Table of Contents

Brief Comparison of TNCs (2014)

Brief Comparison of TNCs (2014)

TNC-X

I recommend this TNC
- relatively inexpensive
- only has kissmode, no command mode
- easy to set up
- Can be powered from a USB port
- Similar design to the TNC-Pi for the Raspberry PI

Kantronics KPC3+

Works well but has a buffer wrap bug in firmware that Kantronics has not acknowledged (as of 1/20/2014)
Expensive, compared to other 1200 baud TNCs.
Has many modes of operation including command, KISS, PBBS, KA-Node, Slave mode
Requires a 12 V power source

Byonics TinyTrak 4

I spent some time vetting this TNC because I like it a lot but it drops back to back packets in the same test that TNC-X & KPC3+ do not.
- Many HAMS claim this TNC works well as a Winlink TNC … but I'm not one of them.
- Good APRS TNC

Argent Data OpenTracker

I do not own this TNC but based on this link I do not believe it will handle connection oriented protocols like B2F.
- It has a good rep as an APRS TNC.