Just wanted to report that I've successfully (and easily!) installed an
additional 2 serial ports in my Pentium II-400 machine, using the SIIG "PCI
Expander 4S" card - this is a PCI serial card with 2 9-pin serial ports
using 16550 UARTS. The board uses a single IRQ. They also have a version of
the card with 16650 and 16850 UARTS (but for lower baud rates, the cheap
16550 is more than adequate).
There is an upgrade kit available to add 2 more ports (which requires an
additional slot to mount the DB-9 headers in).
Installation was a breeze - plugged in the card, turned on the PC and
installed the Win98 drivers. No big deal. Note that I don't have any ISA
boards in my system at all, so installation was considerably easier than it
might have been. No IRQ conflicts anywhere in the system.
I only used one of the ports during the roundup, for rig control of the
FT-100 and it worked flawlessly.
Cost was about $70 locally; I also found it selling for around $48 at
various web stores by searching at http://shopper.cnet.com - the upgrade
kit sells for around $24 online.
No affiliation, blah blah blah. Just thankful that it worked the first time
and wanted to share my results! Your mileage may vary. Price higher in
Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico. Some restrictions may apply. Offer void
where prohibited or taxed. Use only in a well ventilated area... ;-)
73,
-Marty NW0L
martyt@pobox.com
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