[aprssig] Tomtom's For APRS (Question)

[Jason KG4WSV]

On Sun, Apr 1, 2012 at 7:47 PM, Pat Cook <kb0oxd at gmail.com> wrote:
> Sounds like what's going to have to happen is TNC's to convert to USB
> since EVERYTHING is going that way.  What is holding back TNC
> manufacturers?  What's holding back RADIO manufacturers?

I dunno, knowledge of how USB works?

The host side of USB requires a lot of processing - there's a reason
generic USB peripheral support is only seen on full general purpose
computers.  Even cell phones and tablets, powerful as they are, do not
support plugging in just any USB peripheral.

As someone has pointed out, there's also the driver issue. Even
something as simple as a serial data stream (i.e. USB to RS232) has a
large number of very different implementations.  Even though the
standard provides for such an interface in the form of USB CDC,
practically no vendor actually uses it (the OT USB and latest
generation of Arduino are the only exceptions I can think of), and of
course microsoft screwed up support for it.

RS232 is simple, requires little processing power, and can transmit
data reliably across long distances (hundreds of feet).

IMO the USB interface on the D72 greatly limits the radio's utility.
I hope I don't see any more USB interfaces replacing RS232 on radios.

-Jason
kg4wsv