[SFDXA] StarTech 4-port PCI-E Serial Interface

[Hank Phillips]

Once again, I find myself in need of a newer Ham Radio only computer, so I
started looking around for hardware.  The biggest challenge has always been
to find a standards compliant multi-port RS-232 board that doesn't suck up
all of my bucks and most of the space in the case.  I may have stumbled on
the right choice, but I would like to know if anyone has tried this:

 

http://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapters/Serial-Cards-Adapters/4-port-PCI-Expr
ess-Serial-Card~PEX4S553S

 

Newegg.com sells it for $108.00, still a bit pricy, but take a look at the
specs:  ESD protected, single slot with Dongle, single PCI-E lane with
jumper selectable signaling voltages and a power supply connector so real +
and - 12 volts is available if that is the selected signaling voltage.  

 

FWIW, I have used much cheaper PCI-E stuff that signals at +- 5 volts on
network equipment like routers and switches without any problems, but some
older Ham equipment like rotator controllers balked at that.

 

The only reservation I have about the specs is the ESD protection, since
they aren't forthcoming with the engineering used to achieve the advertised
15KV.  I think to really get there, you probably need total optical
isolation, with each end providing its own power and transmitting down some
length of fiber, but I could be missing something here.  OS is w7x64.

 

Comments requested.   Best 73, Hank