Ron,
I have been hearing that the PC world is moving away from COM ports for 10
years now.
Granted, the consumer products you see at Best Buy don't have COM ports, but
I wouldn't buy any manufacturer's consumer product, anyway.
All of the manufacturers also make a line of Enterprise computers (call them
business computers if you want).
I'm speaking of a Dell Laditude, Lenovo ThinkPad, Toshiba Tecra - the higher
quality products of those companies.
These still come with COM ports - but just cost twice as much as the
consumer products.
One the other hand, the enterprise product lines use tier 1 components, the
consumer product lines use tier 2 components. This is part of the cost
difference. Build quality is another part.
The advantages of tier 1 components over tier 2 components are not so great
for the consumer as they are for the enterprise, so for most people it
probably isn't worth the cost difference.
One difference though is in support. For instance Dell's hotline support
for its business products is US based (located in OKC - I used to work
there). Dell's hotline support for its consumer products is located in
India.
I don't know about you guys, but I know which one I'd rather call!
Personally, I prefer to buy off-lease business computers over buying brand
new consumer products.
For one thing, I still get a COM port! :-)
Ya gets what ya pays for!
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Ron
Notarius W3WN
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2014 5:44 PM
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Any update on a replacement for the Orion II?
You may be right Rick, but think about this...
The PC world is moving away from COM ports (and LPT printer ports as well),
in favor of USB ports. Has been for years. You can order some computers
with them (the Dell 7010 on my desk, for one), but by and large, they're
getting harder and harder to find.
So in that respect, the Eagle ought to be a trendsetter.
Yet... it's not getting a driver written... Because it's ahead of the curve?
If you really think about it... it doesn't make sense.
However, as John Henry indicated earlier, this ought not be a problem for
future rigs; if the Orions and Omni VII are supported, future rigs ought to
be supported.
If that's the real reason.
73, ron w3wn
On 04/07/14, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
My guess: for backwards compatibility
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Kimberly
Elmore
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2014 5:06 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Any update on a replacement for the Orion II?
I'll preface my query with the caveat that I'm not a software engineer nor
do I program for a living. I know C (a little) and programmed in mostly
FORTRAN when I did do a lot of programming. I've never programmed at the
hardware level. Thus, I may be woefully ignorant on many details.
Comment: It's too bad that the Alex has no interest in developing a driver
for the Eagle. Yet, he makes OmniRig available for free to the community so
in a very real sense, one gets what one pays for. OmniRig appears to be open
source, so if someone wants a fully-functional driver for the Eagle they'll
have to write it themselves.
Here's my question: Why do we need radios with COM ports? Why not radios
with USB ports that go to embedded FTDI chips? That's what my Green Heron
rotor controller has and for the most part it seems that's what people use:
a USB-to-RS232 adapter since no one puts RS232 ports on either desktop
motherboards of laptops anymore.
Kim N5OP
________________________________
From: Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP <Rick@DJ0IP.de>
To: n4py3@earthlink.net; 'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'
<tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, April 7, 2014 8:06 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Any update on a replacement for the Orion II?
GM Carl, Ron, and others,
I must say Alex's comment shocked me too, but I thought it would be easy
enough to do so I didn't even reply to him.
I tried exactly that; to send "BW=0" command (I forget the exact context -
that was 2 years ago).
Unfortunately my modified driver crashed the software.
When you look at the list of supported radios, basically every man and his
dog is on the list.
It's a crying shame that the Eagle is not on that list.
Ron brings up some pretty good points.
The fate of a hardware product may depend to some extent on the motivation
of some middleware programmer who may have a personal agenda. On the other
hand, there are always alternatives and for personal use, it's not problem
to choose another.
WHAT WE NEED IS FOR MORE COMPANIES TO BRING OUT RADIOS WITH SERIAL PORTS!
"FLrig" is a similar product. It doesn't support quite as many radios as
Omni-Rig, but it DOES SUPPORT THE EAGLE!
It is also a freeware and its author is (or used to be) a Ten-Tec user and
member of our group. In fact if I recall correctly, he even has an Eagle.
FLrig is used by the "FL" software (i.e., FLdigi), however I am unaware of
any 3rd party software that uses FLrig.
I'm not an insider on this stuff. I only got interested because I wanted to
get my Eagle working fully with Win-Test.
I have never succeeded. My only hope is Carl's suggestion.
Problem is, I don't have the time to throw at the problem right.
Seems there aren't enough days in the hour.
I wanted to announce a new antenna at Dayton - promised Scott I'd have them
ready for him by then, but the guy who was to build the first batch broke
his hand and is out for 6 to 8 weeks. Looks like I will end up building
them myself, together with my XYL who is thrilled beyond belief. No telling
what all that's gonna add to her honey-do list.
As it stands, I'll be pushing it to get the first batch of antennas ready in
time for Friedrichshafen in late June.
I hope I can find time to make this work before the next contest season
begins.
Carl, I live in a great area; wine festival every weekend during the summer
and fall months.
You're welcome to come for a visit! ;-)
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Carl
Moreschi
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2014 2:22 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Any update on a replacement for the Orion II?
You know the Omni Rig guy probably thought that because the Eagle uses USB,
it did not make a comport. If he knew it still appeared as a comport, I bet
he would add the commands.
After a bandwidth command is sent, all a program has to do is then send a 0
bandwidth command to restore operation of the front panel bandwidth knob.
Carl Moreschi N4PY
58 Hogwood Rd
Louisburg, NC 27549
www.n4py.com
On 4/7/2014 4:40 AM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
> For instance, Ham Radio Delux interfaces to Omni-Rig and can be used
> with any of the 75 radios on the list.
> There is lots of software using it.
>
> TEN-TEC PLEASE, whatever the Orion II replacement is, make sure it is
> supported by the Author of Omni-Rig (loan him a radio for 6 months).
> That will assure compatibility with a wide portfolio of software programs.
> (TNX)
>
> And maybe JH could write an Omni-Rig driver for the Eagle.
> I'm sure it's just a 5 minute hack if you start from the ORION2's
> Omni-Rig driver.
> To my knowledge, the only two commands needing adjustment are the
> bandwidth and mode.
> (TNX AGN)
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
>
> _______________________________________________
> TenTec mailing list
> TenTec@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|