[RTTY] 4-port serial card for Windows 8.1 results

Fri Apr 25 11:38:22 EDT 2014

Tom et al, the reason I went with the standard serial port board in my new PC is because most USB-to-serial adapters will not handle 5-bit data. I think the Edgeport does, but most do not.

For years I have been running a laptop and a Sigi 4-port USB-to-serial adapter for FSK/PTT and radio control on my second radio. In WriteLog, I used "Software generated FSK" and all worked well until the BARTG 75 contest came up. WriteLog's "Software generated FSK" does not support 75 baud RTTY.

In order to run SO2R in the BARTG 75 contests, I was forced to run both radios on my one PC that had 5 legacy serial ports. I do not like SO2R on a single PC (too busy for me), so I'm looking forward to doing my standard SO2R on two PC's during BARTG 75 on Sunday!

73, Don AA5AU

>________________________________
> From: Tom Magarelli <wa2pni at verizon.net>
>To: 'Dave Greig' <daven3buo at gmail.com>; "'Joe Subich, W4TV'" <lists at subich.com> 
>Cc: 'RTTY Reflector' <rtty at contesting.com> 
>Sent: Friday, April 25, 2014 10:16 AM
>Subject: Re: [RTTY] 4-port serial card for Windows 8.1 results
> 
>
>I have been looking at this thread and I know I had purchased a Serial
>Adapter
>
>cable that went from USB 2.0 to two male serial connections.
>
>It was recommended to me that it does work well,
>
>I cannot confirm because I have not tried it yet. I have not had a need to
>use it,
>
>plus my mother board does have a serial header. I purchased for possible
>future needs.
>
>It is a Micro Connections product. Purchased on Amazon 
>
>On the package it says the CD includes drivers for Win7 - Win 8 - Vista - XP
>and Mac
>
>Here is a link:
>
>Adapter Cable
><http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Connectors-Serial-Adapter-E07-162/dp/B0032325LE
>/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1398438412&sr=8-10&keywords=usb+to+serial+port+adap
>tor> 
>
>
>
>I just thought it was easier than installing a board. Just another thought
>or possibility.
>
>
>
>Tom - WA2PNI 
>
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: RTTY [mailto:rtty-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dave Greig
>Sent: Friday, April 25, 2014 10:33 AM
>To: Joe Subich, W4TV
>Cc: RTTY Reflector
>Subject: Re: [RTTY] 4-port serial card for Windows 8.1 results
>
>
>
>Joe,
>
>Thank you very much for this information. I did not realize 8.1 had this
>capability.
>
>
>
>
>
>Thank You!
>
>Dave Greig N3BUO
>
>*801 Tactical*
>
>Phone: (682) 422-6667
>
><http://www.801tactical.com> http://www.801tactical.com
>
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>
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>
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>
>
>
>
>
>On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 11:08 PM, Joe Subich, W4TV <
><mailto:lists at subich.com> lists at subich.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>> 
>
>> Part of the problem with installing drivers in Windows 8/8.1 is the 
>
>> new hybrid sleep (fast boot) capability.  In essence, Win 8/8.1 closes 
>
>> any running applications then saves the operating system and hardware 
>
>> drivers image to disk just like hibernate.  When rebooting that old 
>
>> image is reloaded complete with all the drivers that were previously 
>
>> installed - even if the hardware changed.  If the previous image had 
>
>> drivers for hardware that was no longer present or drivers that were 
>
>> to be replaced, that conflict can cause page faults and other (BSOD) 
>
>> errors.
>
>> 
>
>> When installing new hardware the best thing one can do is to hold the 
>
>> shift key while shutting down Windows 8/8.1 before making any hardware 
>
>> change, install any new drivers, then restart Windows 8/8.1 before 
>
>> trying to run anything new.  Shift-shutdown and restart both force a 
>
>> complete (fresh) reload of the operating system and all drivers.
>
>> 
>
>> Another little known tip ... when installing new USB devices, always 
>
>> disconnect any previously connected devices and restart before 
>
>> connecting a new USB device for the first time.  This allows drivers 
>
>> for the new device to be installed with a "clean slate" and prevents 
>
>> older drivers and drivers from hardware no longer present from 
