alternative serial cable

aduy

Senior Member
i just got a new laptop, and it doesn't have a serial type connection. i would like to make my own programming cable that would be compatible with one of the ports on my computer instead of having to buy the $25 cable, and wait for 2 weeks to get it. my computer does have an s/pdif port 3.5mm, which can send digital data signals for sound, it has an e-sata port, and rj45, mini fire wire, and 3 other audio output 3.5mm jacks
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
With no dedicated serial port, your options are the AXE027 USB to TTL serial cable or an alternate but compatible USB-to-serial adapter cable.

Having experienced the AXE027 and several Prolific-based cables, my first choice is still the AXE027. From my experience, the AXE027 downloads programs slower but is much more reliable, especially when it is used for high-speed logging (SerTxd at 37 or 74 kbps) or for PICAXEs on long transmission lines.

PS I had Prolific-based cables long before I lashed out and invested in an AXE027

Peter
 

srnet

Senior Member
I have the AXE027 and it just works, highly recommended.

There are standard USB to serial cables, you can get them delivered from eBay for around $2. I have a couple of these too, they do work for me, although others have reported problems. If they dont work your on your own really. You also need the standard PICAXE serial to RS232 to 3.5mm programming lead as well.

If you have just paid for a new laptop, why be picky about a few dollars for a decent programming lead ?
 

cravenhaven

Senior Member
I used a USB to serial (db9) cable that I found (It is prolific based) and then made a serial db9 to stereo mini plug as per the picaxe manual and have had no problems so far.
If you have enough bits lying around it is not difficult to make one up, however I hear the warnings of others who are more experienced and will not be surprised if I encounter problems in the future.
 

Rob Beck

New Member
I have an AXE027, can't beat it.

Recently been playing with prolific based cables for connecting to various serial devices (industrial automation controller, motorsport data logger, motorsport ECU). I got the prolific devices working on everything eventually after spending a while experimenting but ended up using a driver that was neither the one supplied on CD or the latest version on the prolific site. :confused:
 

Goeytex

Senior Member
The main complaints on Prolific based solutions ( 2$ Ebay Stuff) are:

1. Wrong, missing or hard to find drivers on supplied CD.
A. Distributor puts 1,000's of drivers on CD but in no logical
order. B. CD may be wrong for product

2. Terribly poor solder connections on devices. - Touching up solder
connections by hand (using liquid flux 1st) can get device to work
sometimes.

3. Low quality unshielded wire/cable - Limits baud rates

4. Poor mechanical quality. USB Connector or cover breaks/ & board falls
out.

5. Many USB to TTL adapters may need to have signals inverted for
use with Picaxe serial download. The "cables" usually do not.

6. Do not expect true RS232 levels from dirt cheap products claiming to
be true RS232.

My suggestion is to buy the cheap low quality stuff ONLY if you are willing and able to twiddle with it. Be happy if it works, but do not be disappointed if it does not.

Although the AXE027 is a bit pricey, it is a case where you truly get what you pay for. It is a quality product that WILL work.
 

srnet

Senior Member
1. Wrong, missing or hard to find drivers on supplied CD.
A. Distributor puts 1,000's of drivers on CD but in no logical
order. B. CD may be wrong for product
Now you mention it, finding the right driver was a bit of a trial .....
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
Seriously? The AXE027 makes downloading slower than it already is?
On my 2 computers (XP Home and Win7/32), the Prolific is consistantly 3 times faster when programming 3725 bytes into 28x1s - 20 seconds vs 1minute+. Refer to separate thread.

As I've said before, for me the Prolific cables from Jaycar work fine. The AXE027 works better, but slower.
 

aduy

Senior Member
i just went to fry's electronics and bought an a usb to db9 cable for $15, the total length of the cable is now 12 feet, just awesome for when i want to plug in my picaxe on the other side of the room, and run around with my laptop on top of my head whilst programming. in order to reduce the size of the cable, i have made part of it into a monkey's fist.
 

aduy

Senior Member
windows 7 64 bit, unfortunately the cable i bought was one made by prolific, branded as gearhead, and after about 20 minutes i got it working by installing the vista driver in compatibility mode. also if your usb to serial cable is slow then i think you can increase the rate of data.
 
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nick12ab

Senior Member
On my 2 computers (XP Home and Win7/32), the Prolific is consistantly 3 times faster when programming 3725 bytes into 28x1s - 20 seconds vs 1minute+. Refer to separate thread.

As I've said before, for me the Prolific cables from Jaycar work fine. The AXE027 works better, but slower.
Is a proper computer UART (through the serial port on the computer) the same speed as the AXE027 or the Prolific one?
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
I've bought a USB-to-Serial adaptor based on the Prolific PL2303 chipset which is recommended often by forum members but with the drivers from the Rev-Ed site it doesn't seem to support break signalling as the port tester in PE doesn't create any reading on the multimeter and no program downloads. The 'serial clock synchroniser' which I use for a home-made clock still works so signals are definitely being sent by the computer. Is there some 'configuration tool' required to enable the 'break' signal and where do I get it?
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
Yes, it's called an AXE027 :) Fit and forget....
I should have knew that this was the response I was going to get. The AXE027 costs considerably more than the adaptor I'm using and for multi-PICAXE breadboard setups, I use a 10k pull-down for each chip and use the Rev-Ed breadboard adaptor and move it from chip to chip but two 10ks would lower the TTL logic level voltages of the AXE027 too much.

