When should USB become the standard interface to PC?

[br0adband]

I made a posting at the new BR330T Yahoo Group a few days ago asking the question, "When will USB become the standard interface?"

Some great replies have been posted so far over there, but obviously this is a far more populated website so I thought I'd create a poll here to gauge interest.

If you'd like to post your opinions for discussion, you're more than welcome to do so.

My own feelings are this: serial has its place and has been the standard for what almost seems like millennia in computer years, but USB is here and it works. Trying to find a new laptop or even a new desktop computer currently with a serial port is a pretty difficult thing to do.

I currently own an older IBM ThinkPad laptop for all my computing uses and yes it has one serial port thankfully so my 246T and my ARC246 software aren't completely useless together. But let's face it: serial has had its time in the sun.

This poll is geared primarily towards NEW scanners from the release of the Uniden 246T and future equipment from manufacturers. If you have older hardware and you're not planning on buying anything new then this poll might not hold any interest for you.

My reason for starting this poll was to see how many people want USB in current on-the-shelf hardware and all future technology related to scanners as the standard interface for computer-to-scanner connectivity.

Thanks for your time,

Paul

 

[BaLa]

Serial is out

They need to switch everything to USB. Or better.
Some older comps (especially laptops) don't even a serial port anymore.

I can still use Serial stuff for now, but I would rather use USB If I had a choice.

 

[nmfire10]

Concidering the amount of new computers coming out with out a serial port, it would be stupid to make any of these interfaces use anything but USB. Hell, a lot of laptops don't even have parallel printer ports now.

 

[PhilJSmith67]

I don't mind serial, even though my new laptop doesn't have a serial port and I have to use a serial-to-USB converter. However, I would prefer a scanner with a USB interface. What would be even cooler is if the scanner could optionally route it's audio in digital form back through the USB interface. Of course, that would up the cost of the scanner as it would need an A/D converter and some type of encoding firmware like MPEG or AAC.

 

[W4ELL]

I thought it was just me. I hate the serial interface because my laptop doesn't have one. I can use any of my desktop machines but I have needed to use my laptop a few times when I was away from home.

I know I can buy a Serial to USB adapter but I don't want to spend the money for something like that.

It is freaking 2005 already... Death to the serial port!

 

[Dubbin]

When should USB become the standard interface to PC?

5 years ago :lol:

 

[califzeph]

NONE of the above... PC's should convert to FireWire!

 

[SAR923]

I think the issue is that many devices like GPS only use a serial protocol so making it work directly with USB would require some major rewrites and hardware changes. I have both Win96 running off a serial port and Commander VX for my Yaesu VX-2R running on USB on my desktop. Of the two, Win 96 provides a more reliable connection, even when using a USB to serial converter on my laptop since my laptop has no serial port. Certainly, those with a desktop should spend the $20 or so and get an additional serial card. It solves all the potential serial port conflicts and makes using a program like Win96 a breeze.

 

[eyes00only]

What's a serial port :roll: .

Jerry

 

[VegasCorbin]

Just thought I would stir things up a little.


USB IS serial.



USB stands for Universal Serial Bus.

When you say serial what you probaply ment is a EIA 232 communications port.





Serial (EIA 232) has its place but any thing new should be able to handle both USB and Firewire.

 

[Dubbin]

Here we go :lol:

 

[eyes00only]

Here we go :lol:

Time for this "light weight" to hit the sack :lol: . At least I get to ignore the 0700 alarm on Sundays!

Jerry

 

[EricCottrell]

I think the issue is that many devices like GPS only use a serial protocol so making it work directly with USB would require some major rewrites and hardware changes. I have both Win96 running off a serial port and Commander VX for my Yaesu VX-2R running on USB on my desktop. Of the two, Win 96 provides a more reliable connection, even when using a USB to serial converter on my laptop since my laptop has no serial port. Certainly, those with a desktop should spend the $20 or so and get an additional serial card. It solves all the potential serial port conflicts and makes using a program like Win96 a breeze.

USB takes alot of programming effort to implement because of all the little details. However there are companies that make usb-serial bridge chips.
http://www.beyondlogic.org/usb/ftdi.htm

They appear to be the same chips used in USB serial adapters so you are basically moving the USB serial adapter into the radio.

There are some GPS units that are USB or Bluetooth, mainly for PC or Auto use.

73 Eric

 

[N_Jay]

USB will be the standard about the same time it becomes obsolete.

What about "USB-on-the-go"?
Then it can talk to a memory stick (assuming the drivers are embedded) or even a printer to dump the channle list.

Ooo, then it could put out the audio on the USB port also.

My guess it will be soon. (as soon as someone takes the time to design a new scanner from the ground up), and the microcontroller market starts embedding USB in their chipsets.

 

[br0adband]

As if there weren't enough connection standards out there, here's yet another one:

Wireless USB!

Of course, these days anything can just have the word "wireless" put in front of it then it becomes the next great thing.

The idea about having digital audio output from the scanner is a great one and one that I have on my wish list for the ultimate scanner. I know Icom has a handheld now with audio recording built-in. While I don't know the specifics, I do know it does 1/2/4 hours of recording so I'm thinking it's using audio compression and it probably offers a download capability - if it didn't, then what's the point, right?



In the future some manufacturer will actually take a look at forums like this one at RR, read over the postings and "wish lists" and say, "Why not?"

I can't wait for that day to happen.

Paul

 

[RyanXTS]

Alot of MOT software (even the new stuff) can't work with USB properly. I do not know of any vendor that sells "make your own" USB connector kits. This is very important. The ability to create your own custom cables to the lengths you desire is somethign USB does not offer. To state my opinion clearly (and my opinion may be that of the commercial industry) USB is a pain in the ass. It has it's place, and when it works it works well. The distinction between USB 1.0 and 2.0 can also cause problems if you have a 2.0 device and a 1.0 port. Serial on the other hand just always works.

I think this is a case of if it isn't broke don't fix it.

 

[bsavery]

Ya'll forgot about IR ports as well.

Bob

 

[nmfire10]

USB-to-Serial converters have a bad habit of not working with a lot things.

 

[hotdjdave]

Firewire

How about firewire.

I think firewire will eventually replace USB. In fact, most camcorders, digital cameras, and other electronics are going firewire.

It is also much faster than USB. It is also a small connection.

 

[Jay911]

My GPS uses a USB connection.
My video camera is Firewire.
My still camera is USB (if I am bothered to use it, instead of inserting the memory stick directly into the reader built into my laptop).
A lot of programming software for commercial radios refuses to run on anything but traditional serial (and lower-speed PCs at that).
The only thing I use traditional serial ports for at this point is my dialup modem (which I have no choice over), and radio scanners.

Like another poster said, when should USB become the standard? 5 years ago...

I think, though, we're about as likely to see USB transfer on a scanner as we are memory-stick or other storage devices. Though the latter may be closer than I think, with the new Uniden machines coming out this year.