AR-DV1 USB FAULT on some recent Receivers

[k8ble]

Thanks Dave. Tried that. No joy. I have returned the radio and got a full refund. I now have the ICOM R8600.
73s


Thanks for your interest. In the end I returned it and got a full refund. Now have an ICOM R8600. Great improvement. Kind regards.

well i thought that might be the problem the usb i used seems to work until recently. so i tried a few and found one that worked.
i wish i could remember who was my extended warranty provider?. well i guess i'll have to try going it alone. i'll be hanging around hopefully
i'll find the truth. thanks for your help. 73's

 

[k8ble]

Please bear in mind, the two DV1's that were returned to Japan were supposed by AOR to have USB Chips that had failed. My remarks about the physical attachment of the USB sockets are just speculation.

Th only way to be sure is to install the Windows Driver's, download and install some controlling software (there are free trials available), and test to see if all is well.

As I mentioned of the defective USB Units I know of, on some the USB did not work immediately, on others they failed after a few hours.

It really does not matter if anyone wants to use their P.C. to control the DV1 at the moment, although they may change their mind in the future.

The really important thing is that people who have bought a DV1 within the last few weeks, or are in the process of getting one, make sure the USB is (and remains) working correctly.

Despite two different Dealers, and AOR Japan saying that they will NOT repair these AR-DV1's under Guarantee, no matter if the fault is discovered on NEW Radios, Customers must resist this and insist on their Consumer Rights.

Why AOR should be adopting this approach with this 'batch' of AR-DV1s now just beggars belief. It has shown itself to be a superb Receiver and should bring them in a lot of future revenue because of that, quite rightly.

Denying this fault, and even charging for repairs, after blaming Customers (and the messenger) rather than just accepting a few of the latest DV1's need repairing is the sort of knee-jerk Political reaction we are used to recently from Politicians, and is little short of suicidal as far as their reputation is concerned.

Although I believe it is naturally important for NEW DV1 owners to be aware of this, my main motivation still remains hoping AOR will survive and can go on producing good equipment. AOR's 'deny and ignore' attitude started with the problems discovered and reported on by many people regarding the AR-DV10, and is now being used regarding the recent AR-DV1's USB failures.

The adjectives 'sad' and 'mad' spring to mind. AOR, PLEASE think again.

 

[palmerjrusa]

I am new to this group. Just got mine yesterday. Serial number 09525081. USB not working. I will get a new cable on Monday and see if that makes any difference. Driver installed. Firmware updated.

Now I need to check my ARDV1's USB for functionality ASAP (bought in June) before the warranty expires.

 

[k8ble]

Please bear in mind, the two DV1's that were returned to Japan were supposed by AOR to have USB Chips that had failed. My remarks about the physical attachment of the USB sockets are just speculation.

Th only way to be sure is to install the Windows Driver's, download and install some controlling software (there are free trials available), and test to see if all is well.

As I mentioned of the defective USB Units I know of, on some the USB did not work immediately, on others they failed after a few hours.

It really does not matter if anyone wants to use their P.C. to control the DV1 at the moment, although they may change their mind in the future.

The really important thing is that people who have bought a DV1 within the last few weeks, or are in the process of getting one, make sure the USB is (and remains) working correctly.

Despite two different Dealers, and AOR Japan saying that they will NOT repair these AR-DV1's under Guarantee, no matter if the fault is discovered on NEW Radios, Customers must resist this and insist on their Consumer Rights.

Why AOR should be adopting this approach with this 'batch' of AR-DV1s now just beggars belief. It has shown itself to be a superb Receiver and should bring them in a lot of future revenue because of that, quite rightly.

Denying this fault, and even charging for repairs, after blaming Customers (and the messenger) rather than just accepting a few of the latest DV1's need repairing is the sort of knee-jerk Political reaction we are used to recently from Politicians, and is little short of suicidal as far as their reputation is concerned.

Although I believe it is naturally important for NEW DV1 owners to be aware of this, my main motivation still remains hoping AOR will survive and can go on producing good equipment. AOR's 'deny and ignore' attitude started with the problems discovered and reported on by many people regarding the AR-DV10, and is now being used regarding the recent AR-DV1's USB failures.

The adjectives 'sad' and 'mad' spring to mind. AOR, PLEASE think again.

