Yeah, gonk, I agree that "com" ports are old news, and that manufacturers should migrate to USB and ethernet... I wonder how hard it would be to get the USB interface on the 990 to be able to talk with the PC for this type of control.

That aside, I can report that I was able to communicate with the Outlaw using a "real" com port. I dragged my "office" machine out to the living room, hooked up to an RS-232 port and, using my software, was able to control the 990 on the first try.

So, now I'm left wondering what's up with the USB to serial cable. I contacted the CharmedQuark guy, and asked if he'd ever used a USB to serial device in his testing. I just sent that email this morning, so we'll see what he has to say later.

I will also be contacting Steve/Scott to see if they know about this.