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Reviews For: BuxCom Rascal

Category: Interfaces, Radio to computer, amp, rotor, coax switch, internet

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Review Summary For : BuxCom Rascal
Reviews: 121MSRP: 49.00
Description:
Computer-radio interface
Product is in production
More Info: http://buxcommco.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001214
K6SBA Rating: 2002-07-19
A Very Poor Choice Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Some people seem to be happy with this product; others (like me) wasted their money. What does this show? Poor quality control and uneven customer service. I bought the kit form and that was a mistake. If you want a good kit buy from LDG or Elecraft. If you want a good digital interface, buy a Rigblaster
AD9P Rating: 2002-07-19
Junk Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Very poor workmanship.
Never received an answer to my e-mail .
N9RS Rating: 2002-07-19
Works Great Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Let's look at the facts...
1. I ordered and paid.
2. It worked.
3. Let's me transmit real FSK.
4. My emails re questions were all answered.

I can recomend the rascal. In fact, the rascal replaced my Rigblaster which did not allow me real FSK on transmit or the use of RTTY mode and data mode for receive. No metal box but also no external power needed. Great support.
K3ZP Rating: 2002-07-19
You get what you pay for Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Let's look at the facts...
1. I ordered and paid.
2. It didn't work.
3. My emails were ignored.
4. I fixed the thing myself!

I have a problem with any company who ignors a paying customer. I cannot recomend the rascal at all. Poorly constructed and no support.
K6NTL Rating: 2002-05-25
Update Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
OK... Now that I uninstalled XP (pain!!) it works just fine. So I bought another one for my FT-100D.
Sure the housing is cheap. But I only paid 39/95 for the 2nd, and after you buy parts to build one, assuming you start from scratch, it isn't that bad for the price. True, Bux's customer support is really poor. Really. Non existent. So even tho the kit is simple, I advise not to buy it that way. I get the feeling if you got a bad part, they would assume you to be a dolt and do nothing. I still like it, especially with the 100D, but you pays your moneys and yous takes your chances, as they say.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by K6NTL on 2002-04-30

Here is my two bits worth:
All in all I must commend Buck and his gang for providing a low cost, effective way to gain access to digital modes. I have to be pretty pleased to even give a four for a review, so here is why I went the way I did.
First, it is refreshing to have any company jump on an order the way they do. They will ship the unit post haste on receipt of your order. No nail biting here.
Next, one of the beautiful things about soundcard interfacing is that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to get up and running. The documentation is adequate, but should be read. Closely.
Also, I should mention that for whatever reason, I had no idea that my biggest problems would stem from Bill Gates' lovely new Windows XP.
It is documented that in the later releases of Windows, that a certain pin, in the comports is kept in a high state. This results in the PTT being kept active. Not a popular thing. Buck mentions the use of a program called FIXCOM.EXE to tweak the ports on later versions. This is not included in the XP package, but can be found on the net. Maybe it works for ME and others, but so far XP has no desire to allow any massage of its ports. Mr. Monopoly strikes again.
But no despair. Buck mentions the ability to skip the serial port and use VOX to operate the PTT.
This works, but I wish I had the serial doing the work. No matter how I adjust the gain, delay, and anti-trip, it still keys the transmitter briefly whenever I mouse-click on a program menu. Other configurations and spacing of the computer doesn't help.
This isn't their fault. But I wish I knew in advance. I would have bought the other model for my FT-890 and went in through the mic rather than the data jack.
I look forward to getting one for my FT-100D. It would be an excellent choice for portable/mobile use.
All in all you get plenty of "bang" for the "Buck".
My experiences have been worse with other product lines.
See you on PSK.
73, Kevin
KD7PXU Rating: 2002-04-30
No response to support question, cheesy construction Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Product seems OK, although the quality is poor (really cheap housing with a rats nest of cables) compared to others such as Tigertronics' SignaLink for almost the same price.

I had a problem with the PTT LED being on constantly, and emailed Buxcomm for support, TWICE, and never received a reply.

Ironically found my answer on West Mountain Radio's support page - my Palm Pilot sync software was the culprit.

In my opinion email or web support of products is not optional.
W2KL Rating: 2002-04-25
Outstanding Performance Right Out of the Box Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Absouletly great piece of kit! Email ordered on Sunday; Buck called my QTH that afternoon and provided clear/concise answers to my questions; the "Rascal" arrived Tuesday; and I was on the air within 15 minutes of opening the box that evening. First two PSK31 contacts were DX with only 5 watts. Latter worked RTTY both AFSK (sound card) and FSK (my rig's capable) with excellent results. BTW, I had listened and studied a little, but had never operated with these modes before.
Would have built the interface myself, but was hard pressed to match Bux Comm's price by the time you pay for cables, connectors, pieces/parts, etc...
Excellent piece of kit that performs as advertised.
VA7SW Rating: 2002-04-15
ts570 interface Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
poor quality

mis wired 2 wires broken off fron 13 pin connector when opened box

extremely poor customer service

be smart spend the extra money and but a rig blaster
KG4FGC Rating: 2002-04-04
Plug and Play! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered the built unit (not kit) for a TS-180S on Monday morning via website. Was delivered to my door Tuesday am! Couldn't get to it until several nights later but once I figured out how to configure Digipan to my laptop (my fault--not Buxcom) the interface worked like a charm. Comes bundled with WinPSK and manuals for both WinPSK and the RASCAL. For the price and what you get, couldn't be easier to get into PSK31.
WQ8Q Rating: 2002-04-04
2nd one for 2nd Radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Okay, here's the deal. This whole radio/computer interface thing is simple. You want to 1) Key your rig from your computer 2)Route audio from the rig to the computer sound card 3)Route audio from the sound card to the rig. Basically all you need is an optoisolator for the keying, and 1:1 transformers for the audio. Buxcomm supplies this in an easy to build kit WITH ALL CABLES AND PLUGS INCLUDED for your radio. I built one last August for my Ten Tec Pegasus. And just this past Monday I ordered one for my newly acquired Ten Tec Omni V. Arrived priority mail two days after I ordered it, and after about an hour of putzing around with a soldering iron, it's up and working. So now I've got a separate interface for each radio, and I've still on spent total $55.90 ($27.95 X 2 delivered Priority Mail) and didn't have to run down to Radio Shack to pick up something I needed. Everything came with the kit. Easy to build, works like a champ. Why spend the big bucks for what is actually a set of simple electronic circuits.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by WQ8Q on 2001-08-05

Ordered the Rascal kit for the TenTec Pegasus late on a Tuesday; Buck shipped it on Wednesday, and I got it Friday. By Friday evening I had it up and running on PSK, and used it during the NA QSO contest on Saturday to key my Pegasus and send CW from my Writelog program. Haven't tried the other modes yet, but the Rascal works as advertised, and makes no phony claims. Why would you pay more? $27 shipped. Can't be beat! Comes with all the cables you need. Nothing extra to buy.