[asterisk-users] Newbie alert: VoIP hardware

[Tilghman Lesher]

On Wednesday 07 May 2008 08:00:17 Steve Totaro wrote:
> If your budget is tight and you want a decent card (not an X100P) with
> room to upgrade, then check out
> http://www.openvox.com.cn/products.php?genre_id=25 or
> http://store.getvoicecards.com/index.php?cPath=66 they are the
> reference design that Digium used on previous cards and are very well
> made.  You can even use their FXO/FXS modules in a real Digium card
> and visa versa.

I believe you're misinformed.  This is not a reference design; it is a clone
card, plain and simple.  The only reference design (see 
http://www.tjnet.com/solutions/pci_phone.htm) was for a single port card with
no daughterboard slots.

> Word has it that the guy responsible for these cards was a former
> Digium employee back when Digium was only a few people (Mark Spencer's
> right hand man) and he also developed the Tormenta III card for
> Govarion.  I have seen documents and some other things that back up
> this information......

That is a sore subject, as well.  As best as I can tell, Martin left the
company with an agreement letting him pursue a business selling the X100P
(because Digium planned to stop selling that board, and there wouldn't be a
conflict), and because of a miswording of the agreement, it let him clone
Digium boards that he had worked on (even though they're not exclusively his
designs).

Note that purchasing Digium boards helps pay for full time Asterisk
development, and purchasing clone boards does not pay for even a part-time
Asterisk developer.

-- 
Tilghman