[Elecraft] Real serial ports

[Bill W2BLC]

I still buy the parts and put my own computers together - hence, any new 
computer I have is equipped with real serial ports. I get the cards from 
either Tiger Direct or one of the other parts suppliers that proliferate 
on the Internet. They are cheap and plug right into the motherboard. A 
warning - be sure the motherboard has a place to plug them into (some do 
not).

That said, laptoppers are out of luck on this. In that case, get the 
real thing right from Elecraft. Then you know it will work. Saving 
pennies is not worth the headaches.

I leave my K3 connected to the computer at all times so I can use HRD 
(old version 5.xx). The rest of the K-Line gets connected when necessary 
for updates or memory management.

On another subject - what to do with the old XP machine???  Dedicate it 
to the K-Line and shut off modems - only use them when connected to 
Elecraft for firmware updates. Or, download the updates to a thumb drive 
on another computer. You could do Linux - but, that is another story.

Bill Clarke K-Line