<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title></title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:victorf@windreader.com">victorf@windreader.com</a> wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid004801c5b0ed$87700390$6501a8c0@victor" type="cite">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; ">
<meta content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2722" name="GENERATOR">
<style></style>
<div><strong><font size="2">I am attempting to connect my D700 to
APRSPoint. I have a 'modern' Dell laptop sans serial ports. I can
attach the TNC output to a USB port using a Belkin Serial => USB
converter and can see the APRS packets streaming into a terminal
program - 9600Baud, 8N1. So I am sure the converter is working and the
comport selection matches what is found in the Windows XP Device table
(com4 in this case). However attaching in EXACTLY the same way to
APRSPoint and setting the TNC port as above does not work. I get the
error message "TNC not detected". I have MapPoint 2004 installed and am
using AP 2.1 for MP 2004. I AM a registered user of both MP and AP.</font></strong></div>
<div><strong></strong></div>
</blockquote>
Serial-to-USB converter "dongles" vary wildly in how faithfully they
emulate a real serial port. Especially how they emulate (or don't
emulate!) the hand-shaking lines of a real serial port since these
lines don't exist in USB. Some will work only with some programs,
others with nearly all. The Belkin converters are especially
notorious for poor compatibility and have been repeatedly blasted on
this list, the UIview mailing list and the MixW list. <br>
<br>
Some of the variables involved are: <br>
o What IC chipset is the cable based on? <br>
o What IC chipset is used for the USB ports on the PC? <br>
o Are the PC's ports USB 1.1 or 2.0? <br>
o Are you going directly into a PC's USB "root port" or through a
USB hub or splitter? <br>
o What operating system (Win 98SE, Win2K or WinXP) are you using?<br>
o What patch or service pack level is your OS at? <br>
o How many other USB devices are in use at the same time? <br>
o Does the application depend on accurate handshaking or does it
only require the basic RXD/TXD/Gnd three-wire serial hookup? [This
often drives sound-card-interface users to despair since the serial
port's handshaking lines are used for Radio PTT, CW keying, Receiver
squelch detect, etc. ]<br>
<br>
The Edgeport converters have frequently been commended as being among
the most trouble free on the UIview list. I have personally used SIIG
and pFranc/Purple Computing cables with my D700 and TH-D7. <br>
<br>
The Purple Computing (actually MCT Technology) cable works successfully
to connect my D700 to UIview, APRSplus and APRSpoint, or to feed a GPS
into Delorme Street Atlas or Precision Mapping 6.0 or 7.0. However it
ABSOLUTELY WON'T WORK to feed a GPS directly into MapPoint 2002 or
2004. (The Microsoft web site even confirms that MapPoint will only
work with "real" serial ports!). <br>
<br>
[Note that I am referrring here to feeding a GPS directly into MapPoint
for a moving map display of my own location; not using an APRS
application. I am only citing it here to illustrate how inconsistent
the behavior of these devices are, and to illustrate that "because it
worked with app A but doesn't work with B" doesn't prove there is
anything wrong with your setup. ]<br>
<br>
The SIIG dual serial-to-USB works perfectly on everything I threw at it
on a PC with only USB 1.1 ports, but only works on another similar
machine with USB 2.0 ports with only about 2/3rds of the
programs/hardware tested. <br>
<br>
A no-name generic cable with a DB9 encapsulated in transparent "Imac
blue" plastic that is based on the FTDI chipset, has worked flawlessly
for 12 months 24/7 nonstop connecting a KPC3+ TNC to my APRN /
HF-VHF-APRS / Echolink "Ham Superserver" based on a Via EPIA-TC
motherboard. <br>
<br>
On a 1.6 GHz P4 Centrino laptop (i.e. recent machine about 9 months old
with native USB 2.0 ports) running Windows 2K, a USB-interfaced Holux
GPS mouse will not work with MapPoint directly (It will with Streets
& Trips!) , but WILL work if I have Franson GPS Gate (a utility
that intercepts data from a GPS on a single serial port and shares it
with several programs at the same time) in between the virtual serial
port and the application. <br>
[The Holux, like all "USB" GPS devices, is actually a serial
device with a built-in serial-to-USB converter chip. These converters
are identical to the ones used in stand-alone serial-to-USB converter
cables. In fact the Holux uses the identical chip and driver as the
pFranc/Purple Computing cable. Thus the same random compatibiliy
issues prevail. ]<br>
<br>
Bottom line:<br>
<br>
You will have to experiment with several different USB-to-serial
dongles to find one that works with your particular hardware and OS
revision. <br>
<br>
Note further that the chronic random instability of Windows
"Plug-and-Pray" auto-configuration will cause some of these converters
to assign themselves a different virtual COM port number on successive
boots. Some of the better drivers for Win2K and XP give you an
option, in the Windows Device Manager, to assign and lock down the COM
port assignment. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Stephen H. Smith wa8lmf (at) aol.com <br>
EchoLink Node: 14400 [Think bottom of the 2M band]<br>
Home Page: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wa8lmf.com">http://wa8lmf.com</a><br>
<br>
"APRS 101" Explanation of APRS Path Selection & Digipeating <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://webs.lanset.com/wa8lmf/DigiPaths">http://webs.lanset.com/wa8lmf/DigiPaths</a> <br>
<br>
Updated APRS Symbol Chart <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://webs.lanset.com/wa8lmf/miscinfo/APRS_Symbol_Chart.pdf">http://webs.lanset.com/wa8lmf/miscinfo/APRS_Symbol_Chart.pdf</a> <br>
<br>
New/Updated "Rev G" APRS <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://webs.lanset.com/wa8lmf/aprs">http://webs.lanset.com/wa8lmf/aprs</a><br>
Symbols Set for UI-View, <br>
UIpoint and APRSplus:<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</body>
</html>