USB to Serial Adapter to use with Programming software

[Flatshovel]

Hope this is not in the wrong section. I have a question I just got a Uniden BCD396XT and would like to use it with my Laptop that has Windows Vista on it. However my laptop does not have a serial port on it and has plenty of USB ports however. Would anyone know where I might be able to get one that will work with Windows Vista cheap? I have been looking at the ones on ebay and they seem to look ok and some come with Vista drivers. I don't really want to spend over $15 on it as I may only use it once in a while on the go with my scanner and laptop. Any suggestions or place to buy one of these and stay within budget?

Thanks,
Joey

 

[hiegtx]

Hope this is not in the wrong section. I have a question I just got a Uniden BCD396XT and would like to use it with my Laptop that has Windows Vista on it. However my laptop does not have a serial port on it and has plenty of USB ports however. Would anyone know where I might be able to get one that will work with Windows Vista cheap? I have been looking at the ones on ebay and they seem to look ok and some come with Vista drivers. I don't really want to spend over $15 on it as I may only use it once in a while on the go with my scanner and laptop. Any suggestions or place to buy one of these and stay within budget?

Thanks,
Joey

Joey,
I'm using this one with my Vista 64 laptop, to program my 396XT, as well as other scanners. When I went to install the driver (do that before attaching the cable), Vista pop-up & offered to go get the latest driver for me. Works fine. Just make sure that you tell the software which Com port the system assigned to the adapter. (You can see that through the device manager options in the control panel, if the software won't auto-detect it.)

 

[Flatshovel]

Thanks for the reply. Not a bad price on that one and looks good as well. Do you know if there are any drivers available for Windows 7? Just wondering because I have Vista at the moment but may want to upgrade in the near future. Was looking as some on e-bay but some don't mention anything about who the manufacture is or what the model number on the adapter might be. Just would like to have something that will work down the road in case I switch over.

Thanks again for the reply,
Joey

 

[hiegtx]

Thanks for the reply. Not a bad price on that one and looks good as well. Do you know if there are any drivers available for Windows 7? Just wondering because I have Vista at the moment but may want to upgrade in the near future. Was looking as some on e-bay but some don't mention anything about who the manufacture is or what the model number on the adapter might be. Just would like to have something that will work down the road in case I switch over.

Thanks again for the reply,
Joey

It's the Prolific chip, same basic one as in the Uniden USB-1 cable, which I've read is working in 7. There are drivers on the FTDI website for Windows 7. I think that is also the same driver Assaf has posted on the FreeScan downloads page.

 

[K5RYA]

You can get them uber cheap on ebay. I have used prolific and FTDI and both seem to work on all versions of Windows (XP/Vista/7) (although I cannot vouch for x64 drivers so I would check those beforehand if your running x64).

Honestly, I would just not mess with the serial adapter and buy a USB cable for the Uniden scanner. I got mine for I think like $12 on ebay.

 

[garys]

I've used one with the FTDI chip for several years now and have yet to find a program or computer that it will not work with. I'm still running XP, but I'd expect that drivers for Win7 and Vista are readily available.

 

[hiegtx]

While just buying the USB-1 cable is fine, if all you have is the newer DMA scanners, that does not solve the problem for the older, but still functional & programmable, scanners. You still need a "real" serial port, or an adapter cable/converter for several previous models. In my case, that includes the BC250D & the BC780XLT. The 250 does not have a usb cable option at all, and the 780 is pure serial port, not a proprietary connector. Until I gave the scanner away as surplus, I also had a BC245, another scanner with no usb cable option.

 

[Flatshovel]

Thanks for all of the reply's. Would anyone have any model numbers of any usb to serial adapters that work with Windows 98 thru Windows 7 64bit? I have been looking but I have not been able to come across one. Did have a email from someone with a website to purchase one but i have lost the email somehow.

Thanks,
Joey

 

[eaf1956]

adapter

Hope this is not in the wrong section. I have a question I just got a Uniden BCD396XT and would like to use it with my Laptop that has Windows Vista on it. However my laptop does not have a serial port on it and has plenty of USB ports however. Would anyone know where I might be able to get one that will work with Windows Vista cheap? I have been looking at the ones on ebay and they seem to look ok and some come with Vista drivers. I don't really want to spend over $15 on it as I may only use it once in a while on the go with my scanner and laptop. Any suggestions or place to buy one of these and stay within budget?

Thanks,
Joey

The USB-1 from UNIDEN is like $30 but any USB to SERIAL adapter can be used with the cable that UNIDEN shipped with your scanner. I have tried 2 different ones that both worked FINE with VISTA and I didn't even have to load the driver CD.

KC9LVX Evansville, In Feed

If you want to use the rear serial port on your scanner you need a USB to SERIAL adapter and a NULL Modem cable. Good luck on the under $15!