As soon as I got first two ham radio rigs, I needed to connect them both to PC, to program memories or use CAT control from logging software. I realized that it is impractical to have as many USB to RS323 adapters as rigs.
As serial connection for radio requires just RX, TX and GND lines, and it is the same for most of modern radio stations. It is actually only radio connector that is different – signaling is the same.
It showed up quite easy to build simple multirig adapter. All you need to do is to use existing USB to serial interface adapter, cut it’s cable in two and insert male and female three pin 3.5 mm jack (commonly used as stereo audio connectors).
Female jack, as less common, should be set on USB interface side and male for various cable adapters set for each rig.
Here is schematics of an interface with adapters:
– 8 pin mini din male for Yaesu radios
– combined 6 pin connector I used for Kenwood, Baofeng, Zonton, Wouxun and other compatible radios
This allowed me not just to easily connect my radios to PC, but also radios of my friends. So far I used this for Yaesu FT857, Yaesu FT-857D, Yaesu FT-897, Yaesu FT-817, Kenwood TK-250, Baofeng UV-B5, UV-B6, Zonton 999, Wouxun KG-UV6D and others.
And yet, if new rig shows up all I have to do is to create adapter for it – interface stays the same. I have collected pinout info abut number of other radios but I will post here updates only as I try them out.
What USB to serial interface to use
Almost any will do. The most important point is to use interface with TTL levels for RS232 as most modern rigs use TTL not RS232C levels. These are actually cheaper as they lack additional TTL to RS232C conversion. You may buy such adapter for few bucks. If you get one with RS232C levels then you have to make additional interface to convert that to TTL (by using MAX232 chip or transistors).
Avoid Prolific chipset adapters. They actually work fine, but usually not straightforward to use. Reason is that market is overwhelmed with Prolific clones (which are very cheap). Those clones work fine, but Prolific decided to protect itself by issuing drivers that do recognize clone chips and do not work with them. That means, you have to play a bit with older drivers to make them work. Although I understand Prolific point I think they shot themselves in the foot. As the only way for ordinary buyer to recognize clone from original chip is to buy and check if the newest drivers work, people simply avoid hassle and turn to other brands.
Update! New article adds FT8900 and similar radios: https://pedja.supurovic.net/universal-cat-and-programming-usb-to-serial-ttl-interface-for-ham-radio/
Hello.
Is it possible to find/see USB cable adapter for Albrecht DB271 radio statoin ? I have one, but unfortunately, the cables hat I have for similar stations (baofeng, kenwood, etc) do not work (they work well for declared stations, like my second Baofeng UV-B5).
Regards,
Z34PEC
I did not try programming Albrecht DB271 but I did some investigation about it.
According to this: http://service.alan-electronics.de/Amateurfunk/DB271/Albrecht-DB271-Programming-software-manual.pdf Albrecht programing connection is not the same as usual Kenwood interface.
It uses 2.5 mm mic input jack only. I was unsuccessful finding proper pinout for Albrecht DB-271 but I found claims that interface is the same as with ICOM CI-V, except Icom uses 3.5 mm jack and Albrecht uses 2.5 mm jack.
Here is a list of schematic diagrams for ICOM CI-V (Strangely, it uses center pin for both RX and TX line): http://www.plicht.de/ekki/civ/civ-p2.html
Pay attention that most of the designs are meant to be used with RS232C serial interface on PC. If your USB to RS232 interface provides TTL levels you have to adjust.
Hi,
Just wanted to say thanks for the info.
Also you other article on the UV-B5 has been of much interest.
Dieter
What specific software do you use for control of the uv-b5. I can program the frequencies and such, but to control transmit and receive, what do you use?
I use software (Chirp) only to set memories and settings. There is no option to control PTT or VFO via serial cable.
Pozdrav i pre svega svaka čast na ovom i ostalim tekstovima. Pitanje za ovaj tekst je da li imaš saznanja da li je moguće iskoristiti USB DATA kabl od mobilng telefona (poput CA-53 za Nokiu ili recimo od Samsunga SGH-E390) kao USB-RS232 adapter? Nešto nemam uspeha u pronalaženju precizne specifikacije ovih DATA kablova, odnosno koje nivoe telefoni imaju za Rx Tx, a čini mi se da rade upravo to što treba i za programiranje radio stanice.
Nikola
Trebalo bi da radi jer to uglavnom i jesu USB2RS232 adapteri i to obino upravo oni sa TTL nivoima kako najčešće i odgovara.
Hvala na brzom odgovoru!
Zdravo, kako cu da znam na ove kineske verzije koja je ta „prava“ verzija? Pokusavao sam da povezem FT897 sa nekoliko ovih jeftinih (ispod jednog eura) ali nisam imao nesto previse uspjeha. Da nisi slucajno probao CAT na FT736?
73
Nisam imao problema ni sa jednim, ni sa onim najjeftinijim kineskim ni sa onim koji sam sam pravio od serijskog adaptera.
U svakom lučaju problem najčešće jeste samo sa drajverima.
Naričito je problem ako adapter korsiti klinirano Prolific čip, jer tvanični drajver prepoznaje klonovei neće da radi s anjima. To se rešava isntalacijom starije verzije drajvera (verzija 3.2.0.0) koja radi ispravno.
Na Windows 10 je malo problematično instalirati stariji drajver jer on omdah uradi ažuriranje na najnoviji. Mora se Windows 10 podesiti da ne ažurira drajver.
Ako nekad prolaziš kroz Užice, najavi se, pa ćemo probati i sa mojim i sa tvojim kablovima.
Nisam probao sa FT-736 a koliko vidim po internetu on je problematičan.