ar8600mk2 programing info needed

[russzero]

hi. ive been pulling my hair out for 5 days now and feel my quest is in vain. ive just purchased the radio so its new to me. im not keen to keep pushing the buttons to program it .. and feel if it crashes i may loose my memories. i also purchased another brand scanner recently and the software and it went smoothly ... but have to say .. not so with the ar8600.

ive got a usb to rs232 which i tried 1st with no joy. then today just recieved another lead with some drivers and came to the conclusion ... if it takes more than 2 goes or 15 mins to sort it ... it AINT gonna work !!
well another 4 hours today searching all info i can find and ... nothing.
can anyone help? if not it will have to be a case of "stepping back" in time and programming the radio from the front panel. bit rubish if u ask me.

the lead was sold as a FTDI usb to 232 with lots of drivers. ive tried some of the methods to install as on the AOR site. i couldnt trick the laptop to install a printer either ... so that failed. by just plugging in the lead i DONT get "new hardware found" message. ive tried enabling a USB port and assigning it to COM2 with no joy. also tried to update the driver for that port .. no driver can be found on the disk.??? ive also downloaded the drivers from the FTDI site and they all look the same ... not found either.
HELP.. russ
ps. the 1st thing i did was to contact AOR via email. i got a quick reply but only to advise buying a lead and downloading the free software. ive seen it does work for some people.

 

[Mike-KC8OWL]

I use the USB interface to program my 8200 and I will admit that it is very particular about the sequence in which things are done, but it does work very well once it is set up.

You said you could not get the computer to recognize or install a printer either so this makes me think there is a problem with the USB on the computer. Can you plug in a memory stick or something and make sure it is recognized by the computer.

You did not mention which software you were using for the radio - I use the Butel application for my 8200 and it works pretty well.

 

[russzero]

hi Mike. the program was the free one from the AOR site.AR86ctrl. i installed the program ok .. but i see in the options it has only a choice of 4 ports. hence my try to set up port 2 as a spare.

about the USB sockets .. ive had my wireless mouse .. external dvd writer .. Edirol sound card and Video capture device installed since Aug 2009 working fine using a 4-way hub. i cant make the 4 way hub work in either of the other 2 usb sockets. for some reason. ( i may try the lead in this socket ... maybee thats a clue? )

its a toshiba L300 series laptop ... has 3 usb sockets in total.

ive also got several hard disks which i use in the other spare sockets with no problems and usb sticks .. oh and a express card for reading my SD cards. all working fine.

i guess theres no guarantee the lead is ok ... but its the 2nd one ive tried and its just money wasted.

any clues are appreciated. thx russ G0RRL

 

[Mike-KC8OWL]

Interestingly, my laptop always assigns the USB interface to Com Port 8. Have you tried unplugging all other USB devices, rebooting, and trying the interface all by itself?

The Butel application allows Com Ports 1 - 8 to be selected.

 

[russzero]

hi Mike. i dont want to take up your time with my problem .. but it did give me an idea yesterday. i tried just what u said.cleared all the USB sockets and tried the radio in the one i always use.

i think ive concluded that its a problem with not having the drivers installed and could even be something not right with the lead too! but before i go wasting anymore money on more leads ive decided to stick it on hold. ive also had some feedback from someone else who suggests i try another link for the software.

about the ports .. i tried updating the driver. again it gets so far and doesnt recognise the drivers that came with the disk ?? (and the ones direct from the AOR site) i tried altering the "digitally signed" settings as well. this made no effect. also i tried adding a new port and asigning it to #2 as the program has only 1-4 ports. a lot of hours later its all getting boring. my icom programs easy. its making me regret the purchase now. i should have not tried to save money and gone for the R8500.

it may be just the lead and until i get the right one it wont work. i dont know anyone who has a working lead. thats always a problem i guess.
thnx again. russ
ps. one other thing thats a mystery ... with both leads .. when i plug them in i get a notification that theve been plugged in ... as i do with my hard disks!. and the laptops running XPpro SP3.

 

[russzero]

saving my memories to my hard disk ?? is it now possible.
update : ive found more info through further reading. man this radio is complicated.
according to someone ... a "get round" is possible by re writing the ini file in the AR86ctrl program. well i was about to give up .. so here goes. well this did something. it seems the usb cable that im using is working after all. i now have a connection !

by running the program and selecting a list from the drop down field i am able to view the radios memory contents.
this was acomplished by re writing the port number in the ini file from #2 to #6. ( as the program only has 1-4 locations) and i can now control the radio from the laptop now. hoorah. at least the cable is working.

can anyone whos using this program tell me if its JUST control software or am i able to load and save my memories. thats all i ever wanted to do. seems very complicated.
thnx again russ

 

[Mike-KC8OWL]

You should be able to create and save individual Memory and Search files off-line from the radio and then save them to your HD. You can create as many Memory files as you want and then simply select whichever one or ones you want to upload to the radio (one at a time). Each memory file will be written to a bank in the radio that you specify at the time you upload it.

Same goes for Search files - you can develop and save them off-line from the radio and then simply upload the file you want.

I am glad you made progress!!

 

[russzero]

hi Mike. i think ill wrap this one up at this stage. thanks for your time and trouble.

more investigating in the program i think ive found a way to save my files and retrieve them for now. i looked into the Exel spreadsheet thing but ive never used the program. it doesnt look that hard to sort .. but it does looks like a total FQY writing job required before communicating to and from the radio from within Exel. the logic in this program is nothing like the R20 software. i cant understand why this guy didnt stick the "save and load" in the main menu ?? right clicking in the main window is ... well different.
theres not a tree set up within the AR86ctrl program either so it seems you have to treat every bank separately. at least ive now managed to make some sense and backups. im not dissapointed with the outcome.
once u get over the hurdles its actually a pretty good program. does all that i need.

i would say the biggest problem has been lack of info within the AR86ctrl program to get started. its ok presuming the computer will find the new hardware and give a clean install .. ( and your com port is 1-4) but for some of us it doesnt work. ive seen people having this before with other programs.
i very nearly gave up. hi hi

thnx again russ

 

[lolo_fig]

You need the small program to exchange the COM number...