Baofeng Programming Cables Explained - HAM Radio - TheSmokinApe

[@marknelson8435]

You just fixed my cable. I had to REALLY push it into the radio. Screwed with it for two days before I found your simple fix! Thanks!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Haha, that's awesome 👌

[@armathalmighty1318]

Good timing! I have just started getting into radios since the 'rona hit, and my programming cables arrived a few days ago. So far I've had good experiences with my UV-9R plus and my dodgy cable

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yeah many folks have cable issues, thanks for watching 👍

[@gregsmith1116]

Thanks SA! I watched this video to remind myself which cable to us to program a newly acquired tri-band UV-S9 I got for Christmas. I forgot the BTECH cable # I remembered you had this info in this video and I searched KZbin and found it! Thank you for posting it! I really appreciate it!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thank Greg, glad it was helpful 👍

[@stridermt2k]

Great information! Thanks for making this video! I took the time to research and buy the FTDI cable for my 'feng handhelds and it did make programming a snap using CHIRP. The cable I bought for my FT-4XR handheld is also FTDI and programming was great, allowing me to use a .csv file from CHIRP to sync the memory settings, etc from my 'fengs. Where I ran into trouble was with the cable my brother sent along with a Yaesu FT-7900 I bought from him. That cable had a fake prolific chip that I had to grab legacy drivers for, remedying the situation just as you did. Once that was done I was able to also sync my memory programming with the FT-7900, but it did present a momentary challenge. I now have an FTM-7250DR on the way, but that cable is also FTDI, so I don't foresee any issues with that rig. 73 de N2NLQ

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks Mike, glad you liked it. All these cables can drive a person crazy, standard USB would be fantastic 👍

[@mikeoleksa]

Really good stuff here! As an IT tech, the higher cost of the authentic cable is worth every single penny! Messing with Windows and forcing drivers is a fricking nightmare sometimes. I could spend half the money and figure it out, but not everyone has 20+ years of working on computers and literally making things work that aren't supposed to under their belt. Plug and play is the way to go and I would even spend the extra money.

[@TheSmokinApe]

I work in IT as well, a quality cable is worth the investment. Thanks for watching 👍

[@TheSmokinApe]

I work in IT as well, a quality cable is worth the investment. Thanks for watching 👍

[@Maine307]

WRDC307- MidCoast Maine - i just ordered a radio after watching your videos- and your channel is awesome!! thank you soo much for breaking this down for us !!

[@TheSmokinApe]

The Midcoast of Maine, The Way Life Should Be ! Glad you like it, thanks for watching 👍

[@davestelling]

Dear Old Maine!

[@davestelling]

I just purchased the official "Baofeng" cable. I hope its gonna work!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Good luck with it Dave 👍

[@MetrologyEngineer]

Those radios are huge in the backyard.

[@stevenwilkinson8373]

I know that I’m late to the party again but Miklor also has really good info on setting up your UV5R through chirp Did you know you can set the squelch parameters? Oh yea….

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yeah, Millie is awesome 👍

[@chrismayer7762]

Bought a $20 one and it works on my kenwood tk 2312 2 meter as well

[@TheSmokinApe]

Good to hear, I’d be mad if I spent twenty and got a fake 👍

[@jamesslick4790]

Being sure the radio end of the cable is REALLY in, is a thing. The mic and speaker jacks on Baofengs are pretty tight. (use what ever joke makes your inner 12 year old laugh.) What I do is insert the plugs and gently "squeeze" the plug and radio like a PTT. If you can see any of the last "ring" conductor on either the Mic or Speaker plug, It's NOT in all the way. 50% of issues are this, the other half is the drivers. 👍 Good video, sound advice!

[@TheSmokinApe]

Glad you like it 👍 I’ve definitely fallen victim to not having the cable pushed all the way in.

[@wild-radio7373]

Hello ♡ I'm new to radio and HRCC said you were cool. Thank you for making radio videos :)

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey, thanks!

[@block9390]

Short and to the point thank you sir.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Thanks, glad you liked it 👍

[@wilsonlee63]

A few years ago I mistakenly purchased a re-branded Baofeng UV-5R thinking it's a better radio because it says high power 10 watts which I pretty soon found out it only had 2 setting high & low power most likely to be just 5 & 2 watts, the programming cable the dealer sold to me together with the radio wasn't detected by my computer with Chirp was obvious a counterfeit cable with older chipset inside. The dealer exchanged it & I'm pretty sure that one is also a fake too, my Nagoya antenna is no doubt a counterfeit as most of the third party accessories for these budget low cost Chinese hand held radios are.

[@TheSmokinApe]

That dealer had to know it was a fake cable too, that stuff drive me crazy 👍

[@user-eg1mz4ed5d]

What do the different part numbers mean - I see that the PC03, PC02 and PC01 seem to be the same thing. I also found that there is a cable called PC05 that comes with a K-Plug and another verison with an 8 PIN DIN plug. Is the "PC.." designation the protocol and not necessarily the cable name?