In addition to that the fancy handshaking likes (RTS... whatever they're called) aren't present on the AXE027 so if I make something that needs those in the future for something, then I can't do that with the AXE027 or use anything other than a PICAXE.
 
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Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
'Break' capability is purely a feature of the USB driver and hardware of the particular USB adapter. If both the hardware and the driver support it (not all do) then it will work. There is nothing to configure.
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
'Break' capability is purely a feature of the driver and hardware of the particular USB adapter. If both the hardware and the driver support it (not all do) then it will work. There is nothing to configure.
So if it's the Prolific PL2303 like what is recommended in this forum and the drivers are those downloaded off of the Rev-Ed site like recommended by Rev-Ed, then it should work.
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
So if it's the Prolific PL2303 like what is recommended in this forum and the drivers are those downloaded off of the Rev-Ed site like recommended by Rev-Ed, then it should work.
Yep, no reason why break shouldn't work on a Prolific chipset device unless the particular driver version does not work on your operating system. But that would be a Prolific driver issue, nothing you can configure.

And we recommend AXE027, not prolific :)
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
Nick, I have not had any trouble, that I can recall, getting the correct driver for the PL2303 to load and work. The driver on my XP Home Sp3 is 2.0.0.7 I just checked my Windows 7 32 bit laptop - the same driver (2.0.0.7)

I also use the AXE026 cable on the XP. As far as I'm aware, there are no user-adjustable contols for the download speed for any of the cables.
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
Nick, I have not had any trouble, that I can recall, getting the correct driver for the PL2303 to load and work. The driver on my XP Home Sp3 is 2.0.0.7 I just checked my Windows 7 32 bit laptop - the same driver (2.0.0.7)
I'll try and install that version onto windows 7 but I have the 64-bit version so if that driver version isn't digitally signed Windows will refuse to install it for some unjustifiable reason.
 

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
Follow the procedure in the AXE027 datasheet to allow you to install a 32 bit driver on 64 bit Windows. It is possible.
 

inglewoodpete

Senior Member
The most important part: follow Rev-Ed's instructions for the selected driver to the letter!
The correct driver should be available here (USB010).

I think you need to use v3.2.0.0 for W7-64. I don't have W7-64, can't confirm what is needed. Rev-Ed have been right most times.
 
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nick12ab

Senior Member
Eclectic, I'm not using the AXE027.

I also noticed that when I clicked the QUOTE button, nothing appeared in the Reply box.:eek::confused:
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
I bought one of these for a different purpose before I began PICAXE'ing:

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-26886-Serial-Adapter/dp/B000067RVJ/

But since I already had it, I tried it when I got my first PICAXE and it worked fine. It has worked flawlessly to program or otherwise communicate with a variety of PICAXEs ever since.
Is that prolific and is it working on a 64-bit computer?

ADDED: According to the reviews, it is Prolific. If you're using 64-bit, can you upload the drivers?
 
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nick12ab

Senior Member
I've also tried the adaptor on a Windows XP virtual machine using the XP drivers from the Rev-Ed website. Still doesn't work.

According to the PL2303 datasheet, it has a small area of OTP non-volatile memory. If the designers were mad enough to use a bit to disable/enable the RS232 break command, it must be disabled and there must also be a PC configuration tool to set this like there is for the FDTI or whatever the AXE027 uses. I doubt the manufacturers of the cable would have gone out of their way to disable the break command so all that can be done would be to enable it if the unwritten state is disabled. The prolific website doesn't show any configuration software for download though.
 

SAborn

Senior Member
The Quote works for me, i am using IE8, other versions might have problems as i had found with IE7.

It will help if you quote what browser you are using, IE? or FF? or whatever.

There is different formats between one and the other, so to solve a problem its like the picaxe they need to know what you are using.
 

Goeytex

Senior Member
Nick,

Can you please provide a link to the exact product that you purchased ?
I want to see what you have.
 

nick12ab

Senior Member
It's here. The one that I got was a horrible translucent greeney-blue thing rather than black like in the picture.

I got the Northern Cabling one (see additional sellers on RHS of that page) as they had the best rating out of the three sellers in the list.
 

MartinM57

Moderator
Sounds similar to the one I got on Fleabay but 50% more expensive...and which I failed to get to work on:
- Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
- a Windows XP Virtual PC on Windows 7 Ultimate (I believe that Virtual PC uses the underlying Windows 7 drivers, so it wasn't altogether surprising)
-...but was what more surprising is I couldn't get it to work even on a real Windows XP laptop

It went in the bin.

Cough, AXE027, cough....:) <- note the smilie - it's humour ;)
 

eclectic

Moderator
Did you also get a bent 9way-25way serial adaptor with it? Yes, mine's bent!
A genuine question.

How much time have you spent on this?
(Hours... Days ...)

How much is your time worth?

AXE027 does cost, but it works.

I own two, shared between three computers.

e
 
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