[aprssig] USB serial port for linux

[Wes Johnston]

I've tried to use John Hansen's TNC-x with xastir, and got the USB portion it to
work successfully with kernel 2.4.22, but not yet with 2.6.7.  It's a tremendous
pain in the tail though.  The TNC is great, the USB module is difficult to get a
linux driver working though.

Here's another solution.  Get TNC-x as a rs232 version, then get
http://www.usbmax.com/U232-P9_DB-9_Serial__Adapter_High_Speed_230K_USB_SERIAL_RS-232_.cfm
works with kernel >=2.4 and enumerates as /dev/ttyUSB0 right out of the box with
Mepis (www.mepis.org), the debian variant I run.  It uses the Prolific chipset
and shows a product ID of PL2303 Serial Port.  It is $16.

So, TNC-x costs $45 sans USB, and you can add the usbmax USB->rs232 adapter for
$16... We're looking at a $60 Win/Mac/Linux USB TNC.

Thanks to kc4pl for finding this one!
Wes