ARC 536 & Serial Driver

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caldwest

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I received my 536 yesterday and it is working fine. I loaded the favorites I created in Sentinel without a problem.

I have been trying to use the virtual control in ARC 536 PRO and can't get it to work. It says to download the window's serial driver which I have done from the Uniden Twiki page. I then extracted the files, but I do not get the "When prompted, select the uniden_usbser.inf file" that the Twiki says I should see.

I have a Dell Inspiron 15Z laptop running windows 8.1. I have used the same PC for serial connection for my 996XT.

Any suggests will be appreciated.

Thanks, Sam
 

caldwest

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I finally was able to get the file loaded and it is working correctly according to windows device manager.

Virtual control is still not working, I just saw in the Arc directions that USB cable in serial mode is not reliable and is a scanner issue. It is recommended to use the nine-pin GPS port on the back of the scanner. Guess I have to now purchase the appropriate cable.

Sam
 

nr2d

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Did you remember to tell the program which RS232 port to use and did you press start? If you're going to use the front USB port make sure that when you plug the scanner into the computer on the scanner you the "NO/." button to put into the serial mode and not the USB Mass Storage mode.

I guess you can say using the mimi-USB on the front is un-reliable. If you get it working there's a good chance that it will revert to "USB Mass Storage" mode without warning. There is a big thread in this group about this happening.

I have, like many other people here, are using the DB-9 connector on the back. Just remember you will need a null modem cable to use the port. That is very different from a normal RS232 cable. Or ypou can use a normal RS232 cable and a null modem adapter. You also need to go into the scanner setup and tell it to use 115,200 baud rate. It will save your choice until you reprogram the scanner.

In Sentinal you can go in and set the RS232 baud rate to 115,200 and then it will always be set until you change it.

If only have the laptop and it only has USB ports you can buy a USB to serial adapter pretty cheaply. When my desk top died around the holidays I used my laptop with Windows 7 Pro to control my BC796D and my BCD996T with it using USB to serial adapthers. I had gotten my new desktop when the BCD536HP was released.

Either way you go when you start the VC screen you will have to tell the program which RS232 port you are using and hit the start button.
 

caldwest

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Thank you nr2d for your detailed reply. Here is where I am at now:

1. After two trips to Radio Shack I now have Gigaware USB to Serial Cable, null adapter, and female to female coupler. The serial cable connector was male, the store did not have a female cable.
2. I have successfully installed the driver for the new cable. The windows device manager says the device is working properly. It is Com 6 and I have verified that Com6 is selected in the windows device manager.
3. I have the port settings in the windows device manager and GPS in the scanner set to 115,200.
4. I have selected port 6 in Arc and selected start.
5. I have turned the pc and the scanner off and on and repeated
step 4 above.

It is still not working. Any additional ideas?

Thanks, Sam
 

caldwest

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Additional Info

As it is now in ArcPro the keys are active. I can control the scanner(avoid, system, depts., channels, serv, etc.), but it does not appear on the ArcPro screen . . . only on the 536 screen. Still no log function in ArcPro and nothing showing in the ArcPro screen other than the original startup info,

Sam
 

caldwest

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Just read that changing the baud rate to 128,000 may work for the connection on the front of the scanner.

I made the change 15 minutes ago and it's working. It is staying in serial mode thus far.

I am keeping my fingers crossed. If this is the fix, I now have some used Radio Shack
gear that I don't need.


Sam
 

davenlr

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I have the opposite problem. I had it working on the GPS port. Then I added another device to the second RS232 port on the computer (Ham radio control program). The scanner is on Com1, the ham radio is on Com2. The scanner stopped working with the computer, and I cannot get it to work regardless of baud rate settings or whether I use Com1 or Com2. It does work as Com6 using the front USB port just fine tho. I think the whole RS232 software in the scanner needs work. Its all way to finicky.
 

caldwest

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Sorry to hear about your problem and I hope you can soon find a solution.

I have Butel for my 396T, 996Xt, and as well for the 536. I give Butel credit for the flawless performance for the 396T and 996XT. It is disappointing to me to have a subscriber in RR have the answer to my problem rather than the company that I paid for the program. Just my two cents.

Sam
 

ofd8001

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Being as though you have a 396T and 996XT with the Butel software, can you try connecting these scanners to your computer and see how these work with their respective Virtual Control features?

That might give you some additional info. If you can't get VC to work for the other two scanners, that might suggest an issue in the cabling or computer.

This may also be helpful in confirming that the comports are indeed what they are. By that I mean the auto detect feature will confirm the comport number. (This might be a "out in left field" thing, but sometimes Hail Marys work.
 
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JOHNZUM

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Jun 10, 2008
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Sam, Had same problem. Had no one here to help me. Reloaded ARC536 x2. Second time noted ERROR message 82##. I think it was 8212? Was COMPORT ERROR. Finally noticed a COM box with an Up Arrow.Was on #1. Up arrowed to #2---> no change. When I got to #5, it instantly cleared up. Working great since I discovered what was wrong!! Took me 2 evening to discover the fix. It's a great feature!!..Hope this helps..John
 

caldwest

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Charleston, SC
The Butel programs for the 396 and 996XT have been flawless on this same laptop and were easy to install. The 536 has been running for the past 20 hours with the Uniden supplied USB cable connected to the front jack with ArcPro virtual control running. No problem since I changed the baud to 128,000.

I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect that the GPS serial port would now work if I changed the baud to 128,000. It may be good to have this as a backup.

I thank the fellow RR subscriber (I don't remember his name) who posted the message about the 128,000 baud rate. If I hadn't read that, I would probably still be sitting here pulling my hair out.

Sam
 

drdeputy

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Just read that changing the baud rate to 128,000 may work for the connection on the front of the scanner.

I made the change 15 minutes ago and it's working. It is staying in serial mode thus far.

I am keeping my fingers crossed. If this is the fix, I now have some used Radio Shack
gear that I don't need.


Sam

New to this, but also trying to get things to work. You set the baud rate to 128,000 where?
 

caldwest

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drdeputy,

Go into Windows device manager, select ports, then select Uniden serial port, then select properties, and finally select port settings . . . you'll see where you can select the baud rate.

SAM
 
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