Re: RS232-USB conversion

["Bruno Tréguier" <Bruno.Treguier@shom.fr>]

Le 18/10/2011 à 22:07, Miroslav Skoric a écrit :

> OK guys, thank you all for your advices ...will see about compiling FBB
> when I return from a conference trip. Btw, after a long time of avoiding
> to purchase a laptop/notebook comp (and still living well without a
> cellphone :-)), I have been thinking about an inexpensive portable comp
> that could run not only PPT (or similarly formatted) scientific
> presentations, but also to give me an opportunity to run my TNC2S (an
> old German-made TNC), which connects over RS232. I do not know if some
> of you have experience with some of those adapters that convert an USB
> output of a laptop to a RS232 connector of a TNC. I heard that some
> adapters (if not all) come with a kind of software that makes them
> thinking that the computer still has COM1, COM2, etc, but I don't know
> if such software works only in M$ world or/and in Linux too. (In the
> other words, I would like to have a relatively modern machine, but to
> avoid buying an expensive one that is still equipped with RS232.)
>
> Opinions?

Hi Miroslav,

I guess all those devices come at least with a Windows driver, but 
regarding Linux you shouldn't have any problem either, as most of the 
converters out there are based on FTDI or Prolific chipsets, which have 
been supported out-of-the-box by linux kernels for at least several 
years now. They usually are seen as /dev/ttyACMxx or /dev/ttyUSBxx 
respectively, and flow-control signals are also correctly dealt with.

However, I heard (or rather read) some people stating that though all 
devices seemed to work fine for rig-control purposes, they had problems 
when using Prolific-based converters for FSK, which weren't quick enough 
(the issue seemed to be driver-related). This information is quite old 
now, but if you want to avoid problems, you should probably favour 
FTDI-based converters if you intend to use them with your TNC.

Best regards,

Bruno - F8FIV
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