[Elecraft] USB to serial angst

[Joe Planisky]

Comments embedded.


On Mar 14, 2010, at 11:41 AM, Eric Manning wrote:

>
>> Placing a USB port in the K3 would simply move the USB UART
>> currently found in the USB to serial converter onto the KIO3
>> board.
> Correct, and would thus avoid the un-necessary and superfluous  
> packaging
> and connector costs of the USB/RS232 dongle.
>> ...

>>  Going to USB requires a substantial added
>> investment by the manufacturer and a major ongoing support
>> cost.
>>
> True, depending on what you mean by substantial and major.
> But avoids us customers being forced to  buy thousands of those stupid
> and crash-prone dongles.

So wait a second.  You admit that putting a USB interface in the K3  
would essentially be repackaging the same chips that are in the  
dongles into the K3.  But then you condemn those dongles (and by  
association the chips in them) as "stupid" and "crash-prone".   How  
will putting the same chips into the K3 make them any less "stupid"  
and "crash-prone"?

If my external dongle doesn't work with my particular hardware and/or  
software, I can go out and buy a different one for less than $20.   
Yes, an irritation and an inconvenience.  But if my K3 (with the  
hypothetical built-in USB interface) doesn't work with my hardware/ 
software, then what do I do?

73
--
Joe KB8AP