25 Aug
2011
25 Aug
'11
11:15 a.m.
> Would you like a few "RS232 Smart
Cable"s?
On Tue, 23 Aug 2011, Tony Duell wrote:
I've always been curious as to exactly what
these contain, and what th
eswtiches set. Any clues?
I think the contents would be disappointing, and prob'ly not worth
breaking them open. They are glued. I could prob'ly cut the glue joint
and pry one open, but it would be much more fun to use a LARGE mallet ot
open it.
I have two here.
Most here could design something as good in as long as it takes my to type
this, and I'm sure that Tony could build one faster than that.
Oh,. I probably coudl :-). I am always curious to see what others have
designed, though... Only be sure to call it, please, 'Research' :-)
The first one is model SC817. It has three red LEDs (labelled M, T, and
D) and one slide switch (unmarked).
The other one is model SC817. (just so we know which one is which)
It has 5 LEDs and two switches. The first 3 LEDs and switch are the same
as on model SC817. But, on this one (model SC817), there are two more
LEDs and a 3 throw slide switch.
A much better and slightly less offensive wording.
I hae an intense dislike of 'automatic' ssytems, particularly if you
can't override them . I've suffered with software installation programs
that isisnte that drive G: (on an MS-DOS PC) can't possibly be a floppy
drive (hint : think of loadable device drivers...). And with
automatic-exposure cameras that won't let me set the exposure I want to
get the result I want. No, I want a devie that does what I want it to do,
and I'll take the consequences.
-tony
They
obviously do not work anywhere near as well as a conscious human
being with an LED tester and a breakout box.
I think it's always the case that
a clueful person armed with test gear
will beat a simple 'automatic' device...