Okay, unusual solution needed for serial to ethernet.

R

Rocketpig

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 6, 2004
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Here's the deal. At the company I work for, we have 5 CNC machines. These CNC machines have only the large (can't remember model number) serial ports on them (not the DB-9 ports).

I need these to be connected to a switch (ethernet obviously), which will in turn go to a single computer for remote control of the CNC machines (a distance of about 75 feet, making usage of a serial cable impossible).

So, I need ideas on how to get the large serial ports to a switch, and over to the computer.

The only serial-to-ethernet adapters I can find use only the DB-9 connectors and they're about $150 each. Any of you have any ideas on how to make this work? I'm kinda lost here.
 
You could a port server if they are all near each other.. Then you can just run cat5 to the network..
 
I didn't think of that... That might work. I'll have to see if I have an extra computer laying around the office.
 
Another option if you have an old pc and enough serial ports, with linux it wouldnt be too hard to turn into a port server..

I know the cables your referring to. We have a few going into a cisco 2600 here, forget what the connector is called..
 
As far as converting the DB-9 to a DB-25 there are several places that sell cables or converters. Like Cables to go. Just remember to get the right gender. 25 pin connecters typicaly contain the same types of pins as a DB9 (RTS, CTS, SND, REC,.... ) They are just located in diffrent spots. I have never seen a DB25 use the other pins as depicted in this diagram
It does show you the relation to the pins between a DB-9 and DB-25 a little furthur down the page. you could make your own cable, but I would suggese just buying one..

It also looks like there is Serial to ethernet adapter for about $99 Here . That's sort of interesting, becuase it comes with a virtual driver that sounds like it will create a virtual com port on your machine then any application could use it. I would be cautious and make sure that the software you are using can use COM ports over 4. AA lot of Machine tool industry software is old school and might not like comm ports over 4. You could also make sure the virtual comm ports can be set to something under 5. Just make sure you check.

Depending on how this all works you may have some timing issues as well. I wouldent go out and buy a ton of this stuff, just enough to test at first.
 
moetop said:
Depending on how this all works you may have some timing issues as well. I wouldent go out and buy a ton of this stuff, just enough to test at first.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links. And I definitely plan to test this before dropping $700 or so for something that won't work at all. :)
 
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