I would have to agree with John. My brother bought a couple of UV-5R's and then bought the cable and software (wanting me to program them). I decided it was quite a deal and so picked up a couple myself. I was one of the first 2 Citrix certified installers in the state and have to say I would be the last person to recommend you upgrade Windows (or for that matter, run Windows at all).
Dan Smith has done a wonderful job of creating a fine piece of software that only took me about an hour to set up (running Slackware 14.0 here). For anyone else wanting to run Chirp, I would suggest downloading his Live CD and using that for your settings. Why mess up your perfectly bad Windows machine when there is already a re-bootable solution.
As for the cable that my brother bought. I have no idea as to the chip. I hope it is not a counterfeit, although the software is not that good.
Run Dan's Live CD (that is the better solution).
Brett
On Tue, 26 Feb 2013, John W. wrote:
Well, in most cases, no one knows they have a counterfeit until they get the cable and it does not work properly. I have not ever heard a retailer saying "We sell fake chips".
Fortunately, I will not be upgrading to Win8. It brings nothing new, insofar as functionality. It does however, take away the start menu and introduces a stupid new interface that only is effective for touch screens.
From: Dean Gibson AE7Q <data@ae7q.net> To: Discussion of CHIRP <chirp_users@intrepid.danplanet.com> Sent: Tue, February 26, 2013 9:01:52 PM Subject: Re: [chirp_users] Prolific update and amateur pirates I would like to address this to everyone who buys a cable with a counterfeit Prolific USB-to-serial converter chip: You may not think you are hurting anyone, but you are. Aside from the legal and ethical issues with buying counterfeit goods, you are financially affecting more than just Prolific (who sells legitimate chips). You are financially affecting me. And in a very concrete and tangible way. Because of the extensive counterfeiting of their USB-to-serial converter chip (and the theft of their intellectual properties: http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=155&pcid=41 ), Prolific has taken certain steps: 1. They have designed a new USB-to-serial converter chip that is supposed to be more difficult to counterfeit, and selling that to legitimate cable makers. This chip will be supported in Windows 8. 2. The present USB-to-serial converter chip will not be supported in Windows 8: http://www.prolific.com.tw/US/ShowProduct.aspx?p_id=225&pcid=41 So, how does this affect me? I have and use thirteen USB-to-serial converter cables with the old (legitimate) Prolific chip. These cables will not work when I upgrade to Windows 8. Instead, I will have to buy new USB-to-serial converter cables. I will pay the twice the price you would have paid (times thirteen), than if you had bought a legitimate cable. Once, for each legitimate original cable, and once again for a new cable. So, for those of you who knowingly bought counterfeit cables and continue to use them: Thanks, guys. As a person who has contributed code to the Chirp project, has written other open-source software for the amateur community, and has maintained a couple amateur radio support sites (free and without ads) for the past decade, you have made my heart very warm with feelings of appreciation. Or maybe just a bit hot.