I foolishly thought I could just open that baby up and work on it like the old serial port cables. I have been told (many, many times) that this can’t be done. Man, you know things are getting complex when the cables have schematics. G8INE sent me the above diagram of a USB-Serial converter cable. E-bay here I come!
OK, OK, I won’t cut open the USB cable,,,
The FT232 is the chip of interest here. That MAX213 is a buffer with a charge pump to get the +12/-12 RS-232 signal levels. FTDI’s simple USB-to-serial chips are very handy, something hams should know more about. They come with drivers for PC/Linux/Mac and good documentation and tutorials on the web. You can get a nice breakout board from Sparkfun: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/718 73 de KC7IT
Bill, The FT232AM chip in that particular adapter is obsolete. I suggest you look for an adapter with an FT232RL or FT232RQ device in it. A UC232R-10 is a good choice.
Roll the dice and get a no-name adaptor from eBay or buy a Keyspan adaptor. More money, less frustration. (Usual disclaimers apply) 73…….Steve Smith WB6TNL “Snort Rosin”
Those adapters go for $12 to $18 on Amazon. Just make sure that they have drivers for your version of Windows.
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