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write your own review of the Radio Shack USB to Serial Cable 26-183.
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W7MJM
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Rating: 2/5
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Jun 20, 2007 16:33
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Didn't play well with Vista
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I had problems installing the driver. Had to search the Web for a solution. But then the device wouldn't work consistently with Vista; it kept crashing my computer.
Returned the RadioShack device and replaced it with a KeySpan USA-19HS. The manufacturer provides a Vista-compatible driver on their Web site. The KeySpan is working perfectly; no more crashes.
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KK0DJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 20, 2007 13:47
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It ain't so bad
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had this unit in my toolbag for several years. I use it nearly every week at least once. I have never had an issue with it. I have connected to several different units. I work as a Senior Systems Engineer for a Computer Systems Consulting Co. and find this a very useful tool. There are others on the market, but with a laptop that only has USB interfaces, this meets my needs perfectly. I have used it also with my ham rigs and have had no issues at all.
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N1YRK
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Rating: 2/5
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Dec 6, 2005 15:49
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too little for the money
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Not only is it too expensive, it doesn't do what it should - which is provide both TTL and RS-232 voltage levels. It wouldn't have been difficult for them to put a switch on it - USB is at TTL already, they boost the voltage for RS-232.
I returned the damned thing, and bought one of the cell phone programming cables instead. Hacked the cellphone end off, and put my own end on. Total cost $10. And I didn't have to worry about signaling level, it was at TTL already.
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N8OBG
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 6, 2005 11:38
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Good but not great
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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This product works fine with most Windows and Linux software. I finally upgraded my venerable T21 to a T42 Thinkpad, which I found has no serial port on board. A number of people in the Cisco and Linux community recommended this RS USB unit to me as a easy fix.
Windows: Requires a driver for Win32 operation. May not work with Win95. Driver download is hidden on Radio Shack website, I found it here: http://www.radioshack.com/search/softwareResults.jsp?kw=26-183
Linux: It took me just a few minutes to get this working on RedHat Fedora Core 3 Linux. Setup is not easy for the novice, but not difficult for anyone with Linux experience. Must have USB serial module or support in kernel, which is available on most versions. Check the serial and USB how-to documentation for more info.
Parental Advisory: Since this is a USB device, software which is written to communicate directly with a UART chip won't recognize this as equivalent to a conventional hardware based serial port. This sometimes arises where software was originally written for DOS or early Windows. Even today, a few companies insist on providing specialized and/or proprietary software that won't work with anything but a real UART based serial port.
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SSGMCCOY
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Rating: 0/5
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Feb 5, 2005 09:28
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Not for microcontroller programming
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This product may work fine for those who are attaching most consumer electronics. However, this product does not work with microcontroller programming software, such as WINISP from Philips. I purchased the adapter to program Philips' 89C2051 processors and, when using this cable, the software cannot detect, read, write, or acknowledge the processor. For those taking electrical engineering/computer engineering courses and for those who are professionals in the field, this cable is NOT the answer. It does not give you a fully compatible serial connection. I am returning the cable to Radio Shack and looking for another brand which is fully-serial compatible.
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K9FLO
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 4, 2005 15:00
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It works!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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It dose what it is designed to do. I have one each on my TS-2000, IC-775 and my T2X rotor control. They all work! This devise is available at your local RS, No mail order needed, if it dose not work, take it back, full refund, life is good!!!
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KOREKRASH
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 4, 2005 13:04
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It Works
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I haven't really had a hard time with this device and it seems to work great in most circumstances...I Noticed ppl had problems finding RS drivers. Here's the site for most RS products....
http://support.radioshack.com/soft.htm
-kk
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N4WCQ
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 7, 2004 16:05
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Works great with Linux
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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The adapter works great with Linux as long as you have usb serial support and the pl2303 drivers either as a module or compiled in the kernel
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K8LEA
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 3, 2004 13:44
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Self Defense....
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Well....
[grin]
I did finally get a look at the disket. It's OK. I sympathize with the other reviewer's problems - somebody asked me where I'd found the drivers online and I couldn't find them either. I did have a copy, though.
I wasn't here, I didn't say this, but registered users should be able to see my e-mail address....
Overall, it's still working.
(I bought the kid a notebook for school. No serial port either, but four USB's. No parallel port too! I demand ports!)
Really is silly for RS to take that off their web site, though, if the adapter is still "current".
Another RS complaint.... The search function on their web site seems to be broken. If I "find" something, it usually points me back to the home page. A Google search on the part number (which can be fun due to the dashes & zeroes) often is the only way to find something. On the plus side, though, I've found some manuals for seriously obsolete hardware there.
Stu K8LEA
(Hate to defend RS, but it beats Home Depot or the corner chain drugstore for things like solder. OTOH, one such drugstore was selling HP "Apollo" printers for a while. $60-$80 for a half-decent color ink jet. But when you went back out to buy more ink, you realize that a new printer is nearly the same price. King Gillette lives!)
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SOLINEAR
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Rating: 2/5
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Aug 3, 2004 13:07
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Bleh
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I went and got one of these. Unfortunately, Radio Shack is thoughtful to remember that most laptops that don't come with a serial port ALSO don't come with a floppy drive and of course distributes the drivers on floppy.... duh!
So I go to their web site to find the drivers and low and behold, they aren't there!! They just want to sell you something, they don't want you to actually be able to use it. I sent them an e-mail describing their baffling level of thoughtlessness and hopefully they will put the drivers back on their web site soon, since the previous individual found them on the web site and apparently Radio Shack decided that the 2kb/sec average over a month that would be consumed with driver downloads was just too much of an expense to handle *rolleyes*.
Not a happy day and probably the reason I went elsewhere first to find it, but alas, Comp USA doesn't carry the item.
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