Connecting scanners via USB
From The RadioReference Wiki
With the lack of serial ports on newer PCs these days, having to connect to a USB port is a necessary, but sometimes frustrating, evil. The listings below detail which USB cable to buy, and other important conditions.
Contents
GRE Scanners
- The PSR-500 and PSR-600 both come with their own USB cable
- GRE 30-3290 USB Cable
- RS 20-546 USB Cable
- Additional drivers can be found here
- RS 20-047 USB Cable
- Discontinued; might be found at stores with old inventory
- FTDI Virtual Com Port (VCP) Drivers
- Do NOT use the mono-stereo pigtail with these radios
Radio Shack Scanners
Radio Shack scanners manufactured by GRE use the same cables as listed for GRE above.
- Notes
- Unlike their GRE brothers, the Pro-106 and Pro-197 do not come with the USB cable; you must buy it sepearately
- The PRO-94 came out with a B version years ago which is the only one that is PC addressible (up/download data only)
- The PRO-2052 is a Uniden product with a DB9 connector in the back. See the Uniden section below for more information
- The original version of the PRO-92 requires the pigtail- the A and B models don't
Model | Use RS Pigtail? | Model | Use RS Pigtail? | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pro-76 | Pro-2016 | |||
Pro-79 | YES | Pro-2017 | ||
Pro-82 | ||||
Pro-83 | YES | |||
Pro-84 | YES | |||
Pro-89 | YES | |||
Pro-92 | see notes above | Pro-2067 | NO | |
Pro-93 | NO | Pro-2053 | NO | |
Pro-94 | YES | |||
Pro-95 | NO | |||
Pro-96 | NO | Pro-2096 | NO | |
Pro-2051 | YES | |||
Pro-97 | NO | Pro-2055 | NO | |
Pro-99 | NO | |||
Pro-106 | NO | Pro-197 | NO | |
Pro-107 | N/A | |||
Pro-135 | ||||
Pro-137 | NO | |||
Pro-162 | NO | Pro-160 | NO | |
Pro-164 | NO | Pro-163 | NO | |
Pro-404 | NO | |||
Pro-528 | NO | Pro-433 | NO | |
Pro-405 |
Uniden Scanners
- Uniden USB-1 cable
- From Uniden
- From Scanner Master
- Certified to work with the BC95XLT and the DMA Scanners (includes XT versions)
- The link for the latest USB-1 drivers can be found here
- NOTE: Uniden handhelds often come with their own serial programming cable. A USB-1 cable or a USB to RS-232 converter is still required to interface with PCs that don't have serial ports.
Generic USB to RS-232 serial converters
If the programming cable for your radio requires an RS-232 serial interface and your computer only has USB ports, you may be able to use to a USB to RS-232 serial converter. They are available from various computer and office supply retailers. Cables which use the FTDI chip or authentic Prolific PL2303 chipsets work the most reliably.
Note that some very inexpensive converter cables (<$10) are available, but many of them use counterfeit chipsets. Prolific has, with their latest driver release, made their drivers incompatible with any but authentic chips. Uniden's USB-1 cable, as well as cables provided by GRE and RadioShack use only authentic chipsets, and are more likely to include continued forward support.
- Driver websites
- From the CHIRP Wiki
- USB/Serial Devices
- Argent Data Serial to USB adapter
- Digi-Key - 768-1013-ND (Manufacturer - US232R-10-BLK)
- Dynex 16 inch USB PDA Serial Cable (via Best Buy)
- Edgeport USB-Serial devices (via Digi)
- eBay red_ella Fast USB2 to serial cable connects to male DB9
- GearMo 36 inch FTDI USB to Serial Cable (via Amazon.com)
- Gigaware USB-A to Serial cable (via RS.com)
- IOGear GUC232A
- KeySpan USA-19HS
- Monoprice model 3726
- Monoprice model 2276
- It is being discussed, along with driver issues, here
- Sabrent USB 2.0 Cable
- Startech model ICUSB232PR Via Amazon
- TrendNet TU-S9
- USB Programming Cable for Wouxon Radios
Installation Notes
Accessing Device Manager
Unfortunately sometimes ports aren't available when you think they are, or everything appears to have installed correctly, but still doesn't seem to work. The tool that will allow you to diagnose these issues is Device Manager. You can access this tool in several ways, depending on the OS;
- XP: Start>Control Panel>System>Hardware>Click on the Device Manager button.
