There have been many good points made on both sides of this issue. I think
the beauty of USB or ethernet ports is in the eye of the beholder, and just
as there are many facets to amateur radio, there are as many ways to
evaluate a piece of hardware.
I'd like to suggest a solution. I have no affiliation with this company,
other than owning one. The product is called a microHam DigiKeyer. Here
is a pointer >> http://www.microham.com/
The DigiKeyer puts a high quality sound card OUTSIDE of the computer, and
also chats with your radio on serial or TTL. It all connects to your PC
with a single USB (1.1 & 2.0) connection. Although I've never tried it, it
claims support for Macintosh computers without the requirement of loading
any new drivers.
Having another soundcard for all your radio work is nice. There's less
risk that an audible windows prompt will key your radio, and you don't have
to go into the soundcard settings all the time to readjust them.
Sound and serial, all through a USB connection. Pretty clean... a nice
balance of features.
At the risk of loosing the peace, I'd like to see an ethernet port and a
TCP-IP endstation inside the radio.... but with a DigiKeyer, and my PC
sitting next to the K3 (which I can remote into) I'm pretty close to that
same goal. I can even defend that having the PC there is +more+
flexible. Maybe K3 plus DigiKeyer is the best solution already?
Oh yes. One more point. microHam *IS* planning a K3 cable. It's not in
their pulldown just yet, but it's expected in some time in
October. There's no point in all of use emailing them.
73 from Pennsylvania,
tom
n3ckk
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