[Elecraft] USB to serial angst

Jim Dunstan jdunstan at tbaytel.net
Sat Mar 13 16:11:59 EST 2010


At 11:08 AM 3/13/2010 -0800, you wrote:
>All in favour of a USB port on the K3?

For what purpose?  If a USB port is provided for the sole purpose of 
sending control data then there is little if any advantage over the RS232 
port .... aside from the fact your computer may not include one.  If the 
radio is provided with a USB port then it should use the full potential and 
include the provision of in/out AF streaming as well.  It is possible to 
use the USB port to both send and receive control data for CAT operation 
and stream in/out AF.  After all if we're talking about 'flaky' devices ... 
the sound card provided by most computers is at the top of the list.

If they (radio manufacturer) were to implement such a USB port then 
plugging it in would show up as a sound card in the computer.  However, the 
majority of radios don't do this ... and implementing a USB port on this 
half ---- basis in no improvement.


>Then we could forget about un-necessary, expensive , flaky  and
>crash-prone USB to serial adapters.
>THe serial port  with its RS-232 interface is obsolete. It dates back to
>the 70's if not earlier and was superseded  by USB.
>
>eric
By the way I have never paid more than about $20.00 for any RS232 card or 
external adapter ... and never had a problem installing or using any of 
them .... let alone "crashing".  The whole PC basically dates to the 70's. 
and it seems a miracle they can do what they do.

73
Jim, VE3CI





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