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   From: VanguardLH    
   Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support   
   Subject: Re: Serial Port (USB)?   
   Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2016 14:56:10 -0600   
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   microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support:31876   
      
   Ron Hardin  wrote:   
      
   > How do I send and receive ascii on a USB serial    
   > port?   
   >    
   > It's to and from a Drake R8B shortwave receiver,    
   > and just to set the time of day etc, twice a year.   
   >    
   > It would be nice if it just appeared as a device    
   > like an external HD that I can write to and read    
   > from.   
   >    
   > I'm using Cygwin under XP, so if it has a device    
   > name presumably I can just send text to it and    
   > read text from it, but I have no idea how it comes    
   > up.   
   >    
   > Maybe I need what's referred to as a terminal    
   > program, but I don't know what that means.   
      
   The R-8 model came out in 1991 followed by the R-8A and R-8B models (but   
   I don't know their production years).  Production was discontinued in   
   2005 but that does not mean they changed the design in those 14 years.   
   USB (Universal Serial Port) didn't exist back in 1991.  The USB 1.0 spec   
   was released back in January 1996 but it would've been a while after   
   that before commercial devices showed up with a USB port.   
      
   Does the case actually have a USB port?  USB also stands for Upper Side   
   Band which is a feature of the R-8 series (as is LSB = Lower Side Band).   
   Do you have the radio or are you thinking of buying one and the seller   
   mentioned USB?   
      
   I found pics of the R-8A which has a 9-pin Dsub (DB-9) port for an   
   RS-232 serial connection.  RS-232 dates back to 1962 so it existed and   
   was employed in commercial devices before and during when the Drake R-8   
   series showed up.   
      
   From an online ad of someone selling a Drake R-8 (found at   
   http://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=192671&view=previous),   
   the case looks like:   
      
   http://i45.tinypic.com/15hihx2.jpg   
   http://i46.tinypic.com/bi402a.jpg   
   http://i50.tinypic.com/vy1bvt.jpg   
   http://i50.tinypic.com/11c5dnq.jpg   
   http://i47.tinypic.com/2q2log3.jpg   
   http://i47.tinypic.com/2d15cx.jpg   
   http://i45.tinypic.com/35am2yp.jpg   
   http://i45.tinypic.com/2mi3kw2.jpg   
      
   There is no USB (Universal Serial Bus) port shown for that model.  There   
   is a RS-232C port which matches up with the era for this shortwave   
   radio.  At http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/commrxvr/r8.html and   
   at http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/commrxvr/0082.html (which is   
   for the R8B), the specs and features are listed.  USB is mentioned in   
   the sentence:   
      
     Multi-mode reception (AM, FM, *USB*, LSB, RTTY and CW) is featured    
     throughout the range of the receiver (100 kHz to 30 MHz).   
      
   So USB means Upper SideBand (just like LSB means Lower SideBand), not   
   Universal Serial Bus.  I found a manual for the R-8 at:   
      
   www.wb4hfn.com/DRAKE/DrakeManuals/PDFDOCS/Drake_R8_Owners_Manual.pdf   
      
   USB is not even found as a string in that document.  Do you actually   
   physically possess the unit and see a USB port on it?  I finally found a   
   site via online search that mentioned Drake's web site, which is:   
      
   https://www.rldrake.com/   
      
   Looks like they long ago (11 years ago) dropped shortwave radios.   
   https://www.rldrake.com/technical-support/summary-of-drake-models/   
   doesn't list any of the R-8 series.  I did some FAQs listed at   
   https://www.rldrake.com/faqs/world-band-shortwave-radio-products/ where   
   R-8A and R-8B were mentioned but those articles are of no help to you   
   and they do not mention USB.   
      
   I happened up http://rigreference.com/en/mfr/drake.  Nope, a USB port is   
   not mentioned there, just the same RS-232 port back in the R-8 model.   
   http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/494 doesn't mention USB, either.  It   
   had a link to http://www.rldrake.com/swl/R8B.html (Drake's own site) but   
   that page does not exist.  That product was discontinued too long ago.   
   http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/commrxvr/0082rear.html shows the   
   backpanel of the R-8B.  No USB port.   
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