How To Order “The Serial Box

To order, please fill out the order form linked at the bottom of this page, specifying your requirements and customization options. In response, I will send a complete invoice via PayPal (PayPal ID not required if paying by credit card). S-BOXs will be shipped in the order that payment is received in response to the PayPal invoice.

The standard S-BOX is priced at $149 each, plus shipping via USPS Priority Mail (including International), and California state and local sales tax (for California residents only). Shipping is also available via UPS or FedEx upon request.

The S-BOX-USB is $169 each plus shipping. This price includes the required 6 ft (1.8m) USB-A to MINI USB-B cable to connect the S-BOX to your PC or MAC. The S-BOX-USB has a genuine FTDI USB-to-Serial adapter built in.

All D-SUB cables are all genuine Amphenol®, fully shielded, with molded connectors. Up to four cables of each type may be added to each order, including:

Cables are not sold separately without S-BOX; all S-BOXs and cables are bundled together in a single shipping box. S-BOX and Y-BOX orders may be combined into a single shipment.

USB-to-Serial adapters, if required, are not supplied with the standard S-BOX (but one is included inside the S-BOX-USB). I recommend any of those based on the FTDI chipset, such as the FTDI Chipi-X10 or GearMo 2 Port Professional. I recommend avoiding all bargain USB-to-Serial adapters based on the Prolific chip.

A 3.5mm TRS (stereo) or TRRS (3-circuit) to RCA patch cable, required for CW keying, PTT or serial control of the KX2 or KX3 through the S-BOX, is not supplied. Same for the KPA1500 PC DATA jack. They are widely available online:

SPE owners: be sure to order at least one 5 ft (1.5m) M/M DE-15 to DA-15 cable for each S-BOX ordered, as this cable is not available elsewhere (it was a special build order from Amphenol®, all 15 lines connected straight through).

A shielded DE-15 “High Density” Male-to-Male cable with all 15 pins wired straight through is required to connect the S-BOX to a K3 or K3S Accessory port (ACC), or to a Y-BOX, or to an ACOM CAT port. VGA monitor cables cannot be used (they do not connect all 15 pins as required).

Female-to-female wire jumpers of various colors are included inside each S-BOX ordered. The connectors fit snugly over the 0.025" (0.635mm) standard square header pins.

Two (2) small shunt jumpers are also included inside each S-BOX. These jumpers select the destination of the DTR and RTS lines on the PC serial port. Those lines can either be passed straight through to the radio (recommended for K3/K3S), or directed to the base of an open-collector keying transistor, to provide CW and PTT output using two of the RCA connectors. This allows keying CW and PTT over the same serial port being used for rig control (CAT), even for radios that do not have this feature built-in.

All S-BOXs are shipped assembled and tested (this is not a kit). The jumpers will be connected as requested on the order form, with custom labels, prior to shipment. The user may move these jumpers as required to support new station hardware; no soldering or home-brew cables required.

To order the S-BOX and one or more cables, please complete the order form. Quantities limited. Limit four (4) S-BOXs per customer at this time.

For questions and support, please contact me via the email address listed on my QRZ.COM page.

73,
Bob, N6TV

Order Form

To select what you wish to order, please click here.

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