My strong recommendation at this point is to use the Chirp software and get a FTDI-based programming cable. In minutes, I was programming a variety of Baofeng and Wouxun radios. I did not load any drivers, Windows actually did its job and took care of it for me. I plugged it into my Win8.1 computer and it started working immediately. I found this one on Amazon for $19, a little more expensive than the cheapo cables but not bad. I noticed that the Chirp Cableguide recommends the use of programming cables with an FTDI USB chip. It can be made to work but it is a pain.) While the Chirp software is not bug free and is in perpetual beta, it basically works well and does a great job of supporting a wide range of radios. (I have found the supplied Baofeng and Wouxun software to be, uh, well, crapware.

I started using the Chirp programming software, an open source application that supports a wide variety of radios. (I will spare you the sad story of dealing with Win 8 and 8.1) Anyway, I have not gotten the Baofeng cables to work on Win 8 or 8.1, even following the Miklor advice. When I bought a new notebook PC, it came with Windows 8 installed, which I later “upgraded” to Win 8.1. Using the info on the Miklor site allowed me to get my Baofeng/Wouxun cable working with my old Windows XP computer. (Actually the Miklor site has tons of information on these radios, so check it out.) I’ll also note that the same cable can be used to program a Wouxun radio, so the same remedies apply. This Miklor web page does a good job of explaining the driver problem and giving some helpful advice.

It appears that many of the cheap Baofeng USB programming cables use a clone of the Prolific PL-2303 chip that is not supported by the latest Windows driver. The really gnarly problem that usually surfaces is getting the programming cable to work. Of course, the solution is “use the programming software” which is often helpful (and often not).

See my postings or check out PD0AC’s blog for more information.Īlso very frequently, the new owner of such a radio finds that they cannot figure out how to program it. At prices less than $50, radio amateurs (including veterans and newbies) are scarfing up these radios. The various models of Baofeng handheld transceivers keep popping up everywhere.

Chirp mac baofeng