cable to connect it to my PC.
I still need to locate drivers to actually run the hi pro.
I need a serial-USB converter cable with its own drivers.
Not sure if all this will work with Vista. If not I’ll start over with XP and an older computer with a serial port.
I found some info about programming cables here:
http://www.knowles.com/search/products/h_programming.jsp
Still looking for a distributor, but I know the cable type is a CS-44
If all this fails…
I’ll get an iCube and at least be able to program the Audeo YES. I’ll keep you posted.