Thanks for the suggestions. Evidently with the V71 as first choice I was fooled into thinking that Chirp was conversing with the radio.
I think the problem may be something called "modem-manager".
I checked Menu #519 "PC terminal baud rate speed" and found that it was 9600 baud. The manual indicates that this is default and I found this to be the case. I also checked that the interface cable is securely mated with the microphone jack.
I checked the /var/log/syslog file on Ubuntu and found that after connecting the USB device the "modem-manager" was opening and closing the USB0 port. This is something I had not heard of before. It was not immediately clear how to terminate this, if the process was killed it was respawned.
I hoped that this was a feature (mis-feature?) on Ubuntu so switched to a laptop with RHEL 6.2. One again, after plugging in the USB connector I found that modem-manager was fussing with the port. Could this be getting in the way somehow? I see the same behavior in which radio is not detected.
Here is the /var/log/messages from the RHEL 6.2 system: Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usb 6-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 4 Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usb 6-2: New USB device found, idVendor=10c4, idProduct=ea60 Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usb 6-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3 Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usb 6-2: Product: CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usb 6-2: Manufacturer: Silicon Labs Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usb 6-2: SerialNumber: 0567000FAC37 Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usb 6-2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: USB Serial support registered for generic Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver usbserial_generic Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: usbserial: USB Serial Driver core Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: USB Serial support registered for cp210x Feb 10 10:58:11 dalew500 kernel: cp210x 6-2:1.0: cp210x converter detected Feb 10 10:58:12 dalew500 kernel: usb 6-2: reset full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 4 Feb 10 10:58:12 dalew500 kernel: usb 6-2: cp210x converter now attached to ttyUSB0 Feb 10 10:58:12 dalew500 kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver cp210x Feb 10 10:58:12 dalew500 kernel: cp210x: v0.09:Silicon Labs CP210x RS232 serial adaptor driver Feb 10 10:58:12 dalew500 modem-manager: (ttyUSB0) opening serial device... Feb 10 10:58:24 dalew500 modem-manager: (ttyUSB0) closing serial device... Feb 10 10:58:24 dalew500 modem-manager: (ttyUSB0) opening serial device... Feb 10 10:58:30 dalew500 modem-manager: (ttyUSB0) closing serial device...
I tried the USB cable for the Wouxon hand held radio and was able to download from that radio. Here is the /var/log/messages file. Note that no mention of "modem-manager".
Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: usb 3-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2 Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: usb 3-1: New USB device found, idVendor=067b, idProduct=2303 Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: usb 3-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: usb 3-1: Product: USB-Serial Controller Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: usb 3-1: Manufacturer: Prolific Technology Inc. Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: usb 3-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: USB Serial support registered for pl2303 Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: pl2303 3-1:1.0: pl2303 converter detected Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: usb 3-1: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0 Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver pl2303 Feb 10 11:20:54 dalew500 kernel: pl2303: Prolific PL2303 USB to serial adaptor driver
What do you think? Is modem-manager involved in the problem or is it something else? Has the Kenwood USB cable been used with Linux and a V71? Other suggestions welcomed. 73, Dale, K7FW