[time-nuts] Z3805 utility, Was: AW: (no subject)

Jeff Hook jeffhook at comcast.net
Mon May 24 00:57:51 UTC 2010


Stanley
I still have a serial BOB too!
Its no wonder they moved away from RS-232.    Ha-Ha

Jeff

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stanley Reynolds" <stanley_reynolds at yahoo.com>
To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement" 
<time-nuts at febo.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2010 7:41 PM
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Z3805 utility, Was: AW: (no subject)






----- Original Message ----
From: Robert Benward <rbenward at verizon.net>
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement 
<time-nuts at febo.com>
Sent: Sun, May 23, 2010 4:38:43 PM
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Z3805 utility, Was: AW: (no subject)

Jeff,
Generally for a given DTE, there is a swap of 2&3 when going from DB9 to 
DB25 and vice-versa. For a normal serial cable, DTE to DCE, pins 2&3 are 
swapped. RS-232 states that pin 2 is the TX data, DCE or DTE, on a DB25. 
It's TX on pin 3 for a DB9. Therefore to hook a DCE to a DTE, you must swap 
pins 2&3. The fact that you are going from 2-2 and 3-3 probably means you've 
inserted a null modem in between, and you are using a standard serial cable.

In the old days... it was a Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) that communicated 
with Data Communications Equipment (DCE) to the mainframe. Stanley's 
assessment is correct, although I'm not sure if the mainframes of yesteryear 
were DTEs.

<snip>

Dec computers / terminal servers were as I described, but many brands were 
different. Still have a BOB aka break out box with LEDs to indicate levels, 
matching transmit and receive is easy, getting the hardware flow control / 
signaling right was a little more difficult.

straight cable = pin to pin

crossed cable = null modem = swapped pins

The phrase "null modem" comes from no modems or the configuration that 
allows two singular ports to be connected, this cable would cross the 
receive and transmit pins, and some would call it a cross over cable. A null 
modem cable would be used to connect two computers together and a program 
like kermit used to transfer files.

I think the phrase "standard cable" which could be null or straight 
depending on the use is the confusing part.

Phone cables RJ11 and RJ45 swap the wires which is standard. Network cables 
match the wires with the same color always on the right which is standard. 
But even when a phone cable is standard it is not interchangeable with a 
standard network cable. Again we have a need for cross as well as straight 
network cables.

So a standard cable for connecting a terminal to a Dec computer would be a 
null cable. A standard cable for connecting a terminal to a IBM mainframe 
could be straight. But I disagree that a standard cable can always be 
straight or null.


Stanley

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