RS232 to USB

madmike159

Does anyone know if there are IC's that can convert RS232 to USB, or is the only solution to program a PIC to handle the USB protocol. (I would also settle for RS232 to RS485, I just need a smaller connector with a shielded cable.

cepheid

I know for sure that there are USB-to-serial converters that allow you to turn a USB port on your computer into a serial port, and they all use the same IC. So in some sense, this is "converting RS232 to USB", becuase if you have some external device that communicates via RS232, you can read from or write to it using a computer with a USB port.

However, I suspect from your original post that you are actually asking about the reverse of this, and I don't know off the top of my head if such a thing exists.

madmike159

What I have is an explorer 16 development board which it outputting information via a 9 pin cable using RS232. Ideally I would like a small board that plugs into that and outputs USB to a computer since USB cables work over longer distances and are shielded.

A friend suggested an FT232R to do this, so I'm going to take a look at that.

DailyDose

I am dealing with the same issue and I was shocked to see this post. I am using MAX202CDR to read RS232 from a 0-5V source. "Block diagram" would look like: Source goes to MAX chip then to PC via HeadPhone Jack. The headphone jack converts to DB9. Anyways, with RS232 fading away, I want to use USB instead.

I am reading that Future Technology Devices Intl apparently makes these. I also took apart a USB JTAG and found a FTDI chip in there. My guess would be this is the route to go. But that's about as much as I know at the moment.

madmike159

Cool, let me know how it goes. I will post any updates on my progress too.

DailyDose

Ok, here you go madmike. I think this will be exactly what you want. Check the following link out.

http://electronics-diy.com/electroni...tic.php?id=791

Complete schematic.

I_am_learning

I don't get it. USB to serial converter are also serial to USB. The data can flow both-ways.
Place the converter inside your board and use a long USB cable to hook it to the PC. Whats the problem?

0xDEADBEEF

Until you try to run a hard drive on RS232 ;)

madmike159

"I don't get it. USB to serial converter are also serial to USB. The data can flow both-ways.
Place the converter inside your board and use a long USB cable to hook it to the PC. Whats the problem?"

Yea, I was being very stupid. Fridays...