Cant get my BTC8 to connect with my pc

[chriskelly]

Cant get my BTC8 to connect with my pc

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I have a bearcat bct8 and i have arc8 software and ofcourse a prem subscription with The RadioReference. I also have just a generic USB to SERIAL cable i purchased on ebay. The cable is connected and then I hold down the remote button and I CAN NOT GET ARC8 to find my scanner. Can anyone please tell me why??? I Thank anyone who is kind enough to help me out. Thanks again ChrisKelly

 

[ka3jjz]

There are many possibilities here - did you set up the BCT8 for the correct speed (page 49 of the owners manual mentions this)? Did you insure that you loaded drivers before connecting the cable? Did you use Device Manager to check to see if the COM port you are telling ARC8 to use is really available? The BCT8 can only go as fast as 57600, so that too is something to be considered...

More homework needed, I think...best regards..Mike

 

[Lowfront]

I paid $3.50 for a usb to serial on ebay


got it working on the bct8 just now.



not a bad deal haha

 

[KI6LWI]

First make sure the PC is able to use the USB/serial cable. Open up Device Manager and check under the "Ports" tree. You should see it there and it should have a COM port number assigned to it. Make sure the software is using the same port number. Also, with the scanner powered up, push and hold the . button on the keypad to turn on the remote mode and use the up and down arrows to set the port speed. I usually have mine set at 57600.