| VK2VC |
Rating:      |
2018-05-27 | |
| Good units and good price |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have a G4ZLP Cat and data interface and yes I managed to smoke the cable. As it turned out it was not the fault of the interface but my 13.8v power supply. I found that the voltage across the red and black terminals was spot on 13.8v however if you measured from the red terminal to ground it was something like 22v and the black terminal to ground was 7 ish volts. So when you connect your FT857 ( no ground bolt) to your computer (grounded) something has to give :) The interface is the weakest point and the smoke gets out. I must admit the power supply was of the type they give away if you buy a largish radio and is now part of a landfill dump. |
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| S57KM |
Rating:    |
2018-05-26 | |
| First interface smoked, second is OK (so far) |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Needed CAT interface for Kenwood TS-790. The first one I bought was the cheaper Kenwood CAT interface. Used it only a few times since a year after the purchase the interface smoked (melted hole in plastic enclosure above the chip). Then I bought Kenwood DigiMaster USB IF232 CAT Interface, which has bigger metal enclosure. This one doesn’t overheat and works fine so far. Every now and then the communication stops (the same was with previous interface) so I need to restart a transceiver in order to re-establish CAT communication. So far I didn’t investigate whether the problem is in interface or in transceiver. |
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| VK3JED |
Rating:     |
2013-07-09 | |
| Excellent CAT interface |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Ordered a CAT/data interface for my IC-7000. Connection went smoothly. My model also has the second serial port for separate PTT keying, which has got me out of trouble in a couple of situations, such as software not supporting CAT PTT (e.g. FreeDV). Driver installation was easy, interface has been used in the shack and portable with a variety of modes including PSK-31, Winlink (RMS Express), FreeDV, and software such as Ham Radio Deluxe, satellite tracking and memory management.
The only issues I found were some software required that I fix the baud rate, and 19200 bps was found to be best by trial and error. Also, in extreme RF environments, the interface may be reset by excessive RF. The CAT port is more susceptible than the other ports to this issue. However, this problem only occurs in extreme environments, which in my case were caused by antenna and ground limitations at my previous QTH. Shouldn't be an issue for 99% of users.
I reluctantly took a point off my rating for these minor issues, but overall I highly recommend any of the interfaces from the G4ZLP range. |
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| G4HZV |
Rating:      |
2013-04-04 | |
| Works well |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
DigiMaster USB to RS232 serial CAT Interface:
Easy ordering and fast delivery. Initially had some problems with the driver, which was my fault! Fixed that and it's been steaming along, no problem at all.
Recommended. |
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| G7VKZ |
Rating:      |
2012-02-25 | |
| As good as it gets! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
These are really as good as they get.
Now USB versions that have exchangable leads (universal cat interfaces). Had a few items and all worked flawlesly, when I did need help (and it was my fault down to my age - Doh!) Neil was back to me with the solution within the hour.
Also have the new ProTwo interface, ALL data modes, AFSK, FSK, CW, built in CAT and built in SOUNDCARD - AND IT WAS ALL A DODDLE to set up - even for me! You rarely see or get service or value for money like this nowadays.
Oh, and the review below? Well G7VKX is a valid callsign but it does not belong to anyone! (I suspect it is envy from another competitor again).
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| KJ6BBS |
Rating:      |
2011-08-19 | |
| Research paid off =) |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I spent days scouring the interwebs for a cable for CAT control, since my FT-897D's CAT port was occupied by my auto-tuner. Found the mic port version that has a USB port for the PC, and is split to allow tandem use with mic. Simple, works right out of the box (Windows 7 auto-installed drivers), and no complaints about this cable whatsoever. |
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| WA4NUN |
Rating:      |
2010-04-27 | |
| low price quick delivery from U.K. |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| When I built a new computer and upgraded to to 64 bit Win 7, I found the Prolific driver on my old usb to civ I/F useless. Fortunately, the motherboard had an internal connection for a serial port which had to be brought out with a three dollar cable and I/F bracket. Since this was a high end quad CPU, it was a done deal that it would be with me for a while, so rather than mess around with another usb, went for the serial interface from ZLP which was also much less cost and was available in a wide variety of cable lengths, so I bought the 4 meter size. Also very reasonable cost, even shipping to U.S. Arrived in a little over a week, well packed and ready to go. Well made, works great, and plenty of cable length to move stuff around. Have since built a budget dual core pc to dedicate to shack which will go into custom shack shelving for summer shelving. Good product for my needs. |
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| N5THN |
Rating:      |
2010-01-31 | |
| The best! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Far and away the best CAT interface out there in my opinion. I've owner two others I won't name, one just plain never worked, the other works but freezes once in while. The ZLP has always been rock solid, and by the way it cost a fraction of the other two interfaces! Simple, quality construction, delivers on it's promises. What more could you ask for? |
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| W4KVW |
Rating:      |
2009-12-31 | |
| PERFECT! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
GREAT product at a GREAT price.FAST shipping as well.Should I need another one it will be a ZLP "AGAIN"!
Clayton
W4KVW |
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| N8EB |
Rating:      |
2009-08-28 | |
| DigiMaster USB Pro |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Some background...
My local club has REALLY been getting into digital the last year or two - we even have a weekly 2-meter digital net so members can test out their gear and software settings, and get advice from some digi-experts.
I tried first holding the mic close to speakers of the rig and the computer for digital, but as you can imagine, that becomes old REAL quick.
Tried out several different digital interfaces - and they worked to some degree - but was never completely happy with any of them.
The last one I tried was the West Mountian Radio NoMic on my Yaesu 897D. It worked out OK, but on the 2-meter net I would have to TX and quickly unplug the NoMic and plug my microphone back in to talk.
Another problem with this set up was I was using my only serial port for Ham Radio Deluxe and rig control. Had to buy an "USB to serial converter" for the digital interface, and that presented it's own set of problems...
So I bit the bullet and bought the best ZLP interface he sells - the "DigiMaster USB Pro". I think I paid about $160 delivered to Michigan from England back in winter 2009. I see today that the price has gone down.
I was REALLY surprised when it arrived in just a few days, package was in perfect shape, was VERY easy to hook up, and it work perfectly the first time out. So now with one device I have rig control, a data interface that every piece of software seems to see, I don't have to unplug and re-plug in my mic, and I can even do keyboard CW in CW mode to boot!
I hate to admit, but since making general I have not been using my Morse Code and most likely wouldn't even recognise my own call sign. This interface has a key plug, so it does NOT imitate CW in another mode - it actually keys the rig in CW mode!
So bottom line, there are good interfaces out there for data modes, for CW, and for rig control. Some of the interfaces use serial ports - getting scarce now-a-days - and some use a USB port, but this thing is the cat's meow! It works great, and contrary to some other reviews, everytime I wrote Niel with a question it seemed like he was poised over hus computer waiting to respond to me! I would reccomend not only the DigiMaster USB Pro interface, but Neil and ZLP to anyone! |
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