- Vista: Control Panel>System and Maintenance>Device Manager
- Win7: Control Panel>System and Security>System>Device Manager
- Click on Start in the Taskbar then Run and enter devmgmt.msc in the resulting box
- Press the Windows key+R, in the resulting menu type 'devmgmt.msc'
- Click Start --> Right click on My Computer and select Properties, click the Device Manager link on the left.
- Press the Windows key + pause/break key
- Set up a .bat file with the following using Notepad or Wordpad. When you want to run this, right click on it, select Run as Administrator (Vista, Win7)
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 cd %SystemRoot%\System32 start devmgmt.msc
Checklist and Procedures
- CAUTION: There have been numerous reports of drivers for devices that are not compatible with (or do not supply a driver for) Windows 7 64 bit. Make sure your device has a driver that is compatible before proceeding
- Use Device Manager to determine if other COM ports are available, and not held by Bluetooth or other devices. Sometimes such devices will hold an address even if it's not actually in use (Figure 1).
- Download the most up to date drivers from the manufacturer or distributor and install. Figure 2 shows one possible result. At this point you need to validate if your application can actually address the COM port that has been assigned. If it can't...
- In the 'Ports (COM & LPT)' section of Device Manager you should see an entry that reads something like 'Serial on USB Port (COM 15)'. The actual text will vary with the driver's documentation
- Select the Serial Device Entry in the list
- Right click on it and select Properties
- Select the Port Settings tab and click on the Advanced button. Change the COM port address.
- Also in the Advanced menu, make sure the speed on the com port matches the speed the scanner is expecting, and also matches whatever the software is expecting
- Connect the adapter
- Connect the cable from the scanner.
All of this assumes that you have first set the COM port of your scanner up to the transfer speed you desire. Sometimes a scanner will register as 'not connected' until this procedure is completed. It's beyond the scope of this article to detail this, as it tends to vary from scanner to scanner. For the Uniden DMA driven scanners, see the Freescan - Connecting Scanner to PC article which has a summary (from the Easier to Read manuals) of the MENU commands necessary to set up the speeds for the port(s). For all others, look in the scanner's manual for the keystrokes needed to put the scanner in RMT (or similar) mode.
Windows 8 Issues and Solutions
Cables Known to be Compatible with Win 8.x
- Micro Connectors E07-160 USB Cable
- Nordfield USB Serial Adapter - Ultimate
- Plugable USB to RS-232 DB9 Serial Adapter (via Amazon)
- Staples USB to Serial Adapter
- TrendNet RS-232 Serial Converter (via Amazon)
- XLT Painless Programming Cable for Baofeng, Kenwood and Wouxon
Websites With Win 8.x Information
- USB Cables and Drivers for XP, Vista, Win7 and Win8 (Miklor Website)
- Microsoft Community - Windows 8 does not support Prolific USB-serial driver
- ACT-IR224UN / ACT- IR424UN Windows 8 Driver Workaround (PDF)
- Windows 8 / 8.1 Driver repair
- If you are using the Uniden USB-1 and your drivers don't seem to work,
- If you have the HXA chipset, the driver must be rolled back to version 3.4.25.218, 10/7/2011.
- These drivers can be found here;
- Prolific PL-2303 Driver Installer on 2Shared
- Prolific PL-2303 Driver Installer on Yesanshare
RadioReference Forum Threads on USB Issues
- Windows 8.x USB Programming Problems
- USB to Serial Adapter - Windows 8 Thread
- Need Help with Programming Cable
- Which cable for bct15x connection to PC?
- 3d Party USB Prgraming Cable Not Showing up
- Prolific USB Serial Cable Drivers
- (BCD996XT) Programming Cable
- WS-1080 Win 8.x Drivers Instructions
- Did Amyone work Out the Driver for the wouxon USB Cable?
Return to the Uniden DMA FAQ