Urgent ais info required.

P

pcatterall

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 Aug 2004
Messages
5,507
Location
Home East Lancashire boat Spain
Visit site
Hubby about to depart Isle of Wight to Le Havre.His P.C. has gone bust. It had an 8 pin connector for the AIS. New Computer has just USB connectos. He recalls that he can adapt the lead, but can't remember how to do it. Can anyone help ? thankyou.
 
pcatterall said:
Hubby about to depart Isle of Wight to Le Havre.His P.C. has gone bust. It had an 8 pin connector for the AIS. New Computer has just USB connectos. He recalls that he can adapt the lead, but can't remember how to do it. Can anyone help ? thankyou.
Click to expand...

You need a serial to USB adaptor lead. Try Maplins.
 
The old interface was probably a 9 pin serial (count them again :-). You need a serial to usb adapter which is realistically a purchase. There's allegedly a Maplin in Newport. If there's no shops selling computer stuff closer you could nip over there.

Edit: seems I was beaten to the same suggestion, but I'll augment my post with the news that Newport maplin's have 5 usb to serial adapters in stock at a whisker under a score.
 
Last edited:
I dont know why they got rid of serial ports on a laptops and PC,s I hate usb to serial port adaptors. What ever you do do not lose the disc that comes with it. The installation software is not generic and will not work with different adaptor hardware. you might if you are unlucky have some problems getting the navigation software to recognise the com port but there are lots of threads on YBW.
 
rogersimms said:
I dont know why they got rid of serial ports on a laptops and PC,s I hate usb to serial port adaptors. What ever you do do not lose the disc that comes with it. The installation software is not generic and will not work with different adaptor hardware. you might if you are unlucky have some problems getting the navigation software to recognise the com port but there are lots of threads on YBW.
Click to expand...

I still miss the quill pen, let alone the typewriter!
 
NASA sell a serial/USB adaptor. I have one works fine. Cautioned about buying an off the shelf one, but that might just be "marketing", so the Maplins one may be OK.
 
Twister_Ken said:
I still miss the quill pen, let alone the typewriter!
Click to expand...

Thing is, while quills and typewriters have generally become obsolete by advances in writing and typing technology, serial ports haven't. USB just doesn't cut it as a replacement.

Quills need replacing often, metal dip nibs don't.
Metal dip nibs need dipping often, fountain pens don't.
Fountain pens blot, rollers and other pen typed don't.

Typewriters are noisy and are a pain to correct mistakes.
Electric typewriters are quieter and are a pain to correct mistakes.
Word processors are quieter still and make correction easier.
Computers with word processing software make correction, copy and pasting easier still and allow for instant research and sharing.

Serial ports provide a fast, reliable connection.
USB provides hot-swapping, but less reliability and more latency.

Different ports suitable to different jobs - the only reason serial ports are on their way out is cutting costs to bump up the bottom line.
 
WilliamUK said:
Thing is, while quills and typewriters have generally become obsolete by advances in writing and typing technology, serial ports haven't. USB just doesn't cut it as a replacement.

Quills need replacing often, metal dip nibs don't.
Metal dip nibs need dipping often, fountain pens don't.
Fountain pens blot, rollers and other pen typed don't.

Typewriters are noisy and are a pain to correct mistakes.
Electric typewriters are quieter and are a pain to correct mistakes.
Word processors are quieter still and make correction easier.
Computers with word processing software make correction, copy and pasting easier still and allow for instant research and sharing.

Serial ports provide a fast, reliable connection.
USB provides hot-swapping, but less reliability and more latency.

Different ports suitable to different jobs - the only reason serial ports are on their way out is cutting costs to bump up the bottom line.
Click to expand...

And bring back the floppy disk!
 
Twister_Ken said:
And bring back the floppy disk!
Click to expand...

No thanks. Slow, unreliable, small capacity. At school with mostly standalone PCs, I used to save each piece of work on three floppies just in case, and often had a copy become unreadable.

RS232 connections still have a niche, as William said. No obvious benefits to the floppy disk.

Use a USB stick if you still need portable media (I haven't for years, we have networks now).

Pete
 
Actually, last time I was expected to use a floppy disk was when I started work at my present employer. Our internal email system needs a cryptographic ID file for each user, which you will need when setting up. The new-starter system generated a floppy disk with said file on it, which was tucked into a pocket in your new-starter handbook. Sadly, along with this handbook and disk, you were also issued a laptop without a floppy drive. Company initiative test number one :)

(I believe they do now issue it on a USB stick, using up vast stocks of useless old 32mb ones. But the floppy and floppyless-laptop situation persisted for many years.)

Pete
 
I dont know why they got rid of serial ports on a laptops and PC,s
Click to expand...

As an interface, RS232 is nice and easy to program - unfortunately, by modern standards it's very slow, and very few people want to use it, so it's not possible to justify the cost of adding it to a modern computer - but USB to serial adaptors are relatively cheap and should work seamlessly, so if you need the interface, it's there.
I have a similar problem with my 'old' Epson printer - it only has a parallel interface, which is also missing from modern computers - once again, a USB to parallel adaptor does the job - and I get to keep a printer that only costs a couple of quid for a replacement ink cartridge!
 
WilliamUK said:
Different ports suitable to different jobs - the only reason serial ports are on their way out is cutting costs to bump up the bottom line.
Click to expand...
Agreed, but "on their way out" is no longer accurate - on the average laptop they are long gone.

Which raises the question of why are some manufacturers ignoring this and still only offering serial output - NASA being a case in point. Of course, not all output is to a PC, but it couldn't be to keep production costs down and sell an optional converter ... could it? One day they'll upgrade to an integrated USB output perhaps, about the same time they introduce genuine simultaneous, dual channel (parallel) receivers now that competitors have all those modern attributes.
 
Barnac1e said:
Which raises the question of why are some manufacturers ignoring this and still only offering serial output
Click to expand...

Because RS232 is well within the comfort zone of the average electronics engineer, whereas USB is something complex and foreign. Quasi-RS232 interfaces are readily available on all kinds of chips, or you can always bit-bang it by hand.

I get the impression that the company "NASA Marine" is essentially a support structure for an old-school electronics engineer or two (and nowt wrong with that).

Pete
 
Barnac1e said:
Agreed, but "on their way out" is no longer accurate - on the average laptop they are long gone.

Which raises the question of why are some manufacturers ignoring this and still only offering serial output - NASA being a case in point. Of course, not all output is to a PC, but it couldn't be to keep production costs down and sell an optional converter ... could it? One day they'll upgrade to an integrated USB output perhaps, about the same time they introduce genuine simultaneous, dual channel (parallel) receivers now that competitors have all those modern attributes.
Click to expand...

No one ever accused NASA of being leading edge. Trailing edge, maybe.
 
I get the impression that the company "NASA Marine" is essentially a support structure for an old-school electronics engineer or two
Click to expand...

They aren't the only ones - I know a UK lighting company that's still selling a lighting desk that uses 128K battery-backed memory cards that haven't been manufactured for nearly a decade! I've met some of their engineers, and they all look long overdue for retirement - which begs the question, who's training up the next generation?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top