Uniden USB-1 cable, ARC396, & Drivers?

[N4JNW]

Ok, so I got my 396T today, and rushed home to program it up. So I plug in my Uniden USB-1 USB cable I purchased from Grove, and it says it wants a driver? So I let it search for one, and it don't find one and wants to connect to the internet now to find a driver.

So I let it, and it sits and hunts for the better part of 30 minutes, and then I just stop it.

What's going on here? What do I need to do??

 

[firemedic2150]

Driver

Mine came with a driver CD and a big sticker on the USB plug that said "Do not connect this to computer until you load the driver disk"

MMc.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

You can download the drivers from Uniden's website.

 

[N4JNW]

Are they free to dl?

 

[N4JNW]

Ok, nevermind, I found it!!

It appears it won't work with my wonderful Vista laptop?

 

[N4JNW]

Or would it be a better move to get a USB-Serial adapter, and use the Serial cable that came with the 396?

I'm not sure what the best move would be... Can anyone advise please, or am I just screwed?

 

[bonus1331]

I have used a Keyspan serial-USB adaptor with all my Unidens with great results.
Actually just bought a refurbished Dell Latitude laptop exactly because I didn't want to deal with Vista AND it has a serial port which is hard to find these days.
FYI-you're making me jealous with your recent buying spree.

 

[N4JNW]

The buying spree is done with for now. LOL... Chas says any more scanners and she['s cutting me off. LOL-

 

[loumaag]

I also am a fan of using a single USB->Serial adapter that I know will work with my laptop/OS and then using the various serial cables for my scanners and ham radios. That said, Uniden says they will support the USB-1 so it sounds as if they need to step up to the plate if they have not yet developed drivers for Vista.

 

[N4JNW]

Yeah man... I'd almost PAY for an actual Vista driver I need one so bad right now..

Now that I've said that, watch UPMan pop in, and offer me a prototype for like $20. I'll gladly be the guinea pig!

 

[SouthSoundScanner]

I have the Uniden USB-1 cable, ARC396, & Drivers all working with Vista.

 

[N4JNW]

You dog!! How?? Please advise!!!

 

[loumaag]

I have the Uniden USB-1 cable, ARC396, & Drivers all working with Vista.

John is not going to be a happy camper! :lol:

 

[SouthSoundScanner]

Usb drivers can be found in the Yahoo BCD396t Group under files.

 

[N4JNW]

For Vista????

Uniden has one on thier website, but it supports everything BUT Vista...

 

[SouthSoundScanner]

Here's what it says, (not a link), " Vista USB Serial Driver.pkg.zip
Mike's USB driver for Vista "

 

[N4JNW]

Sweet! Thanks!

 

[N4JNW]

Ok well it appears I've bought a scanner that I can't program now..

I've got a USB cable, a Serial cable, the 396, and ARC396, and I can't program it!

I've tried different computers.. I used a XP computer at work, downloaded ARC396 on it and brought my profile file on a USB thumb drive, and ARC396 won't open my file from my thumb drive?? My only guess is that I made the profile with Vista, and it won't open up with the XP program. I dunno..

I'm getting quite aggravated, and if I don't put it down I'm gonna throw my $500 396T. So now, I'm back to trying to get ARC396 to work with my Vista laptop. I've downloaded the driver off the yahoo group, and it didn't seem to do anything. I tried the XP driver as well, as some said it would work with 32 bit Vista (I don't know what mine is, 32 or 64)..

I guess the best thing I can do is just put the scanner down for awhile, and wait on Uniden to come out with a Vista driver for this.

So, the moral of this story is, DO NOT BUY VISTA!!

(Although it's funny I can program my RadioShack scanners with it, no problem..)

 

[loumaag]

(Although it's funny I can program my RadioShack scanners with it, no problem..)

Well, I will repeat what I have said several times in the past, find a USB->Serial adapter that works with your hardware/OS combo and use the serial cables designed for communicating with the radio. Now that I have beaten that dead horse another time...

First, I assume you have at least programmed the radio a little by hand, in which case it is not the radio's fault the software/computer won't communicate. Next, have you downloaded the Uniden free software and see if it will work? Have you tried any other interface program to see if it can communicate with the radio? (IDTrackerII is one that should work, hyper-terminal is another.) I guess what I am wondering is have you absolutely determined that it is the lack of driver that is the problem. Some other possibilities are a bad USB-1 cable or maybe a bad communication port on the radio.

It sounds as if your frustration level is blocking an analytical study of the actual problem; although that assumption is made on the lack of evidence presented by you as opposed to knowing everything you might have done.

 

[N4JNW]

I thought the USB cable might be bad, so I downloaded ARC396 and the PL-2303 XP driver from Uniden's website into an XP computer. I could get the scanner to communicate with ARC396, using the cable, so the scanner, and cable appear ok and working properly.

I have my ARC396 Profile file (.pfl) on my flash drive, that I also plugged into the other USB port that wasn't being used. I opened ARC396, and went to the flash drive to open the files out of it, and it wouldn't open them. It kept telling me that the files were a newer version and weren't supported or something. If I could have gotten ARC396 to open the .pfl file from my flash drive, then I could have indeed programmed them into my 396T.

It's very odd... Now If only I could get one of those drivers to work with my Vista laptop, I'd be set to go.

Sorry for venting my frustration in my earlier post... :lol: (I didn't throw the 396 BTW, although I did want to for a second, then I realized it wasn't the scanner's fault. So I apologised to the scanner for being so harsh to it :lol