asv@gaboon.UUCP (Stan Voket) (07/06/88)
A client needs to utilize several existing parallel printers on his SCO
xenix system. I am in need of a converter to utilize these on serial
lines as all parallel ports are spoken for. Would someone suggest a
good one (or steer me away form bad ones) that they have had experience
with.
First priority is perfect functionality. Second priority is cost. Buffering
is not very important.
Please post to the net to benefit everyone. I will repost any e-mail replys
in summary to the net.
Thanks in advance.
--
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| - Stan Voket, asv@gaboon Land Line: (203) 746-4489 TELEX 4996516 - |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+steve@edm.UUCP (Stephen Samuel) (07/09/88)
From article <849@gaboon.UUCP>, by asv@gaboon.UUCP (Stan Voket): > A client needs to utilize several existing parallel printers on his SCO > xenix system. I am in need of a converter to utilize these on serial > lines as all parallel ports are spoken for. Would someone suggest a Good places to look: Rainbow Magazine , or any other RS COCO oriented mag/store. The COCO "comes with" a 'serial port' (it works... sorta) default.. but no parallel port, so these things are well known in the COCO world. Similar could probably be said for the APPLE mags (but on a lesser scale). -- ------------- Stephen Samuel Disclaimer: You betcha! {ihnp4,ubc-vision,mnetor,vax135}!alberta!edm!steve BITNET: USERZXCV@UOFAMTS
wrv@ihlpm.ATT.COM (Vogel) (07/13/88)
There is a company called Tigertronics in California making these beasties. I don't know their phone number, but they're in BYTE magazine. I personally bought one and use it to connect an EPSON RX-80 to a serial port on a MASSCOMP system. It works fine, except that it needs hardware RTS/CTS flow control and does not support XON/XOFF (it's not an intelligent convertor). Fortunately my masscomp uses Central Data serial I/O cards, which handle EIA flow control with no problem. The price was about $70. This was several years ago; I hope they're still in business. -Bill Vogel, (312) 416-4116 ...ihnp4!ihlpm!wrv
cjl@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Charles Lord) (07/13/88)
If you want to hack it yourself, there is an ingenious little circuit in the current issue of EDN (special Designs issue) that seems to do a quickie job of attaching a Centronics-interface printer to a serial output. -- Charles Lord cjl@ecsvax.UUCP Usenet Cary, NC cjl@ecsvax.BITNET Bitnet #include <std.disclamers> #include <cutsey.quote>
romwa@gpu.utcs.toronto.edu (Mark Dornfeld) (07/14/88)
In article <3204@edm.UUCP> steve@edm.UUCP (Stephen Samuel) writes: >From article <849@gaboon.UUCP>, by asv@gaboon.UUCP (Stan Voket): > A client needs to utilize several existing parallel printers on his SCO > xenix system. I am in need of a converter to utilize these on serial > lines as all parallel ports are spoken for. Would someone suggest a There are a number of converters on the market, some with buffers. One that we have used is called a "Microfazer". They are difficult to set up. Also, try Black Box company. They have a full line of boxes that do just about anything you can dream up. Mark T. Dornfeld Royal Ontario Museum 100 Queens Park Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5S 2C6 mark@utgpu!rom - or - romwa@utgpu
gene@cooper.cooper.EDU (Gene (the Spook) ) (07/19/88)
in article <5403@ecsvax.uncecs.edu>, cjl@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Charles Lord) says: > Xref: cooper comp.unix.xenix:2108 comp.periphs:767 > > If you want to hack it yourself, there is an ingenious little > circuit in the current issue of EDN (special Designs issue) > that seems to do a quickie job of attaching a Centronics-interface > printer to a serial output. I'm not quite familiar with the referenced EDN article, but I *can* recommend a nifty (almost)one chip solution to your problem. The reason I put in the "(almost)" is that I'm not including the 1488/1489s and the appropriate baud rate generator. What I'm talking about is the General Instruments' AY-3-1015D UART. All you need is the chip itself and the baud-rate generator, along with the 1488/1489s to get a fully operational serial-to-parallel or parallel- to-serial converter. All options can be selected in hardware (ie, no programming the UART) by means of dipswitches or just plain old jumpers. The UART is all CMOS and draws a ridiculously low 30 mA or so (about as much as a bright LED), and can probably be powered right off the serial line. What's so nifty about the circuit is that it works both ways, as S-P and P-S, with the appropriate buffers (1488/1489s on the serial end; 'LS373 or 'LS374 on the parallel end). For an even nicer twist, get hold of a Maxim MAX238 which has an on-board 12V converter (5V only operation), and both input and output line drivers. Oh, yeah. The baud rate generator can be an AY-[35]-8116, if memory serves me correctly. If you don't need complete and total accuracy, try a CMOS 555 (ie, a 7555) with good quality components. This might not be exactly to specification for clock accuracy, but it will be cheaper. Aw, hell, stick with a crystal and the BRG! Anyway, I'm in a rush now, and I'm starting to babble, but think about the 1015D/8116/238 solution. It's so simple all you'd have to do is hook them all together like in the data sheets and it'll work! Have fun! Spookfully yours, Gene "Bring the little ones unto me, and I will get a good price for them." - Dr. Bertram X. Fegg
cjl@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Charles Lord) (07/20/88)
