[RTTY] Intel NUC, anyone?

[Peter Laws]

So I ended up getting a tall i3 and a 16-GB SODIMM (leaving me a slot
for another one just like it down the road).   The 40-GB 2.5" SSD I
had turned out to be ... not really big enough for W10.  Yes, I got
rid of hiberfil.sys and removed a bunch of other stuff and had about
18 GB free when I was done but I could see this would be a pain point
in the future so picked up a 120 GB SanDisk at the local Blue Polo and
Khaki place.  I thought about a "certified refurb" but the fact that
the NUCs will run on 12 V dc realllllly got my attention.  I'll need
to get a 12 V dc-capable display at some point, but that's later.

Now my problem is that the NUC has no serial ports.  I *knew* this but
hadn't *thought* about it if you know what I mean.  I have a Siig
4-port serial to USB adapter (no idea which chipset) and, I think a
single port Keyspan (no idea there either) somewhere but then there's
the UART-not-liking-45.45-baud thing.  I googled around and came to
Don AA5AU's page and was reminded of EXTFSK ... I gather this will let
me use just about any USB-serial adapter for RTTY?  Does it also
support 75-baud?  Seems like it was limited to only 45.45 at one point
but was it maybe updated recently?

Enquiring minds want to know!  And I know Chen's opinion of hard-keyed
FSK ... :-D   The serial line will then go to the RigBlaster+ and then
to the IC-746Pro.

Peter

On Sun, Oct 1, 2017 at 12:29 PM, Jeff Stai <wk6i.jeff at gmail.com> wrote:
> Another option is to purchase one of the many PCs coming off lease and are
> refurbished. You can find these on Amazon, Newegg, and so on. With these
> units you have the opportunity to stay at Win7 if you wish, they often have
> a native serial port, support for two monitors, and have some flavor of PCI
> card slot under the hood. Prices can be under $200, even. Have fun! - jeff
> wk6i
>
> On Sat, Sep 30, 2017 at 1:40 PM, Peter Laws <plaws0 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I've been dancing around replacing the PC at N5UWY (2006 Dell Precision
>> 670
>> with a Xeon or two - I forget - and 16 GB RAM) for quite some time now but
>> have now been introduced to Intel's little NUC boxes.  If you don't mind a
>> Celery processor, they're really cheap.  As soon as you make the jump to a
>> Core i3 (or i5 or i7), the price jumps up a lot but still +/-$300 if you
>> don't go nuts.
>>
>> Some cases have room for a 2.5" disk, some don't.  No room inside for
>> "cards" but no one cares.  Some do have MB headers for serial ports if you
>> are desperate.  Plenty of USB 2 and 3 and DP/Thunderbolt and HDMI and SATA
>> connectors depending on which version you get.  These things also run on
>> "12-19 V dc", which opens up interesting possibilities.
>>
>> So my question is this ... how much of the processing for RTTY is done by
>> the sound device (avoiding $0.99 USB dongles) and how much is done by the
>> CPU?  Will their least expensive Core i3 be adequate?  I'm assuming the
>> answer is yes but really need more expert advice.  What about for more
>> DSP-intensive stuff like the JT modes?
>>
>>
>> Here's an example:
>> https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=56-102-168
>>
>>
>> --
>> Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train!
>> _______________________________________________
>> RTTY mailing list
>> RTTY at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rtty
>
>
>
>
> --
> Jeff Stai ~ wk6i.jeff at gmail.com
> Twisted Oak Winery ~ http://www.twistedoak.com/
> Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/twistedoak



-- 
Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train!