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Reviews For: West Mountain Radio RIGblaster Plus

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

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Review Summary For : West Mountain Radio RIGblaster Plus
Reviews: 46MSRP: 139.95
Description:
A RIGblaster is the easiest way to properly connect your radio to your computer's sound card. Fully automatic operation; your mic. always works, your computer always works, no manual switching, no plugging or unplugging.
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.westmountainradio.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00464.2
N3IZC Rating: 2003-05-17
A+ Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Placed my order at 3pm, received my RigBlaster Plus the next day. Great service. I had asked many questions regarding PSK, FSK, and high-speed CW and they set me straight.

Documentation is complete although terse. Unit itself is very well made, all metal enclosure approximately gun-metal grey in color. Workmanship is outstanding.

I was up in just a few minutes with the included CD-ROM.
N5WSD Rating: 2003-03-24
GREAT MACHINE Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had the unit in operation for about 9 months with an old (4 pin mic) Kenwood and have had a great time using it on many different modes. RTTY is where I spend most of my time now and it works great...even without a modern radio and CAT.
The only reason I give this unit a 4.5 and not a 5 is that the startup instructions are weak and it is not easy to hook-up and configure. The instructions need help. The people at West Mountain seem happy to help you through any problems.
K8JS Rating: 2003-03-22
A Nice Digital Interface Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Functions OK with softwares DigiPan and MixW.
Interfaces OK with a Yaesu FT-1000MP.
Interfaces OK with a Yaesu FT-847.
Highly recommended to others!
---John
KE8RO Rating: 2003-03-21
Satisfied! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I use my Rigblaster plus with a Dell Laptop running Windows XP. Radio is a Icom 756PRO. I use it currently for 99% RTTY. Lots of software provided, quick to ship and respond to emails. There are many areas of the Rigblaster plus I have not tried to date however I am extremely satisified with the operation of it on RTTY. Copies much better weak signals than my previous TNC..
K2KOH Rating: 2003-02-18
Lots of fun Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this a little over a year ago, and I used it for CW contacts...I admit, my fist is rusty. I have had more than a few enjoyable high speed CW contacts with this rig. Experimented a little with PSK31 as well.
Good value for the money, and their support is right on the money. What they say is true...ninety-nine percent of your questions and problems can be answered right on the website. A fine addition to the shack!
N0AH Rating: 2002-09-24
Windows ME user Beware Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a first impression review from a ham who has this product for a short period of time.

I have a 1 1/2 year old common Compaq laptop with Windows ME and no serial port. It was a problem from the get go. This due to bugs in the operating system that caused the Rigblaster to misfuction off the comport and the lack of a serial port on the computer.

The hotfix from Microsoft would not fix the known compatibility issues with my version of Windows ME.

After several hours with Microsoft phone calls, the conclusion was that my operating system was not compatible with using a comport for this type of device.

So I went out and got a new HP, with a seriel port, and with Windows XP.

Guess what? XP also has "minor" compatibility problems but these were fixed by changing some of the Rigblaster's jumpers inside the box relating to the serial keying.

If you have XP, and things don't work right whereas the activated comport locks on your transmit, consider changing the default serial port settings. To where the PTT is now on DTR and TXD is on KEY.

The compatibility problems with both the ME and XP were due to the RTS on PTT locking on and not responding to the software commands to deactivate.

The Rigblaster is not a plug and play device like some here have mentioned. West Mountain Radio will be the first to tell you this.

You either get lucky and the configuration you try works right away, or you end up spending some time on it-

The software disk from West Mountain Radio is awesome- Bookuu programs to run things, it has a ton of products and information- Really an amazing resource-

Also, WMR offered me a full refund when I had the ME problems but I really wanted to get this to work and they helped.

So how do I score this product? I give the product a 4.5 for one main reason. I pulled a lot of hair out trying to get it to work with my operating system(s).

When I called to order my Rigblaster, I was very detailed in telling them the computer I had and they asked no questions.

In other words, I think that they have to be a bit more proactive in helping their customers prepare to use the Rigblaster by asking a few questions with a phone order. After all , two of the bigger issues focused on their customer support page deal with Windows ME problems and computers without serial ports-

On the flip side, they are well prepared to answer the problems with a detailed website and decent phone service. The manual covers a lot of the suggested "fixes" but it takes a general understanding of digital modes to know where to look for solutions. Frustrating for an anolog newbie like me, but I'm sure a piece of cake for tech heads-

If not for the Windows ME issue, I would have been up and running with the new machine with XP in about an hour vs my 5 day ordeal-

73 Paul N0AH
W4KPA Rating: 2002-07-05
Buy this one Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I've had my RIGblaster plus for about seven months. Installation was easy and it makes digital operations slick. Once it is installed it is basically transparent. This is one of those products that work just as advertised.
K9KJM Rating: 2002-06-20
Well Built Equipment! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Rigblaster Plus is a very well built interface. Great attention to detail, The unit I received had no flaws, cosmetic or electronic.
I would not hesitate to buy another. BUT the instruction manual is basic, at best. It mentions many times over that the instructions supplied cover the Rigblaster only, And makes no real attempt to help you get running. It refers you to the "software" instructions... But how is a person trying to set up new equipment supposed to know if a problem is in set up or software? Reminds me of several subcontractors pointing fingers at each other saying "it's HIS problem, not mine!" For the price, I expect better instructions to get a program/function running.
The fine folks at Rigblaster have told me they are going to include better instructions in the future. Therefore, my 5 rating. Once I got it going, Works GREAT!!!!!
WB8SKP Rating: 2002-05-08
A good rig interface Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have built two interfaces and they worked ok with my IC-706 and IC751. I replaced the 751 with a 756PRO and did not want to rewire one of the interfaces so I picked up the Rigblaster Plus.
The Plus works very well with the PRO. Have tryed many Digital Modes with it and have had no trouble. Yes I built the two interfaces for less than the cost of the Plus but they don't look as good and are not of the same quality.
W4YHD Rating: 2002-03-04
Excellent Product in Every Way! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I wanted to interface a Dell laptop computer to my Yaesu FT-1000D to use the new HF digital modes like PSK31 etc. After I priced out what it would cost to purchase everything myself to do the interface, the RIGblaster plus was just a few bucks more expensive. Why not have a nice clean interface for just a few bucks more?! The construction is First Class all the way with high quality components used. The design is well thought out and straight forward with maximum flexibility to meet any possible need, and everything is included (cables and software). I hooked it up easily and had no trouble getting right on the air. The RIGblaster plus made it all easy and is a very nice visual compliment to my shack equipment. The large library of software provided on the included CD ROM is a real treasure and easy to load.

I met the two principal designers at a local Hamfest and found them to be very helpful, spending a lot of time teaching us and answering all questions very politely. The people at West Mountain Radio are very professional and provide honest help in the best most polite way. Nice to see the Ole HAM spirit survive. Excellent product in every way. Thanks West Mountain Radio!!