[UK-CONTEST] USB Sound Cards

[Simon Pearson]

Hi Chris,

> Back from the Friedrichshafen Convention, lots of people to talk to, lots of
> beer, temperature 26 to 30c, lots of high power stuff in the flea market,
> lots of beer, lots to see on the Optibeam booth(!!), lots of beer. Four days
> of really hard work!

Indeed - I have only just recovered! What a way to celebrate my 
birthday too, in Friedrichshafen with lots of ham friends drinking 
copious amounts of beer. Can't beat it! Also, how pleasant drinking 
beer with no crap added, thus waking up without a hangover! The end 
result? Drinking yet more beer... ;)

> Anyway, talking to Jozef on the microHam booth, in answer to my question on
> how he integrates Keyer and loudspeakers, he said he uses an outboard USB
> sound card just for the Keyer. It was about 50mm diameter with the 3 input
> sockets and one output going to USB port.  Anyone know where these can be
> sourced!

I too am not sure on the 50mm diameter type Chris, but I found a 
Trust external USB device with true Dolby 5.1 support. If size is 
not an issue (it's about double the size of what you're after), then 
the cost of this device is £27.99 inc VAT from ebuyer.com. It has 
been rated 5/5 from 6 customer reviews, too. I use ebuyer for all my 
computer components - very efficient and cheap.

The URL was very long, so use this instead which will redirect you 
to the product information page: http://a.vu/t8r

Creative Labs also sell an external 5.1 device (seems that non-5.1 
devices are now hard come by?) but I cannot find the dimensions of 
this on the Creative Labs website. Cost is slightly more expensive 
at £39.99 inc VAT on ebuyer, URL: http://a.vu/t8u.

Hope this helps.

73,

-- 
Simon A. Pearson, M0CLW