Updated on 2021-06-09: Added links for building a cable.
Or if you want you can build your own cable
Introduction
While programming the COTRE CO01D was straightforward for me, others have had issues. The major one is that the CPS won’t communicate with the radio returning an error “Unable to get the Postal Address.” or “Communication Error: click Help > troubleshooting to view detail in the menu”
I purchased three different Baofeng style programming cables to see which ones work with the COTRE CO01D.
The cables
Baofeng cables are a pretty simple combination of a USB UART and a microphone/speaker connector to attach to the radio, see Miklor’s great writeup for more information. The COTRE CO01D uses the same pins for its RxD and TxD on the jack. However some cables don’t seem to communicate with the COTRE CO01D.
I ordered three cables using different chipsets: PL2303, CH340, and FT232RL(commonly called FTDI). The exact cables I used are:
| PL2303 | CH340 | FT232RL |
|---|---|---|
PL2303
With the PL2303 cable, there was no communication with the COTRE CO01D, but BaoFeng radios worked fine with CHIRP.
CH340
The CH340 cable worked with both the COTRE CO01D and the Baofeng radios.
FTDI
The FTDI cable also worked well with both types of radios.
What is the problem with the PL2303 cable?
Analysis of the serial communication between the computer and the CO01D shows that the COM port is set to 921600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity bit and 1 stop buit (8N1) with XON/XOFF flow control. In contrast the Baofeng uses 9600 baud, 8N1 with DTR/RTS flow control.
Other cables
The homebrew cables based on the CP2102 probably work, but I don’t have one to test. If you have tried this out let me know and I will update this information.
Build your own
Coming soon.
Final thoughts
Programming the COTRE CO01D has proven slightly more difficult than I originally anticipated. The most common type of Baofeng radio programming cable seems to be incompatible with the CO01D while working fine with the Baofeng radios. The higher data rate of the CO01D might be the cause or it might be the XON/XOFF flow control. To program this radio use one of the CH340 or FTDI cables. The PL2303 cables are incompatible.