Reddit mentions: The best serial port cards

My list for mobile/portable operating would look something like this...

For a man portable setup I could carry in a pack, the highest capacity LiFePO4 battery I could afford.

Otherwise, if I'm driving out to a fixed operating site, then the biggest AGM deep cycle battery I would care to lug from the car a short distance to the operating site.

A lightweight computer with good battery life so I don't have to worry about external power for it out in the field. I'm not really a Mac guy, but I'd probably bring my Macbook Pro for this task.

The TS-480 doesn't require a Signalink/Rigblaster type interface for digital operation, but you will need the following items to interface to your computer...

• USB to serial converter. Don't buy the Prolific chipset garbage, save yourself the frustration and spend the few bucks for something with an FTDI chipset.
  
  
• Kenwood PG-5H data cable set. You can also make this if you want, Your TS-480 should have shipped with a plastic baggie with the connectors in it to make this (pinouts are detailed towards the back of the manual). Or, you can get them on ebay. I bought mine mainly because hate soldering stuff to DIN connector pins.
  
  
• Serial cable, straight through, female ends. Cheap and readily avaialble.
  
  
• If the laptop you're using doesn't have separate speaker out/mic in jacks, then a cheap USB audio adapter.
  
  The filters aren't truly necessary and the unit is pretty frequency stable without the TCXO, but they sure are nice to have. If you were going to put a filter in it, I would recommend the 500Hz CW filter. It comes in handy when you're trying to zero in on a particular signal or block adjacent strong signals. The DSP filtering is generally adequate, but a strong enough signal is going to swamp the AGC and that's when the crystal filters come in handy to notch that out.
  
  If you do get the TCXO, don't waste $110 on the Kenwood SO-3. The cheap Chinese TCXO's work just as well and can be had for much cheaper. I got mine from ebay for 20 bucks or so, but now you can even get them on Amazon with Prime shipping and everything.
  
  Antenna choice is highly variable. Out here in the deserts of New Mexico, you don't find much in the way of trees, so a wire antenna deployed up into a tree is out and a self supporting vertical is in. I generally pack an MFJ 1979 telescoping vertical whip with a clamping antenna mount or a collapsable fiberglass pole that I can hoist up a length of wire with. Your own situation, available terrain, bands you want to work are going to be the determining factors here.
  
  This page has some useful notice on power draw of the TS-480 with some operating scenarios and battery sizing options. A lightweight, power sipping QRP rig the TS-480 is not, but it's still very usable for portable operations.
  
  

A car adapter? Mine came with one. As for the power supply id recommend this


Here is what i bought to track with it.
PC interface Cable
Serial Adapter
And finally this, but this is optional to you. Youll probably eventually want to image from your backyard, and if you do youll want this. AC Adapter

Another thing, Unluckily for me and for you, the mount does not come with a polar scope. Do some research to what kind you want, but I got this one

Other than that, Good luck! If you ever want some real time advice come check out the chat room under the useful links tab on the side of the subreddit! Chances are I'll be there, or one of the AP gurus.

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, I recommend getting a laptop with an express card slot.

For example, here, or here and using an express card RS232 adapter. It will function like the real thing.

According to this review on Amazon, "Most serial adapters use a PCI-USB-SERIAL interface. If you have older software that requires a true serial port, this card will provide the capability."

So it looks like this is your best bet. It also seems to work well on Linux according to the reviews.

1. I don't use Linux, I use FreeBSD.
   
   
2. CQRLOG. This requires a one-time setup of mysqld as well.
   
   
3. fldigi, QSSTV, WSJT, (WSJT-X sounds better though), QTel (part of svxlink)
   
   
4. TrustedQSL and GPredict
   
   
5. Get a well supported sound card that will do at least 96kbps. Don't cheap out here. Get a proper set of serial ports that use 16x50s unless your rigs support USB. I use an 8-port card, but something like this would be fine as well.

Ops, wrong one I suggested, I meant to suggest the 4-port version I edited the post to change it. Not knowing the equipment OP will be using I went with highest compatibility and native ports are also more stable. Virtual ports may be prone to switching port numbers upon reboot.

I couldn't even find the product brand of the one you suggested. Using a generic product for work onboard a ship doesn't sound like a reliable solution to me. No offense but I was in the Navy and sea spray and salt gets everywhere on a small ship (still realizing I have no idea of OPs application). Cheap electronics and connectors quickly corrode and get buildup that reduces connectivity and reliability.

