On Sep 21, 2005, at 1:48 PM, W2RU - Bud Hippisley wrote:
> Bill Coleman wrote:
>
>
>> "Very soon" is right now. Apple introduced the original iMac in 1998,
>> and it had no RS-232 ports. That got the USB ball rolling, since the
>> only way to add peripherals was through USB.
> Trade journals make it clear that these
> (bulky and "slow") legacy ports will be completely gone in consumer
> desktop machines soon, too.
My whole point is -- if you've been buying Apple products - the
legacy ports have been gone for years now. PC manufacturers are just
now starting to catch up.
> A USB-to-RS-232 adapter to connect to the
> Alpha amplifier, for instance.
These certainly work, and I can recommend Keyspan devices. (They have
drivers for Windows, Mac and Linux machines)
However, when you think about it, this is not an efficient use of
computer resources. Even USB 1.2 is a speed demon compared to RS-232.
(1.5 Mbps or 12 Mbps versus 230 kbps) Also, USB provides error-free
delivery, which RS-232 does not. Finally, USB allows direct
programmatic interfaces to be established, possibly using shared
drivers. RS-232 requires some sort of command and data protocol to be
implemented in every piece of software.
Ethernet interfaces were also mentioned. Considering that many
inexpensive routers and web cameras implement web interfaces using
this technique, I'm surprised it hasn't made it into more amateur
radio devices. It has similar benefits over RS-232. (high-speed,
error-free, common protocols)
> So I think interfaces currently
> based on the parallel port are actually a bigger problem in the near
> term than those that use RS-232.
And if Apple is any indicator, they haven't shipped any machines with
a parallel port in 20 years (1985 and the Apple Lisa)....
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr@arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
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