Rewiring device cables using the serial port to a simpler cable...

by Rick D

I have a few things attached to a switch box then to my PC serial port, usually. I have 2 Smith Corona SCLP thermal label printers...a 1" and a 2". I also have the Palm PDA and my Newton 2000. The SCLPs use a 6 wire phone cable I connected to the switch box using a 6 wire to DB9 adapter. The Palm and Newton use a DB9 attached directly. I also have a Monarch Rascal battery thermal printer, originally cost around $1000!, that I made a cable for which uses 8 wires. I also am rebuilding a small receipt dm printer, 6 wire. So I have rebuilt all of the cables to use 8 wire ethernet type cable. So I had to get a new switch box.

22Feb2007:I have enough devices that I got a second switch box. One switches between Printers, Palm, and Newton. The second feeds from Printers, to control the 2 sclp, the receipt dm, and the monarch rascal.

So here are the wiring lists for these devices:

Standard Serial Port Wiring 1: CD 2: RxD 3: TxD 4: DTR 5: GND 6: DSR 7: RTS 8: CTS 9: RI(not used)

8 wire>SCLP Cable Colors from their book 1: 2: ORANGE >Blue TxD 3: BLACK >Yellow RxD 4: 5: GREEN >Red GND 6: YELLOW >White DTR 7: BROWN >Black CTS 8: WHITE >Green RTS

8 wire>Palm Cable Colors 1: 2: ORANGE >Red 3: BLACK >Yellow 4: 5: GREEN >Black 6: YELLOW >Green 7: BROWN >Brown 8: WHITE >Orange

8 wire>Newton Cable (not tested) 1: BLUE >1 CD 2: ORANGE >3 TxD 3: BLACK >5 RxD 4: RED >2,7 DSR 5: GREEN >4,8 Gnd 6: 7: BROWN >6 CTS 8:

8 wire>Monarch Rascal Printer jack # 1: 2: ORANGE >3 TxD 3: BLACK >5 RxD 4: RED >7 DSR 5: GREEN >4 Gnd 6: YELLOW >6 DTR 7: BROWN >1 CTS 8: WHITE >2 RTS

Note 1:I did not know there was a spec for this...EIA/TIA - 561. They just had to introduce anotheer wiring method to make things more complicated. I just used the DB-9 info which makes it easier.
Note 2:Here is a link to more serial stuff... ZYTRAX

So here are the wiring lists for these devices using the EIA/TIA-561 cabling: I have NOT tested this cabling.

EIA/TIA-561 Port Wiring 1: DSR 2: CD 3: DTR 4: GND 5: RxD 6: TxD 7: CTS 8: RTS

8 wire>SCLP Cable Colors from their book 1: BLUE >White DTR 2: 3: 4: RED >Red Gnd 5: GREEN >Blue TxD 6: YELLOW >Yellow RxD 7: BROWN >Green RTS 8: WHITE >Black CTS

8 wire>Palm Cable Colors 1: BLUE >Green 2: 3: 4: RED >Black 5: GREEN >Red 6: YELLOW >Yellow 7: BROWN >Orange 8: WHITE >Brown

8 wire>Newton Cable 1: 2: ORANGE >1 CD 3: BLACK >2,7 DSR 4: RED >4,8 Gnd 5: GREEN >3 TxD 6: YELLOW >5 RxD 7: 8: WHITE >6 CTS

8 wire>Monarch Rascal Printer jack # 1: BLUE >6 DTR 2: 3: BLACK >7 DSR 4: RED >4 Gnd 5: GREEN >3 TxD 6: YELLOW >5 RxD 7: BROWN >2 RTS 8: WHITE >1 CTS

Note 3:The devices I use do not need ring indicate so that is not included.

Making an adapter for the device end, and possibly the computer end, you can use straight thru ethernet cable to wire them. Max lengths vary by device.

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22Feb2007