Now here this after years of frustration i found out because i bought it from a german off eBay with a three-year warranty (unblocked)
years all together aorusa will not touch it, so now I'm looking for a way to send it to japan to get fixed! My warranty was up on Oct 5th last year.. i should have had 4
year 1 from the manufacture and three from SquareTrade, which was 179$, but they told me that their warranty ran along with the manufacture.
it didn't say that when i ordered it. when you buy three years you should get what you paid for, not including the manufactures warranty.
any help on getting it there??? thanks in advance, 73's

 

[marlbrook]

I assume AOR USA will not touch it because it is an 'unblocked' version, so not U.S. legal.

In the U.K. the AOR Importer / Dealer have been used as a go-between for people needing their DV1 to be sent to Japan for repair at the Owner's expense. Since unblocked DV1's are legal in the U.K. there was not a problem.

In your case I imagine no U.S. Dealer will help either for the same reason.

You could contact AOR Japan (NOT mention it is unblocked - they will be able to tell from the Serial Number though) and ask them if you can send it to them direct. HOWEVER they may well say you can only do that via a Dealer, so back to square one, or just refuse because your DV1 is 'illegal' in the U.S.

There is one other problem, even if you manage to get it repaired in Japan, you then run the risk of it being seized. by U.S. Customs on the way back. It did get though when you bought it from Germany but less likely when coming back from Japan, assuming AOR Japan would do that. I feel the worst scenario would apply, you having to pay for the repair and transportation, and the Radio ending up 'seized' on its way back into the U.S.

I think the AR-DV1 is not required to be 'blocked' in Canada? If that is the case you might be able to find an AOR Dealer in that Country who would send it to Japan, and there would be no Customs issue when it was returned to them. I have no idea how intense or otherwise are the Customs regarding post between Canada and the U.S.

Personally I would avoid contacting AOR Japan yourself. You risk them 'flagging' the Radio's serial number in the future.

DEALERS | AOR U.S.A., INC. Authority On Radio Communications gives a list of Dealers, with several in Canada. One of them could certainly send the DV1 to Japan and have it returned to them without breaking any U.S. laws, but may still refuse to send it to you in the U.S.

The last alternative would be if you have a friend in Canada who would say the DV1 belonged to them? They should be able to get a Canadian Dealer to get the DV1 repaired and returned to them, then to your friend at their Canadian address. Just the issues of getting it to your friend and then back to you, which may be less of a Customs issue perhaps. If you have such a friend my STRONG advice is for them NOT to try to get the DV1 repaired under guarantee, and from the start say they are willing to pay all the costs.

In any case, good luck. Let me know your decision and how it turns out.

 

[k8ble]

I assume AOR USA will not touch it because it is an 'unblocked' version, so not U.S. legal.

In the U.K. the AOR Importer / Dealer have been used as a go-between for people needing their DV1 to be sent to Japan for repair at the Owner's expense. Since unblocked DV1's are legal in the U.K. there was not a problem.

In your case I imagine no U.S. Dealer will help either for the same reason.

You could contact AOR Japan (NOT mention it is unblocked - they will be able to tell from the Serial Number though) and ask them if you can send it to them direct. HOWEVER they may well say you can only do that via a Dealer, so back to square one, or just refuse because your DV1 is 'illegal' in the U.S.

There is one other problem, even if you manage to get it repaired in Japan, you then run the risk of it being seized. by U.S. Customs on the way back. It did get though when you bought it from Germany but less likely when coming back from Japan, assuming AOR Japan would do that. I feel the worst scenario would apply, you having to pay for the repair and transportation, and the Radio ending up 'seized' on its way back into the U.S.

I think the AR-DV1 is not required to be 'blocked' in Canada? If that is the case you might be able to find an AOR Dealer in that Country who would send it to Japan, and there would be no Customs issue when it was returned to them. I have no idea how intense or otherwise are the Customs regarding post between Canada and the U.S.

Personally I would avoid contacting AOR Japan yourself. You risk them 'flagging' the Radio's serial number in the future.

DEALERS | AOR U.S.A., INC. Authority On Radio Communications gives a list of Dealers, with several in Canada. One of them could certainly send the DV1 to Japan and have it returned to them without breaking any U.S. laws, but may still refuse to send it to you in the U.S.

