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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2013-04-09 19:22, Dean Gibson AE7Q
wrote:<br>
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<blockquote cite="mid:5164CCFE.9050805@ae7q.net" type="cite">
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<p>...<br>
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<p>For some Icom radios (eg, the ID-880H and IC-2820H) that use
the Icom OPC-1529R cable, it's a simple three-wire cable
providing ground, TX, and RX. Presumably these are at RS-232C
acceptable levels (that's a whole different discussion). Other
cables (eg, the Yaesu one for the Yaesu FT-897D) have a little
circuit board in the RS-232C/DB-9 shell that does level
conversion (and needs power, except for the few radios where the
cable provides the power). Still other cables, like the ones
that split out TX and RX signals from a single wire, have
additional circuitry for that purpose.<br>
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To see the complexity of this issue, see
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.starrsoft.com/software/win96/cables/gre_cables.htm">http://www.starrsoft.com/software/win96/cables/gre_cables.htm</a> This
cable and its internal circuitry (and power) are necessary in order
to separate out TX from RX in a single-wire (plus ground) radio jack
(like the IC-7000 has). The cable under discussion works perfectly
to communicate with the Icom IC-7000 <b>on my computer</b>, and
when Radio Shack was having a close-out sale, I bought four of them
(@ $2.00 each). This cable requires DTR high and RTS low in order
to work. Then I found the above article, which explains the
numerous complaints I have seen on the Internet about this cable
(and why the price was so low). Apparently there are issues with
the cable, and the lower-powered serial ports that are commonly
found on laptops ...<br>
<br>
So, I don't use them any more; I use the RT Systems CT-29A cable
with the IC-7000. The CT-29A works just fine with both DTR and RTS
high on one serial port I have, but works on <b>all</b> of my
serial ports with DTR <b>low</b> and RTS high.<br>
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