[TRLog] com port trouble

[D. R. Evans]

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On 21 Jun 00, at 5:31, n6tr@teleport.com wrote:

> 
> > Com 1 in my Dell Latitude works OK for networking but will not key the =
> > radio when set up for that purpose.  The base stays at -5v when keyed. 
> > = Fortunately the LPT side is fine for keying, but I'd like to have an =
> > idea what's going on.  Any ideas?
> 
> I would like to understand this myself.  Can you get a schematic 
> of your serial port (he asks with not hope).
> 
> Sounds like the hardware isn't "IBM compatable".
> 

Although I've never seen anything documented, I have come to the conclusion 
that the COM ports in most laptops are somehow slightly different from 
those in desktops.

I arrived at this conclusion while trying to reprogram my PIEXX TS930 
board. Following the instructions to the letter, I could never get a 
communication between the rig and any laptop that I tried (which was 
several of them, of different vintages and from different manufacturers). 
As soon as I used a desktop instead of a laptop, the problem went away.

(I realise that this is slightly different, since the PIEXX programmer is a 
Windows program, so it was more a question that the drivers were suspect; 
but the conclusion that there's something fishy about at least some laptop 
COM ports seems reasonable. FYI, one of the laptops that failed was a Dell 
that would be about 15 months old now.)

  Doc  N7DR


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----------------------------------------------------------
D.R. Evans N7DR / G4AMJ                      N7DR@arrl.net

"Palindor" has been republished:
   http://www.sff.net/people/N7DR/drevans.htp
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