[@TheSmokinApe]

The part numbers are for different cable types, K-type is the Kenwood adapter and DIN are for radios that use that type of plug 👍

[@FC1776]

I cannot get the Baofeng to respond. The cable is detected perfectly. I have the most updated one and then rolled back to 3.2.0 and it cannot read the radio. I have tried other USB ports as well. Any ideas how I can get the radio to pick it up? The cable is plugged in tightly. I am 3 cables in and have had no lucky. This is the cable that I am currently trying to use (same link posted above): www.amazon.com/dp/B00HUB0ONK/?ref=idea_lv_dp_

[@3liverse]

Did you end up solving the issue?

[@FC1776]

Yes, thank you! It’s fickle for sure. I have to update the port on my PC and make sure the cable is seated tightly which requires me to put something in the other usb port to seat it next to the port with the cable. Simple in many ways but unnecessarily challenging. I appreciate the video!

[@yankyspiegelman1618]

I bought an FTDI cable on a Mirkit vendor on Amazon. It SEEMS to be a genuine one. Windows 10 sees it, but the radio doesn't. I downloaded the FTDI drivers and installed them, but I don't know where they got installed to and so don't know where to point Device Manager to, to update the driver.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Look in device manager and then under comm and LPT ports.

[@DavidJohnstone-hi9kr]

Thanks for all your excellent videos! I have been using Linux Mint Cinnamon for years and it does almost everything I need. The only thing it doesn’t do is allow me to connect a radio to Chirp. Have three cables, one is an OEM Baofeng USB02 from R & L (they sell non-fake Chinese stuff). OK, the other cables could be fake. The question is would that BTech PCO3 be automatically detected with Linux Mint 21 when it's plugged in?

[@TheSmokinApe]

It’s my understanding that Linux has the Prolific driver are part of its install, I’m not sure about FTDI but you might want to see if you have them and install them if not before you buy another cable 👍

[@DavidJohnstone-hi9kr]

@@TheSmokinApe Thanks! I will order any other cables from Amazon, better return policy. I will try the BTech PC03 next. I'll keep that Prolific driver info in mind. I can always downgrade to a Windoze PC just for Chirp.

[@washingtonstatepicker3460]

My baofeng pc03 FTDI does not work! Lights on plugs do not stay on when plugged in.

[@ahhimary3475]

How can you write programme to the radio using the usb cable? for example can you write all PMR frequency only in one channel?

[@TheSmokinApe]

I only know of a few radios you can program from the phone and they require a special app...

[@ahhimary3475]

I meant to programme the radio using the usb programming cable?

[@rs4425]

Thanks. bought a cable that say Retevis but I use WIndows 11 and get error that says DO NOT WORK WITH WINDOWS.. hah.. thanks for the tip.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Oof, sorry to hear that

[@rs4425]

You and miklor's advice got my cable fixed so that I can now program my radio. Thank you so much!. N5YSW

[@belisioglipet4655]

Chirp won't start on my laptop (windows 10)

[@blackquiver]

I. Have been a subbed to u for a vary long time..like a long time..hahahahahaaaa..this is the first time in ceen your face..don't watch all your vids..but I have never unsubbed to u..

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yeah, I remember your name from older comments. Thanks for be a long term sub 👍

[@prestoncampbell9022]

Hi, I just got into using radios and I'm using a Baofeng UV-5R and I have tried all of the tips in your video. I still wonder if I'm using the wrong cable as it is not the one that you suggested to use. I was also wondering if there were any cheaper options as I cannot get the cable that you suggested because of the cost.

[@TheSmokinApe]

Your going to need a cable that doesn't have a counterfeit chip, that's what it boils down too, best 9f luck getting it sorted out 👍

[@markgoldstein2092]

Will the same cable for UV-5R work for my GT-5R model

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yes it will 👍

[@dougss3480]

where can i get this uv5r cable in canada. Or can I have one sent to me from US?

[@TheSmokinApe]

Hey Dougs, here is where I suggest folks get them baofengtech.com I’m not sure if they ship to Canada 🇨🇦

[@jakebechtproductions3850]

I just purchased an UV - 5R with an Abbree cable but only connects to the larger battery and not the MIC/SP ports. Will this work?

[@TheSmokinApe]

The programming cable needs to connect to the the mic / speaker port 👍

[@jakebechtproductions3850]

@@TheSmokinApe TY - I feel stupid

[@TheSmokinApe]

@@jakebechtproductions3850 don’t, we’re all new at first.

[@elgonxalin]

Hi friend, I could ask you a question... I just bought the baofeng uv-s9 plus and wanted to know if the configuration is equal to the uv-5r. They're very similar teams. Greetings and thanks

[@TheSmokinApe]

I’m sorry, I don’t have any experience with the s9 👍

[@McCoymiked]

Man, I bought that FTDI cable from that link for my F8HP. "Radio did not respond" happens every single time. I've tried several different troubleshooting techniques on two different radios. If I pressed the cable in any harder I'd break something. This is so frustrating.

[@TheSmokinApe]

It can be frustrating; make sure you are the correct com port, the radios is on with volume in the middle and that you have the correct radio type selected. Best of luck.

[@McCoymiked]

@@TheSmokinApe I got it to work! A replacement cable did the trick. I looked through my Amazon history and I bought the exact same cable, because it's the one everyone says is legit. So I got a legit Baofeng cable that simply didn't work. Soooo many hours wasted. But at least it works now.

