KAM TNC
 

To whom it shall concern:

I am interested in finding out what upgrades were/are available for
the KAM. I am well aware of Kantronics' arogant position of not
supporting the hardware anymore which is part of my station.

I would like to find out:

(a) what is the last firmware revision that came out for the orignal
KAM
(b) What hardware upgrades (clocks, memory, etc.) were available for
the KAM?
(c) What is a working KAM worth these days?

Can chips and upgrades be done with parts that were once sold as kits
by Kantronics? I think there was a memory and cmos upgrade, no?

Now for the rant on Kantronics about their terrible treatment of KAM
Owners:

I understand that they may not wish to provide technical assistance
via the phone or email, but not posting the last eprom version for it,
or the manuals is in the view I have, no less than deplorable.

Since principles are cheap, and TNCs are expensive, I will never
purchase another TNC from Kantronics, and that is a shame as I feel
they make the best hardware to do the job.

Now I am sure they dont care about a single amatuer operator, given
that they for sure make money in their commercial division, but I care
because it is my money!!

So who makes a very high-tech TNC that is very programmable and has a
support program I can count on well into the future (unlike
Kantronics).

What have other people's experiences been with support for very olde
hardware from other manufacturers? Do they abandon their customers
like Kantronics does and if not, whom is good in that area?


Stuart
Beverly Hills, CA

"Stuart Blake Tener" wrote in message
om...
To whom it shall concern:

I am interested in finding out what upgrades were/are available for
the KAM. I am well aware of Kantronics' arogant position of not
supporting the hardware anymore which is part of my station.

I would like to find out:

(a) what is the last firmware revision that came out for the orignal
KAM
(b) What hardware upgrades (clocks, memory, etc.) were available for
the KAM?
(c) What is a working KAM worth these days?

Can chips and upgrades be done with parts that were once sold as kits
by Kantronics? I think there was a memory and cmos upgrade, no?

Now for the rant on Kantronics about their terrible treatment of KAM
Owners:

I understand that they may not wish to provide technical assistance
via the phone or email, but not posting the last eprom version for it,
or the manuals is in the view I have, no less than deplorable.

Since principles are cheap, and TNCs are expensive, I will never
purchase another TNC from Kantronics, and that is a shame as I feel
they make the best hardware to do the job.

Now I am sure they dont care about a single amatuer operator, given
that they for sure make money in their commercial division, but I care
because it is my money!!

So who makes a very high-tech TNC that is very programmable and has a
support program I can count on well into the future (unlike
Kantronics).

What have other people's experiences been with support for very olde
hardware from other manufacturers? Do they abandon their customers
like Kantronics does and if not, whom is good in that area?


Stuart
Beverly Hills, CA

All of them quit supporting the hardware and software once the model is out
of production. A few of them will support it for a few years afterwards but
not many and not for long. The KAMPLUS is really quite old as far as
computer hardware goes. While I don't know when they went out of
production, the one that I own is 10 years old.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

"Stuart Blake Tener" wrote in message
om...
To whom it shall concern:

I am interested in finding out what upgrades were/are available for
the KAM. I am well aware of Kantronics' arogant position of not
supporting the hardware anymore which is part of my station.

I would like to find out:

(a) what is the last firmware revision that came out for the orignal
KAM
(b) What hardware upgrades (clocks, memory, etc.) were available for
the KAM?
(c) What is a working KAM worth these days?

Can chips and upgrades be done with parts that were once sold as kits
by Kantronics? I think there was a memory and cmos upgrade, no?

Now for the rant on Kantronics about their terrible treatment of KAM
Owners:

I understand that they may not wish to provide technical assistance
via the phone or email, but not posting the last eprom version for it,
or the manuals is in the view I have, no less than deplorable.

Since principles are cheap, and TNCs are expensive, I will never
purchase another TNC from Kantronics, and that is a shame as I feel
they make the best hardware to do the job.

Now I am sure they dont care about a single amatuer operator, given
that they for sure make money in their commercial division, but I care
because it is my money!!

So who makes a very high-tech TNC that is very programmable and has a
support program I can count on well into the future (unlike
Kantronics).

What have other people's experiences been with support for very olde
hardware from other manufacturers? Do they abandon their customers
like Kantronics does and if not, whom is good in that area?


Stuart
Beverly Hills, CA

All of them quit supporting the hardware and software once the model is out
of production. A few of them will support it for a few years afterwards but
not many and not for long. The KAMPLUS is really quite old as far as
computer hardware goes. While I don't know when they went out of
production, the one that I own is 10 years old.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE

Ok Stuart heres the skinney!
I have the KAM+ with ROM 7 in it. ROM 7 was the first that supports
PACTOR. Then it went on to ROM 8.(something or other) and added
MBX capability. I bought mine used and got all the cables and
a rs232c adapter which converts the port voltages from +/- 12vdc to
+/- 5vdc for Commodore computers use. I hope this is of some help
to you.
Joe/ABM6JF


************************************************** **
* Ham KH6JF AARS/MARS ABM6JF QCWA WW2 VET WD RADIO *
************************************************** **


On Thu, 8 Jan 2004, Stuart Blake Tener wrote:

To whom it shall concern:

I am interested in finding out what upgrades were/are available for
the KAM. I am well aware of Kantronics' arogant position of not
supporting the hardware anymore which is part of my station.

