[CQ-Contest] Mode 516 Suggestions

[Bill Coleman]

I sent the following message to Ten-Tec in reply to their call for 
suggestions on the new Model 516:


One thing I believe you ought to consider is eliminating the DB-9 RS-232 
interface in favor of a USB interface. There are several good reasons for 
this:

* In 1998, Apple introduced the iMac. One of the features of this machine 
was a complete abandonment of all legacy I/O channels. Instead, Apple 
stressed the use of USB, and later FireWire. While you might argue that 
no hams use Apple computers (and that would be incorrect - I use them), 
other Intel-based computer manufacturers have followed suit. Indeed, 
Compaq and a number of other manufacturers have introduced "legacy-free" 
PCs. Thus, it is pretty clear that in the future, serial ports may no 
longer be standard equipment on PCs. (Apple hasn't shipped a computer 
with a standard serial port since 1999) Granted, one can get adapters to 
add serial ports, but such interfaces may not be mainstream in the future.

* The RS-232 interface is an asynchronous, character oriented interface. 
There is no error-checking on characters sent or received. Because of 
this, it is certainly possible that the radio may fail to function 
because of mis-interpretation of a garbled command. Hand-in-hand with 
this is the fact that the protocol to speak to the radio isn't terribly 
well-defined -- each software vendor has to implement his own version of 
the protocol and some will be better than others. 

In contrast, USB offers an error-corrected interface that operates in a 
functional manner. A driver library on the host computer would have 
direct calls from software applications. It would then encode the proper 
commands to the USB device, and interpret the responses. There's no need 
for vendors to try to implement the protocol. (Unless they were trying to 
write USB drivers for other operating systems)

* The RS-232 interface is very slow. Typical rates of 4800 or 9600 bps 
are used. USB is fast, offering speeds of 1.5 to 12 Mbps. At these data 
rates, it is possible to send the radio AUDIO as well as the control data 
across the interface. This opens up a whole new category of computer 
control applications.

* USB has become ubiquitious. Chip sets to support USB ought to be cheap, 
perhaps cheaper than chip sets to support RS-232. At least USB has no odd 
power requirements, such as the differential voltages required for RS-232.

Even if you do not see fit to support USB in the Model 516, I suggest you 
hold it in consideration for future Transceivers. Serial is on it's way 
out. USB appears to be here for the long haul.

Thank you for the consideration.



Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901


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