It were me, I'd probably look into Bluetooth- or
Zigbee-based serial
extenders.
Yes, I have, and still am, considerign those. Somebody else suggested the
Xee module, I had haeard of that. But do any of them work without any
flow control lines back to the host? The simple radio module (on the
433MHz band) that I looked at certainly eneded the RTS/CTS flow control
or something equivalent.
While this doesn't meeet your usual criteria for being able to repair
the device, it might be viable for you on the theory that the devices
I did say that was a 'bonus' here, not required :-)
In the long cable division, there are a number of
products around that
extend rs232 by using baluns at each end, and cat-5 cable for the bulk
My junk box cotnains at least 2, (and I think 4) Gandalf LDS120 units.
These are 'limited distance modems' or some such, they were designed to
transmit data up to 9600 baud over, I think, leased lines. They are built
fro mthe sort of technology I like (op-amps, LM339 comparators, maybe
simple logic chips), and certianly could be used for this. A piece of
4-core telephone cable will work with these up to any distance I am
likely to need.
of the run. Still commits bondage on the cat :), but
works around the
And that's the problem. I can tell my parents 'There's a serial cable at
tripwire-height across the stairs', but I can't tell the cat that I've
run run across the cat flap :-).
But it may well be what I use for the moment...
-tony