Lee,
> My system seems to be very touchy regarding serial comm. It
> uses USB and USB to serial adaptors. I tried 6 different
> adaptors until I found one that would work with the Ten Tec,
> N4PY and some packet software.
As you have seen, USB to serial adapters don't appear to be the universal
solution promised. I had the same results. I purchased a USB to serial
adapter and it didn't work with N4PY's software nor with my own home brew. I
discovered that the driver didn't support one of the features of serial port
coms and contacted the manufacturer. They were aware of the problem and
allowed me to beta test a new adapter (don't know why they couldn't have
just updated the driver with the existing adapter). The updated adapter
fixed that one problem, but then broke something else. I discovered that I
couldn't run both old and new adapters together as the drivers could not
coexist and each driver only recognized it's own adapters.
Then I figured the solution would be to buy a multi-port serial card (no
USB). I found that it didn't work either.
I guess we hams are just trying to connect too much stuff to our computers
<g>. I think the real solution would be for equipment manufacturers to
support some sort of multi drop network. Given the state of the art right
now, I would recommend Ethernet and TCP/IP. I don't know how to do it, but I
think someone could have some success building and selling a little outboard
box that would translate Ethernet TCP/IP into RS232 serial. I would think
that it would be doable with a PIC or Basic Stamp chip and a few other
parts. However, since I've not seen such a device, maybe there's more to it
than that.
73,
Mark
P.S. If anyone wants this idea, they can have it - no strings attached.
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