USB Cable and Programming Support

USB Programming Cable Help
Having trouble getting your ham radio to talk to your computer? The below guide is generalized, and can be applied to just about any of the Chinese branded amateur radios, including Wouxun, TYT, Baofeng, and Quansheng. If you need drivers or programming software please visit the manufacturers website.

Tired of endless troubleshooting? Try a genuine cable here. Tested and compatible with the latest Windows 10 drivers (July 2019) and also functions on macOS - Genuine TYT, Wouxun Baofeng Windows 10 macOS Compatible USB  Amateur Ham Radio Programming Cable Stocked in Vancouver Canada, we can get this cable to most of Canada within 2 to 5 days. Shopping from the USA? Most orders are delivered within 7 business days.


USB Cable Device Drivers:
 
Older Drivers (3.2) For Legacy Cables (May Function on 7/8/10)
Drivers

INSTALL THE DRIVERS BEFORE PLUGGING IN THE CABLE 

 

DUE TO THE NATURE OF RADIO PROGRAMMING, IT IS ASSUMED BY THE MANUFACTURE THAT A RADIO TECHNICIAN IS THE ONE TO PERFORM THE PROGRAMMING. AS A RESULT THERE IS MINIMAL DOCUMENTATION ON THE “HOW TO” ASPECTS OF THE DRIVERS AND SOFTWARE.


Open the Driver CD from My Computer and run the installer. If you have a red Wouxun cable it is titled CP210x_Windows. If installing on macOS look for the mac folder in the CD Volume on the desktop. If you have the Black Baofeng CD look for the installer USB.EXE and run. If you have macOS Google “Signed Mac OS Driver for Winchiphead CH340 serial bridge” and download.

 

Follow along with the installer prompts, the default settings are suitable for most users.

When finished installing reboot your computer. You can now plug in the Cable.

 

Download the software for your radio from the manufacturer, this CD, or if compatible, 

http://chirp.danplanet.com - Save the software file onto your desktop. Please note, Chirp is 3rd party software, and may not be compatible with all firmware revisions of a radio. If a Chirp listed radio does not communicate it is likely a cause of incompatible firmware, and not a faulty radio.

 

Once the download is complete you may need to extract the files, do so in a sub directory on the desktop. Once extracted, run the installer for the Radio software, again follow the prompts, accepting the default values. Once installed open the radio software, it might have created an Icon on your desktop for easy finding.

 

Always READ the contents of the radio first, this will usually be an option in the top menu bar of the software. Once you have READ the radio you will see what looks like a spreadsheet with the various values. Enter or Update the values as required, for repeater tones look for a column labeled Encode or maybe Enc for short. On some Wouxun it is labeled as QT/DQT Enc. For Amateur repeaters you will most likely need the CTCSS tones (eg. 127.9), not the Digital Tones (eg. D21)

 

When you are finished making the changes to the spreadsheet you need to WRITE the contents back to the radio. As different radios have different internal structures a file cannot be moved from brand to brand or model to model. ALWAYS READ the radio before making changes, do not start with a fresh file.

 

By nature this software is designed for use by radio professionals, it is not polished for retail end users. At first it may seem hard to use, or not user friendly, it is not designed to be. It is as simple as it gets and is designed to get the job done, and nothing else. If your radio, and radios firmware, is compatible with Chirp Software (http://www.chirp.danplanet.com) you might find that a bit more intuitive.

Software

The software is specific to the model of radio you have. 

If your model is supporting by Chirp you may find it easier to use the Chirp software and not the manufacture software. Chirp is open source and was written by a ham for hams. You will find Chirp on the CD, the most recent version can be downloaded from 

http://www.chirp.danplanet.com

It is always best to read the radio first and then make changes. Do not start from a blank file as erroneous data may be written to the radio. 

- When starting the software be sure to choose the correct com port and radio model if required. 

 

  • Select the assigned COM port (Port)
  • Click Program
  • Click Read from radio
  • Click "Start"
  • Make desired changes
  • Click Program
  • Click Write to radio
  • Click Start

 

When entering repeater tones if the software gives you the option for an encode tone and decode tone note that Encode is the equivalent as a transmit tone (repeater tone for access) and the decode is for setting up tone squelch.