[@TheSmokinApe]

@@McCoymiked glad to hear you are up and running 👍

[@frankbier1690]

Can I us a chrome book to do this ? Is an Abbree cable ok ?

[@TheSmokinApe]

As far as I know Chirp will not run on a Chrome Book.

[@guyschlosser41]

Hi there, and great video. I installed Chirp and got it running under Ubuntu Linux. My problem is, I don't think my UV5R radio is maintaining a connection. I see an fddi device attaching to ttyUSB0, but according to the dmesg output, it disconnects shortly after it connects. I am totally blind, and want to confirm, does the cable plug into the two jacks behind a door on the right-hand side of the radio? The connectors can only go in one way, correct? Thanks in advance for assistance figuring this out.

[@TheSmokinApe]

You are correct about how they plug in, it can be difficult to fully seat the cable... push firmly

[@guyschlosser41]

I figured out that I have the cable connected properly, and I also figured out what my problem is. For one, I don’t think the version of Chirp is up-to-date in the Ubuntu 22.04 repository. I got a look at the error I was getting in the terminal. The error is module ‘collections’ has no attribute callable’. If I can figure out how to fix that, or if you have any ideas, I am all ears. Thank you for all your help.

[@poiu477]

You can also make your own cables, genuine FTDI usb TTL chips'll run ya like 3 dollars

[@TheSmokinApe]

You sure can, thanks for watching Paul

[@poiu477]

@@TheSmokinApe lol no problem I clearly miscopied a link to the wrong vid after but I enjoy the content keep pushing out the good stuff

[@TheSmokinApe]

@@poiu477 haha, no worries 👍

[@poiu477]

@@TheSmokinApe hey so I don't know if you'd be able to help, but for the longest time I've been trying to get an TV tuner card from an old Netbook running in a more capable laptop, I've got channel reception before, but I think I'm running up against the limits of using a simple wire as an antenna. Do you know of any distributers that sell cables with one end terminated in the tiny wifi antenna coax and the other end with regular antenna coax?

[@TheSmokinApe]

@@poiu477 like this onelinkmore U.FL Mini PCI to Reverse Polarity SMA Pigtail Antenna WiFi Cable Pack of 2 www.amazon.com/dp/B005UWD0EG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_RH1ND673WBBMD0F14XFF

[@jeromelique6658]

one more thing could it be possible to interface raspberry pi to Yaesu FT-891 to transmit APRS?

[@TheSmokinApe]

It is possible. One thing to note is that APRS is typically used on the 2 meter band, the 891 is not capable of send or receive on 2 meters.

[@jeromelique6658]

@@TheSmokinApe good thing to mention. thanks. I will use other option, expecting they have the same RTTY/DATA and USB type B inputs

[@Googleuser-yl2sl]

what programming cable can I trust for my UV9R?

[@TheSmokinApe]

Sorry man, there are multiple radios claiming to be the Uv-9R and I haven’t owned any of them 👍

[@Googleuser-yl2sl]

@@TheSmokinApe dang thanks anyway

[@Ron_C]

miklor.com is definitely a valuable resource! So, are you saying that Aliexpress and Wish are not the best sources for the cables...?.lol

[@TheSmokinApe]

Haha! I get allot of questions where people say there cable doesn’t work and it’s almost always not plugged all the way in or it’s the 2$ special from Wish or AE.

[@Ron_C]

@@TheSmokinApe I can't remember where I got mine, they work, but one of them I had to trim the plastic to get it to seat in the connection

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yeah, I’ve heard they need to be trimmed. I can’t remember where I got my first few cables either but I’ve thankfully never had a problem.

[@blackquiver]

I left u a link on your Last vid..did u watch...if u did ..do u know about this place..??.

[@TheSmokinApe]

I did watch it, was cool. I had no idea such a place existed, thanks for send it over 👍

[@blackquiver]

So would yor devices work with this facility..?..that's y I sent yah it..or is the stuff u show on your channel not compatible..cause far as I know ..U r the only guy that know this stuff well..??

[@TheSmokinApe]

They should, the station is off line right now but I’ll try when they open back up. 👍

[@blackquiver]

Make a vid of it..id like to c how your equipment works..I think it would be rather interesting to c how it works..

[@DaWafflenator27]

Man I'm so sick of fake shit

[@TheSmokinApe]

Yeah, it’s such a pain, thanks for watching Kayin 👍

[@joseph_donovan]

Why oh why are there issues about obtaining a USB cable in order to program a radio? We have been using USB cables successfully for years in order to connect printers, keyboard, mice, MP3 players, calculators(!), etc, to our computers, but for reasons that escape me, radio users are either duped with fake cables or have to pay a premium to get one that works! Why the hell doesn't someone make these dam cables for a reasonable $5 a throw and flood the market with them so that the shysters peddling fake ones stop conning people with duds? Alternatively, why the hell don't radio manufacturers make it easier and cheaper to connect their radios to computers? I despair!

[@TheSmokinApe]

The could certainly make it easier on us, thanks for watching Joseph 👍