Hi Don.
I was aware of the issue with Prolific counterfeits. I probably have at
least two of those, including one I bought as genuine for programming a TYT
handheld (Baofeng cable). :-(
AFAIK Prolific do not render the counterfeit device hardware inoperative.
The counterfeits won't work with the current Prolific driver, but they will
work with a much earlier driver that does not detect counterfeits. It's also
essential to disable Windows Update for the driver. Another thing that
Micro$oft have deliberately made obscure!
FTDI have only very recently taken it one step further by actually disabling
part of the internal ID in the counterfeit chip, but it would appear that
they've shot themselves in the foot, because some genuine chips also got
disabled and they've had to retract that driver. Also a pointless exercise
because their system has already been reverse engineered, including their
driver and is being manufactured more cheaply by the Chinese.
I sympathise with both companies over protection of their intellectual
property, but they've gone about it the wrong way. Certainly in the UK at
least, I believe that FTDI's latest action is illegal. FTDI have no right to
penalise the end user by "breaking" the device that they paid for, although
it is possible to reverse the action, but most people won't know how. For
either company to hit the end user is just downright lazy and cowardly. The
general public will not know if they have a counterfeit or not and will lose
faith in these companies. The only "correct" way to stop the trade is
counterfeits is by due process of Law, by having copyright and patent laws
upheld, instead of being lazy and "fixing" a driver.
It looks like Elecraft are confirming what a lot of knowledgeable people
have been saying and that is that even genuine Prolific devices are inferior
to FTDI. Presuming that Elecraft have been selling genuine devices (I'm sure
they have) they've not changed to FTDI because of a counterfeit/driver war,
but because the Prolific devices have given them grief.
The device that I've ordered is direct from FTDI in Scotland, so it's 99%
certain it will be genuine and hopefully will work OK with the K3. It would
be ironic if it also turned out to be a counterfeit!
I would have been happy to purchase direct from Elecraft, but it would take
over a week and I'd have to pay extra taxes to our government. :-(
I'm just intrigued to know why the genuine Prolific devices are so
troublesome?
73,
Alan. G4GNX
-----Original Message-----
From: Don Wilhelm
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2014 3:43 AM
To: G4GNX ; Elecraft Reflector
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] RS232 interface
Alan,
Yes, the FTDI chipset adapters are the recommended variety.
To further confuse the issue with both Prolific and FTDI serial
adapters, there are counterfeit adapters on the market. Those worked
with few problems under Windows XP with the provided drivers, but both
companies included code in the new drivers to detect those counterfeits
and render them inoperative. The new drivers are downloaded as updates
in Windows 7 and above.
I do think that the number of counterfeit chipsets in the marketplace
may be diminishing because of the manufacturers steps to protect their
intellectual property, but it is a headache if you happen to have one.
I did have one here that was a special cable for a handheld. I finally
solved the problem by ordering an equivalent cable that connects to a
real serial port or a working USB to serial adapter.
It may be that you have one (or two) of those counterfeit chipsets - not
saying for certain, but do be aware of that possibility.
There is really nothing to setup in the K3 or K3Utility, but it is best
that you set the baud rate for both at 38400 - K3 menu CONFIG:RS232. K3
Utility will scan for different baud rates if necessary.
73,
Don W3FP
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