The radio screen will flash an on/off cycle when done.

Should you require additional support please email support@fleetwooddp.com

While we do our best to help with driver and software troubleshooting, it is best to seek the assistance of someone you can have in front of the computer as being able to see the computer screen is often essential to computer tech support.

 

Need a genuine programming cable? Visit http://www.fleetwooddp.com for both Wouxun and Baofeng branded cables that are compatible with a wide variety of Chines branded radios such as Baofeng, Wouxun, TYT, Surecom, Quansheng, Puxing, and more.

Windows 7 / 8 / 10 - Cable Not Recognized - Yellow Exclamation Mark

Applicable to cables that use the “Prolific” chipset. Windows 7/8/10 will automatically search for new drivers when hardware is installed. While this can be helpful for some hardware, Windows will load a newer driver that may not be compatible with the revision of the chip inside your programming cable. This is typically the case when you receive a "Code 10" error indicating the device cannot start, when installing the cable on a Windows 7 computer. To remedy this you have to force Windows to use a earlier version of the driver software. Simply follow the below steps to install a working driver. Note you may have to first install the actual 3.2 driver as found at the beginning of the article.

  • Open the Device Manager
  • Right click the prolific USB-Serial device
  • Select "Update Driver Software"
  • Select "Browse My Computer"
  • Select "Let Me Pick From Installed Drivers"
  • Choose a version that is 3.2 or LOWER
  • Click OK/Apply
  • Restart the computer

 

The driver is installed, anything else?

Lower the speed of the virtual com port:

At times newer computers simply process data to fast for this type of software to handle. By lowering the speed of the com port the information being read and written may transfer more reliably and less likely to error out. Use the below guide to change this setting (Windows XP)

 

  • Click Start
  • Click Control Panel
  • Double Click System
  • Click Hardware (Top)
  • Click Device Manager
  • Double Click Ports
  • Double Click Prolific USB-Serial
  • Click Port Settings
  • Change "Bits per second" to 9600
  • Click Ok
  • Restart Computer

 

"FIFO Buffering"

FiFo buffering has been reported as causing communication errors. Try disabling it. See above to adjust this setting.

 

*** If you purchased a cable from Fleetwood Digital, and it is RED IN COLOUR, the below will not be relevant. The red cable from Fleetwood Digital uses a newer chipset from Silicon Labs, which is designed for use with modern operating systems such as Windows 8/8.1/10 and Mac OS. The driver should load without any additional troubleshooting or configuring.

 

1. Is the driver is installed?

2. What is the assigned Com Port?

 

  • Plug in the cable and wait for the computer to detect it.
  • Click Start
  • "Right Click" My Computer
  • Choose Properties
  • Click the Hardware tab
  • Click Device Manager
  • Click the "+" beside Ports (Com & LPT)

- Look for "Prolific USB-Serial" and note the assigned Com Port (Must be 1-4). To change to a different Com port "Right Click" on Prolific, choose properties, click port settings, click advanced, select from the drop down list either 1, 2, 3, or 4 (which ever is available). *** If there is a yellow exclamation mark beside prolific, or an unknown device is present, the driver is not installed correctly. Unplug the cable, restart the computer, and load the XP driver as found on the CD.

 

It's still not working! Please help!

 

At times the driver may not load correctly. When this happens follow the simple steps below to remedy the corrupt install.

 

  •  Unplug the USB programming cable from the computer
  •  Restart the computer
  •  Using the driver install program "uninstall" the driver
  •  Restart the computer
  •  Install the driver software
  •  Restart the computer
  •  Plug in the USB programming cable and confirm the assigned Com-Port per the above

 

If the above also fails you may need a different driver for your exact version of Windows, or another piece of hardware is conflicting with the cable. Using a search engine such as google with the search term "prolific usb to serial drivers" followed by your windows version and revision number may yield positive results.

 

Software Downloads:
Software CDs can also be purchased from Fleetwood Digital for a nominal cost. It is the same software as you would download from the manufacture, but unzipped and ready to install.

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