[chirp_devel] DTR/RTS control

[Dean Gibson AE7Q]

On 2013-04-10 17:43, Dan Smith wrote:
> A lot of laptop computers and many USB-to-serial adapters actually just
> swing +5V and 0V for the two states. It's a real problem for gear that
> is strict about the standard, and may be why you have problems powering
> that device there. Maybe the Digi box will swing to -5V for low, and
> that gives you 10V to power it? I've not seen any adapters that are
> only doing 5V that actually go to -5V on the low side, so this may mean
> that box wouldn't work there anyway.

I've now obtained a second Digi PortServer TS4 box from eBay, and one is 
apparently slightly newer.  Digi made so many different minor variants, 
that while the two boxes run the exact same firmware (I know, because I 
upgraded both to the latest firmware), there are differences:

 1. The newer box can be powered by external power and also Power over
    Ethernet (PoE).  The older box does that, and also can be powered
    from RS-232C RI ("Ring Indicate").  However, I'm only powering both
    boxes with external power (which can be anything from 9-30vDC, and
    I'm supplying 13.8vDC).
 2. Both boxes can support both RS-232C, RS-422, and RS-485 via switch
    settings, but only the older box has switch settings for each serial
    port.
 3. The newer box works with all my radios with DTR and RTS high. The
    older box works the same, except that for the CT-29A cable, it
    requires RTS=high, DTR=low.  If the older box sends DTR high to the
    CT-29A cable, the cable responds in such a way in such a way that
    the Digi box *locks up***(which means *all serial ports on the box
    go down*).  The Yaesu CT-62 serial cable from the FT-897D gets its
    power from the radio, and the OPC-1529R cables from the Icom D-Star
    radios are just TX/RX/GND wires (DTR/RTS are unconnected), so those
    radios work just fine with either Digi box.


My reason for having both boxes is that I have one on the DMZ, and one 
on the local LAN.  That allows me to move radio control for each radio 
individually between the DMZ (eg, for use from the Internet) and the LAN 
(protected from the world).  Plus, I like spares ...
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