PC will not recognize scanner

gibersop · May 23, 2015

Please help! I bought a bcd396xt off eBay, came with nothing. It does work and was previously programmed. So I bought the programming cable also off ebay. The description said it was a Uniden programming cable for the bcd396xt. I downloaded freescan, Followed all of the instructions, plug the usb cable in the computer, plug the cable into the scanner and hit tranfer. And.... get an error message that freescan can not connect.

So I do some reading on forums and such and decide to download the (PL2303 Prolific Driver V1.8.0). That doesn't work either! I try another computer it doesn't work there either. So a friend of mine, who has programmed 6, BCD996P2 a couple other Uniden scanners, tries to program mine. That doesn't work either.

The problem with all the attempts are the computers aren't "seeing" that the device is plugged in. It does not show up in device manager and when you plug it in, there no notifications that something is plugged in and need a driver installed, like normal. I did a hard reset of the scanner and tried again, with no success. Does anyone have any advice? I am leaning toward a crappy, off-brand cable.

fxdscon · May 23, 2015

gibersop said:
Please help! I bought a bcd396xt off eBay, came with nothing. It does work and was previously programmed. So I bought the programming cable also off ebay. The description said it was a Uniden programming cable for the bcd396xt. I downloaded freescan, Followed all of the instructions, plug the usb cable in the computer, plug the cable into the scanner and hit tranfer. And.... get an error message that freescan can not connect.

So I do some reading on forums and such and decide to download the (PL2303 Prolific Driver V1.8.0). That doesn't work either! I try another computer it doesn't work there either. So a friend of mine, who has programmed 6, BCD996P2 a couple other Uniden scanners, tries to program mine. That doesn't work either.

The problem with all the attempts are the computers aren't "seeing" that the device is plugged in. It does not show up in device manager and when you plug it in, there no notifications that something is plugged in and need a driver installed, like normal. I did a hard reset of the scanner and tried again, with no success. Does anyone have any advice? I am leaning toward a crappy, off-brand cable.

Do you have a link to the ebay site that you purchased the cable from?

There are many non-functional and counterfeit (chip-set) cables being sold on ebay these days.

Many users have purchased them and found that they didn't work.

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gibersop · May 23, 2015

Thats sorta what I was thinking! Thanks for you help!

Uniden Bearcat USB BCD396XT BCD996X BCT15 BR330 Scanner Radio PC Interface Cable | eBay

fxdscon · May 23, 2015

gibersop said:
Thats sorta what I was thinking! Thanks for you help!

Uniden Bearcat USB BCD396XT BCD996X BCT15 BR330 Scanner Radio PC Interface Cable | eBay

That appears to be one of them, it looks like a straight through USB.

That cable seems to have the proper connectors, but it needs to have a Serial to USB convertor built into the cable (that's what the drivers are for). It would be seen (very noticeably) as a lump in the middle of the cable, or an extra large connector near the USB end.

The scanner uses RS232 Serial communication from the programming port. The scanner's port is not a mini USB, and will not interface directly with a USB port.

Check out the Uniden USB-1 Cable.
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EvilLithiumMan · May 23, 2015

Welcome to the forums. Can you provide a detailed description of the cable? One cable that works is a real Uniden USB-1 that uses the Prolific driver. Unfortunately, there are counterfeit ones out there that are impossible to detect by looking at them. I know, I have one. Fake cables work with Windows 7. For Windows 8.1, you will need to hunt down an older Prolific driver and go through a complex series of steps to manually configure it. It took me a lot of searching to locate the correct procedure, and I am sorry I didn't keep track of what I did.

Just do a Google search on something like "Windows 8.1 Prolific driver error" and start plowing through all the hits. Again, I didn't find a solution at a single site, it was a true PITA gathering up the pieces of the puzzle.

(And if your cable isn't a USB-1, just ignore the hell out of my post)

gibersop · May 23, 2015

Well I do believe I have a counterfeit, and just purchased a OEM Uniden USB-1. The cable is a straight though cable with nothing else. Is it worthless, or should I keep it? Will the straight through cable work to connect a remote head when I can find one?

fxdscon · May 23, 2015

gibersop said:
Well I do believe I have a counterfeit, and just purchased a OEM Uniden USB-1. The cable is a straight though cable with nothing else. Is it worthless, or should I keep it? Will the straight through cable work to connect a remote head when I can find one?

The RH96 remote head uses a cable with that same small "Hirose" connector on the scanner end, but uses a common stereo plug on the head end.

Those remote heads are somewhat difficult to find, they have been discontinued for some time now.

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gibersop · May 23, 2015

Does anyone expect there to be a replacement?

fxdscon · May 23, 2015

gibersop said:
Does anyone expect there to be a replacement?

See this post, and UPMan's reply under it.

http://forums.radioreference.com/un...rh-96-compatibility-bcd996p2.html#post2364730

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PC will not recognize scanner

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