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- Xref: sparky comp.sys.amiga.hardware:13192 comp.sys.amiga.datacomm:5315
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.hardware,comp.sys.amiga.datacomm
- Path: sparky!uunet!hfsi!ata
- From: ata@hfsi.uucp (John Ata FSO)
- Subject: Re: GVP multi-port card
- Message-ID: <1992Jul24.172612.1127@hfsi.uucp>
- Organization: /etc/organization
- References: <1992Jul20.220100.22197@afterlife.ncsc.mil> <1992Jul23.212821.27136@hfsi.uucp> <1992Jul24.035416.9720@afterlife.ncsc.mil>
- Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 17:26:12 GMT
- Lines: 48
-
- In article <1992Jul24.035416.9720@afterlife.ncsc.mil> bkwilli@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Bryan Williams) writes:
- >OK, while you're quoting me the Comp USA catalog with $80 prices.... why not
- >look thru the entire computer shopper?
- >
- >Here's a suggestion: buy a $7 multi-io card, call up Startech or National Or TI
- >and find the distributer nearest you. OR just ask for a sample, straight up.
- >Startech sent me one real quick. Tell em you're working on an embedded system
- >or something :) FREE. Ask for a 16550 UART or a 16552 or whatever will
- >do on the typical board. Usually a 16550 is it. They do that so a single-port
- >card is cheaper but can be upgraded later.
- >
- >Pop out the old 16450 UART and pop in the new one. Should cost you less than $30
-
- You're assuming socketed UARTS which is only common on the second port. I
- actually did that so that I could have a 16550 on the Bridgeboard side, but
- it wasn't as cheap as you make it out:
- Dual serial card $50.00
- Second option chips+cable 15.00
- 16550 UART 15.00
- ---------------------------------------
- Total $75.00
-
- I needed to buy the second port option, because the second port was the only one
- socketed and I needed 2 other chips and a cable besides the UART.
-
- I went through JDR Electronics, BTW.
-
- Now, you might say that I didn't get the greatest deal on the serial card,
- and I won't argue with you, but I did look around and didn't see anything
- much cheaper in other catalogs. I guess I could have brought a single
- serial port card and played with the soldering iron, but I chose not to
- do this.
-
- >even if you pay for the UART, which should be around $12 or $13 for a 16550.
- >I've seen them for that price. The 68C554 is $22 in 1-99 qty's. It is 4 ports,
- >that is a reference on distributer pricing. The dist. I talked to didn't
- >have a problem with single-unit orders, but there may be a minimum order...
- >
- >Hamilton-Avnet has a minimum order, $50 maybe?
- >
-
- My only point is that other companies charge an arm and a leg for serial cards,
- GVP isn't alone.
- --
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