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<DIV><SPAN class=664362402-04092005>it is because your usb to serial adaptor
gets confused about handshaking to the radio </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=664362402-04092005></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=664362402-04092005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>i get
it all the time</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=664362402-04092005><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=664362402-04092005></SPAN> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
aprssig-bounces@lists.tapr.org [mailto:aprssig-bounces@lists.tapr.org]<B>On
Behalf Of </B>Stephen H. Smith<BR><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, 4 September 2005 12:20
PM<BR><B>To:</B> TAPR APRS Mailing List;
victorf@windreader.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> [aprssig] Re: Serial port to USB
question<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="mailto:victorf@windreader.com">victorf@windreader.com</A> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid004801c5b0ed$87700390$6501a8c0@victor type="cite">
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<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></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>