[RTTY] USB to Serial adapters

[Bill Barnes, N3JIX]

>> Damn,  do I hate USB.
>
> Thom, I don't want to sound mean, really, but I have to wonder why hams
> buy
> stuff that doesn't have what they need and then struggle so with trying to
> recover.  Dell, for example, makes some nice laptops that HAVE serial
> ports.
> When I shopped for laptops, I looked specifically for serial ports, and I
> even took a disk into a retail store and ran the WriteLog SoundCheck
> program
> on it to make sure it scored the highest score.  HI  That said, it seems
> like the MicroHam interface is getting good reviews.  Good luck - 73, John

That being said, there are always alternatives.  I know some people make
PCMCIA serial cards, and they should give you FSK.  I'm using a 4 port
serial PCI board in my desktop, just for more serial ports.  I know every
generic USB to RS-232 adapter I've tried does rig control with my icom, so
that part is fine.  (I have three different ones now. the Belkin did FSK
ONLY under windows 2000 pro...)

It's that 5-bit baudot FSK stuff that most USB adapters can't deal with. 
Why would a USB pc manufatures make something that does 5-bit when the
large percentage of serial stuff does either 7-bit or 8-bit?  So you can't
really be mad at the manufactures.  I've read AA5AU's website on that
MicroHam Interface that does FSK, and that seems promising for the long
term solution.  Why?  Because it's specifically designed to do rig control
and specifically engineered to do FSK..  I think anyone that bought a
laptop for  RTTY should seriously consider spending the cash for that... 
It's your only safe bet on something that WILL WORK.


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73, de Bill, N3JIX