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Do any Firewire-USB Adapters Work with Flex-3000 ?

Bill
Bill Member
edited December 2019 in FLEX Series (Legacy) Radios
I have a Dell Inspiron 17 R SE notebook computer. With all its high-end options, it does not have a firewire port. Is there any firewire-usb adapter that will work with the Flex-3000?

Answers

  • K9DUR
    K9DUR Member ✭✭
    edited January 2017
    No. Firewire was chosen over USB for the interface because USB does not have the data throughput speed required. A USB-to-Firewire adapter is still only a USB port and not fast enough to handle the data transfer between the radio & the PC.
  • Bill
    Bill Member
    edited August 2013
    Thanks for the quick reply, Ray. That's what I feared. So much for my $1,600 laptop ! I guess I'm relegated, for now, to the Flex-1500 team. Bill W3WJ
  • Richard G7EIX
    Richard G7EIX Member ✭✭
    edited March 2015
    **EDITED* due to me noticing you have a Dell Inspiron 17 R Unfortunately you do not have laptop with a card slot... so yes, the 1500 is the highest you can go (or a 6500/6700) :-) A large amount of laptops have ExpressCard slots for which you can buy a 1394 adapter that should allow you to use the 3000. Some older laptops may have a PCMCIA slot, which again you can also obtain a 1394 card for.
  • David, KE5RV
    David, KE5RV Member
    edited March 2015
    This same situation applies to me as well. Has anyone in this community tried this using an ExpressCard adaptor?
  • K9DUR
    K9DUR Member ✭✭
    edited January 2017
    When I do club presentations or run a booth at a local hamfest, I use my laptop and/or my wife's laptop, both of which ExpressCard slots. The 3000 & 5000 both work quite well with an ExpressCard firewire adapter. 73, Ray, K9DUR
  • Richard G7EIX
    Richard G7EIX Member ✭✭
    edited March 2015
    Yes. I have two different ones and they both work great with the Flex 5000.
  • David, KE5RV
    David, KE5RV Member
    edited March 2015
    Richard and Ray, thanks so much for the quick replies. I'll order an ExpressCard adaptor and see if my laptop recognizes it. My 2 year old company-issued laptop has a Firewire port but my new HP laptop doesn't. In fact, I don't see any new laptops on the market that do. I guess that is a fading technology in the Windows world. Thanks again! 73, David, KE5RV
  • Richard G7EIX
    Richard G7EIX Member ✭✭
    edited March 2015
    Unfortunately its a dying technology, so the manufacturers are moving away (already have in 99% of cases) and adopted USB3 and Thunderbolt as alternatives. Hopefully you will have good results with the card. I have a SIIG and a Sonnet (USB2.0/1394 Combo) - both work great and both have the Texas Instruments Chipset.
  • Richard G7EIX
    Richard G7EIX Member ✭✭
    edited March 2015
    In case anyone is interested in the Sonnet - here is the link. http://www.sonnettech.com/product/fwusbexpresscard34.html

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