BCD396xt Odd Freescan Problem.

[Beaverinzone25]

I have dug and dug and dug through the internet to find someone with the same problem as me, but most problems are so similar to mine, although different, I cannot find one helpful piece of information. I have a BCD396xt and want to program it with freescan(currently programmed by hand). I got the 2303 (something like that) USB adapter to connect to it. I got it up and the driver running. Most people have trouble with finding a driver but I used the one that came on the disk and device manager says it running just fine. When I get into freescan, ill go into the COM settings, find the port, and set it with the same speed that is set on the scanner... When i try to "test" it, it says no communication and error "-1". What does this mean? If the settings are correct(between scanner and computer) and I try to download what I have on the scanner already it gives me tons of errors and doesn't tell me what I want to know. This problem occurred on a vista and XP. Any help is appreciated. BackGround on my radio knowledge: I know a good amount, have had 4-ish scanners, normally can manage my way around a scanner just by experimentation. So I am no expert but I am by no means a beginner. I probably fall a little above the middle of that spectrum. Anyways, any suggesting and help would be great.
Thanks

Beaver

 

[trkntrlrman]

I'm running windows 7 ultimate, and found that i had to set the com port to the fastest speed. after that it worked fine . try using the auto setup function in Freescan, and make sure your cable is in All the way..Mine has loosened and lost contact.. Hate the small connector..
I always have to reset it after going from 996xt to 396xt or visa versa... Good luck
Also check the Freescan site and see if they can help..

 

[Beaverinzone25]

I'm running windows 7 ultimate, and found that i had to set the com port to the fastest speed. after that it worked fine . try using the auto setup function in Freescan, and make sure your cable is in All the way..Mine has loosened and lost contact..

I've have tried both the speed: on other speeds too(including top) and also the auto setup numerous times with no results.
I realize this isn't the typical issue but all suggestions will be attempted, somebodies got to know whats wrong!
Thanks again

Beaver

 

[MarkWestin]

Your program doesn't know what com port to use until you tell it which one to use. The problem is that you don't know either, because the USB to Serial adapter doesn't give any indication of what it is either. After you do this once, you will know what to expect. Since I don't have a Vista machine I'll tell you how to do this in XP. It is done basically the same way in Vista. Go to Control Panel. Open System. Choose the Hardware Tab. Open Device Manager. Expand the Ports (COM & LPT) tab. Look for something like "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COMx) (where x is a number which is the Com Port Number)" Prolific is the brand name of the chip that my USB to Serial adapter uses. Right click on this Tab and select Port Settings. Mine is set up as follows: Bits Per Second: 115200. Data Bits: 8. Parity: None. Stop Bits: 1. Flow Control: Hardware. If you click on Advanced Settings, you can change the Com Port number if required.

I hope this points you in the right direction.

Mark

 

[SouthSoundScanner]

I had a similar problem with a scanner I got off Ebay, it wouldn't connect to the software.
In your scanner go to "Setting" then "Set Serial Port" and make sure it is not set to "Off". I have mine set to 115200 bps.

 

[Beaverinzone25]

Not yet.

Well I have already done the things above and am continuously looking online for help. Any more ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Beaver.

 

[Highpockets]

Not sure if this will help, but, I remember reading it somewhere, do you have the CC output turned off?

 

[hamstang]

Well I have already done the things above and am continuously looking online for help. Any more ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Beaver.

What hapens if you unplug the usb BCD396XT cable from the PC and then plug it back in? Windows should load the usb driver at that time and tell you which com port it's on. You will need to click on the info box on the lower right of the screen relating to windows installing a driver to see the assigned com port info. This works for me with Vista and 7. Do you have the latest freescan installed?

 

[Beaverinzone25]

What hapens if you unplug the usb BCD396XT cable from the PC and then plug it back in? Windows should load the usb driver at that time and tell you which com port it's on. You will need to click on the info box on the lower right of the screen relating to windows installing a driver to see the assigned com port info. This works for me with Vista and 7. Do you have the latest freescan installed?

I have used the unplugging technique before but that's not the problem, I know the port numbers, and the device manager tells me the driver is working properly.
I Also just downloaded freescan so its updated.

