Valley Enterprises Yaesu Programming Cable

Last week I got a Valley Enterprises FTDI chipset-based programming cable for my Yaesu FT-817ND. This is a USB version of the Yaesu CT-62 serial cable used for rig control and programming.

I took today off to finish my income taxes and after I was done I decided to play with the cable. I already had an FTDI driver on my MacBook Pro, so I was able to just plug it in, connect it to the radio, and use it to program the rig using CHIRP. I also tried it with Fldigi and once I selected the correct driver in the config screen, it worked. If I put the rig into memory mode and manually selected the frequency it immediately showed up in Fldigi. Likewise, if I used Fldigi to change the frequency it worked on the radio.

Tomorrow I'm planning to head down to Ham Radio Outlet and pick up a Signalink USB, among a few other things. The Easy Digi interface I have now works but it's a rat's nest of cabling. The Signalink USB should reduce the clutter and simplify setup and teardown. Combined with the Valley Enterprises cable I tested today, it should make digital mode operation a lot easier.

A DIY Programming Cable for Baofeng Radios

One problem which has plagued many owners of Baofeng radios has been getting the programming cable, or more specifically the drivers, working properly under Windows. This may be a viable solution:

http://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_ProgrCable.php

I mostly use a Mac to program my radio so it hasn't been much of a problem for me, but I have had to deal with troubleshooting this on a friend's PC, and it was a major PITA. Miklor's page on troubleshooting the drivers has been the best that I've found.