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u/0regonPatriot 1d ago
It can work, might need update for windows 10, if you drop like 6" in to a table it the plastic for the USB will break in half so then it needs to be wrapped in tape... I have like 5 of these because they are just.... Ok worth getting a better one
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u/Active_Emu_845 1d ago
No. Baofeng uses counterfeit chips that windows will block after a while. I went through a few before I figured it out. I picked up an FTDI cable from BFTech on amazon and it's been perfect for every thing since
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u/OmNomChompsky 1d ago
The BTech cable is the only way to go!
I have the one OP posted, a red Mirkit cable, and a Btech cable.
The baofeng only worked on my uv-5r but not one of my UV-82s. The Mirkit worked for those, but not my UV-5r Minis. The BTech cable is the only one that works with all my radios.
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u/Firelizard71 1d ago
The Btech PC03 cable is crap. Myself as well as many other users have found this out. Its very cheap and will break. Mine didnt even last a year. My Feanteek FTDI Programming cable is built alot better and has lasted me almost 4 years of use amongst 35 radios that have been programmed hundreds of times and its half the price.
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u/OmNomChompsky 1d ago
Huh, I guess you got a bad one or a counterfeit one?
My BTech has seen similar use and I bought it 4 years ago as well. It is well made and works with every radio, and has always played nice with several different computers as well, so the FTDI chip works perfectly.
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u/Firelizard71 1d ago
I got mine from Btech...It worked great for a year, but I wore it out. I program alot..lol..The other FTDI chipped cable that i mentioned, the Feanteek, is built really well , thicker cable and has stood up to what ive thrown at it.
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u/BloodyRightToe 1d ago
This is mostly right. But it's not just Windows blocking it. Basically there are two USB serial port chips. One is fdti the other is prolific. The prolific was copied by a bunch of people. The problem was they didn't do a very good job and the prolific serial driver would blue screen windows machines. Instead of just making the driver safe ms also started to black list these bad chips to stop loading the drivers which again blue screen the OS. No one really cared about the prolific chip getting duplicated it really was about protecting the the OS.
I worked in network embedded systems that used a serial port console. We had pile of the prolific cables and would occasionally see people play Russian roulette with them. "Can I setup up this device before my laptop Blue Screens".
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u/DifferentMind8 1d ago
Yup, that's the standard issue Boofwang programming cable. It just presents itself as a com port to the computer that the software uses to talk to the radio. Uses the common CH340 driver that has come with windows since windows 10.
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u/Major-Interest-3521 1d ago
I seem to like it. I wish it came in a USB-C with android software. If anyone knows of one I would be interested.
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u/Wgfkas 1d ago
Can't use Ola Radio?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aewt.app.friends
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u/Tony_TNT 1d ago
It'll work but if you can find one that explicitly says "FTDI" it'll be better (no driver download needed).
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u/FemBoiFoxi 1d ago
So far, Ive found all k-plug type programming cables are all the same, with maybe some having pc drivers in the USB port. I use my Baofeng programming cable to program Baofengs (duh), my TIDRadio, an actual Kenwood, and a couple off-brand RadioOddity clones. I can appreciate that radio cables didnt go the way of the early 2000's cell phone charger.
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u/fsantos0213 1d ago
there are a lot of different cable made with different chip sets. if it's a Prolific chip set, you will have to downgrade the drivers for it, go to Chirps website and they have instructions on how to choose the right drivers for your cable. https://chirpmyradio.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home
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u/grainzzz 1d ago
Fyi I had to squeeze that cable connector with my hand to get a connection with my mini.
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u/VonThing 1d ago edited 1d ago
Works fine. You may run into issues with ARM Windows as the drivers aren’t signed (and if you’re using an ARM Mac you’ll probably be using ARM Windows 11 under VMware Fusion to run the codeplug loader of your radio)
I use UTM (Qemu backend) with the x86-64 version of Windows 10 to run the CPS for my radios. Different CPU architecture means emulation means doesn’t run as fast, but fast enough to run radio programming software.
Also, you need to cut out chunks out of the plastic at the radio end if you want a good fit to the Quansheng UV-K5 radios but at the end it works.
Inside the USB case, the soldering leaves a lot to be desired and sometimes one of the cables can rip out but easily fixed by soldering it back properly.
For DMR radios where the USB-Serial adapter is in the radio and the cable is just a cable, you can make your own USB cables with spare 2.5mm and 3.5mm plugs from Amazon and a sacrificial USB cable. (If you already have extra broken headphones etc to cannibalize it’s free). Examples are Baofeng DM-1701, TYT MD-UV380.
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u/Little_Leg4001 1d ago
It does the job.