RS232 (serial) to USB conversion? Getting Navtex to talk to laptop

demonboy

demonboy

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Perhaps not the best forum to ask this question but it concerns linking up my Navtext to my laptop.

According to my Navtex manual I can connect it to my PC using the standard serial port. Of course I have a laptop and don't have a serial port, I have a hundred USB ports instead.

Has anyone out there managed to get round this problem? Did you use an RS232 to USB converter plug? Can you just wire up a USB plug from the leads? I know there is an issue with USB being 5v and old school serial being 9v, but other than that I'm at a loss.

Any help gratefully received as usual.
 
USB and RS232 are two totally different standards, and are in no way pin-compatible.

You'll need a USB-RS232 convertor lead (or magic box), which does the necessary translation between the two. Note that some convertors don't convert RS232 'properly', and won't work. Be prepared to have to try one or two different magic leads...
 
So would I just wire up the Navtex to an old school serial male plug and use an adaptor to plug into my USB port?

[edit in response to second post] Yes, this is what I understood. I wasn't sure if a straight adaptor would work.
 
But beware - some bits of kit work with these adaptors and some don't. My Palm Pilot used to work with one, but a weather station we bought didn't - despite trying two different ones (a Belkin and a something else). It's all a bit touch & go.
 
The adaptors vary in price, some work with some kit and some work with other kit. It's a bit of a nightmare. I have 3 cheap unbranded ones on my desk and they all give comms errors with a particular piece of electronics to varying degrees depending on which computer you plug them in to. I've been doing a bit of research which has unearthed a number of recommendations for this one: http://www.easysync.co.uk/index.html?lang=en-uk&target=d12.html (Premium). I haven't got around to trying one myself yet and I have no connection with this company nor any of it's suppliers etc.

Mike
 
[ QUOTE ]
Perhaps not the best forum to ask this question but it concerns linking up my Navtext to my laptop.

According to my Navtex manual I can connect it to my PC using the standard serial port. Of course I have a laptop and don't have a serial port, I have a hundred USB ports instead.

Has anyone out there managed to get round this problem? Did you use an RS232 to USB converter plug? Can you just wire up a USB plug from the leads? I know there is an issue with USB being 5v and old school serial being 9v, but other than that I'm at a loss.

Any help gratefully received as usual.

[/ QUOTE ]

a) Yes plenty of adaptor cables out there ....
b) Never managed to get a Belkin one to work properly ...
c) Most are based on Prolific drivers ....
d) Make sure you get one with a cd with installation drivers ...

Bobs the proverbial ...

Oh neraly forgot - ALWAYS connect to same USB port - otherwise Windoze will re-install at a different virtual port - these points apply to all Serial to USB ...

"added edit" .... some driver disks have old Prolific driver and you may have errors with some gear ... google Prolific driver and download latest driver ... near sorts all problems ... (For Belkin - suggest rummaging in bin .... !!)
 
What I said was - I haven't got Belkin to work successfully ... in fact we refuse to buy belkin stuff now in my office ... Blue Tooth ... USB stuff etc. - most is in the drawer and occasionally we drag one out - try it ... throw it back in ....

But I know that many people use Belkin and it works .... maybe we are unlucky ...
 
Oh dear!!! I do hope mine works, But I now have a desktop confuser, so it has serial ports. Thank goodness!
 
I think my problem is going to be my location. I'm based in Bodrum, Turkey, so the chances of getting a decent adaptor with driver CD is minimal /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think my problem is going to be my location. I'm based in Bodrum, Turkey, so the chances of getting a decent adaptor with driver CD is minimal /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

You will find that the vast majority ... well all the ones we've worked with and that's quite a few in lab / office / field use etc. have been ok with downloaded Prolific driver ...

Some of course as with some Garmin don't actually list as a com port - but as direct USB ...
 
And on the subject of navtex and laptops:

My manual suggests using 'a terminal emulator program such as Hyper Terminal'. What is this, is it any good or is there a better app for capturing my log data?
 
I used an adapter cable with my Garmin but it is a bit fussy about what order you connect things up in. If you fire up the GPS and then plug it into a running computer it seems to think it's found a new mouse and the stuff that comes out of a GPS translated into mouse-talk makes the world go wild and on the monkeys and typewriter principle could eventually do something very nasty to the computer. I can't remember exactly what you need to do but it's worth writing it down when you find out!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I've been doing a bit of research which has unearthed a number of recommendations for this one: http://www.easysync.co.uk/index.html?lang=en-uk&target=d12.html (Premium).

[/ QUOTE ]

I started the recommendations for this company due to my own experiences with them. If you get the better version from them, it has little led's on the plug to show data flow. Since I moved to using these I have had no problems at all - a very satisfied customer.
 
[ QUOTE ]
And on the subject of navtex and laptops:

My manual suggests using 'a terminal emulator program such as Hyper Terminal'. What is this, is it any good or is there a better app for capturing my log data?

[/ QUOTE ]

UGH !!!!!! Windows box display of incoming crud !!

There is the old standby JVcoms .... and many others that do it much better !! A better freebie is Navtex Decoder .... google and it'll come up ...

What Navtex recr are you using ? A radio recr or dedicated Navtex such as Nasa etc. ?
 
Demonboy

I am using a serial to USB converter from Sealevel

http://www.sealevel.com

It was the model - SeaLINK+232-DB9

This was the adapter recommended by raymarine for feeding a PC running the raytech software with NMEA data. I bought it and it works great. Probably more expensive than Belkin but it does work. I guess it would work in your application. I ordered it over the web.

Hope it helps

Dr Bob
 
One sure way of getting RS232 into the laptop is to use a PCMCIA (card slot) adapter instead.
These can be bought in either single or twin serial port flavours.
They are so much better than serial usb convertors.
Just do an internet search for PCMCIA to Serial adaptor and buy one mail order.

Having said that, most prolific based usb adapters will work if you just want to convert data "into" the laptop.
Problems arise with them usually when you want to drive an external device such as an autopilot using USB to NMEA conversion.
This is because RS232 needs a 5volt swing and some of the cheaper adaptors only manage about 3.3volts.
especially for some older autopilots et.al. this is just not enough.

The best adaptor to go for for these applications is a Keyspan (american) unit.
Just do an internet search for Keyspan.

Hope that helps.
 
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