21 Nov
2003
21 Nov
'03
10:33 a.m.
Hey, John,
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
On 21-Nov-03 at 19:01 John Lawson wrote:
Regarding the recent (very much info!) thread about
serial to network
devices, terminal servers, etc... I have a Dumb Analog Engineer Question.
And my DAEQ is this: I gots a DEC PDP 11/44 sitting in my garage
(heated) and I would like to have the Terminal Peripheral Devices (TPD) in
my Office (O). I just want a couple-three VT-type thingies and an LA120,
or 36 or whatever. So, if I understand Things: I hook N ports from the
11/44 serial farm via RS232 to the ports on the TS, thence by
CAT5[some_networking_protocol] to the TS in the O, and from the
corrresponding N ports ports on the O TS to the various TPDs in the
aformentioned O. Right?
That's one way to do it. However, a terminal server usually works in the reverse
direction -- as in allowing one to telnet, over TCP/IP, to a serial device.
The application you describe, assuming you do not have your own LAN, would be better
served by a pair of 8-port or so statMUX boxes. Their purpose in life is to multiplex
multiple serial ports over a single, dedicated, 4-wire data circuit. I had a couple doing
exactly that here, between the lab and the garage, before I installed the micro-serial
thingy from LANTronix and the code-operated switch.
RE-PC has a nice assortment of MultiTech StatMUXes at the moment, and I know they're
in the $10-or-less category per unit. Want to send me some $$ and I'll see if I can
snare you a pair?
Keep the peace(es).
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy,
Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com
ARS KC7GR (Formerly WD6EOS) since 12-77 -- kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
"Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati" (Red Green, aka Steve Smith)