FTDI Cable for Pro-106 Not Working with Arc500Pro

[connah]

Hi all. I have seen others with this problem but haven't found anyone who resolved it yet. I purchased the FTDI cable (from here Radio Shack Scanner FTDI Programming PRO-106 PRO-197 PRO-651 PRO-652 20-546 500) for use with my Pro-106 in Arc500Pro. The latest FTDI drivers (the VCP ones) installed fine and all features with Arc500Pro work EXCEPT the display window for the Virtual Scanner. I can click the virtual scanner buttons and the actions repeat on my scanner just fine, but the virtual scanner display screen does not reflect what's on the Pro-106 LCD. It stays blank always. Bearing in mind what I have already tried, does anyone have a solution for this? I am running Windows 7 Pro x64. Thank you!

 

[bob550]

Curiously, have you tried other functions that rely on two-way communication with the scanner? For example, downloading from the PRO-106 to Arc500, or remotely controlling the scanner from your computer desktop. While some cables work fine to upload to the scanner, they may not always communicate from scanner to computer.

 

[connah]

I have indeed. The ONLY problem is Arc500Pro won't display what the Pro-106 LCD displays. That's the single, only problem. Thing is, I see people here on RR in the forums with the same problem and no answers. When I contacted BuTel, they said, "It's a hardware problem." When I contacted FTDI, they said, "It's a software problem." Here's the email I just sent back to BOTH of them:

Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2017 16:03:08 -0400
Subject: FTDI Cable & Arc500Pro Problem
From: Connah0047 <XXXXXXXXXX@gmail.com>
To: Cameron Forbes <cameron.forbes@ftdichip.com>, Butel Software <info2007@butel.nl>

Attention Cameron & The Support Rep from BuTel:

This is the email I received when asking for help with this problem from
BuTel:
"Ok that does not look like the original Radioshack cable so may require
different drivers. Please contact supplier of the cable for help with the
driver."

This is the email I received when contacting FTDI, the make of the cable
for help:

"FTDI does not make the Arc500 Pro and cannot provide support for this
hardware. "

So I have both people telling me the problem isn't theirs. In my mind,
there is a small possibility that's true. But I need SOMEONE to point me in
the right direction here. I know I am not the only one experiencing this
problem. The RadioReference.com forums has MULTIPLE requests for help of
people having the exact same issue,but no one seems to have discovered a
solution yet. Can one of you, or both please help me? Thank you!

Kindly,

Connah0047

 

[jaspence]

I have a Pro-106 purchased with the original cable the year it came out. Using Windows 10 64 bit, it was plug and play with the original cable. All functions work including Virtual Control. If you have your old cable, you might try uninstalling the FTDI driver, reboot the computer, and try the old cable. I have other radios (ham) that Win 10 doesn't like, and it was a pleasant surprise how easily the 106 connected.

 

[bob550]

I bought the same cable back in February, and have been using it with my PRO-651 with no discernable problems. However, I haven't experimented with the V-scanner feature yet.