Gene's right, the circuit used a '1015 UART chip, but you have to add 1488/89's, a 555 for clock, and a FF for the Centronics handshake. The article showed how to put the chips together so that they work. This oversimplification that is so prevalent today that you can "just put it together like the databook shows" is a bunch of crap in so many cases. I had a client once that felt anything short of a Cray-1 was a 'cookbook' design and should take no more than one day to design/build/troubleshoot. The fact is, find a working wheel or else prepare to go through a painful process re-inventing your own wheel. Flame off. This discussion belongs on a .ckts newsgroup.. -- Charles Lord cjl@ecsvax.UUCP Usenet Cary, NC cjl@ecsvax.BITNET Bitnet #include <std.disclamers> #include <cutsey.quote>
asv@gaboon.UUCP (Stan Voket) (07/30/88)
Thanks to all who responded to the above request for a reliable serial to parallel converter source. >From article <849@gaboon.UUCP>, by asv@gaboon.UUCP (Stan Voket): > A client needs to utilize several existing parallel printers on his SCO > xenix system. I am in need of a converter to utilize these on serial > lines as all parallel ports are spoken for. Would someone suggest a >> RESPONSES & RECOMMENDATIONS << There is a company called Tigertronics in California making these beasties. I don't know their phone number, but they're in BYTE magazine. I personally bought one and use it to connect an EPSON RX-80 to a serial port on a MASSCOMP system. It works fine, except that it needs hardware RTS/CTS flow control and does not support XON/XOFF (it's not an intelligent convertor). Fortunately my masscomp uses Central Data serial I/O cards, which handle EIA flow control with no problem. The price was about $70. This was several years ago; I hope they're still in business. Hack it yourself? If you want to hack it yourself, there is an ingenious little circuit in the current issue of EDN (special Designs issue) that seems to do a quickie job of attaching a Centronics-interface printer to a serial output. There are a number of converters on the market, some with buffers. One that we have used is called a "Microfazer". They are difficult to set up. Also, try Black Box company. They have a full line of boxes that do just about anything you can dream up. i bought a converter from MISCO EDV-Zubehoer, Germany. MISCO is a company like INMAC, and i believe they have representations all over the world (sorry, I don't know any address in the US). The converter can be configured to convert from serial to parallel and vice versa. It understands RTS/CTS control and XON/XOFF. I use this box about two weeks and i can really recommend it. The box costs 350,-- DM, this are about 150 US$ (in the states it may be much cheaper). CompuAdd sell a thing called a Serial to Parallel Converter. It's part number, in their summer 88 catalog, on page 30 is 39400 and it costs $39.00(US).. I have used one of these with a Micronixs (sp) NX-1000 parallel printer and an Xerox 820-II. YOUR SERIAL interface on the computer must support hardware handshaking, and MUST respond quickly to the request. The $39 box does only 1 character buffering. (So it may not work with Xenix, but for $39, it's almost worth trying, and if you use a low, 300 baud or so rate; it just might work anyway.) CompuAdd's phone number is 800-627-1967, and they are located in Austin, TX. Fith Generations Systems makes a device that might meet your needs. The device is called the "Logical Connection" and is capable of serial-to-parallel conversion. It has 4 serial ports and two each of parallel IN/OUT ports. Contact: FIFTH Generation Systems - Sales 909 Electric Avenue, Ste. 308 Seal Beach, CA 90740 1-800-225-2775 1-213-493-4483 I've had good luck with the Quick-link BPS 16 from Intellicom. The documentation has some errors so a break-out box when installing is a must. Price is in the $150 range. The docs list the following: intellicom 9259 Eaton Ave. Chatsworth, CA 91311 818-882-8866 Your dealer can probably locate some for you through normal distribution channels. I have had the one that Inmac (603-882-0346, p/n 8149, $159) sells for 2 years and have had no problems at all. Good places to look: Rainbow Magazine , or any other RS COCO oriented mag/store. The COCO "comes with" a 'serial port' (it works... sorta) default.. but no parallel port, so these things are well known in the COCO world. Similar could probably be said for the APPLE mags (but on a lesser scale). Unix boxes of whatever the rainbow of flavors also have this problem. Many manufacturers support serial, but very few support parallel. Since the implementation of the RS-232 standard is not quite as standard as I would like, I purchased several converters to run standard "parallel" printers. One that is good, and inexpensive (I *love* mutually exclusive terms) is one from Black Box Inc. I will provide the phone number below. As best as I can remember I paid about $179 for it. Black Box Inc. part no. P1005B Pittsburgh, PA (412) 746-5500 I HAVE BEEN USING AND SELLING CONVERTERS MADE BY PATTON ELECTRONICS FOR OVER A YEAR. THEY ARE RELIABLE, RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE ( 89), AND DON'T REQUIRE A SEPARATE POWER SUPPLY. PATTON CAN BE REACHED AT 301/975-1000. PARALLEL TO SERIAL IS MODEL 224= SERIAL TO PARALLEL IS MODEL 225. >> MY RESULTS: << I called Black Box, got their catalog, Resellers, ask for the EASY catalog for Black Box items well discounted. Ordered a serial to parallel converter, (can be just turned around for parallel to serial too.). DISCLAIMER: I have no connections with anything, anybody, anyhow. -- +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | - Stan Voket, asv@gaboon Land Line: (203) 746-4489 TELEX 4996516 - | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+