[WriteLog] W5XDMulti+ Keyer and USB serial

[Dick Green]

Steve,

Very slow. I went back to the e-mail archive of my interaction with Wayne on
this during beta test and it looks like each 10-bit command takes about two
seconds to execute -- way too slow for the protocol to work effectively. The
delay is not in the USB-serial interface setting the signals for commands
outbound to the keyer. The delay occurs when the driver is reading the
signal states on the pins used by the keyer to send responses back to the
PC. Also, I found some notes that the DSR pin gets latched high permanently
by a bug in the Entrega driver, which interferes with the protocol. Wayne
could have configured around this problem, but not the delay on reading
commands from the keyer.

I have a single USB-serial port from D-Link that I'll try with the keyer if
I get a chance. I'm not optimistic because it couldn't do rig control from
my notebook.

73, Dick WC1M

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Baron - KB3MM [mailto:SteveBaron at StarLinX.com]
> Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 9:08 PM
> To: dick.green at valley.net
> Subject: Re: [WriteLog] W5XDMulti+ Keyer and USB serial
>
>
> How slow is slow ?
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dick Green" <dick.green at valley.net>
> To: <keith at kregli.com>; <writelog at contesting.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 00:10
> Subject: RE: [WriteLog] W5XDMulti+ Keyer and USB serial
>
>
> > I ran into this problem with the Entrega 4-port USB serial device back
> when
> > beta testing the W5XD+ keyer. The problem is that the keyer protocol is
> > implemented by switching several RS-232 signals on and off. I can't
> remember
> > which ones, but probably RTS, CTS, DTR and the like. Wayne and I found
> that
> > these signals switch very, very slowly on a USB serial port
> compared with
> a
> > standard RS-232 UART-based port, and this affects the keyer protocol
> > throughput so much that the interface was useless. I complained
> about the
> > slow switching speed to Entrega, but got no response (they
> disappeared and
> > were acquired by Intel, which has since dropped the product.)
> >
> > It's interesting that this is not just an Entrega problem. This is the
> first
> > report I've heard of it on a non-Entrega device. Is anyone
> using the W5XD+
> > keyer successfully on a different brand USB serial port?
> >
> > I had thought that Entrega didn't bother to fix the problem because
> normally
> > the switching speed of the RS-232 signals is relatively unimportant
> > (although it could be a factor for hardware flow control at high data
> > rates.) But perhaps this is an inherent problem with USB serial ports.
> > That's hard to believe -- I can't think of any reason why RS-232 signal
> > switching on USB serial ports should be so slow. It's true
> that, unlike a
> > UART-based port, the device is translating a serial stream of commands
> from
> > the device driver into high and low voltage states on the pins,
> but if it
> > can do that on the Send Data and Receive Data pins (2 & 3) fast
> enough for
> > 156K baud, then it ought to be able to flip the other signals just as
> fast.
> >
> > 73, Dick WC1M
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Keith Regli [mailto:keith at kregli.com]
> > > Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 6:25 PM
> > > To: writelog at contesting.com
> > > Subject: RE: [WriteLog] W5XDMulti+ Keyer and USB serial
> > >
> > >
> > > I see a similar behavior on the Entrega/PortGear device.
> Wayne posted a
> > > note a few months ago mentioning the behavior, so I'm guessing it's
> > > somewhere on his list to try and figure out why it happens.
> > >
> > > Keith Regli (K7KAR)
> > > mailto:keith at kregli.com
> > > http://www.kregli.com
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > ...
> > > When I move the W5XD keyer to the USB port (com5) I do get rig control
> > > for
> > > the FT1000mp OK. But now I get a very strange behavior. It
> takes about 4
> > >
> > > seconds to switch focus from one radio to the other !!! When you click
> > > on a
> > > call, the call enters instantaneously but 4 seconds later the focus
> > > switches to that entry window (so I guess any transmission would go to
> > > the
> > > wrong radio). In further investigation, this has to do with
> CW generated
> > > by
> > > W5XD multi+. CW, PC generated does not cause the delay in focus
> > > switching.
> > >
> > > Is any one else using the W5XD multi+ keyer on a USB serial port?  And
> > > if
> > > so what type of USB serial device. This is the first thing that seems
> > > not
> > > to work on the RocketPort in this computer.
> > > ...
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
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> >
>