17-04-2021

Hearing Lab Port Devices Driver Download For Windows

TS-990S, TS-890S, TS-590SG, TS-590S, TH-D72A/E
KPG-22U, KPG-46U, KPG-186U
Virtual COM Port Driver

Last updated : August 21, 2019

Introduction

Thank you for choosing the KENWOOD transceivers. You can connect your TS-990S, TS-890S, TS-590SG, TS-590S, or TH-D72A/E to a PC via a USB cable, or you can connect your TH-K20A/E, TH-K40A/E, TM-281A/E, TM-481A, or other transceivers to a PC via the KPG-22U/46U/186U programming cables by installing the virtual COM port driver in the PC, and then utilize the Radio Control Program, Memory Control Program, or other software we have provided.

This virtual COM port driver installation program is provided by Silicon Laboratories Inc.

After reading through the following explanations, feel free to download and install the software.

Operating Environment

1.	Operating System (OS) Windows^® 7 (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows^® 8.1 (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows^® 10 (32-bit or 64-bit)
2.	Peripheral Devices USB 2.0 interface.

Installing the virtual COM port driver
ATTENTION: Do not connect the device to a PC before installing the virtual COM port driver.
Extract the downloaded file ('CP210x_Windows_Drivers.zip' for Windows^® 7/8.1, or 'CP210x_Universal_Windows_Driver.zip' for Windows^® 10) into a designated folder.In the designated folder, a folder labeled 'CP210x_Windows_Drivers' or 'CP210x_Universal_Windows_Driver' will be created. In the created folder, double click the 'Cp210xVCPInstaller_x86.exe' with 32-bit OS, or the 'Cp210xVCPInstaller_x64.exe' with 64-bit OS, and follow the instructions that appear on the display to install the virtual COM port driver.

Connecting the device to a PC
Turn the transceiver power ON, then connect it to a PC via a connection cable for the transceiver. The PC will detect new hardware. The installation of the device driver software will start automatically. If a reboot request appears, please reboot the PC.

Confirming the COM port number

Open the 'Device Manager' to confirm which COM port number is assigned for connection with the device.
(Confirm the COM port number after turning on the transceiver and connecting the transceiver to the PC using a USB cable, or after connecting the KPG-22U/46U/186U to the PC.)
For Windows^® 7
1. Click the Windows^® [Start] button.
2. Right-click [Computer], then click [Properties].
3. Click [Device Manager] in the displayed window.
4. [Device Manager] window will appear.
For Windows^® 8.1 and Windows^® 10
1. Right-click the Windows^® [Start] button.
2. Click [Device Manager] in the displayed window.
3. [Device Manager] window will appear.
Click “Ports (COM & LPT)” to extend it, then you can find “Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COMxx)”.The “COMxx” number is different depending on your PC.
In the above example, “Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM3)” is listed. This means that COM3 is assigned for the connection with the transceiver.
Select this port number in the configurations for communication in the software you are using.

Note:
When connecting a TS-890S transceiver to the PC, 2 virtual COM ports are assigned as follows.
In the TS-890S Menu settings, these 2 virtual COM ports are defined as [Virtual 'Standard' COM Port] and [Virtual 'Enhanced' COM Port].
These 'Standard' and 'Enhanced' virtual COM ports are distinguished as follows.
•Double-click on these in the Device Manager to display the respective Properties windows.
•Select the 'Details' tab and then select 'Location Paths' (or 'Rutas de acceso de ubicación':Español, 'Chemins d'accès des emplacements':Français, 'Speicherortpfade':Deutsch, 'Percorsi':Italiano, 'Locatiepaden':Nederlands) from the Property drop-down menu.
•Move the mouse cursor to the line displayed in the 'Value' column (the top line if multiple lines are displayed) and check the number in the parenthesis on the right end of the character string.
The port displayed with the number (1) is the virtual COM (Standard) port of the transceiver.
In the display example above, the virtual 'Standard' COM port is assigned to COM3.
The port displayed with the number (2) is the virtual COM (Enhanced) port of the transceiver.
In the display example above, the virtual 'Enhanced' COM port is assigned to COM4.
Please also refer to the TS-890S Instruction manual for details.

