[thread closed] See the post I just made under a similar subject line for details.
Eric List Moderator www.elecraft.com _..._ On May 12, 2012, at 7:56 AM, John Ragle <[email protected]> wrote: > George... > > You're quite correct. I have one of these, currently in storage, waiting > for the day when my DELL XPS 420 shuffles off the mortal coil. > Fortunately, for $20 I could install a PCI board in the XPS 420 that > gives me a pair of COM ports, which I also did. My Parthian comment > about "planning for the succession" includes worries about the several > other PCI and PCIx boards I have in active use, most particularly the > frame grabber that allows me to 'window' my P3 operation. > > Thanks for bringing up the Edgeport boxes. They seem to be very well > thought out. > > John Ragle -- W1ZI > > ===== > > On 5/12/2012 9:07 AM, George Dubovsky wrote: >> One of the still-plentiful, proven, and inexpensive Edgeport boxes >> (USB to 4 or 8 RS-232) would seem to obselence-proof your station. >> >> 73, >> >> geo - n4ua >> >> On Sat, May 12, 2012 at 8:48 AM, John Ragle <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> It is very rare that one can find a modern PC desktop that comes >> with 1 >> or more RS-232 serial ports, just as it is becoming more and more >> difficult to find stock desktops with expansion slots on the MoBo. >> Laptops, at least newer than my ancient IBM Thinkpad, are even less >> likely to be equipped with RS-232 ports. This puts hams in an >> invidious >> position -- either use some old clunker of a desktop that came with >> RS-232 equipment, or find an expansion board that will plug into the >> MoBo of a moderately old tower, or use a USB-->RS-232 converter and go >> modern. >> >> Regarding the various items of Elecraft equipment, the choice between >> USB and RS-232 seems to have had very little to do with relative >> merits. >> It is not "which one is better?" but "which one is more suitable?" >> Apparently a substantial fraction of the brethren use superannuated >> desktops because this is a reasonable financial option. Another >> fraction >> of us use modern-day laptops, even though they promise half the >> performance at twice the price of a modern desktop. When the choice is >> between USB-->RS-232 conversion and RS-232-->USB conversion, the >> former >> is more readily available (the USB->RS-232 converters) than the >> latter. >> Again, this is just a marketing matter. >> >> Unfortunately, not all USB-->RS-232 converters are usable; some are >> "more equal than others" (apologies to George Orwell). A lot of the >> previous fuming and fussing over this topic has concerned specific >> chip >> sets and manufacturers of these converters. This is where the archived >> to-and-fro is of most utility. At first I was also a bit put off to >> discover that Elecraft relied on what I thought of as antiquated >> hardware, but in retrospect, I have gone over to the dark side and >> embraced the DB-9. I have used Firewire, USB, and RS-232, and find I >> much prefer the latter. I am fortunate to have a desktop with >> expansion >> slots, though in a bit of a quandary planning for the succession. >> >> John Ragle -- W1ZI >> >> -- >> >> Sent from my lovely old Dell XPS 420 >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]> >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> >> > > -- > Sent from my lovely old Dell XPS 420 > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
