[comp.dcom.lans] RS232 reference/breakout-box guide

rogerj@theory.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Jagoda) (12/15/90)

Fellow netters,
 
 Sorry to interrupt this greast discussion about Novell, 802.3, etc., but
 I want to interject a problem here that some of you probably have dealt
 with over these years and may be able to help with. Despite the fall
 of workstation prices and PCs, we still have a lot of uses for dumb
 ASCII terminals over RS232 lines...also modems via that same route.
 SOOOOoooo, we make use of TCP/IP terminal servers (this campus uses
 ANNEX from Xylogics, but there are others...opinions?). Anyway, the
 question is that there are no real manuals for RS232. To learn TCP/IP
 most of us read Commer's Book (an EXCELLENT reference!). 

 So my question, has anyone come across or used or found a good RS232
 reference that explains how to use a breakout box and what it means
 to "set DTR high" or "follow RTS signals"? It's unfortunate, but
 especially with data collection equipment, most experiments only
 allow for RS232 interfacing, not TCP/IP (when was the last time
 you called up National Instruments and looked into a board with
 an 802.3 interface that supports sockets, ftp, telnet, etc.). It's
 really unfortunate, but I guess we're stuck with RS232 for a while.
 Besides, aren't there times when you just want to log in and check
 your mail or messages....or faxes....well, you get the idea.

 Thanks in advance! Naturally, I will re-post the book/ref list if
 there's anything worthwhile in the response.


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Roger Jagoda					-- A wise man adapts
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Cornell University				-- A foolish man tries
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Roger Jagoda                          -- My employers don't even like paying
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fyl@ssc.UUCP (Phil Hughes) (12/18/90)

In article <1990Dec14.161318.16321@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>, rogerj@theory.tn.cornell.edu (Roger Jagoda) writes:
> Fellow netters,
>  
>  Sorry to interrupt this greast discussion about Novell, 802.3, etc., but
>  I want to interject a problem here that some of you probably have dealt
>  with over these years and may be able to help with. Despite the fall
>  of workstation prices and PCs, we still have a lot of uses for dumb
>  ASCII terminals over RS232 lines...also modems via that same route.
>  SOOOOoooo, we make use of TCP/IP terminal servers (this campus uses
>  ANNEX from Xylogics, but there are others...opinions?). Anyway, the
>  question is that there are no real manuals for RS232.

<< First, vested interest warning: I wrote this card >>

I have been working with RS-232 for about 20 years and finally got sick of
there never being a concise reference for what you really need to know (or
what people ask me).  I have looked a numerous books and they generally
tell you too much about what you don't care about (like scope patterns of
distorted waveforms) and not enough about what signals are on the pins
what what to do with them.  So, I wrote an 8-page card that, I think, does
a good job.

Here is the story:
	RS-232 Reference Card
	ISBN 0-916151-42-5
	Price: $3.00
	Published by:
	  SSC
	  P.O. Box 55549
	  Seattle, WA 98155
	  (206) 527-3385 or FOR-UNIX
We (SSC) publishes a whole bunch of UNIX, C and "other" computer related
pocket-sized references and tutorials.

-- 
Phil Hughes, SSC, Inc. P.O. Box 55549, Seattle, WA 98155  (206)FOR-UNIX
     uunet!pilchuck!ssc!fyl or attmail!ssc!fyl            (206)527-3385