[aprssig] FW: Elcom uTNT TNCs

Thu Jan 6 21:48:07 EST 2005

As of a few minutes ago (call it 1840 PST), their site was displaying
the Apache test page.

Hopefully that's just a temporary state.....

On Thu, 2005-01-06 at 15:29 -0800, Scott Miller wrote:
> I've been waiting over a month for mine.  Apparently some have been waiting
> more than two months.  Not a big problem in itself, but I've received no
> notice of any delays, and my email asking for status two days ago hasn't
> been answered yet.
> 
> I think the biggest deficiency in this product (and it's not a problem for
> most users, I imagine) is the lack of openness.  I don't like buying ham
> equipment that doesn't at least include a schematic.  I'm not even sure what
> type of CPU it uses.  And apparently there's no hope of having the firmware
> open-sourced.
> 
> I bought mine for SAR use, though, so none of that matters particularly.  I
> just wanted something simple to put on a laptop to use with mapping software
> that doesn't support AGWPE.  Might have to order a TNC-X to fill that
> requirement in time for a demo, since I still have no idea when to expect my
> uTNT.  Kudos to John for making that such an open product, and being so fast
> to answer questions and provide help.
> 
> Scott
> N1VG
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Eric H. Christensen" <kf4otn at earthlink.net>
> To: "'TAPR APRS Mailing List'" <aprssig at lists.tapr.org>;
> <aprsfirenet at yahoogroups.com>; <CarolinaAPRS at yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 3:17 PM
> Subject: [aprssig] FW: Elcom uTNT TNCs
> 
> 
> Forwarded information...
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Loring Kutchins [mailto:kutchins at comcast.net]
> Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 17:41
> To: wl2kemcomm at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [wl2kemcomm] Elcom uTNT TNCs
> 
> 
> 
> I promised to report my experience with Elcom's neat new micro-TNC,
> called the uTNT. I received my order, after a long delay, just after
> Christmas. My first impression of this little gizmo is that it is
> exactly what a modern-day 1200-baud TNC should be. Easy to set up and
> use, extremely small, portable, and a dream for portable operators
> who want to be burdened by nothing more than their laptop and a
> lightweight rig. With the uTNT, the TNC becomes a lump in the cable
> between your USP port and the data socket on your tranceiver. Mine
> lives with my cables in my laptop case. No extra power wires, no ugly
> hassle. The little unit operates as a full TNC2 clone in command
> mode, a computerless APRS tracker, an APRS (UI) digipeater, and as a
> KISS TNC. It is directly supported by Packet Engine Pro and software
> that supports KISS and TNC2 commands. It is powered from the USB
> port, an internal battery, or from an external 12VDC source, your
> choice. There is only one button and three LEDs on the case.
> 
> The first thing to do is to add the proper connector to the radio-end
> of the supplied cable. It plugs into a 10-conductor RJ-45 connector
> and supplies the normal TNC connections, plus an auxiliary power
> input, a serial input and output for a GPS, and an analog data input.
> Of course, you can wire the cable as you deem appropriate for almost
> any application.
> 
> Then, plug it into your USP port, and insert the mini-CD containing
> software. WinXP immediately finds the device, and asks to load a
> virtual serial port driver. Simply point the wizard to the mini-CD
> and click. It's installed an running.
> 
> Next, install the maintenance utility (written by George Rossopolous,
> SV2AGW--Surprise! It looks like Packet Engine Pro's brother). Page
> through friendly setup screens -- Serial Port, Flash Bios, TNC2 mode
> setup, APRS Tracker setup, UNDigi setup, and Battery
> Maintenance/charging. Setup is intuitive. From here, you can flash
> the onboard memory with a new bios version, which means new features
> are easily added from a file you can download from a website, with no
> chip-changes. You can also monitor the on-board NiMH battery, and
> charge it (about 4 hours to full charge).
> 
> I'm impressed! For less than $100, I'm really impressed. This is an
> ideal, low-cost, no-hassle solution for operation with today's serial
> port-less laptops, or with any computer with a USB port. For very
> little more than a used, ancient KPC3+ costs, or a decent soundcard
> interface, you can own a real, modern, and new USB TNC.
> 
> Oh, yes. It performs better than my KPC3+, KAM+ and PK-232mbx in the
> Winlink testing I have done so far. I don't get any money for this,
> BTW.
> 
> The only downside is that Elcom is a small company in Greece. There
> is more demand than they can supply just yet. You may have to wait a
> while for delivery. I would expect that this situation will quickly
> improve. The principals are honest, something I can tell by dealing
> with them while I waited a long time for mine to arrive.
> 
> Info is at www.elcom.gr
> 
> 73,
> Lor W3QA
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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