[Elecraft] How 'bout a USB interface?

[Jessie Oberreuter]

On Tue, 16 Jul 2002, Bill Coleman wrote:

> A USB interface would require drivers on the host computer -- but it 
> would result in a functional interface. One that applications could call 
> and get results. Rather than having applications encode strings to a 
> serial port, and try to decipher the strings the K2 sends back.

    The encode/decode process is essentially what a driver does. Also
remember that USB is fundamentally a shared high-speed serial port.  The PC
chipsets just make it look like a PCI bus.
     If you are looking to write software, the approach should be to
define something like an "OpenRadio" interface standard (didn't I see a
call for this in QST or QEX a few years back?).  This frees application
writers from the intricacies of the various hardware interfaces, and
provides driver writers with the motivation to implement drivers for
available real world radio and physical interfaces.


--
Jessie Oberreuter
joberreu@moselle.com
"He's a bit on edge, Mr. Johnston -- he hasn't slept since 1945."