What is a virtual com port or null modem emulator?
System Dependencies Minimum PowerSDR Version: 1.X.0 Applicable Hardware: N/A Content provided by: FlexRadio Systems Engineering First a little background. A communications (com) port or serial port is a physical interface, usually defined by the RS-232 standard for communicating digital data (bits) between a DTE (Data Terminal Equipment) and a DCE (Data Communication Equipment) one bit at a time or serially, hence the name “serial port”. As this relates to ham radio a devices like a computer or older terminal are considered DTE devices whereas your TNC or radio are considered DCE devices. A standard RS-232 serial cable is used to connect a DCE device to a DTC device via their serial or com ports. If you wanted to connect two DTE devices together, such as two computers, a special type of serial cable is required called a “null modem” cable. With a null modem connection the transmit and receive lines are cross-linked. Null modems cables are commonly used for data transfer between compute