OP bring spares cards and cables as well as a brass wire brush, alcohol wipes, and dielectric grease. OP could be perfectly fine with cheaper solutions and it could work for a long time, but I tend to side with caution when replacement parts won't be easily accessible.

Here is a cheap PCIe 4 port solution for only $27. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TLT95K/

You've got yourself a joystick with a serial port.

Edit: Atari joystick port

No idea on whether it's remotely possible to get this working on anything other than the intended consoles.

~~You'd need an adapter
of some kind to get it working with most modern motherboards, but good luck finding compatible drivers! Never know, though.~~

Crazy, I've the (2) listed adapters in route. The cable won't do me anything as the R720xd doesn't have a m.2 port. As for the 'Not enough power', what I've found is that the 4TB card utilized ~30w combined when the card is fully saturated w/read & writes exceeding the 25w allotment by the x4 interface. The card that you've listed that uses external power solidifies the power. If we were using the 2TB u.2 drives, we would be able to power just off of the PCIE bus.

​

With my R720xd, it has a 2x2.5" sata/sas backplane that I'll most likely be tapping into, if the other card (x16) does NOT provide enough power.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072JK2XLC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the card I originally ordered, it worked right out of the box, no problems, then I fully loaded the NVME by moving a ton over from my existing datastore, and the drive dropped offline. I ordered the Sintech over the weekend, but have yet to figure out exactly how I'm going to get the 3.3v & 12v electrical rails to feed the card, if not TAP into the existing backplane. The other card (x16) will be here Wednesday, however I'm not due back to the datacenter location until next week where my equipment is located at. I've reached out to Syba USA in regards to the x16 adapter to verify is with the x16 PCIE adapter will provide sufficient power as what's put out by the x16 slot. After confusion with the Tier1's support, the guy said he'll pass my request on over to one of their engineers to clear it up. I'm just hoping that the x16 card will solidify my problem, and hopefully provide me with the power needed.

​

What are your thoughts?

I've had good luck with these. http://www.amazon.ca/StarTech-com-ICUSB2321F-1-Port-Adapter-Retention/dp/B004ZMYTYC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1450230167&sr=8-4&keywords=startech+rs232

Being a ham radio operator most of my radios still need to be programmed over RS232 and never had an issue with these ones. Cheapo prolific based ones never seemed to be reliable.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB-Serial-Adapter-Powered/dp/B004ZMYTYC

There are 2 different things, passthrough an entire usb controller, or a single device, sounds like you want a single device. This link has nice screenshots of exactly what to click: http://www.vbrain.info/2014/07/29/how-to-add-an-esxi-connected-usb-device-to-a-vm/

With older mobos, booting actually may be slower since it has to load an option ROM that contains the drivers for NVMe PCIe/M.2 drives, whereas it "knows" how to talk SATA just from the main BIOS. In some cases it may not be supported at all. Sorry, not entirely sure there, Z87 is a ways back.

NVMe will be a lot faster. But it comes down to what you are using it for. Heavy photo/video editing, etc - for sure. Steam drive usage, probably not, the 850 Evo is still a really fast SSD. But maybe in some games that do really heavy loading, FO4 comes to mind.

You can either buy a PCIe SSD, which are kind of expensive, or now you can also get M.2 to PCIe adapters and just plug a consumer M.2 drive into it. Remember, M.2 is just an interface to break out 4 PCIe channels, so the adapters here basically just wire M.2 into a normal PCIe slot instead (or connect to a SATA cable that you plug into your motherboard, for SATA M.2 devices). It's basically just wiring on a card, super simple, no drivers or anything like that (so it will come down to your motherboard for boot support/op-roms/etc).

Yes, this uses a U.2/SFF-8639 connector (hence the ".2" - goes over 4x PCIe 3.0 at up to 24 Gbps), and has the eMLC NAND type. See page 3 of the datasheet for more information. Proper use of this drive for consumers would require a U.2 (SFF-8639) to M.2/PCIe adapter like this one. But given the inconsistent listing I'm guessing this got messed up with a portable USB3.0 HDD instead. Specifically, the 2TB model.

Solid drives and good price. GLWS!

For those wondering, they will not plug into your SATA or m.2 ports. Unless you have a mobo with a u.2 slot (which you probably don't) you can use this to install them: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-U-2-PCIe-Adapter-PEX4SFF8639/dp/B072JK2XLC

It has a single, hardwired (or soldered) port. Here is the card im using.

i have a little bit of a 'manual' for this board, so to speak, but it doesnt have much information. From what i can read on the motherboard, it goes back and forth on the rows.



