[comp.dcom.modems] BlackBox Inc.

rlin@cs.ubc.ca (Robert Lin) (07/12/90)

This is a follow-up on a question I had earlier...

I asked on Internet,

>Does anyone know if there is a device that converts a hardware hand-
>shaking device into XON/XOFF protocol? Here's the situation. I have
>a piece of hardware that talks through RS-232. It only supports
>hardware handshaking (CTS/RTS flow control). I want to communicate
>with it with a NeXT computer.
>

I received as reply from a kind Internet soul,

 >I have used a device from BlackBox Inc. for quite a while that does just
>what you're asking. Unfortunately, I don't have their address. At least you
>have a clue!

So does anyone know how I can contact BlackBox Inc.?

This is an important bit of info, because MANY serial devices out there
cannot work with NeXT without it. It is a frustrating situation. I
never thought the wonderfully designed Cube could have such a blatant
problem. It's like building a Ferrari, then forgetting to put a needle
on the fuel gauge.

Also, I mentioned earlier that XON/XOFF doesn't work at 19200. Another
very annoying bug. It probably can be fixed with a patch. I am using
system 1.0 (not 1.0a), and I am wondering if people who have 1.0a have
encountered the same problem? It is a hard one to test. You have to connect
a device like say printer that prints slow enough to need XON/XOFF to work
at 19200, then try to see if it will run.

If anyone has a patch for this bug, I would really like to hear about it!!

 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet... it isn't just a network, it's a Way of Life.

hall@buffa.enet.dec.com (Dan Hall) (07/12/90)

> From: rlin@cs.ubc.ca (Robert Lin)
> Newsgroups: comp.sys.next,comp.dcom.modems
> Subject: BlackBox Inc.

> 
> This is a follow-up on a question I had earlier...
> 
> I asked on Internet,
> 
> >Does anyone know if there is a device that converts a hardware hand-
> >shaking device into XON/XOFF protocol? Here's the situation. I have
> >a piece of hardware that talks through RS-232. It only supports
> >hardware handshaking (CTS/RTS flow control). I want to communicate
> >with it with a NeXT computer.
> >
> 
> I received as reply from a kind Internet soul,
> 
> >I have used a device from BlackBox Inc. for quite a while that does just
> >what you're asking. Unfortunately, I don't have their address. At least you
> >have a clue!
> 
> So does anyone know how I can contact BlackBox Inc.?

Black Box Corporation
P.O. Box 12800
Pittsburgh, PA  15241
Order:  (412) 746-5530
Technical Support:  (412) 746-5565

I suspect that the device you want from Black Box is their
Communications Adapter Plus (CAP),
which has two RS-232 ports that can be individually programmed with
different speeds,
code structures, transmission modes, word structures (parity), or
flow-control protocols.
However, the flow-control options listed in the catalog for this device
don't include RTS/CTS
hardware control, but DTR/CTS  (????, a typo?).  Call them.

>  
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Internet... it isn't just a network, it's a Way of Life.
> 

-Dan Hall 

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 Dan Hall                         | CSS/NSG Transmission Products Engineering
 Digital Equipment Corporation    | ARPAnet: hall@state.enet.dec.com
 Continental Blvd.                | EASYnet: STATE::HALL
 MKO1-2/H10, PO Box 430           | Usenet : ....!decwrl!state.dec.com!hall
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jeh@dcs.simpact.com (07/13/90)

In article <8651@ubc-cs.UUCP>, rlin@cs.ubc.ca (Robert Lin) writes:
> So does anyone know how I can contact BlackBox Inc.?

They seem to have two phone numbers.  412-746-5530 for placing orders,
-5565 for tech info.  Call one or the other and ask for a catalog.  

For future reference:  There is a wonderful publication called the
Electronic Industry Telephone Directory.  Electronics parts distributors
like Arrow and Hamilton/Avnet give them away.  If you're at a school, the
EE department should have a copy.  

	--- Jamie Hanrahan, Simpact Associates, San Diego CA
Chair, VMSnet [DECUS uucp] and Internals Working Groups, DECUS VAX Systems SIG 
Internet:  jeh@dcs.simpact.com, or if that fails, jeh@crash.cts.com
Uucp:  ...{crash,scubed,decwrl}!simpact!jeh