OT: Is RS-232 ever coming back?

[DerbyDad03]

The wall wort for my router died this morning. While I was looking for a replacement in my stash of 30+ wall worts that have piled up over the years, I had to sift through a bunch of RS-232 related items.

I've got RS-232 cables, 25 to 9 pin adaptors, 25 pin gender changers, and even a Smart Cable with switches and LEDs that we used at work to help us figure out how to configure a cable to get 2 devices talking to each other.

Do you think it's safe to throw this stuff out? I know that RS-232 is still used in some industrial environments, but it isn't going to make a come back in the personal computer world anytime soon, is it?

Nostalgia is a strange bird.

[dpb]

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

...

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...

[DerbyDad03]

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. ;-)

[deadgoose38]

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.

73 /paul W3FIS

[dpb]

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., ...

--

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, USB killed it for sure.

[dpb]

On 7/29/2012 3:10 PM, [e-mail] 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... :( :)

[Robert Macy]

if contains gold, don't throw out.

[krw]

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.

[Ralph Mowery]

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.

[Dean Hoffman]

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".

[DerbyDad03]

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.

That thing sure beat the old breakout box.

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.

[Dan Cathy]

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

[Metspitzer]

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.

[Bob]

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

20 years old but still fully functional. The only software available for it would run on a modern PC in Windows 98 compatibility mode, but the system wouldn't work with a modern modem. So I dug into my "too good to throw away" box to find a 9 to 25 pin pigtail adapter and a 14.4k external modem that worked. Saved the day!

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

[krw]

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. ;-)

[DerbyDad03]

1-We admitted we were powerless over cables?that our collection had become unmanageable. 2-Came to believe that a technology newer than ours could restore us to sanity. 3-Made a decision to turn our cables and our wall worts over to the care of the trash as we understood It. 4-Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our cables. 5-Admitted to AHR, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our hoarding. 6-Were entirely ready to have someone remove all these remnants of ancient times. 7-Humbly asked Waste Management to remove our old electronics. 8-Made a list of all cables we had stored, and became willing to untangle them all. 9-Made a direct untangling of all such messes wherever possible, except when to do so would injure ourselves or others. 10-Continued to take technological inventory, and when we didn't need it, promptly tossed it. 11-Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with USB2 as we understood It, praying only for knowledge of its will for us and the power to charge our devices. 12-Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to cableholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

[Tony Hwang]

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

[The Daring Dufas]

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

[krw]

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.