I think USB is problematic for ham gear unless it is limited to a
strict serial port emulation. That's because anything else probably
requires special I/O drivers to be loaded in your computer. The
software then rapidly becomes Windows-specific, which is bad for us
Linux and Mac users.
I use a 4-port USA49WLC USB to serial device from Keyspan to
communicate with all my ham gear. It comes out at ~ $35 per port.
The neat thing is that I can then talk to all my gear over one USB
cable, simplifying the wiring layout. And it works with Linux, too.
I agree that Ethernet is appealing. You'd have to add menu selections
for IP addressing, etc. Any new communication channel is going to
require a fair amount of engineering to make it work . I'd be
surprised to see it in the O II.
73 Martin AA6E
On 7/25/05, Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote:
> Since the design of the O2 may not be finalized, I'd like to toss this
> one out to the list to see what people think.
>
> I've used RS-232 based equipment since 1967. The speed has gone up over
> the years, but the main problems still remain. It's slow, it's dedicated
> to one device and it's becoming hard to find.
>
> The last PC I bought only had one RS-232 port and many of the new ones
> have none. There have been no Macintosh computers with RS-232 ports
> (although many had phone line modems) since 2000.
>
> Using a USB to RS-232 convertor is possible, but it adds expense,
> and another device that may emit unwated RF or be susceptible to it.
>
> As I see it, there are three posibilities for an new interface:
>
> 1. USB. Pretty standard, almost anything made in the last 5 years
> has one. Simple to implement.
>
> 2. FireWire. (IEE-1394). Similar to USB, much faster, IMHO overkill.
>
> 3. Ethernet. To me this is the best, but that's because I have all my
> (and my family's) computers networked. The idea of being able
> to connect to the radio from anywhere (after going through an
> apropriate fire wall) is very attractive to me.
>
> As I see it ethernet is a little to advanced for most people, so I
> think a USB interface would be just right. Then someone could write
> a simple program that runs via a command line to tune the radio.
> With a combination of it and some VoIP like Skype, you could have
> a really nice remote base.
>
> Who knows, it might even spur someone to take apart a USB to RS-232 converter
> and make a USB interface to replace the one (I think it's for the Paragon)
> that people keep asking for.
>
> Geoff.
> --
> Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm@mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM
> IL Voice: (077)-424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
> VoN Skype: mendelsonfamily. Looking for work as a CTO or consultant in
> handheld gaming, large systems development, handheld device construction, etc.
> Support amateur (ham) radio, boycott Google!!!
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--
martin.ewing@gmail.com
http://blog.aa6e.net
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