Connecting Serial Port Joystick to USB

[Shawnzyoo]

I have an old serial port joystick but no serial port on my computer
i am pretty sure there is a way to connect the serial port to a usb adapter
does anyone know how to do this?
thanks

 

[willib]

The FT232BM is the 2nd generation of FTDI's popular USB UART device ..
http://www.ftdichip.com/Products/FT232BM.htm
i think this is exactly what you are looking for..

 

[faust9]

I have an old serial port joystick but no serial port on my computer
i am pretty sure there is a way to connect the serial port to a usb adapter
does anyone know how to do this?
thanks

Since you're asking I doubt you want to develope your own from scratch. Go to your local computer store and get a serial to USB adapter.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=312963&pfp=SEARCH

You can find adapters like the one above for less than $10:

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q...r&num=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&tab=wf&scoring=p

You may have to add some cktry to the joystick to clean up the signal. If you are trying to attach an old Atari-style joystick then search the net for the correcct cktry. I've seen web sites showing how to do this so I know they exist.

Well, good luck.

 

[Shawnzyoo]

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/usb_serial.htm

is what i was looking at, but was just wondering if i could cut the wires and connect them together instead of using the adapter

thanks for the input

 

[faust9]

No, you cannot wire the serial connection directly to the USB cable. You have to use a store-bought adaptor or, make your own using the above FTDI(or similar) chip.

The best analogy I can give is that you can't take the engine out of a Ford and expect it to fit in a Chevy. You'd need adaptors for this kind of conversion to work and the same goes for USB to serial. USB is a ford while RS-232 is a Chevy---not directly compatible.

 

[chroot]

USB is different from RS-232 in virtually every way, except for being a serial bus. They use different signalling voltages (USB is differential, RS-232 is single-ended), different signalling speeds, different bit timings, different bus-contention resolution strategies, and everything else. You must use some kind of IC adapter.

- Warren