I would like to find out:

(a) what is the last firmware revision that came out for the orignal
KAM
(b) What hardware upgrades (clocks, memory, etc.) were available for
the KAM?
(c) What is a working KAM worth these days?

Can chips and upgrades be done with parts that were once sold as kits
by Kantronics? I think there was a memory and cmos upgrade, no?

Now for the rant on Kantronics about their terrible treatment of KAM
Owners:

I understand that they may not wish to provide technical assistance
via the phone or email, but not posting the last eprom version for it,
or the manuals is in the view I have, no less than deplorable.

Since principles are cheap, and TNCs are expensive, I will never
purchase another TNC from Kantronics, and that is a shame as I feel
they make the best hardware to do the job.

Now I am sure they dont care about a single amatuer operator, given
that they for sure make money in their commercial division, but I care
because it is my money!!

So who makes a very high-tech TNC that is very programmable and has a
support program I can count on well into the future (unlike
Kantronics).

What have other people's experiences been with support for very olde
hardware from other manufacturers? Do they abandon their customers
like Kantronics does and if not, whom is good in that area?


Stuart
Beverly Hills, CA

Ok Stuart heres the skinney!
I have the KAM+ with ROM 7 in it. ROM 7 was the first that supports
PACTOR. Then it went on to ROM 8.(something or other) and added
MBX capability. I bought mine used and got all the cables and
a rs232c adapter which converts the port voltages from +/- 12vdc to
+/- 5vdc for Commodore computers use. I hope this is of some help
to you.
Joe/ABM6JF


************************************************** **
* Ham KH6JF AARS/MARS ABM6JF QCWA WW2 VET WD RADIO *
************************************************** **


On Thu, 8 Jan 2004, Stuart Blake Tener wrote:

To whom it shall concern:

I am interested in finding out what upgrades were/are available for
the KAM. I am well aware of Kantronics' arogant position of not
supporting the hardware anymore which is part of my station.

I would like to find out:

(a) what is the last firmware revision that came out for the orignal
KAM
(b) What hardware upgrades (clocks, memory, etc.) were available for
the KAM?
(c) What is a working KAM worth these days?

Can chips and upgrades be done with parts that were once sold as kits
by Kantronics? I think there was a memory and cmos upgrade, no?

Now for the rant on Kantronics about their terrible treatment of KAM
Owners:

I understand that they may not wish to provide technical assistance
via the phone or email, but not posting the last eprom version for it,
or the manuals is in the view I have, no less than deplorable.

Since principles are cheap, and TNCs are expensive, I will never
purchase another TNC from Kantronics, and that is a shame as I feel
they make the best hardware to do the job.

Now I am sure they dont care about a single amatuer operator, given
that they for sure make money in their commercial division, but I care
because it is my money!!

So who makes a very high-tech TNC that is very programmable and has a
support program I can count on well into the future (unlike
Kantronics).

What have other people's experiences been with support for very olde
hardware from other manufacturers? Do they abandon their customers
like Kantronics does and if not, whom is good in that area?


Stuart
Beverly Hills, CA

"Stuart Blake Tener" wrote in message
om...
To whom it shall concern:

I am interested in finding out what upgrades were/are available for
the KAM. I am well aware of Kantronics' arogant position of not
supporting the hardware anymore which is part of my station.


Version history is available fm Kantronics at this web address: http://www.kantronics.com/ver_hist.htm
73
Richard WB8KRN

"Stuart Blake Tener" wrote in message
om...
To whom it shall concern:

I am interested in finding out what upgrades were/are available for
the KAM. I am well aware of Kantronics' arogant position of not
supporting the hardware anymore which is part of my station.


Version history is available fm Kantronics at this web address: http://www.kantronics.com/ver_hist.htm
73
Richard WB8KRN

Hams abandoned Kantronics long before Kantronics abandoned the hams. Cheap
hams decided that sound card software was better than a box, and that caused so
many company's, like AEA, to go out of business.

You'll never see another ham based TNC, since hams think that poorly written
soundcard software that is free is better than an external box with it's own
processing.

Morons.

Hams abandoned Kantronics long before Kantronics abandoned the hams. Cheap
hams decided that sound card software was better than a box, and that caused so
many company's, like AEA, to go out of business.

You'll never see another ham based TNC, since hams think that poorly written
soundcard software that is free is better than an external box with it's own
processing.

Morons.

Ref TNC's vs Soundcard stuff. Many seem to have forgotten that none
of the soundcard stuff is actually CRC (cyclic redundancy Checksum).
Or "ARQ" automatic error correction. This is a prime necessity
for digital msg traffic. So a msg originated by someone can be
guaranteed it will arrive at destination error free no matter how
many gateways or bbs it passes through enroute to destination.
Joe/ABM6JF/KH6JF


************************************************** **
* Ham KH6JF AARS/MARS ABM6JF QCWA WW2 VET WD RADIO *
************************************************** **