[Ham-Mac] Sabrent USB to Serial (9-pin) DB-9 RS-232 Adapter Cable

[Dick Kriss]

Chris,

Thanks for the response.  Excellent observation that the drivers may not be
compatible with the newer Mac.  I will probably stay with the Keyspan that
works.

Dick AA5VU


On 3/15/07 9:01 AM, "Chris Smolinski" <csmolinski at blackcatsystems.com>
wrote:

>> Has anyone tried the Sabrent (less than $10) USB to Serial (9-pin) DB-9
>> RS-232 Adapter Cable on a Mac to interface with a radio?  The adapter is
>> described at
>> 
>> http://www.sabrent.com/products/specs/SBT-USC1M.htm
>> 
>> The reason for asking is the web page blurb says "... Plug-n-Play connection
>> for use with computers, notebooks, and hand held computing devices that
>> support USB" and I question if Kenwood or other radios support USB as
>> mentioned in the blurb.
> 
> Drivers for this device are here: http://www.sabrent.com/products/drivers.htm
> 
> I downloaded them, and there is an extension for Mac OS 8/9 and a
> disk image for OS X. The bad news is that this device uses the
> Prolific chipset. Others have reported that this chipset works OK on
> their system, but in the past I have found that USB/serial adapters
> using this chipset work ok on some Macs, and causes kernel panics on
> others. I've tried them on about half a dozen Macs here, it's really
> hit or miss. I personally avoid the Prolific chipset now, but it's a
> really cheap price, so if you like to gamble you might want to give
> it a try.  Or spend a few dollars more and get something that will
> work well. (You spent how many dollars on your Mac, and how many
> dollars on your radio? ;-)
> 
> Note that the OS X drive seems to be PPC only, not UB. You may be
> able to use a driver from another Prolific based adapter instead, if
> you need to run on an Intel Mac.