If you agree with the details listed above, click one of the following links corresponding to each OS to download the virtual COM port driver installation program.

For Windows^® 7/8.1：
'CP210x_Windows_Drivers.zip'(v6.7.6) 6.83MB download
For Windows^® 10：
'CP210x_Universal_Windows_Driver.zip'(v10.1.8) 878KB download

You can also download the latest and earlier versions virtual COM port driver installation program from the Silicon Laboratories website. (The URL link is subject to change.).

Microsoft^®, Windows^®, and Windows logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

A number of people have had difficulty setting up their radios using the USB interface for WSJT-X and FT-8. It helps to have a basic understanding of the computer interface within the radio. The good news is Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu and even SignaLink share a similar architecture, often down to the same device part numbers and software drivers.

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Once the USB cable is connected to the radio the first device in the data path is a USB Hub. Just like a Hub, you might use on your desk its function is to provide multiple USB ports with only one cable from the PC or Laptop. It does not require configuration or drivers and is transparent to the user.

There are two devices connected to the Hub inside the radio. They are a USB UART Bridge and an audio CODEC. If there wasn’t an internal Hub each of these devices would have a separate USB cable to the PC. This is important as it shows how separate and independent they are when setup, access, and drivers are considered.

Kenwood, Icom, and Yaesu use a USB UART Bridge from the SiLabs CP210X family. (SignaLink does not have a serial CAT interface). All three plus SignaLink use a USB/CODEC from the Ti PCM290XB family.

We will review the functions and setup of the USB UART Bridge first.

USB UART Bridge

A “Bridge” may sound complicated but all this device does is accept bi-directional USB and produces bi-directional serial data. It is a bridge between USB and serial data.

You may have used an adapter with a USB connector on one side and a DB-9 9 pin serial connector on the other side. It is likely it used the Silabs CP2101 or a similar device made by FTDI. This interface is often referred to as a Virtual Com Port (VCP) which replaced “real” DB-9 Com ports found on computers into the 1990s. It is called virtual because much of the serial COM port functionality is achieved with software.

The radios that can be computer controlled have a CAT interface (computer-aided transceiver). A related term is CI-V (Communication Interface v5) which is an Icom standard that defines the messages the radio will respond to. The messages are in text (ASCII) format, for example, to transmit you would write TX; to the radio. With a serial interface or VCP, you can send ASCII text messages to your radio using Hyperterminal or an application called PuTTY and it will respond.

Older radios used a CAT interface that required a serial COM Port on the PC. Most of the current radios can still accept serial data through an ACC (accessory port), and a few still have a DB-9 9 pin connector for serial data. Newer radios also have a USB interface and use the USB UART Bridge to receive the serial CAT/CI-V messages from the PC. A radio menu setting is used to select data over an ACC or the USB for radio control.

Audio is not passed using the USB UART Bridge CAT/CI-V interface, it is strictly used for radio commands.

WSJT-X uses a small set of messages over the CAT interface to control the radio. These include band changing, VFO frequency, PTT and a few others.

The USB UART Bridge requires a VCP driver that must be installed by you before connecting the radio to the PC. If you connect the USB cable before installing the driver Windows may locate and install a driver, this works less often than auto-correct in spell check. Once the wrong driver is installed it can be very difficult to uninstall. The correct driver can be downloaded from the radio manufacture’s website.

Once the driver is properly installed and the radio connected the driver can be found in the Windows Device Manager as shown in Figure 1. Note the COM Port number, you will need it to configure WSJT-X. Your COM port number will probably be different.

By right clicking on the driver and selecting properties and then the Ports tab you can set the Baud rate, Parity, Stop Bits, and flow control as seen in Figure 2.

