13 Apr
2005
13 Apr
'05
7:02 p.m.
On Tue, 2005-04-12 at 20:46 -0500, Scott Stevens wrote:
False :)
USB to serial and PCMCIA to serial exist, and they're cheap, especially
the USB job.
Of course, the laptop would have to be relatively modern, say a Pentium
I.
I used a
PC-based software scope that worked fairly well. And yes, it
was a definite must-have for any serious serial-based development
work.
It's the perfect use for an older laptop that happens to have two serial
ports. There is software that then turns both serial RX lines into
inputs so you can monitor both directions of a full duplex connection.
It gets you a dual-channel 'serial scope.' Unfortunately, there aren't
that many laptops with two serial ports, certainly none being made
today.