[chirp_users] Programming Cable Guide

[Aubrey Turner]

I have some info on 3rd party cables if you are interested.

I am using a 2-in-1 cable from 409Shop.com to program a number of Yaesu 
radios.

Here's the product:
- http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=103790

It works with my VX-7R, FT-60R, and FT-7800R.  It should also work with 
my FT-8800R, but I haven't tried it (programmed what few memories I 
needed manually on that rig).

There are two things to know:
- You will need the Prolific drivers from the 409Shop website for it to 
work on Windows (getting the 'latest and greatest' from Prolific will 
cause it to fail).
- The 3.5mm adapter has the threading for the VX-7R.  It *will* work 
with the non-threaded Yaesu units (FT-60R, VX-3, etc), as the rest of 
the plug is physically and electrically identical.  It just sticks out a 
bit on the FT-60R.

As for being reputable I've never had an issue with 409Shop.  You just 
have to remember that they're in Hong Kong and it may take a while for 
the shipment to get to you.  I have also used a USB cable from them to 
program a Wouxun KG-UVD1P (although I must note that this was not with 
CHIRP, as I sold that unit before I learned about CHIRP) and I used 
another of their cables for the Baofeng UV-3R.  Pretty much all of their 
cables (and the ones on eBay) use the Prolific PL2032 chipset, so I have 
a laptop set up with those drivers and use it for all my radio 
programming (once the driver is installed, it works for all of the 
409Shop cables).

If you want a U.S. vendor, I've also had luck purchasing cables from 
Valley Enterprises.  Here are their Yaesu cable selections:
- http://www.valley-ent.com/catalog/yaesuvertex-c-25_45_49.html

They carry a line of cables using FTDI USB-serial chipsets, which gets 
around a lot of the software hassles Windows users have had with the 
Prolific-based ones.  I have one of their cables for my Yaesu FTM-350AR.


On 11/03/2011 02:29 PM, Dan Smith wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I often get private questions about which cable to use for programming
> particular radios (especially the Icom 92AD). The CHIRP site has a
> little bit of information about this, but I think we can do better. I
> just created a "Programming Cable Guide" page here:
>
>     http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/CableGuide
>
> This is just a brain dump from memory on various radios and cables. I
> would much appreciate:
>
> 1. Corrections, comments, and additions
> 2. Links to pages describing how to build cables
> 3. Links to reputable vendors of 3rd party cables
>
> If anyone is interested in helping edit this page directly, let me know
> and I'll get you set up with edit access.
>
> Thanks!
>