Typical settings are as follows:

Baud Rate: 9,600 (Standard values from 9,600 to 115,200 can be used)
Parity: none
Stop Bits: 1 (7300 or 590S/SG 1 or 2 can be used, older rigs and SignaLink with a CP2101 must use 1)
Flow control: Hardware

The settings you select in Device Manager Properties must be used in the WSJT-X setup.

Once these settings are set for the COM port and in the WSJT-X app consider them set, and leave them. If you have completed these steps and do not have CAT/CI-V control of the radio it is due to incorrect radio settings, a bad/cheap cable, you are connected through an unpowered Hub, or are using the front panel USB port of a PC. (Front panel USBs are hit and miss).

Yaesu radios have an additional USB UART Bridge accessible through the hub. You will see an Enhanced port for CAT and a Standard port for PTT in Device Manager. Each has a unique COM port number. WSJT-X has a spot for a second COM address in Settings/Radio for “PTT Method”. The Standard port COM address and RTS is entered for PTT Method. I have used these setting for an FT-991 and FTDX-3000.

CAT is selected for PTT for Icom and Kenwood radios, a second COM address is not used.

USB (AUDIO CODEC)

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The second device on the Hub’s output is a CODEC. The CODEC decodes the digitized audio on the USB to analog using an ADC, and using a DAC the analog audio from the radio is digitally coded to be sent to the PC over the USB. Taken together with CODEC COdes and DECodes audio signals from a digital format.

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There are no COM port addresses, baud rates, stop bits, etc for you to set since it is not a VCP, it is a standard USB interface.

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A PCM290x CODEC is used in the IC-7300, TS-590S/SG, FT-991, SignaLink, and others. The driver is included with Windows XP through 10 so there is nothing for the user to install. Once the CODEC has a USB connection and power it will automatically be installed and set up. The CODEC will appear in Windows Device Manager under “Sounds, Video, Game Controller” when power is applied to the radio. It can be seen in Figure 3 as “USB Audio CODEC”. If there is more than one and you are not sure which one is the radio’s disconnect the USB cable and see which one disappears and then reappears when reconnected.

If the driver has been used with multiple radios it may appear as “3-USB Audio CODEC” or similar which is not a problem provided the same exact label as seen in Device Manager appears in WSJT-X and the Windows Sound settings.

The audio CODEC was identified as “USB Audio CODEC” in the device manager, WSJT-X, and was the selected Input and Output device in the Windows Sound Setting as seen in Figure 4.

Note: The label “microphone” has been replaced with “Line” for PCM290XC rev C CODECs used in the TS-890, other recently released radios, and when a CODEC is replaced due to failure.

Summary

Knowing there is a Hub and two independent USB devices in the radio should help when setting up a radio for WSJT-X. The first device is a USB to Serial converter supporting CAT/CI-V, the second device is a USB to Audio CODEC supporting audio input and output.

You will not resolve audio issues by changing the USB UART Bridge settings for baud rate or the number of stop bits. Similarly changing the audio I/O devices is not going to solve a CAT/CI-V problem.

I was surprised to learn the driver we install is only a generic USB UART Bridge. I expected a large complex proprietary composite driver that handled the CAT/CI-V and the audio CODEC. The audio CODEC driver is a standard Windows product.

I have identified the various switches on the radio’s circuit boards and their related menu functions. An example is the switch and menu item that connects the audio I/O from the radio’s processor to the ACC port, Microphone, or the CODEC. I plan to do a separate article on this topic.

In the interim knowing, there are two independent devices should help demystify the menu settings a bit. Baud rate, USB for CI-V, Echo on, etc are for the CAT using the SiLabs USB UART Bridge. Audio I/O levels, Modulation source, and related options only apply to the USB CODEC.

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This article may seem a bit bottoms up. It was written from the vantage point gained while troubleshooting and then replacing Hubs, bridges, CODECs and surrounding devices in numerous radios. USB is the most fragile interface on the radio when lightning is a factor….these are the parts at the end of the USB cable.

Hearing Lab Port Devices Driver Download For Windows

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