>
>> interfering with the installation of a new device.
>
>> 
>
>> 73,
>
>> 
>
>>    ... Joe, W4TV
>
>> 
>
>> 
>
>> On 4/24/2014 11:36 PM, Don Hill AA5AU wrote:
>
>> 
>
>>> Thanks to everyone who sent information on the serial cards they were 
>
>>> using in their Windows 8 computers. I purchased a new Dell
>
>>> 3847 desktop PC with Windows 8.1 and it arrived this past Monday.
>
>>> 
>
>>> On the serial card, I decided to go with a suggestion from Joe, W4TV, 
>
>>> on the Syba model SD-PEX15011 for three reasons. One is that Joe is 
>
>>> usually good about suggesting hardware (I purchased two USB sound 
>
>>> cards he recommended and they work great), secondly because this 
>
>>> particular 4-port board is the sister of the 4-port board I have been 
>
>>> using in my XP Pro machine for many years, and thirdly because of the 
>
>>> price. It is cheaper than any of the others. Although the 
>
>>> manufacturer is listed as Syba, it says "Best Connectivity"
>
>>> on the box.
>
>>> 
>
>>> I purchased the SD-PEX15011 from Newegg on Monday and it arrived today.
>
>>> 
>
>>>  <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124075>
>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124075
>
>>> 
>
>>> I installed the board this evening using the instructions that came 
>
>>> with the board. I'm sorry to report that nothing worked as it was 
>
>>> suppose to but in the end, for reasons I can't explain, all four 
>
>>> ports magically started working.
>
>>> 
>
>>> The instructions said to install the board, turn on the computer and 
>
>>> Windows would recognize it - it did not. Windows did not like the 
>
>>> board being installed and kept giving an error that it had to shut 
>
>>> down and restart because "page fault in non-paged area".
>
>>> 
>
>>> I decided to remove the board and install the driver on the disk that 
>
>>> came with the board, then re-install the board. There were Windows 8 
>
>>> drivers on the disk. Windows still did not like the board being 
>
>>> installed. On occasion it would give me the "page fault"
>
>>> error and restart, but I did notice that COM 1 was showing up and the 
>
>>> other ports were also showing in Device Manager but Windows didn't 
>
>>> know what they were. I tried re-installing the driver but it wasn't 
>
>>> working. I went online to find updated drivers. The drivers on the 
>
>>> Syba website were actually older than the ones on the disk and I 
>
>>> didn't see any for Windows 8. I did find a set of instructions for 
>
>>> Windows 7 that suggested to "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement". I 
>
>>> finally found instructions on how to do this in Windows 8.1 because 
>
>>> the instructions for "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement" on 
>
>>> Windows 8 are totally different. I am finding out that Windows 8.1 is 
>
>>> different than Window 8 in many ways.
>
>>> 
>
>>> Rebooting after "Disable Driver Signature Enforcement" helped keep 
>
>>> the PC from wanting to restart. I re-installed the drivers as 
>
>>> Administrator but the ports did not show up in Device Manager. So I 
>
>>> switched over to my non-Administrator account for no good reason 
>
>>> other than to check the Device Manager; lo and behold, all four ports 
>
>>> showed up in Device Manager.
>
>>> 
>
>>> I went ahead and tested all four ports and they all work for radio 
>
>>> control and FSK/PTT. I restarted the computer several times and have 
>
>>> not gotten the "page fault in non-paged area" error and everything 
>
>>> seems very stable.
>
>>> 
>
>>> I don't know if I would recommend this board to anyone other than to 
>
>>> someone who has time to play with it to get it to work. I think it's 
>
>>> going to be OK, but if you want to spend a little more money, maybe 
>
>>> something like a StarTech would install better. I don't know.
>
>>> 
>
>>> I will give it the smoke test in SPDX RTTY this weekend. I'm just not 
>
>>> a fan of USB-to-serial adapters for FSK. Especially with the BARTG 75 
>
>>> coming up on Sunday. Definitely need a legacy COM port for 75 baud on 
>
>>> a homebrew transistor FSK interface!
>
>>> 
>
>>> 73, Don AA5AU
>
>>> 
>
>>> 
>
>>> 
>
>>> 
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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