The last alternative would be if you have a friend in Canada who would say the DV1 belonged to them? They should be able to get a Canadian Dealer to get the DV1 repaired and returned to them, then to your friend at their Canadian address. Just the issues of getting it to your friend and then back to you, which may be less of a Customs issue perhaps. If you have such a friend my STRONG advice is for them NOT to try to get the DV1 repaired under guarantee, and from the start say they are willing to pay all the costs.

In any case, good luck. Let me know your decision and how it turns out.

Thanks -o much for the info. My 09523485.
73's great job

 

[VE2XWA]

I assume AOR USA will not touch it because it is an 'unblocked' version, so not U.S. legal.

In the U.K. the AOR Importer / Dealer have been used as a go-between for people needing their DV1 to be sent to Japan for repair at the Owner's expense. Since unblocked DV1's are legal in the U.K. there was not a problem.

In your case I imagine no U.S. Dealer will help either for the same reason.

You could contact AOR Japan (NOT mention it is unblocked - they will be able to tell from the Serial Number though) and ask them if you can send it to them direct. HOWEVER they may well say you can only do that via a Dealer, so back to square one, or just refuse because your DV1 is 'illegal' in the U.S.

There is one other problem, even if you manage to get it repaired in Japan, you then run the risk of it being seized. by U.S. Customs on the way back. It did get though when you bought it from Germany but less likely when coming back from Japan, assuming AOR Japan would do that. I feel the worst scenario would apply, you having to pay for the repair and transportation, and the Radio ending up 'seized' on its way back into the U.S.

I think the AR-DV1 is not required to be 'blocked' in Canada? If that is the case you might be able to find an AOR Dealer in that Country who would send it to Japan, and there would be no Customs issue when it was returned to them. I have no idea how intense or otherwise are the Customs regarding post between Canada and the U.S.

Personally I would avoid contacting AOR Japan yourself. You risk them 'flagging' the Radio's serial number in the future.

DEALERS | AOR U.S.A., INC. Authority On Radio Communications gives a list of Dealers, with several in Canada. One of them could certainly send the DV1 to Japan and have it returned to them without breaking any U.S. laws, but may still refuse to send it to you in the U.S.

The last alternative would be if you have a friend in Canada who would say the DV1 belonged to them? They should be able to get a Canadian Dealer to get the DV1 repaired and returned to them, then to your friend at their Canadian address. Just the issues of getting it to your friend and then back to you, which may be less of a Customs issue perhaps. If you have such a friend my STRONG advice is for them NOT to try to get the DV1 repaired under guarantee, and from the start say they are willing to pay all the costs.

In any case, good luck. Let me know your decision and how it turns out.

Now here this after years of frustration i found out because i bought it from a german off eBay with a three-year warranty (unblocked)
years all together aorusa will not touch it, so now I'm looking for a way to send it to japan to get fixed! My warranty was up on Oct 5th last year.. i should have had 4
year 1 from the manufacture and three from SquareTrade, which was 179$, but they told me that their warranty ran along with the manufacture.
it didn't say that when i ordered it. when you buy three years you should get what you paid for, not including the manufactures warranty.
any help on getting it there??? thanks in advance, 73's

You cant send anything directly to AOR Japan. It need to go to the main distributor first. I tried. Dealers in Canada will tell you to deal directly with AOR USA. To help you AOR USA will need a proof of purchased from a legit dealer. Germangirl/ebay is not.

 

[Rob_Gouda]

Perhaps this is a simple solution to the DV1 USB problem.
De-soldering the faulty cp2104 chip is easy, but soldering a new chip is not easy.
Farnell has an evaluation kit for the cp2104.
These connections are then easy to solder on the DV1 PCB.
This kit costs only 5 euros and is worth a try.
Some small components such as the USB connector have to be removed on the evaluation kit PCB.

https://nl.farnell.com/en-NL/silicon-labs/cp2104-miniek/eval-kit-usb-to-uart-bridge/dp/2930700?ICID=I-RP-STM7REC-0

 

[Rob_Gouda]

There is also an option to use an Adafruit PiUART pcb
Product code : ADA-3589

https://www.kiwi-electronics.nl/en/adafruit-piuart-usb-console-power-add-on-for-raspberry-pi-3335

 

[marlbrook]

My preferred repair options would include:-

1. AOR openly accepting there was a problem with a batch of the 'then' new AR-DV1's as soon as reports about it were made, and did not allegedly initially try to say it was caused by the new Owner.

