| KL7JT |
Rating:  |
2023-02-14 | |
| Works well. Excellent Support. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Have owned one of these for about 8 years. Always works. Straightforward box and well-built. Setting it up is simple, but recently had an issue with new setup. Called them for support. Excellent rapid response over the phone. Very good company and product. |
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| EA8TN |
Rating: |
2022-06-15 | |
| EXPERIENCIA |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Hola a todos yo estoy muy contento con mi Signal Link la utiliso con el kenwood ts-870
Va perfecto con todos los modos diguitales y modulucion con el voicemeter configurado todo perfecto muy contento la recomiendo
un saludo desde tenerife Canary Islands
EA8TN |
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| K7LRB |
Rating: |
2022-06-15 | |
| Why use anything else? |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Very best wishes and GREETINGS!
Larry here, K7LRB. I have been a ham for over 61 years and have been very active the entire time, including when I was deployed overseas. Most of that time, particularly early on, I have worked primarily CW. I have been working the 'digital' modes (please, let's not start the CW is/is not a digital mode nonsense!) since the Commodore 64 days, mainly RTTY, before AMTOR was even a 'twinkle in the eye' of its originator. In any case, over the past, approximately, 20 years I have used a plethora of interfaces with mixed success, including 'homebrewed'. I have been using the Tigertronics SignaLink units for at least the past 15 years, beginning with the models SL-1 and SL-1+ and currently use SignaLink USB units. I currently own 7 of them (count 'em SEVEN!). The reason for the seven units is the topic for another discussion but, suffice it to say, I am trying to "cut back"!
I am VERY active on the digital modes, including but not limited to, PSK, Olivia, Contestia, et al; Packet, VARA, VARA FM, yadda yadda yadda. You get the picture. During ALL that time and with ALL the SignaLink units I have used, I have never had a single problem, issue or 'glitch' with any of the them at ANY time. I have used them in fixed station, mobile, portable, battery and solar powered operations with 0, as in ZERO, problems. The quality control is beyond reproach and the ease of use is beyond comparison. I have used "built in" sound cards in various rigs and, although they do "work", I find that they do not perform as well as a SignaLink and are not nearly as "user friendly". I find it hard to beat having TX, RX and 'Delay' controls 'always' at your fingertips; no menus! I have tried various other, stand alone, interfaces as well and have never found one that performs as well as the SignaLink.
I see that some users have reported "issues" and I simply do not understand it. I suppose it is possible for a "bad" unit to get shipped, but again, having owned and operated nearly a dozen units (over the years), I would think that, somewhere along the way, I would have experienced, at least, a 'similar' issue. IF I ever did have a problem, I have no doubt Tigertronics would promptly "make it right".
I will never "knock" another company's products but I simply do not understand why anyone would use anything else! The SignaLink is the epitome of 'user friendly', is very competitively priced and is backed by a company with a stellar reputation.
Thank you Tigertronics for GREAT products for ham radio!
Larry, K7LRB
Note: A ham mentioned the 'desire' to NOT have the SignaLink key (PTT) his rig. Simple: remove the jumper for "PTT" inside the SignaLink! |
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| K7CMA |
Rating: |
2022-06-14 | |
| Plug and Play (almost) |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've owned the SignaLink for about two years now and have had no issues with it. Unlike the Rascal that I replaced with it, it is almost dead simple to set up.
I've used it with both my IC-718 and FT-817. My only complaint is that when switching radios I need to remove the four screw on the front panel to swap out the module (or swap jumpers, for those who don't buy the modules). If I were redesigning the unit, I'd make it easier to open the case up. But this is a very minor nit-pick that doesn't take away from the overall excellence of the unit.
Highly recommended. |
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| N9XCR |
Rating: |
2021-11-27 | |
| Gets the Job Done, But... |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Does it get the job done? Yes. My only complaint is that I'd like it to pass audio no matter what. I understand that it usually controls PTT, but I'd like to have the option of controlling PTT myself and just have it act as the audio interface to my radio. I'm likely going to sell my mine and go with something else. |
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| K7TCE |
Rating: |
2021-11-24 | |
| I like it ............. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I recently received my Signal Link USB and got it running in minutes. It works much better than the Rascal I used to use. The front panel gain controls are SO much better than the Windows control, and having a separate sound card mapped to the digital software means it doesn't conflict with any other PC apps that are using the onboard sound. Well worth the few bucks extra. |
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| N1UMJ |
Rating: |
2020-10-28 | |
| No problems so far |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I have one I've used with a Kenwood TS-2000 and TS-450 my backup radio, I've had that one 7 years now, another I used with my IC-756proII almost a year now, and a third one in my go kit that works with my IC-706MKiiG. The 2 in the shack have heavy use on them and no problems, the go kit one I just got but it works. No problems with any of them. They get the job done, were easy to setup and configure, I know many people with them and very few problems. They are very easy to setup, I recommend them often. The manufacturer has been great to work with if I ever had a question too. I've used various other interfaces and had RF issues but can't say I ever did with these. |
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| W5BIL |
Rating: |
2020-09-30 | |
| Electrically reliable, but very touchy |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I've made over 500 digital contacts using this little box, and it's been electrically reliable. That's the good news.
