[Elecraft] [K3] Built in USB interface for K3

Fri May 21 12:25:36 EDT 2010

This issue has been bounced around a lot and perhaps it is now overdone.

I do want to say that in my consumer experience the serial port has
always been a beast to work with.  You constantly have to watch port
settings and the OS seems to change things all the time, causing the
device to fail to work properly.  

By contrast, every USB device I have used has worked correctly right out
of the box, and the OS seems able to find the device and correctly
allocate it.  Plus the bandwidth on USB is considerably wider, allowing
for much faster data transfer as well as the opportunity to power the
device directly from the USB connection.  The only problem I have seen
is when a new OS comes out and updated drivers are not available.

The other problem with staying with serial ports is that most computers
sold today do not have them.  This has been a significant problem for me
in a number of practical field uses.  I have tried many USB to serial
adapters and have had wildly inconsistent results, and even where they
work they have been inconsistent and sometimes mess up the port
settings.

All that being said, I now have a USB-Serial adapter that appears to
work properly and I am prepared to move on.  

If HAM radio can find a way, as most other equipment manufacturers have
done, to use USB interfaces reliably, then I will be happy.  IF they
don't choose to go that way I can use the adapter.  This is after all
HAM radio and we are supposed to have to tinker with the equipment.

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Joe Subich, W4TV
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 9:01 AM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] Built in USB interface for K3

> And, I know that I have lived in the Apple Mac world for a long time
> but I am finding it hard to understand why USB requires custom device
> drivers on Windows.  I know that I do not need that on my Mac
> computer.  The only time I have ever needed to install a custom
> driver for USB is because of the ham radio RS232 interface needs.

That is absolutely untrue as I have learned recently ...

Like Microsoft, although Apple will recognize a USB device in
System Profiler, it does not supply the drivers necessary for
the operating system to talk to those devices (e.g USBSerial).
It is the responsibility of the device manufacturer to supply
the appropriate operating system driver and install it (or
provide instructions for the user to install it manually).

In an overwhelming number of devices, USB is nothing other
than an alternative to the 8250 equivalent UART.  "USB"
simply embeds the UART in the accessory device and extends
the CPU peripheral bus to the device.  It is a way for the
computer manufacturer to move COSTS to the peripheral maker.

Except for very few devices, the communication between the
UART and device is a simple serial data stream - no different
than if the UART had remained in the computer and the data
transported as RS-232 signal levels.  The ONLY advantage to
USB is the ability to support higher data rates - up to 3
megabits per second - for mass storage and data intensive
devices like digital cameras and other A/V devices.

73,

    ... Joe, W4TV

On 5/21/2010 10:05 AM, Phil Hystad wrote:
>> Industrial devices are still, and remain, invested in RS232.
>> Maybe there's a reason?
>
>
> This is a very surprising statement.  The only RS232 interfaces I
> see lingering around are from the ham radio community.  So, do you
> mean the ham radio "industry"?
>
> And, I know that I have lived in the Apple Mac world for a long time
> but I am finding it hard to understand why USB requires custom device
> drivers on Windows.  I know that I do not need that on my Mac
> computer.  The only time I have ever needed to install a custom
> driver for USB is because of the ham radio RS232 interface needs.
>

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html