My experiences are similar to Jon's, and he and I have talked much about
them, both here and on the air (there's a concept!). Writelog AFSK is
irregular in some respects, and we agree that FSK sounds much better and
is even a little quicker for a given buffer. I have a Rocketport serial
card for the desktop, but it doesn't do FSK 5-bit, so that doesn't help
give me a 2nd port for FSK for a second radio. So I've done like Jon -
Writelog Soundcard/FSK on one radio, and a HAL DXP38 on the second
radio.
I have recently been beating the bushes trying to find an acceptable USB
serial solution for a new laptop that will at least read my rigs and
control my TNCs, but preferably handle 5-bit Baudot FSK as well. It
ain't been easy, mostly because I'm not retired, and I have small kids
at home.
Briefly:
White Heat by Connect Tech: 4-port unit is almost $300. Reads my
IC-706MKIIG and 1000MP fine, and controls the DXP38 OK. I had 2 FSK
RTTY QSOs with it one night using Writelog in ALT-K (keyboard) mode, so
to that extent, it does 5-bits OK. However, the buffers wouldn't work
properly - this has to be some kind of timing issue. Furthermore, MMTTY
FSK wouldn't work with it at all (?). (I kept this one.)
Belkin: Loaned to me and then WA0SXV by WB6BIG (thanks) - Read rigs OK;
When I hit ALT-K in Writelog, it would sync idle OK, but buffers
wouldn't work, and as I remember, typed text did not go out properly
either (no QSO made). (returned)
Targus: This was a USB device that provides 1 parallel port, 2 PS-2
connections for mouse and keyboard, and one serial port. This one
wouldn't even read my rig!! (returned)
Rocketport makes a 4-port USB serial adapter that looks similar to the
White Heat, but less expensive. I was tempted by that, but I could
never get my Rocketport PCI serial card to read my Icom (although it
WOULD read the MP!), so I decided to keep the White Heat that [almost]
does everything I want correctly.
It just depends exactly what you want to do. If you can't find another
ham doing exactly the same thing YOU want to do with the same equipment,
I think you're taking a chance, no matter what the specs say (if you can
find spec detail!).
Good luck to all USB-serial hunters! 73
------------------------------------------------------------
WA9ALS - John
email: jfleming@shelbynet.net
homepage: http://www.qsl.net/wa9als
logbook: http://www.qsl.net/wa9als/search.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Harder" <jon@royal.net>
To: "Larry Benko" <benko@aztek-eng.com>; <writelog@contesting.com>;
<dx4win@qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2000 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: [WriteLog] Serial Ports Again Gasp!
>
> >or is the issue primarily a hardware one?
>
> Glad you posted this, Larry. The battle goes on for many of us who
still
> really want to try running two rigs, using the stereo RTTY options
available
> in WL. (10.20 here.)
>
> Making the most of four ordinary serial ports, two on-board and two
from an
> ISA plugin card, I had resorted to using data switches to select
either of
> two TUs for one rig and FSK/PTT for the other(an 850.) The other two
ports
> are used for rig control. (With a 200mhz Pentium box with 64K RAM and
SB-64
> AWE that always does just fine in this configuration. Each port has
its own
> IRQ, no conflicts in either DOS or Windows. FSK sounds like it should
in WL,
> WF1B RTTY, MMTTY or RITTY by K6STI.)
>
> But I always wondered what two-rig FSK with the stereo soundcard setup
would
> be like. Recently I considered adding a USB to serial port dongle to
do
> rig control or FSK/PTT with the second rig (570.) But WL reflector
comments
> on these converters really didn't inspire much confidence. I decided
> before doing anything that cost money I'd disconnect the TUs and try
plain
> vanilla with two ports for rig control and two for FSK/PTT with FSK
stereo
> sound board on WL RttyRite. (I also like CW in WL via an LPT port.)
>
> RTTY results? Great reception, good rig control, but FSK became
intolerably
> sluggish and unpredictable on either rig. Tried reversing the ports
to put
> FSK/PTT on the mainboard ports 1 and 2, with rig control via the Com3
and 4
> from 16 bit ISA serial card. Tried a bunch of variations for the port
> settings in Win 98 Device Manager. No improvement. Keying not as
erratic
> as AFSK, but definitely not the nice crisp FSK diddles, Alt-K
chatting, and
> buffers I've gotten used to. Always quite slow starting, and long
waits
> when sending anything. Very similar to reports from those trying USB
to
> serial conversion, (as WA9ALS well-documented results, for instance.)
No go
> even with "real" serial ports properly interfaced..
>
> FWIW, I have gone back to just one soundcard FSK window for one rig
and
> trusty HAL 8000 for the other. Thought I'd post this experience here,
in
> case others want to comment either direct to me, or if this thread
still has
> any useful life (gasp! ) on the reflector.
>
> Jon K1US
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Larry Benko" <benko@aztek-eng.com>
> To: <writelog@contesting.com>; <dx4win@qth.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2000 6:00 AM
> Subject: [WriteLog] Serial Ports Again Gasp!
>
>
> >
> > There have been a lot of of comments concerning how to get enough
> > serial ports on a PC for rig control etc. The problem has gotten
> > worse with most new motherboards now having only one native serial
> > port and no ISA slots. This leaves us with either an external USB
> > to multiple serial box or an internal PCI to multiple serial card.
> > I understand the issues of 5 bit codes, FIFO buffering/latency,
> > and some of the power on sequencing problems. Recently Steve, NR4M
> > was looking for suggestions for a DX4WIN solution and someone else
> > had volunteered to collect a database. What is the current status
> > or results of these efforts?
> >
> > Would removing the 5 bit Baudot requirement (RTTY must be done via
> > a sound card??) make a solution much easier. My initial feeling
> > would be that ignoring the 5 bit code requirement, a PCI card
> > solution would/should be more universally compatible especially for
> > the power up sequencing issues.
> >
> > A database and some suggestions posted perhaps to the Writelog or
> > DX4Win websites would be very much appreciated. Does the operating
> > system Win98/ME/2000/NT4 affect the results (assuming a driver is
> > available) or is the issue primarily a hardware one?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Larry Benko, W0QE
> >
> > --
> > WWW: http://www.writelog.com/
> > Submissions: writelog@contesting.com
> > Administrative requests: writelog-REQUEST@contesting.com
> > Problems: owner-writelog@contesting.com
> >
>
>
> --
> WWW: http://www.writelog.com/
> Submissions: writelog@contesting.com
> Administrative requests: writelog-REQUEST@contesting.com
> Problems: owner-writelog@contesting.com
>
>
--
WWW: http://www.writelog.com/
Submissions: writelog@contesting.com
Administrative requests: writelog-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-writelog@contesting.com
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