The LD-C101 USB to CI-V driver is the invisible bridge between your computer and your Icom transceiver. While the hardware costs less than $20, without the correct driver, it is a useless piece of plastic and wire.
To summarize:
If you experience persistent issues, spend an extra $10 on a known-good CP2102-based LD-C101 from a reputable ham radio dealer. The time saved in driver debugging is worth the investment.
Now that you have mastered the driver, go ahead and enjoy seamless computer control of your station. Good luck and 73!
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Keywords: LD-C101 USB to CI-V driver, LD-C101 driver download, CP210x CI-V driver, Icom USB CAT driver, LD-C101 Windows 11, CI-V virtual COM port, amateur radio USB interface driver.
This article was last updated in 2025 for compatibility with Windows 11 version 23H2 and modern Icom radios.
is a USB-to-CI-V CAT (Computer Aided Transceiver) interface cable primarily used for controlling Icom amateur radios through a PC. Based on user technical reports, the cable typically uses the CH340 chipset
, which requires specific serial-to-USB drivers for Windows systems to recognize it as a Virtual COM Port (VCP). Technical Summary Primary Function Ld-c101 Usb To Ci-v Driver
: Provides a communication bridge between a computer's USB port and the CI-V (Computer Interface 5) remote jack on Icom transceivers like the IC-706, IC-718, and IC-756. : Identified as the serial-to-USB bridge. Hardware ID
: Typically appears in Windows Device Manager as "USB-SERIAL CH340" under Ports (COM & LPT) once the driver is installed. Driver & Compatibility
While Icom provides official drivers for their own built-in USB interfaces (often based on Silicon Labs chipsets), third-party cables like the LD-C101 usually rely on generic chipset drivers.
While there is no specific "academic paper" on this single adapter, the following resources serve as the most useful technical documentation (equivalent to a "paper") for driver installation, troubleshooting, and circuit design: The LD-C101 USB to CI-V driver is the
In the cluttered drawer of the modern radio amateur, amidst a tangle of coax cables, forgotten adapters, and the faint smell of ozone, lies a small, unassuming dongle. It has no display, no knobs, no glowing LEDs to announce its purpose. It is the LD-C101: a USB to CI-V interface converter. To the uninitiated, it is a mere plastic stub. To the initiated, it is a Rosetta Stone—a fragile, often frustrating, yet utterly essential translator between two fundamentally different languages: the clean, binary world of the personal computer and the analog soul of the Icom transceiver.
To write about the LD-C101 is not to write about hardware. It is to write about the act of listening. It is to write about the desire to impose order upon the chaotic ionosphere, and the quiet desperation of a serial handshake failing at 9,600 baud.
Solution: USB power issue. Try a different USB port (preferably directly on motherboard, not a hub). Also, check your LD-C101 cable for shorts.