[aprssig] re-purposing MFG 1278B?

[Greg D]

No need to fuss about new ROMs.  I have an MFJ-1278T (I believe it's the
same as the 1278B but with a 2400 baud modem added), and it's working
just fine in KISS mode.  Been doing so for quite a number of years, in
fact. 

I never did much else with it in terms of PACTOR, WEFAX, or the other
modes.  I had a homebrew BAYCOM system before acquiring the 1278 at a
club "White Elephant" sale, which I used for contacting various BBS
systems on VHF packet, and used JVFAX for SSTV.  The 1278 came in just
before the turn of the century (love that term), right about the time I
moved to Linux, and with it a whole new set of tools.  I re-purposed an
old HT and brought XASTIR up to get on APRS.  That system transitioned
to APRSIS32 under Wine a few years later, and it's been working ever
since.  The TNC has out-lived the HT and several mobile rigs, in fact. 
It's currently driving it's second Kenwood TR-7730.  Besides APRS, the
system moves into service for Winlink for a few months every summer in
support of the Western States 100 and Tevis races.  A lot of fine packet
traffic has moved through that box over the years.

TL;DR:  Just use it!

Greg  KO6TH


Steve Dimse wrote:
> TAPR never offered ROMs for the 1278. It does sell ROMs for TNC-2 clones, of which the MFJ-1270 was the most prevalent example. 
>
> https://www.tapr.org/kits_119.html
>
> The 1278 was the HF/VHF TNC that included grey scale WEFAX and is not a TNC-2 clone. I remember that well because a few decades ago I bought a Kenwood 440 and the MFJ to receive weather back in the dark days before the Internet. Once I had those, it seemed like a waste not to use the transmit side, so I got my ham license. Who knows what wonderful things I might have accomplished with my free time had I not done that ;-)
>
> Steve K4HG
>
>
>> On Dec 10, 2019, at 12:47 AM, Ron VE8RT <ve8rt at yknwt.ca> wrote:
>>
>>   there is a MFJ 1278B sitting on a shelf here.  From reading the
>> thread on YAAC I've learned that TAPR offer (or offered at one time)
>> replacement EPROMS.  My questions are: is the MFJ 1278B worth an EPROM
>> upgrade (what would it be good at)?  And if so, where could I buy
>> replacement EPROMS and documentation?  I've glanced at the TAPR website
>> and don't know exactly what I'd be looking for.
>>
>>   Thanks,  Ron VE8RT
>>
>> -- 
>> Ron VE8RT <ve8rt at yknwt.ca>
>>
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