[Elecraft] Fake FTDI chips

Joe Subich, W4TV lists at subich.com
Mon Apr 14 16:14:34 EDT 2014


No, John, I read Ross's post correctly.  Even if Elecraft were to use
a "known" USB chip, they would still be stuck providing drivers for
obsolete operating systems long after the OS and chipset vendors stopped
supporting the chip set and OS simply because amateurs insist that every
product be supported for eternity and a day.

73,

    ... Joe, W4TV


On 4/14/2014 3:30 PM, John Marvin wrote:
> Joe, I think you read Ross's post differently than intended. I don't
> think Ross was suggesting that Elecraft do their own USB to RS232
> converter chip or provide a native USB interface with custom Elecraft
> drivers (although there would potentially be other advantages to a true
> USB interface, the driver challenge you mention would probably outweigh
> those advantages). He was suggesting that Elecraft use a standard (e.g.
> FTDI) converter chip inside the box (I'm not sure a retrofit would make
> sense, but this would be a change going forward). From the perspective
> of the computer, it would not see anything different from an external
> converter, and you would use the same drivers.
>
> The supposed advantage is that by buying the converter chips directly
> Elecraft would be in a better position to ensure that the chips weren't
> counterfeit. However, since Elecraft is supplying converters to their
> customers and is buying them in bulk, it would seem to me that they may
> be able to get most of the way there by working with a reliable supplier
> and doing the necessary checking to make sure that the converters they
> are buying don't  contain counterfeit chips.
>
> John
> AC0ZG
>
> On 4/14/2014 1:00 PM, Joe Subich, W4TV wrote:
>>
>> Then _Elecraft_ would need to worry about continuously updated and
>> *signed* drivers for Windows (including Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP
>> compatible drivers 15 year after the operating system is no longer
>> supported), OS-9, OS-X, and 57 varieties of LINUX.
>>
>> Far better to stick with RS-232 and leave the _USER_ be responsible
>> for his on computer interfacing.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>>    ... Joe, W4TV
>>
>
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