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Technical Note: Using a Serial-to-Parallel Converter with the Cirris 500 and 1000LC Cable Analyzers
The Cirris 500 and 1000LC cable analyzers are both designed to be connected directly to a serial printer. By using a serial-to-parallel converter, you'll be able to connect your cable analyzer to a parallel printer you may already have.
Where to get the converter: One place to find to find serial-to-parallel converters is CDW. You can check their web site at www.cdw.com. There you can order either online, or by telephone.
What converter to get: Converters on continually changing so it's hard to give a recommendatation. Do a search for "serial/parallel converters":
The BlackBox and Aten converters that have a 9 pin serial connector on one end and the centronics parallel connecter on the other are most likely to work.
The converter needs to have its own power supply. Be aware that your cable analyzer cannot provide power for the converter. Also, most of the parallel printers we've looked at cannot provide power for the converter.
What you need to connect the parallel printer: The converter comes with a female DB-25 connector for the serial interface, and a Centronics 36-pin female connector for the parallel interface. To connect your cable analyzer to a parallel printer using the serial-to-parallel converter, you'll need these things:
A serial cable with a DB-9 male connector on one end, and a DB-25 connector on the other. The serial connections on the cable are shown here:
You'll need a parallel printer cable to connect to your printer. (On some printers with a Centronics interface, you may need to have a male-to-female gender changer. We used two cables, and a 25-pin female-to-female connection between them.)
How to set up the converter: Most converters have switches you'll have to set to configure the converter properly. Here is the configuration for one converter we tried:
The converter has a DCE/DTE mode switch. Set it for DTE by moving the separate slide switch to the right.
Troubleshooting your connections: To verify your connection between the printer and the serial-to-parallel connector, do these things:
Unplug the converter.
Set switch 6 to the DOWN position to turn on the Self-Test mode.
When power is connected to the converter, and with the printer selected (on-line), test data from the converter will be printed by your printer. Printing will continue until you turn the converter off, and all the characters in the printer's print buffer have been printed.
Set switch 6 to the UP position to turn off the Self-Test mode.