Bigstone USB Programming Cable for Hytera X1P X1E X1 PD600 PD680 Radio

!! CAUTION -- RIPOFF ALERT !! TOO BAD I CAN'T LEAVE A NEGATIVE NUMBER RATING....THE CAPS-LOCK STAYED "ON" FOR THE FIRST PART OF THIS BECAUSE I AM FURIOUS.FURIOUS THAT A COMPANY WOULD PRODUCE SUCH A PIECE OF GARBAGE.FURIOUS THAT IT WAS NOT DESCRIBED PROPERLY AS BEING "INCAPABLE OF UPDATING A RADIO".FURIOUS THAT AMAZON PERMIT SUCH A CABLE TO BE SOLD THROUGH IT'S SITE. (THOUGH, MAYBE THEY WERE UNAWARE?)FURIOUS THAT I WOULD HAVE GLADLY SPENT THE EXTRA FEW DOLLARS TO HAVE AN INTACT/WORKING CABLE.FURIOUS THAT WE NOW HAVE A DESTROYED $1200+ X1P PORTABLE RADIO.FURIOUS THAT WE NOW ALSO HAVE MANY RADIOS THAT ARE NOT RUNNING THE SAME FIRMWARE VERSIONS (COMPATIBILITY ISSUES MAY BE PRESENT AND THAT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE IN A "LIFE-SAFETY / PUBLIC-SAFETY ENVIRONMENT"!)BRIEF PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: THIS IS *NOT* EVEN CLOSE TO THE OEM HYTERA CABLE ! IT IS ACTUALLY MISSING A CRITICAL COMPONENT!! IT DOES NOT HAVE A "FIRMWARE UPDATE" SWITCH ON THE CABLE ASSEMBLY !!!!! (ALL OEM HYTERA AND EVERY THIRD-PARTY CABLE WE'VE SEEN HAS THIS CRITICAL ITEM !! (YOU CANNOT UPDATE THE FIRMWARE IN THE RADIO WITHOUT IT !!!!)IF YOU SOMEHOW CAN MANAGE TO GET THE RADIO INTO THE "FIRMWARE UPDATE MODE", ATTEMPTING TO FLASH THE LATEST FIRMWARE CAN "BRICK" THE RADIO. (PERMANENTLY RENDERING THE RADIO USELESS WITH A DISPLAY THAT SIMPLY BLINKS THE BACKGROUND LAMP ON+OFF WITH CHINESE? OR SOME ODD LOOKING CHARACTERS RANDOMLY APPEARING IN THE DISPLAY WITH MOST OF THE PIXELS NOT APPEARING !. (THE HYTERA X1P WAS A $1200+ RADIO ! -- NOW PROBABLY RELEGATED TO THE JUNKPILE AS HYTERA ONLY SUPPORTS RADIOS PROGRAMMED WITH THEIR OWN PROPRIETARY / OEM CABLE!...This adventure left us not only with a damaged radio, but with multiple radios having multiple variations of firmware revisions. (there appears to be an issue communicating with our Motorola equipment with the older firmware Hytera units & the newer firmware revisions have some of the options that we require and was the primary reason for choosing Hytera to begin with !. (Query GPS function to locate an unresponsive firefighter is just one of those features!)We traditionally try to purchase a minimum of one FACTORY / OEM cable for each model of radio that we own or that an individual volunteer owns. At that point, we will sometimes try to save a little bit of $$ by purchasing "NON-OEM" cables to use as "Spares" / for "Field Expedient Use" during disasters / etc... (JUST FOR "PROGRAMMING" OR "CLONING" ETC).UNFORTUNATELY, AMAZON (HYTERA STORE) WAS "OUT-OF-STOCK" ON THESE CABLES, So we purchased this "knockoff" junk/piece of garbage cable. The "BIGSTONE USB PROGRAMMING CABLE BY "DFGG" Something or Other "Flying Dragon"..??"= BAD NEWS!!!(Not only did the cable come without a CRITICAL PART not even designed into the assembly, but -- of course -- "non-FTDI" chipset, justto add to the frustration and anger.)We just purchased a large quantity of Hytera DMR 2-Way radio equipment to wrap up our migration to DMR/ANALOG (DMR for Daily Non-Urgent Communications / ANALOG for FireGround Operations etc). Several RD982 repeaters / MD782G Mobiles / PD782G-U2 Portables.For the members that desired to own their own radios, they purchased one of 3 Hytera models or 1 Motorola Model depending on their rank/ potential exposure to water and physical damage.: The Hytera PD782G-U2 (Most Popular) / The PD682 (Most Popular for "Ham Radio" enthusiasts who are members of the Dept. / Those who wish to have a single radio handle 400-520Mhz without having to decide between "U1" and "U2" ranges / The X1P (mostly our chiefs and fire marshals and inspectors opted to purchase these. All of the aforementioned models have "built-in" GPS capabilities, but the X1P is quite a bit "thinner" and more "covert" and easy to carry unobtrusively -- AND HAS BUILT-IN BLUETOOTH capability for use with audio devices - speaker microphones - ptt external buttons - etc.)We purchased the "Hytera Factory / OEM" programming cables for Repeaters (db26 connector) / the Mobile units (round microphone style connector) / and the PD782/G series portabales. These ALL WORKED PERFECTLY !!! FLAWLESSLY ! They even provided drivers and software with the programming cables. (Not really necessary for us, as we purchased the software/firmware update kits which came with drivers etc)Original HYT PC45 PC-45 USB Programming Cable For PD605 / PD605G / PD665 / PD665G / PD685 / PD685G / X1e / X1pBACKGROUND: We were finishing up our Volunteer Fire Department 2-Way Radio communications system this week.We have many Motorola P25 radios and repeaters that are getting too old & expensive to maintain ( We kept some for P25 interoperability), but are moving out of "T-Band" due to an Obama "Stimulus" Act scam, ALL Public Safety in the USA will be losing a large chunk of radio spectrum previously allocated to us post-911 when the world realized that there were just not enough frequencies available. ("T-Band" = 470-520Mhz)As the radioThis cable PHYSICALLY fits the Models X1P / X1E / PD682 BUT WON'T ALLOW YOU TO UPDATE THE FIRMWARE. THE PRIMARY REASON FOR PURCHASING IT !THIS is the "Factory/OEM" Style Cable -- NOTE THE "Switch Box" on the physical cable. (NOT The "round ferrite bead", which most USB cables have or should have if being used near sources of RF and/or EMI) If you compare visually, you will note that The "JUNK/CRAP" "BIGSTONE BRAND HYTERA PROGRAMMING CABLE" IS MISSING THIS CRITICAL ITEM !.TRUE HYTERA CABLE:https://www.amazon.com/Original-Programming-PD605G-PD665G-PD685G/dp/0472577093/ref=sr_1_67?ie=UTF8&qid=1478146152&sr=8-67&keywords=hytera++programming+cable