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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!harpo!floyd!clyde!ihnp4!zehntel!varian!david
From: david@varian.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.dcom
Subject: Re: Wanted: info on EIA RS-232 - (nf)
Message-ID: <178@varian.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 3-Nov-83 13:16:10 EST
Article-I.D.: varian.178
Posted: Thu Nov  3 13:16:10 1983
Date-Received: Tue, 8-Nov-83 23:52:48 EST
References: vaxine.367
Lines: 30

The  "automatic  black box" to connect 2 RS232  devices  referred  to by
vaxine!ptw is called the SmartCable from IQ Technologies, 1181 N.E.  1st
St,  Bellevue  Wa.  98005  (206)  451-0232  (that's a cute phone # :-)).
Call them to find your local distributor.

We received one a few weeks and found that it really works in most cases
(we found a few exceptions involving HP equipment that I don't remember
off hand).  I haven't taken it apart yet to examine the innards, but
it seems to work by overkill - it turns on all possible control signals
in the hope that it will hit the ones you need. It is also capable
of being a null modem (reversing pins 2 and 3) and seems to work fine
as such.  It has already saved me quite a bit of time in making quick
connections, where in the past I would have had to play with a breakout
box and jumpers.

The cost of the logic module (SC817) is $62 (there is another version
called SC817-D that contains one extra LED for debugging - it's about
$15 more and I would have ordered that instead if I had known) and consists
of a male 25 pin plug, ribbon cable connecter, 2 LED's, and a switch
(you flip the switch til both LED's are lit). For another $15 I got
the 257-Dual cable (ribbon connector to both male and female 25 pin
plugs).

	David Brown
	Varian Instruments 2700 Mitchell Dr.  Walnut Creek, Ca. 94598
	(415) 945-2199
	{ihnp4,tektronix,sytek,dual}!zehntel!varian!david
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