Joe Staples wrote:
>
> You'll get a lot of options but be sure you check out:
> http://pfranc.com/
>
> It's concerned with GPS interfacing rather than radio, but has some
> interesting stuff.
>
Joe, Yours is the first (only?) response to my query.
Many thanks for the tip! I logged on the website and read through a lot
of the material. But what stopped me cold was in the troubleshooting
section: "Will NOT work with DOS programs, don't even try!". Very
emphatic. It also mentioned "virtual IRQ's" which I guess is supposed
to get around the fact that USB ports don't use IRQ's. But again, it
said "don't bother". I have tried two different USB/Serial adaptors,
Belkin and BAFO, with the same result - no way to make them COM1 or COM2
(the only options in NA), and no assigned IRQ. Either would probably
work with Windows software, but no needed application here.
Strange thing is that in my new P3 Direct notebook, both the BIOS and
Win98 report two standard serial ports, COM1 and COM2 with the normal
addresses and IRQ's. I asked P3 Direct about them, and the tech said
that COM1 was the PS2 port and COM2 was the printer port. Makes
absolutely no sense to me since there is no similarity between a serial
port and a PS2 or printer port! My "portinfo" software also detects
these ports and shows them completely normal and using 16550 UART's. My
thought is that they are provided on the motherboard, but not brought
out on DB9 or DB25 connectors... I'm hesitant to tear into this new
notebook though.
I looked further into the PS2 port with the thought that maybe I could
use a PS2/DB9 adaptor which I already had. Turns out that the adaptor
must have been for an old dual port mouse. PS2 uses TTL levels while a
serial port uses RS232 levels - no compatibility there.
I'm also posting this to the NA Reflector again in the hope that
somebody has experienced this same situation and found a solution.
--
73, Bob Patten, N4BP Plantation, FL
E-Mail: n4bp@netzero.net Website: http://www.qsl.net/n4bp
QRP ARCI #3412 SOC #1 ARS #799 Whiners #6 FISTS #7871
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