I could easily mark 5-stars for the product if not for the fidgety knobs. The RX and DLY knobs are set-and-forget, so no big deal there. However, during PSK-31 sessions, I use the TX knob frequently to adjust for minimal ALC, since re-tunes are required across the waterfall. In turning the knob, there's first a bit of resistance followed by some recoil. Because of this recoil, fine tuning is lost when the knob is released. This of course results in additional fidgeting of the knob. Besides that nuisance, the unit is fine. |
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| N3YZ |
Rating: |
2020-09-17 | |
| Good Product |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Having replaced my Windows XP laptop and an equally ancient but reliable Buxcomm interface with a new shiny Windows 10 computer and Signalink, and using my older FT897D, I thought it would be easy as plug and play... After all, I wrote down all the old WSJT-X Setup checks. Stupid me.
Configured my rig as FT897 as directed. Got the FT8 waterfall, and decode. But kept getting errors with connections to the radio. No matter what I changed, kept getting the same radio connect errors. I thought my world was coming to an end.
UNTIL I found a Tigertronics site. Www.tigertronics/pgmsetup.htm. That page saved my marriage! It says to set the WSJT-X Rig tab to “NONE”, select “Vox” as PTT, raise the PWR slider a bit, and voila! Back on my beloved FT8 again!
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| K2WH |
Rating: |
2020-05-22 | |
| Too many issues with mine |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have had the signalink for about 2 months now and am using it with my laptop and ICOM 756pro and it will only work sometimes and other time (most of the time), I get this oscillating audio and errors appear on the screen for sound input and output. All suggesting from Tigertronics were and are valid here. I can't directly point to Signalink as the issue, it seem to be with the audio driver. Something in the computer I believe is corrupting the driver and it send the signalink into some weird what I call warble, oscillation or motorboating and the only way to stop it is to reboot the computer. When it does work, it works well. I tried to just boot up WSJT-x FT8, and do nothing more with the computer, it just sits there doing nothing. Hitting "Tune" in WSJT-x I get a nice pure tone. Leaving the computer untouched for about 1/2 and then hitting "Tune" again in WSJT-x the motor boating starts again and the motor boating sound is going out over the air. So, I've just about given up on the Signalink. No RF issue that I know of.
Edit:
I found that if I leave my headphones plugged into the "Monitor" port, it seems to work OK. I discovered this a few days ago when I plugged in my phones in that MONI port and it started to work. but, that was just for a few moments and then the Signalink went south again.
EDIT:
So today, I thought let me plug the phones in the port and leave them in. Well so far it is working FB. We'll see if it holds, if not I will edit this report.
EDIT:
So I found out today after my previous edit, this thing is very sensitive to RF. I found that it would work great with the phones in the monitor jack, I also found that the phones cord was coupling with RF in the shack and knocking out the Singalink. So, I wrapped about 10 turns of phones cord through a ferrite choke and that seems to have worked. So, I put Ferrite cores on the control cable to the rig and the USB cable to the computer. All seems stable right now.
I should mention that my antenna is about 50 feet above the house and is an 80 meter dipole. There should not be a lot of RF in this shack but apparently there is enough for the Signalink to crash.
Right now it is working just fine, I'm keeping my fingers crossed until i get my FTdx3000 back from Yaesu with its built in sound card.
Edit:
Well it was working fine but not any longer.
But, like previously, I think I finally got it figured out in that it is not a fault of the SignaLink but an issue with my computer, specifically with the audio driver. It seems that if I run any internet site with FT8 or any other digital program sitting idle in the background, that is when the problem appears. I have been careful to not run any internet in the background while using FT8 or any other digital mode and it is working. If I go to the internet, I shut down whatever digital program I am running. When I then finish with whatever I was doing on the internet, I shut it down and reboot FT8 and it seems to work OK. Like before, I'll let you know if it is consistent enough to shout victory over this.
K2WH |
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