[TenTec] Ju;iter/Pegasus RS232 Communication vs TCP/IP

[Duane Grotophorst]

--- Robert Dwiggins II
<robert.dwiggins@alumni.utexas.net> wrote:
> Hello All,
> 

> What is the maximum baud rate between the Peg/Jup
> and the computer when
> using either radio under software control?

It is fixed at 57,600.

> I'm going to purchase a home in the near future, so
> I have been considering
> purchase of a Jup or a Peg as a housewarming present
> for myself.  At this
> time, my feeling is that the Jupiter would be better
> for me.

The main advantage of a Jupiter over a Pegasus is that
you do have more versatility by virtue of having
traditional controls AND 100% computer control.

>  I'm a little
> worried with manufacturers removing RS232 ports from
> computers these days
> that the Peg could be orphaned fairly shortly
> whereas a Jupiter would at
> least continue working, although without computer
> control.  I realize I
> could get a USB to RS232 adapter, but that's a very
> interim solution.

While RS232 ports may go away on future generations of
computers the current great performing computers are
more than capable of handling everything that the
Pegasus/Jupiter could ever do. My thinking is that
when RS232 ports go away there will also be add-in
boards available for some time afterwards. Furthermore
there will come a day where people will be giving away
those 2+ GHz machines because they will eventually
become hopelessly obsolete in time like 486’s today.
When that day comes and new computers are without RS
232 ports, I'll just collect a few of those free 2G
machines and squirrel them away in the closet,
essentially I'll then have a lifetime supply of
Pegasus control computers! Just like there are
literally millions of NOS tubes floating around out
there in Ham radio land now to support the vintage
boat anchors.

> Personally, I'd rather Tentec et al simply use
> standard networking hardware
> (ethernet and CAT5 cable using TCP/IP) to accomplish
> the communications, but
> I guess that would involve installation in the radio
> of some sort of CPU and
> ROM with an OS that is smart enough to do TCP/IP.

Without doubt this would be revolutionary leap in
technology, I believe comparable to the introduction
of the vacuum tube long ago. Imagine if everyone
involved with radio in the early part of the last
century decided to ignore that “new fangled” vacuum
tube technology, but yet that is exactly the pervasive
attitude in Ham radio today when it comes to tightly
integrating computer technology with radio. For what
its worth I believe it is Ham gear buyers in general
who have this attitude rather than the manufactures,
after all the manufacturers will only build what
people will buy.
 
> With TCP/IP ethernet
> between computer and transceiver, there would be no
> distance limitation, and
> the "hooks" would already be there for one to
> operate the radio remotely.
> Neither Tentec nor its competitors seem to be moving
> in this direction, but
> perhaps they should.
> 
This is my single biggest single disappointment of the
Orion, not panel color, not monochrome displays. I was
really hoping that Ten Tec would have raised the bar
in computer interfacing technology. As it is now it
will always be constrained by its RS232 interface
technology.

> Am I just worrying overmuch, or would rigs really be
> significantly enhanced
> if they communicated with their respective host
> computers via a network than
> simply via RS232?

No you are not worrying too much; you are actually
being progressive and are thinking into the future,
“advancement of the radio art” if you will. I believe
that there is a huge potential to completely redefine
the way we interact with our radios.

One prime example I can think of is how I “visualize”
the radio spectrum as I’m tuning around the band. I
don’t think about a series discrete numbers but
instead visualize a 3 dimensional frequency, amplitude
and time. I really want to see that represented on my
computer screen in real-time, then it is just a matter
of pointing and clicking on the spectrum features that
are present. If you are familiar with the typical
PSK31 waterfall it is conceptually similar to what I
want the main tuning mechanism of my radio to be
designed around. Another completely untapped potential
of computer technology in radio is for the various
digital modes to be natively implemented in the radio
itself and/or stream the raw digital data to a host
computer. You also touch on the potential of
networking in ham radio, imagine having 3 or 4 radios
and a couple of mics, all these mic signals could be
digitized and then fed to each radio as needed over
the network. You could do whatever audio processing
you want along the way. Today those things all have to
be done via mostly analog means and a rat’s nest of
mic or line level signal leads.

All the supporting technology to do this exists today
and is not expensive. What is really needed is a will
to pursue it, and that must come from us the radio
users/buyers, until that happens radio technology will
not change much. Hams really do need to start thinking
outside of the “radio box.”

Duane
N9DG



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