Pactor modem

[Emilyketch]

Hi All
Would appreciate any advice of anyone with experience with Pactor modems.
I am looking at purchasing a used unit that is a pactor 2 that was upgraded to a 3. Can anyone offer words of wisdom. Thanks in advance.

[El Pinguino]

Need more info... what model Pactor?

Upgraded to 3 is good... thats what I have..... in a Pactor IIe... which is about 16 years old.

Only issue is that it needs a serial/usb adapter ... not a big deal. I run it with either a PC or a Macbook Pro combined with either an Icom 706 or an Icom 710.... depending on my mood

[flyingnut40]

Will ANY pastor modem work or are they different from the pactor modems I use for amateur radio. I have 2 and both are older models..... just wondering?

[Capt.Don]

I have an old Pactor II modem (upgraded to Pactor III). Key consideration is my old Pactor II has an RS232 (DB9) serial port vs. the newer Pactor III uses USB. The connection from computer to modem is much easier with Pactor III USB modem. My Pactor II, needs two serial cables from the computer, one for the modem and the other for radio remote control. With the Pactor III, there's one USB cable from laptop to modem, and two cables from modem to radio. Most computers don't have serial ports, so you need two (2) USB to serial adapters or a dual adapter (Gear-Mo has good one). Functionally, I didn't see any difference between my Pactor II modem and my friend's Pactor III USB. Also, the newer modems are a bit smaller.
Don

[SoonerSailor]

Your old “ham” Pactor is probably just what would be called Pactor 1. This is very slow, Only 200 bits/sec if I recall correctly, compared to as much as 9000 bps for Pactor 4. Not sure you could even find a Pactor 1 station to connect to. Much better off with Pactor 3.

[AA3JY]

Pactor 1 stations are very much alive..find a list of active Winlink RMS Pactor stations on their winlink.org website