[Elecraft] Is anyone using a Hardware Data Switch instead of LPBridge?

[Lynn W. Taylor, WB6UUT]

Don,

In the relatively early days of Packet Radio there were more than a few 
multi-port NET-ROM nodes that were assembled by tying three (or more) 
TNC-2s together with a relatively simple diode combiner.

I may even still have the diagram for combiner.  It wasn't powered, 
didn't have anything more complex than diodes.

The TNC-2 used normal 1488/1489 chips for receivers and drivers, and 
took slight advantage of the fact that the receiver didn't strictly 
"need" RS-232 levels (that 0v was as good as -3v).

Serial errors did occur when two or more ports tried to talk at once, 
but NET-ROM ran AX-25 on the serial port and the errors got handled that 
way.

73 -- Lynn

On 1/5/2015 8:59 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
> Since RS-232 is a point-to-point protocol, multiple TX drivers cannot 
> exist together.