As others have said on the group, if possible home brew the sound card interface. They are very simple and many examples can be found. I went to my local computer recycler and got two old modem cards for free, and pulled the transformers for isolating the sound signals. All in all the most expensive component was a new box to put it all in which was less than $5.
You can find USB rig control computer interfaces on ebay for less than $10. No need for all of the complexity of an expensive interface, which unless you are always changing rigs is in my mind overkill. So now you need to know where best to spend your money, between a new radio and an antenna. If your present radio does not have DSP in it then go for that first. I was delighted with the improvements that this feature makes when I got back into the hobby and bought something to replace an ageing TS830 two years back. I went for the Icom 7000, but any with DSP will probably serve you. I especially liked the 7000 as I have only the head unit on my desk, thus there is no bulk to find space for on the desktop. You mention a screwdriver antenna so I presume that you must be working mobile as otherwise there is no real need for a screwdriver, again the 7000 fits well in that environment. All the best in your decision making, let us all know on the list what you finally decide on doing. Cheers - Andy - VE3NVK --- In digitalradio@yahoogroups.com, "Gmail - Kevin, Natalia, Stacey & Rochelle" <spar...@...> wrote: > > Hi All, > > I am in the proceeds of purchasing a new piece of radio equipment. > I am tossing up between buying a new radio, new screwdriver antenna or a new > sound interface. > The first two are a lot more then the last. > But that depends on which one I decide to buy. > I had a look at the Rigblaster Pro, but at US$299 I felt this was a little > high (I could be wrong here) > I also looked at the Tigertronic at around $100 (a bit better price) > > My interest is in using it with my TS-480S/AT and any future rig I decide to > buy. > I am using all the digital modes. > > I would like it to be used on a couple of radios but that is not a high > priority. > > I know this is very limited but what else is there to the interface. > Some I have heard have better filtering and protection. > > Any thoughts would be grateful, direct would be fine too, see my address in > the header. > > Regards > > Kevin, ZL1KFM. >
