13 Apr
2005
13 Apr
'05
6:15 p.m.
On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 01:02:47 +0200
Tore S Bekkedal <toresbe at ifi.uio.no> wrote:
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.
My Pentium I laptop, a very mainstream Toshiba model, doesn't have USB.
A fact that bugs me fairly often.
And anyway, for a 'serial analyzer' which is probably going to run some
ancient DOS program if it's analyzing conventional serial traffic, some
old 486 laptop (or a 386SX) is probably up to snuff, and will cost less
than said USB to serial or PCMCIA to serial adapter. Plus it's then
'sanctioned' on-topic hardware for this list (kinda). And aren't (at
least some of us) all about practical use as well as fooling around with
old gear? I'd hate to think some of the old stuff isn't still useful in
a practical sense. (not gonna wire two 6402 UARTS to my SYM-1 and make
it a serial analyzer on principle, though)
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.