Hardware
 

In this page I will present the units that I have tested and work well with Packet Engine. Packet Engine Supports almost every tnc or modem that is available. Many units need special treatment by Packet Engine. To support such unit I must have it for tests.
 

micro USB TNT

1200b very sensitive modem.
 Kiss mode. Ready for Packet Engine.
 UI mode (TNC2 emulation). Unproto mode for APRS programs that support TNC2 mode.
 Tracker. Plug a GPS and ready, it transmits in mic-e format.
 APRS digi. It can act as APRS digi. Supports RELAY,WIDE,TRACE,WIDEN-N,TRACEN-N,ALIAS and call Substitution.
 All the modes work all the time. If the TNC is in KISS mode the digi and the tracker still work.
 Internal battery.
 USB plug no serial port needed.
 Easily upgrade BIOS with the supplied utility in 30 seconds. That way mUSBTNT will be always uptodate.
  More info....at elcom.gr

Wi-SYS Location Broadcast Beacon

1200/9600b modems.
 Build in GPS.
 Ability to select multiple Configurations while driving.
 KISS mode ready for Packet Engine.
 Plug your tranceiver and you are ready to transmit your position.
 You can use the build in GPS unit to feed other programs with NMEA Data.
 Easily setup the unit with the supplied utility. You can also update the BIOS to keep the unit up-to-date.
 Really does everything. It can be a KISS TNC for Packet Engine or other programs, an APRS Tracker with the build in GPS and stand alone GPS to feed programs that need GPS. The included maintenance utility make very easy the configuration. I must say that while driving you can change APRS settings like path pushing just a button.
  More info....at www.wi-sys.com

Tigertronics SignalLink

Sound Card Radio Interface.
 No Serial Port Required.
 Complete Radio Isolation.
 Adjustable Rx and Tx Levels.
 Variable Transmit delay.
 Works with all Radios.
 Supports all modes.
 Supports also EchoLink.
 Actually the unit has a vox interface when the Computer sound card sends data the vox is activated and PTT the transmiter.The Unit is very small and easy to use. A solution for new computers that have no Serial port or just one.
  More info.... at www.tigertronics.com

Kenwood D-700 and D-7
(APRS compatible units)

I am not going to describe the features of the two radios. They are great and filled a hole in the market. I will tell you what Kenwood should do to make these two radios superb. As they are now are not of use, at least for me. They have annoying (fatal) problems!!!
     Kenwood D-7 Handheld.
     Earlier versions had a problem in KISS mode. Newer version support better the KISS mode, but still the luck of memory can cause problems.
     While in APRS mode if a station sends a Beacon packet larger than 76 characters the TNC locks and needs reset. Sometimes things are even worse, the whole transceiver needs RESET!!
     Of course cannot support frames larger than 256 characters.
     It is very sensitive to computer interference. So put some ferrites to the serial port cable...
     Kenwood D-700 Mobile.
     Cannot handle frames larger than 255 characters in KISS mode.
     It has no hardware flow control ,while in TNC mode, so cannot be used for packet with terminal programs, since it is impossible to send Binary files, or long ASCII files.
     If in APRS mode and a station sends a Beacon frame larger than 256 characters, the TNC resets itself. If this frame contains DX cluster info the transceiver gives up and switches off.
     They use a wrong connector type for the build in tnc serial port. It is male but is wired as female!!!!
     The good think is that behaves superb with an external TNC on 9600b. You must have in mind that needs a rather high output tnc. It can be used with a txdelay up to 11. Really fast VCO!!
     It has a build in mailbox (American habit!!) with 128kb memory. Imagine they waste so much memory for something that no one will ever use.
 

Both units are OK if you need to operate just APRS.

© 1998-2007 SV2AGW (George Rossopoulos) . All rights reserved.