OT: Is RS-232 ever coming back?

On 7/29/2012 1:49 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote: ...

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Surely unless you've got some device around that is still serial that you're interested in it's highly unlikely you'll ever miss any of it, indeed.

But, you might if you're inclined to putter, see if the analyzer/etc. might just fetch something on eBay--who knows, a lot of what looks like old junk brings a fair amount of pocket change...

I guess my comment on "nostalgia being a strange bird" wasn't enough to show that I wasn't being totally serious.

I should have added a smiley face or something.

If I tossed out everything in that big box of cables that I'll never use again, I could put the rest in a shoebox...and then never use any of that either. ;-)

Some stuff, like TNCs still have RS-232 connections, FWIIW. If you do have something with RS-232, you can usually get the USB to RS-232 adapters.

On 7/29/2012 3:08 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote: ...

I've got half-dozen or more boxes of similar stuff from the lab when retired and moved back to the farm...serial, GPIB (IEEE-488), parallel, proprietary from half-dozen or more data-acq collection boxes, the Analogic Data 6000 digital signal analyzer (100 k(!!!)Hz 4-ch 14-bit A/Ds were nearly mind-boggling at the time), etc., etc., etc., ...

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Hi, USB killed it for sure.

On 7/29/2012 3:10 PM, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote: ...

I found the operative word there to definitely be "usually" -- had several things that simply wouldn't over any adapter I could find...the wonderful thing about 232 was the standard--"there were so many to choose from" was, unfortunately all too true a quip... :( :)

if contains gold, don't throw out.

Industrial environments are most likely RS-422 or RS-485.

I use it all the time (it's often buried inside other appliances) but I doubt I'll ever use it at home again. I should go through all that stuff and purge it, but DD is right. It's tough to get rid of all that stuff.

You never know when you will need older computer stuff. I bought an old piece of radio test equipment. It was maybe 15 years old. Origional price was around $ 50,000. Bought it for less than $ 1,000. It can be programmed and needs a PCMCIA card. I had to borrow an old laptop with Windows 98 on it to get a computer with a pcmcia slot in it so I could program it.

There must be a variation of Murphy's Law that covers this. Something like "Any discarded item will be needed a week after it's thrown out".

Thus the reason for the Smart Cable. We used to struggle trying to get equipment from different manufacturers to talk to each other via RS-232 until I stumbled across the Smart Cable in a magazine years ago - way before Google. Apparently you can still get them.

We would get a customer up and running, leave the Smart Cable in place and then order or build the correct cable for a permanent installation.

Apparently you don't practice 5S at home? ;-)

They are never going to use them again, but I have a large pile of them I can't throw out either. The two computers I just checked don't even have a 25 pin port.

Just about every new wired PC peripheral device nowadays uses either USB or IP connections. About the only time you would need RS232 is for an older peripheral that still has some useful life. My latest experience was when I took responsibility for a door access system in an apartment building. The intercom at the front door contacts the tenant by telephone and the tenant can "buzz" the visitor in. The system was over

As for "throwing the stuff out," take it to an electronics recycling event instead. Don't dump it in a landfill.

I have a pile of Centronics cables. I just came across an inkjet printer that has a Centronics port, too. It's been through two moves and we're moving again. It will likely end up in the new house, too. It's 50:50 right now. ;-)

Hi, That is how I became a pack rat, LOL!

I use RS-232 all the time. Every Cisco switch and router comes with a console cable that has an RJ45 plug on one end and a DB9 on the other so you can setup the Cisco gear. I did see a tiny USB port on a brand new Cisco router/switch I installed last week and I think there's a possibility Cisco may start moving to USB as a console interface. ^_^

TDD

Very good!

I got rid of almost everything (though still have my 1st day order IBMPC) about 20 years ago but started collecting again after. This move has been mostly tools, though.