2. Dealers (with the exception of Martin Lynch who did not follow this AOR line of denial and accepted the fault existed) and AOR and Dealer DV1 stocks were 'soak' tested straight away, before sending them out to new buyers. There are several documented cases where new owners had to send the Radios back to Dealers, and wait for them to be repaired in Japan, sometimes at their own cost).

3. Bearing in mind the fault was either apparent on receipt of the DV1 or after a few hours of use, so could and should have been looked at before sale once reports of this came to light.

4. Not everyone would use the USB port straight away, and so be aware of the problem. In fact the chances are there are still DV1's from that batch that have been sold with the fault remaining undetected.

5. IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT THIS PROBLEM APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN WITH ONE BATCH OF DV1'S ONLY, AND THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTS OF THIS FOR SOME TIME. AOR would seem to have taken steps to correct this eventually.

 

[Rob_Gouda]

If you want to replace the broken usb cp2104 chip yourself, you can use the CP2104 breakout box adapter from Pololu 1308.
All components of the breakout box adapter must first be removed except for the cp2104 chip.
I used Insulated Copper Wire Bare Copper Diameter 0.2MM to make the connections.
De-soldering the cp2104 chip is easy to do.
The cp2104 breakoutbox adapter pcb can easily fit on the pcb of the DV1
The cp2104 breakoutbox adapter seems like a good and cheap alternative without re-soldering a new cp2104 chip.
So that the USB connection of the DV1 works again.

chip pin numbers in use:
2 = gnd
3 = D+
4 = D-
5 = VIO
6 = VDD
7 = VBUS
8 = VBUS
9 = RST
16 = Vpp
18 = CTS
19 = RTS
20 = RX
21 = TX

 

[Rob_Gouda]

so i already have a pcb ready. just remove the faulty chip and solder the wires to the blue terminals of the DV1 pcb.
And the USB should work again!

 

[c0ne]

If you want to replace the broken usb cp2104 chip yourself, you can use the CP2104 breakout box adapter from Pololu 1308.
All components of the breakout box adapter must first be removed except for the cp2104 chip.
I used Insulated Copper Wire Bare Copper Diameter 0.2MM to make the connections.
De-soldering the cp2104 chip is easy to do.
The cp2104 breakoutbox adapter pcb can easily fit on the pcb of the DV1
The cp2104 breakoutbox adapter seems like a good and cheap alternative without re-soldering a new cp2104 chip.
So that the USB connection of the DV1 works again.

chip pin numbers in use:
2 = gnd
3 = D+
4 = D-
5 = VIO
6 = VDD
7 = VBUS
8 = VBUS
9 = RST
16 = Vpp
18 = CTS
19 = RTS
20 = RX
21 = TX

View attachment 118010View attachment 118011View attachment 118012View attachment 118013View attachment 118014

so i already have a pcb ready. just remove the faulty chip and solder the wires to the blue terminals of the DV1 pcb.
And the USB should work again!

View attachment 118332View attachment 118333

nice research Rob!

 

[martufello]

more than 1 year is passed since last post for this problem ... does it mean that in the new batches the problem has bee fixed ?
If so, the range affected by this problem seems to be more or less between 95242xx and 95246xx

 

[marlbrook]

Difficult to be absolutely sure since AOR (naturally for them)) never published openly the problem existed.

Also presumably quite a few purchasers may never have tried to use the USB port at all.

Certainly there have been no reports for some time. AOR must have been aware of this issue, due to the annoying habit of people posting about it, and my personal belief is that they found the cause, and fixed it, (silently).

 

[luckygecko]

Difficult to be absolutely sure since AOR (naturally for them)) never published openly the problem existed.

Also presumably quite a few purchasers may never have tried to use the USB port at all.

Certainly there have been no reports for some time. AOR must have been aware of this issue, due to the annoying habit of people posting about it, and my personal belief is that they found the cause, and fixed it, (silently).

Who knows, to be honest. I sold my DV1 and moved on to different projects. Although, I wish I could find a software solution to finding NXDN scramble codes. It has to be as simple as a bit shift offset.