All,
I'm in the process of setting up a simple 'earth station' for satellite work. One facet I am interested in is digital mode. Thus my question: will a Rigblaster Plus work as a TNC, or must I buy a dedicated TNC? My shack is rather small, and I'd rather have one box that would do two things vs. two that do one thing.
Rig is an Icom 706MKIIG, which has the data port for packet.
Assuming that the answer to the question I pose in the first paragraph is "no, a rigblaster won't serve as a TNC", are there recommendations for TNC's? From reviewing the literature they all seem to have about the same functionality, so I wonder if the $200 Kantronics unit will give as good service as would the $540 Timewave PK232.
Thanks!
John KC9IKB
John,
A rigblaster is an interface only, but can be used with the correct software as a TNC for most digital modes. I use MixW which emulates a basic TNC, including a KISS mode output which works with all the programs I have tried which expect to see a KISS TNC. There is another program, Packet Engine Pro, which works well as long as you only want the basic packet modes. There is also a freeware version.
Note that while MixW will work at 9600 baud, the rigblaster will probably not. The isolation transformers found in all good interfaces will not pass the range of frequencies needed at 9600 baud and up. In principle you could build an interface that would word, but all those who have reported success using MixW or similar at 9600 baud go directly from the sound card to the rig.
Alan WA4SCA
On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 9:20 AM, Alan P. BiddleAPBIDDLE@united.net wrote:
John,
A rigblaster is an interface only, but can be used with the correct software as a TNC for most digital modes. I use MixW which emulates a basic TNC, including a KISS mode output which works with all the programs I have tried which expect to see a KISS TNC. There is another program, Packet Engine Pro, which works well as long as you only want the basic packet modes. There is also a freeware version.
Note that while MixW will work at 9600 baud, the rigblaster will probably not. The isolation transformers found in all good interfaces will not pass the range of frequencies needed at 9600 baud and up. In principle you could build an interface that would word, but all those who have reported success using MixW or similar at 9600 baud go directly from the sound card to the rig.
Alan WA4SCA
I concur with Alan, but I also note that this summer I was able to get MixW to decode 9600 baud from my TS-2000 using a Signalink 1+ as a sound card interface. I'd tried this on-and-off over the past year and a half and was surprised to see it work. (Folks may wonder why I went the soundcard route when the TS-2000 has a 9600 modem built in. This is because you cannot use the serial port on the TS-2000 to act as a TNC and for rig control. To automate my station, I require rig control and therefore software data decoding.)
73, Bruce VE9QRP
participants (3)
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Alan P. Biddle -
Bruce Robertson -
John