N8EB -
Some background...
My local club has REALLY been getting into digital the last year or two - we even have a weekly 2-meter digital net so members can test out their gear and software settings, and get advice from some digi-experts.
I tried first holding the mic close to speakers of the rig and the computer for digital, but as you can imagine, that becomes old REAL quick.
Tried out several different digital interfaces - and they worked to some degree - but was never completely happy with any of them.
The last one I tried was the West Mountian Radio NoMic on my Yaesu 897D. It worked out OK, but on the 2-meter net I would have to TX and quickly unplug the NoMic and plug my microphone back in to talk.
Another problem with this set up was I was using my only serial port for Ham Radio Deluxe and rig control. Had to buy an "USB to serial converter" for the digital interface, and that presented it's own set of problems...
So I bit the bullet and bought the best ZLP interface he sells - the "DigiMaster USB Pro". I think I paid about $160 delivered to Michigan from England back in winter 2009. I see today that the price has gone down.
I was REALLY surprised when it arrived in just a few days, package was in perfect shape, was VERY easy to hook up, and it work perfectly the first time out. So now with one device I have rig control, a data interface that every piece of software seems to see, I don't have to unplug and re-plug in my mic, and I can even do keyboard CW in CW mode to boot!
I hate to admit, but since making general I have not been using my Morse Code and most likely wouldn't even recognise my own call sign. This interface has a key plug, so it does NOT imitate CW in another mode - it actually keys the rig in CW mode!
So bottom line, there are good interfaces out there for data modes, for CW, and for rig control. Some of the interfaces use serial ports - getting scarce now-a-days - and some use a USB port, but this thing is the cat...
IP : 86.153.85.174
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