At 08:58 AM 12/20/2001 -0600, FireBrick wrote:
>I run a dual com port card from SIIG, pci format, that provides the
>additional com ports I need.
Lots of people seem to be spending bigger bucks than they have to to add
one or two additional COM ports. For example, at CompUSA (admittedly not
the low-price leader) the single-port SIIG card is $39.99 and the dual-port
card is $57.65.
I have recently purchased two of the CompUSA-branded (FMI)
2-serial/1-parallel port PCI expansion cards for a mere $29.99 each. They
are both working flawlessly in two different Dell systems running Windows XP:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=271773
This is an IRQ-sharing card, i.e. it probably won't work too well under
DOS. The card uses an NetMOS 9835 chipset and drivers are available on the
Internet from:
http://www.netmos.com/support_driver.html#nm9735
There are Windows XP drivers, though the driver isn't digitally signed, it
installs and works anyway. The default COM port assignments (in my case
COM5 and COM6) can be changed through the device manager to suit your
needs. I was able to rearrange a few things in the device manager so that
built-in serial is COM1, modem is COM2, and the two additional ports are
COM3 and COM4.
The nice thing about this card is that you get a 25-pin COM port in
addition to a 9-pin COM port. Some of the cards only have two 9-pin ports
on the bulkhead. I have a homebrew RTTY FSK interface that has a
hard-wired DB-25 cable, so being able to plug right into a 25-pin connector
(without using a 9-to-25 pin adapter) was really nice. Also, since the
card provides an LPT port (some of the cards only give you 1 or 2 serial
ports), you can dedicate your existing LPT port to a CW interface (if your
software supports it) and the other to your printer.
A great deal all around, IMHO.
73 - Jim AD1C
--
Jim Reisert AD1C, 7 Charlemont Court, North Chelmsford, MA 01863
USA +978-251-9933, <jjreisert@alum.mit.edu>, http://www.ad1c.com
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