Re: VHF Hardware TNC
By: echicken to Kd8ncv on Tue May 29 2012 11:09:31
Well my Packet software of choice is BPQ32, and there is a soundcard driver which works for it, but it was being ran on a 600 Mhz K6 Laptop with 89 Meg
of ram, it was running Win XP, so it was quite a strain on the machine, and with the soundcard driver running it was just too slow.
I tried again when I got a cheap USB Soundcard, and well it burn't out in a
few days, plus I had issues with getting the Serial port to work, I checked over and over, but I had it wired correctly, but everytime I plugged in the radio, it would just dead-key.
So I've given up on the idea of a soundcard based setup, and as of yet I'm still looking for a TNC, there was a PK-88 that ended up going for just over $50 on ebay, but I was a few hours too late, and short on cash at the moment, so I'm back on the hunt ;P
73's
KD8NCV
Re: VHF Hardware TNC
By: Kd8ncv to DOVE-Net.HAM_Radio on Mon May 28 2012 22:33:16
I have played at getting soundcard packet to work and it's just not working at all... I'm looking for a cheap TNC, KISS is all that is needed. Anyone have an extra one or know where I might find one?
Out of curiosity, what platforms and software did you try for sound card packet? I've messed around with it a bit but would like to hear more (even it's stories of not-so-great experiences.) I might mess around with soundmo on Linux sometime soon; I've used AGWPE on Windows and was not overly thrill even though it seems like the most commonly used solution on that side of things. (Normally I stick to hardware TNCs.)
IMHO a used TNC shouldn't run you any more than $50, even if it was the cat' ass when it was brand new. For your needs, you should be able to pick up something for around $20 if you look around for a while (eBay, hamfests, onl ham swapshops.) Unfortunately since most of this gear cost a lot of money w it was new, you'll find many people trying to sell used TNCs for hundreds of dollars. You'll have to wade through a lot of high prices to find the deals but they are out there.
echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-273-7230
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