2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10
-|-|-|-|--
1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9


like that.

I'm thinking of getting this.

I don't plan on using a SATA M.2 drive; I'd rather just get a 2.5'' one instead since I have more space in my case for that.
Thank you for the recommendation though!

i bought one of these https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817332021 some time ago, included a multiport esata external port. after readed seemed if mobo included a esata port, that it did not do the port multiplier stuff. above included card with this chipset, https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2530
so like this https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Express-Controller-Adapter-PEXESATA2/dp/B000ZLRGKQ
no idea who made the card, it was not branded

may be better out there, but i know i was able to read/write to all 5 drives at the same time

This is the same thing
M.2 SATA / SATA 3 port just uses a chipset's storage link , you can't make links out of nothing the link is either going to be in a SATA 3 form factor or in a M.2 SATA form factor , some links get shared so you see a port disabled if M.2 is used and the opposite if you used that same port it will disable M.2 port .

Your only other chance is using a PCI M.2 card but it is the same , you still need a sata link to use it .

Having heard good things I bought one of these FTDI ones that has COM Retention: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZMYTYC/ (It comes in today, but the reviews are solid)

First off, get a 7700K. One of those @ 5GHz is really easy to achieve and can crush both of those chips.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $348.89 @ B&H
CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler | $85.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z270X-UD5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $205.91 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill TridentZ Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory | $274.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Samsung 960 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $129.99 @ B&H
Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $89.99 @ B&H
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $1135.67
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-13 18:29 EST-0500 |

If I wanted a machine to brute-force anything utilizing 4 cores or less this would be it. The only thing missing for your needs is the serial port, but an adapter only costs $30 and takes a single PCI-E slot.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Native-Express-Adapter-PEX2S952/dp/B001H3KG6W

Be warned: Most of these adapters only emulate the LPT protocol (old printers) and will NOT work with one of these. Get a PCI or PCI-E addin card if you do not have an old computer with a parallel port. I recommend these

I have ordered this converter , hopefully the trackballs work with it

​

https://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-USB-Serial-Adapter-Powered/dp/B004ZMYTYC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1537464492&sr=8-5&keywords=db9+serial+to+usb

You could mount a serial port card in the computer.

https://smile.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Native-Express-Adapter-PEX2S952/dp/B001H3KG6W

It didn't come with one but if i bought this: https://www.amazon.de/Scythe-SCAM4-1000A-Mounting-System-AM4/dp/B06XW2W9TZ/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?__mk_nl_NL=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=scytche+mugen+4+am4+befestigung&qid=1567001570&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmr1 i would be able to use the mugen 4 right?

I believe the old sidewinders are actually serial interfaces. There are Serial to USB adapters online for very cheap.

At my last gig, we had a business unit that needed these things, and we handed out these after we started issuing new laptops that didn't have serial ports oboard: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB-Serial-Adapter-Powered/dp/B004ZMYTYC/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1522345839&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=startech+usb+to+rs232&psc=1

Gets my recommendation. FTDI chipset and it's StarTech...nuff said:

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Serial-Adapter-Retention-ICUSB2321F/dp/B004ZMYTYC

So it seems like you've indicated 2 things:

1.) Everything works fine on Ethernet (wired). So this would seem to indicate it's a Wi-Fi only problem.

2.) Other Wi-Fi devices do not have this problem,.. only your Desktop.

So that would lead me to suspect that the problem lies in whatever Wi-Fi adapter/dongle your Desktop is using. I would try updating the Drivers or just flat out replacing it. If you're using some kind of cheap USB WiFi dongle,. I always recommend ditching those and using an internal adapter (if possible).

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-N4G85AT-Wireless-Network-Adapter/dp/B0150O7NK0/ref=sr_1_23?srs=2529650011&ie=UTF8&qid=1487528289&sr=8-23&keywords=intel+pci+card+wifi

or this: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Wireless-AC-Bluetooth-Adapter-7260HMWDTX1/dp/B00EKQN2KK/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487528379&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=intel+pci+card+wifi+external+antenna

Could you not use a PCIE card like this?

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-PEX8S952-Native-Express-Adapter/dp/B001VSR9TK

Finding a hardware vendor that will ship a PC with that many ports onboard is going to be tricky. They will either be a bit shitty, or specialised and far too expensive (or both) I would imagine.