Cheap IrDA dongle for Uwatec computers

[Matt S.]

I just got this, and I can confirm it works with my Galileo Sol under Windows XP.

DealExtreme: $4.83 USB IRDA Dongle

Windows sees it as a Kingsun KS-959 IrDA device.

It's about $5 including shipping, but since it's coming from Hong Kong it takes about 2 weeks to get it.

 

[dkktsunami]

I just got this, and I can confirm it works with my Galileo Sol under Windows XP.

DealExtreme: $4.83 USB IRDA Dongle

Windows sees it as a Kingsun KS-959 IrDA device.

It's about $5 including shipping, but since it's coming from Hong Kong it takes about 2 weeks to get it.

Had to look just to see what a "Da dongle" is ...............I still don't know.

 

[sphillips3]

It's an IrDA dongle. A Dongle is a generic computer geek term for a small device that plugs into a port on a computer. In some cases dongles are used as a form of software validation/copy protection. In this case the term dongle is being applied to the IrDA interface adapter.

IrDA is short for Infrared Data Association which is a group of manufacturers that set up a consensus standard for communication over infrared data links. Scubapro/Uwatec computers have an IrDA port that allows data to be exchanged between the dive computer and the PC.

 

[vladimir]

Cool. I think I paid $65 for the official Uwatec one, and it doesn't work very well.

 

[DeNomad]

Nice find, thanks for posting! I bought another $5 generic one last year but it never worked.

 

[H20lover]

Hello Fellas,

I have an IrDA Dongle with driver disk for sale. I don't need it any longer since my PC has an IR built in. Worked fine for me. I'll ship it for $12.00. Paid nearly 25.00 cuz I wanted it right away to download my logs from my Sol. Let me know...

 

[DeNomad]

I purchased the usb irda dongle that the OP linked too. Does not appear to work with UWATEC Aladin prime on any speed setting.

Could be my computer is pooched though... this is the 2nd usb irda it has not worked with.

 

[Matt S.]

Make sure you are using the right driver for that dongle... it should say "kingsun" somewhere in the name.

Of course, even if you have the right driver, you might be screwed. Windows is just like that.

Oh, I have heard that some antivirus software can interfere with the IR port. Are you running Norton or Symantec stuff?

 

[Clammy]

I bought one of those cheap generic ones too. It works fine. The only issue I had was that it froze my computer if I unplugged it while the computer was on.

 

[Matt S.]

Yeah, if I don't use the "safely remove hardware" widget, pulling out the Kingsun dongle bluescreens the machine. Whee!