[SOC] The truth hurts

[Bill Cunningham K4KSR]

I'm still recovering from a nearby lightning strike that came up  
phone line to fry DSL modem, all the I/O ports on an aging 386 PC and  
miscellaneous pieces of ham gear.  XYL and son decreed that new  
computer would be early Christmas present.  After much consideration,  
decided on an iMac, also running XP with Parallels.  [a separate  
discussion for those who care].  This has required a truly second  
class fumbler to learn a totally unfamiliar operating system while  
restoring various hardware/software items from the previous  
incarnation, referred to in the family as "vocabulary enrichment  
opportunities."

One such item is the WinKey keyer that requires DB9 serial input, not  
yet knowing if it is also fried.   Ah, but the iMac has only USB  
ports.  So USB-serial adaptor was needed and ordered online at great  
saving compared to local purchase.  It arrived with drivers on a 2.5  
inch CD.  That's a neat idea for PCs with horizontal CD drive (aka  
coffee cup holder), but useless on the iMac with vertical slot in  
side.  This has led to another series of second class misadventures.   
Somewhere along the way, I asked guru son about identifiying the port  
assigned when connecting serial adaptor for WinKey.  His classic  
reply  repeated below.

"Lessee, you have a new Mac with latest technology so you can get  
away from Microsoft, but you have to run Windows on it (part time) so  
you can use some specific Windows-only software and you need USB- 
serial adaptor to operate a gizmo to control a transmitter that you  
could otherwise turn on and off with a simple hand key using a serial  
binary code that's 160+ years old."

I think this is the point where I should revert to a manual digital  
mode and give him the finger.

Bill Cunningham
K4KSR