 

[Highpockets]

This is where I read about having the CC Output turned off, #7.

Freescan - Connecting Scanner to PC - The RadioReference Wiki

 

[MFD4305]

Beav -
You've probably already thought of this, but make sure you plug the USB cable into the computer first, then attach the scanner. I have to do it in that order with my 996T and Windows 7 laptop.

 

[MarkWestin]

Is your USB - Serial adapter plugged directly into your computer? Sometimes a USB external hub will interfere with a programming cable. What other USB devices are plugged in at the same time? Not including your keyboard and mouse (if they are USB devices) unplug everything else except your USB - serial adapter and see if it works. You might have to uninstall all your USB items (in device manager) when you plug them back in, it will "shuffle the deck" so to speak and they will re install themselves. This could take care of your problem.

Mark

 

[Beaverinzone25]

Right direction?

Beav -
You've probably already thought of this, but make sure you plug the USB cable into the computer first, then attach the scanner. I have to do it in that order with my 996T and Windows 7 laptop.

I have done that, in fact, I have tried almost every variation of connection order. Thanks for the idea!

Is your USB - Serial adapter plugged directly into your computer? Sometimes a USB external hub will interfere with a programming cable. What other USB devices are plugged in at the same time? Not including your keyboard and mouse (if they are USB devices) unplug everything else except your USB - serial adapter and see if it works. You might have to uninstall all your USB items (in device manager) when you plug them back in, it will "shuffle the deck" so to speak and they will re install themselves. This could take care of your problem.

Mark

I have used an external hub and also directly connected into the front and back "in-computer hubs". Other USB devices(besides mouse/keyboard): 4 input Hub(which has mouse, keyboard, external hard drive, ipod, and camera. Besides that nothing else in the the USB. I have found a few mentions of the "shuffle the deck" idea and will give that a shot tomorrow. To do that I uninstall everything in the serial bus section of the device manager and then replug everything in?-I believe I understand that correctly but would like to double check.

Thanks for the continued help.

Beaver

 

[arrowind]

I chased that problen for several days.. The solution was to purchase Unidens USB cable.. The adapters just will not work.. After receiving it in the mail, pluged it in and worked great. There is a wide spot in the cable that must contain a converter of some sort. About $29 but worth it to use Freescan..
Ken

 

[oft]

when you purchase the USB-1 cable and receive it. Immediately go to the web page below and download the driver software for the cable.

Uniden USB Cable

 

[MarkWestin]

I wouldn't be in a big hurry to buy the Uniden cable just yet. The Uniden USB-1 cable uses the Prolific 2303 chipset just like your adapter does. I have been using a Manhattan USB - serial adapter with a Prolific 2303 chipset since I bought my BC-246T which was quite a while before the Uniden USB-1 came out. I use the same type adapter on all my programming cables including the Icom IC-R5 and the AOR AR8200 Mk3 U with good results. As far as what to do next, you have understood what I meant correctly. When you do this, it doesn't really uninstall anything from your computer. It just removes it from your registry. Your next step after that is to determine (in device manager again) exactly what chipset your USB - Serial adapter has. As far as I know there are only two companies that make USB - Serial converter chipsets. One is FTDI and the other is Prolific Technologies Inc. I am using the Prolific driver version 2.0.2.8 which works fine. I also have used a FTDI based device which also worked fine but was more difficult to install. It was a two step process as opposed to one step with the Prolific chipset. The Freescan program is written in Microsoft Dot Net Framework. Some programs will only work with certain versions of the Prolific Drivers. There was a "problem a few years back where if you installed Freescan on your computer your copy of ARC396PRO (or other Butel software) could no longer communicate with the scanner. Some users appeared to be saying that the Author of Freescan had done something to deliberately break ARC software but as I recall, what had happened was the Freescan program was written with a different Microsoft compiler that required a certain library that wouldn't work with an older version of the Prolific driver. By chance the compiler that was used to make the ARC software wouldn't work with the then newest version of the driver. You can find the latest driver for the Prolific 2303 chip at Prolific's web site or the driver referred to in the above post will probably work fine with your adapter.

Mark