SSH::W32Perl and STDOUT

[spanko]

Hi Monks, I'm a new Monk here - nice to meet you.

I have a great script here that is based on Net::Telnet - it telnets to a list of hosts, gathers the required info and dumps it into a local log file. Nice.

But....we are changing our network to using only SSH and therefore I need to adapt my "wonder script". I'm running ActivePerl 5.8.7 build 813 and have started off by creating a simple script using net-ssh-w32perl to run on a Windows XP SP2 platform.
I want to be able to run my SSH script against a list of servers, run a command on the remote server, and allow me to see / grab / log the output.
I have researched everywhere and see no clear answer. People recommend changing to Expect... I don't really want to do this.
Is it possible to grab the STDOUT when using the Net::SSH:W32Perl module?
I suspect there is an issue with stdout for the following reason.

(1) I can run the following code without any problem: => as long as any stdout gets redirected (... > /tmp/foo.out...)

================================================
my($host, $username, $new_password, $old_password);
$host = 'xxx.xxx.xx.xxx'
$username = 'blah';
$password = 'secret';

use strict;
use Net::SSH::W32Perl;

## Create a Net::SSH::Perl object and login to the remote host.

my %args;
$args{debug} = 1;
$args{protocol} = 2;

my $ssh = new Net::SSH::W32Perl($host, %args);
$ssh->login($username, $password);
my ($stdout, $stderr, $exit) = $ssh->cmd('ls > /tmp/foo.out',"\n");
=========================================================

(2) As soon as I change the last line to this (without the redirect), it hangs:

my ($stdout, $stderr, $exit) = $ssh->cmd('ls',"\n");

(3) This is the output I receive:

Reading configuration data C:\Documents and Settings\myname/.ssh/con
Reading configuration data /etc/ssh_config
Connecting to 9.0.6.141, port 22.
Socket created, turning on blocking...
Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version OpenSSH_3.4p1
Net::SSH::Perl Version 1.27, protocol version 2.0.
No compat match: OpenSSH_3.4p1.
Connection established.
Sent key-exchange init (KEXINIT), wait response.
Algorithms, c->s: 3des-cbc hmac-sha1 none
Algorithms, s->c: 3des-cbc hmac-sha1 none
Entering Diffie-Hellman Group 1 key exchange.
Sent DH public key, waiting for reply.
Received host key, type 'ssh-dss'.
Host 'x.xx.xxx.xxx' is known and matches the host key.
Computing shared secret key.
Verifying server signature.
Waiting for NEWKEYS message.
Enabling incoming encryption/MAC/compression.
Send NEWKEYS, enable outgoing encryption/MAC/compression.
Sending request for user-authentication service.
Service accepted: ssh-userauth.
Trying empty user-authentication request.
Authentication methods that can continue: publickey,password.
Next method to try is publickey.
Trying pubkey authentication with key file 'C:\Documents and Settings
Login completed, opening dummy shell channel.
channel 0: new [client-session]
Requesting channel_open for channel 0.
channel 0: open confirm rwindow 0 rmax 32768
Got channel open confirmation, requesting shell.
Requesting service shell on channel 0.
channel 1: new [client-session]
Requesting channel_open for channel 1.
Entering interactive session.
Sending command: ls
Requesting service exec on channel 1.
channel 1: send eof
channel 1: open confirm rwindow 131071 rmax 32768
=======> Hangs Here.

When it runs OK (with the stdout redirect) I get this:

Sending command: ls
Requesting service exec on channel 1.
channel 1: send eof
channel 1: open confirm rwindow 131071 rmax 32768
channel 1: rcvd eof
channel 1: output open -> drain
channel 1: obuf empty
channel 1: output drain -> closed
channel 1: close_write
channel 1: send close
input_channel_request: rtype exit-status reply 0
channel 1: rcvd close
channel 1: full closed
=======> script exits normally

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can grab the command output to a file no my local machine? Currently I am thinking I will have to run the script in its current format, outputting a bunch of commands to a file on the remote server, and then FTP the file back to my machine once completed.
Thanks