[GreenKeys] USB to RS-232

Wed Jun 7 18:58:41 EDT 2017

I "discovered" a solution a couple years ago that I figured would be 
necessary when I was "forced" to upgrade to a new Windows machine.

Silicon Laboratories has an evaluation kit for their CP2102 chip that is 
"unlocked" so that it's possible to set an arbitrary baud rate.

I ordered a couple and had great success with them on a Windows 7 
laptop.  When I got the new Windows 7 desktop machine, I was pleasantly 
surprised to see that it had a "traditional" serial port that handled 45 
baud at five bits just fine.

The description is here:

http://www.aetherltd.com/connectingusb.html

-------- Original Message --------
> These have been around for long enough now that I'm somewhat surprised 
> at the number of folks that have no knowledge of them.  But then 
> again, if you haven't had the need for one you probably haven't 
> followed any of the chatter about them.
>
> Some of the early Chinese 'copies' (i.e. cheap) did have a problem 
> with software drivers as the cloned chip (which is indeed inside the 
> DB9 portion of the cable) wasn't copied exactly and drivers made for 
> original manufacturers chips would fail to load on the cheap clones. 
>  Most of that has gone by the wayside, to my knowledge, on the newer 
> clones, although I guess you could come across some older stock.
>
> The major problem with the standard USB to RS232 adapters these days 
> is they do not support baud rates down to the 45.5 rate we need for 
> our old TTYs.  There is, or was, one solution to that issue that John 
> Nagle resolved for his demo telegraph system.  I use that also but 
> haven't checked lately to see if that special piece of hardware is 
> still available.
>
> Steve G./N4TTY
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jun 7, 2017, at 11:47 AM, Ralph Irish <w8roi at wowway.com 
> <mailto:w8roi at wowway.com>> wrote:
>
>> *A few weeks back, I decided to see if I could get back on packet 
>> radio.  There is a system in downtown*
>> *Detroit, just sitting there, waiting for business.  Sadly, it has no 
>> internet connection as it once did,*
>> *but is still in a good location with decent 'altitude' for the 
>> antennas.*
>> *
>> *
>> *I asked a local computer repair guy if he knew of a way to convert 
>> an RS-232 signal to a USB connector*
>> *without extensive use of software drivers?  He spent a few minutes 
>> on the internet and found a cord/cable*
>> *device for a few bucks.  It is a 30" cable with a USB connector on 
>> one end and a DB9F on the other.  Also*
>> *included was an adaptor that allowed one to use an RS232 signal 
>> emerging from a DB25 connector.  I've not*
>> *yet tried it.  I'm assuming that inside the DB9 connector is some 
>> electronics that convert the signals as*
>> *needed.*
>> *
>> *
>> *I'm not familiar with the manufacturer (China) but here are all of 
>> the details from the package:*
>> *
>> *
>> *SKU OC-1061-US *
>> *SIENOC USB to RS@#@ DB9  le Converter Cable 2.5ft*
>> *
>> *
>> *So, this might be the proverbial 'quick and dirty' way of putting 
>> that old PK-232 back into service with*
>> *a computer that has no RS232 connector.*
>> *
>> *
>> *If there are any questions, I can't answer them, at least at this time.*
>> *
>> *
>> *My next chore is to see if I have any Mac software in the house that 
>> will work on much later Operating*
>> *Systems.  I may not be out of the woods yet!*
>> *
>> *
>> *Ralph - W8ROI*
>> *
>> *
>> *If anyone really needs to see the info under the barcode, here it is:*
>> *X0017HM7LV*
>> *
>> *
>> *R.*
>> *
>> *
>> *- - - - - - - -*
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> *On Jun 6, 2017, at 9:51 AM, Ron Boltz wrote:*
>> *
>> *
>>> *
>>> I do have two laptops with the RS-232 port and both of those are 
>>> kept only for that reason.  One runs XP the other win-7.  In their 
>>> early work life, I used them for machine interfaces as many older 
>>> PLC’s and other industrial controllers used RS-232.  I’m looking to 
>>> the future when batteries die or other failures of these PC’s.  I 
>>> have replaced the hard drives in both of these already and no 
>>> telling how long parts will be available.
>>> Ron Boltz
>>> K3TZJ
>>> ______________________________________________________________
>>> GreenKeys mailing list
>>> Home:http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
>>> Help:http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>>> Post:mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net
>>>
>>> 2002-to-present greenkeys 
>>> archive:http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/
>>> 1998-to-2001 greenkeys 
>>> archive:http://mailman.qth.net/archive/greenkeys/greenkeys.html
>>> Randy Guttery's 2001-to-2009 GreenKeys Search 
>>> Tool:http://comcents.com/tty/greenkeyssearch.html
>>>
>>> This list hosted by:http://www.qsl.net
>>> Please help support this email list:http://www.qsl.net/donate.html*
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> GreenKeys mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net
>>
>> 2002-to-present greenkeys archive: 
>> http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/
>> 1998-to-2001 greenkeys archive: 
>> http://mailman.qth.net/archive/greenkeys/greenkeys.html
>> Randy Guttery's 2001-to-2009 GreenKeys Search Tool: 
>> http://comcents.com/tty/greenkeyssearch.html
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> GreenKeys mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net
>
> 2002-to-present greenkeys archive: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/
> 1998-to-2001 greenkeys archive: http://mailman.qth.net/archive/greenkeys/greenkeys.html
> Randy Guttery's 2001-to-2009 GreenKeys Search Tool: http://comcents.com/tty/greenkeyssearch.html
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/attachments/20170607/2d074f0e/attachment.html>