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Popular TNCs were the KAM, the KPC 3 (and older KPC's) and the Tiny 2 made by Paccom. A few TNC's are made today, but their price has gone up as most folk have opted to go the less expensive digital interface route. Popular Digital Interfaces are made by West Mountain Industries as well as Tigertronics, and there's one called the Rascal GLX sold by Buxcomm. The Rascal GLX complete with pre-made cables for my Yeasu 2400 cost me 45 bucks.

TNCs usually have a couple of test features which help you know your cabling is correct, When you turn on most of the brands they send out a "Billboard' of information to your computer screen. If you can read the information, your com program is set at the correct speed for the TNC and Computer to talk to each other. If you see scrambled signs and text, your speed setting in your com program is most likely incorrect. If you see nothing, your cables between the TNC and Computer need to be checked. If you were fortunate enough to get a manual with your used TNC, it will have pin-out diagrams for cable ends and often a transceiver mike cable pin-out for the popular models.

TNCs have many parameters that can be adjusted. Most however will operate on the factory default settings. There are a few settings you need to make once you get your COM program talking. 1) Set "my call" to your call. In the digital interface programs there is a place you type that in. In most TNCs, once you have the billboard printing to the screen of your computer you have the speed that the Computer talks to the TNC set correctly.

Note here that IF you did not get a manual with your TNC, go on-line and search for it. I also have copies as e-files of most well known TNC manuals.

Each manufacturer Supplies pin-outs for the TNC, and pin-outs for most transceivers - including HT's. Basically you need to connect your TNC to your computer, your Transceiver mike cable to your TNC's transmit keying and audio lines and your transceivers receiver (using the speaker out or receiver audio supplied to the mike jack if it is).

A couple of notes from experience:

Don't set an HT with a rubber duck antenna on your TNC, The RF will get into the TNC and will not stop transmitting when the packet program turns off the transmitter.

2. With most HT's you need a pull up resistor in the hot lead of the 3-circuit audio mike connector. Most TNC manuals list it as a 2.8 K ohm resistor. With some TNC's this will work fine but I have had several HT's (Yeasu and ICOM) where that pull-up resistor need to be raised to 3.3K ohms.

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