captainron19 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Well just getting ready to hook things up for the first time - I bought the serial port adapter and I noticed a problem. The serial port on my laptop is a female connection and so is the adapter that came with my LOR units.So what is my next step? Can I just go out and buy a male to male adapter? or can I connect my first LOR unit directly into my computers ethernet port? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clueless Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 I don't think that would be a serial port on your computer then, it is probably a external monitor port. You can go to radio shack and get a USB to serial cable. They work great.Ryancaptainron19 wrote: Well just getting ready to hook things up for the first time - I bought the serial port adapter and I noticed a problem. The serial port on my laptop is a female connection and so is the adapter that came with my LOR units.So what is my next step? Can I just go out and buy a male to male adapter? or can I connect my first LOR unit directly into my computers ethernet port? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan C Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 If you look at the two connectors, I think that you will find that the connector on the "serial adaptor" has two rows of pins, making nine in total, while the connector on the laptop has three rows of pins, making fifteen in total. This is a video port. You will either need a USB to serial convertor, or a USB to RS485 convertor (as supplied by LOR).Although the connector on the LOR units is the same style as an Ethernet connector, the LOR units use RS485 for their communications, not Ethernet, so attempting a connection this way will not work.Regards,Alan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Alan C wrote: Although the connector on the LOR units is the same style as an Ethernet connector, the LOR units use RS485 for their communications, not Ethernet, so attempting a connection this way will not work.And the results may not be pleasing if the two are mixed together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 This is the official supported LOR solution to use the SC485 off a USB porthttp://store.lightorama.com/usbsead.htmlIt is possible that other USB to serial adapters will work, but remember the SC-485 must be within 50 feet of the first controller, as the SC-485 will be powered by that first controller.There is a risk that other USB to serial adapters may not be fully compatible with SC485 adapter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainron19 Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Thanks for the link - I dont know what I was thinking when i thought my laptop had a serial port (i am only the information technology officer for my fire department where I work) so the guys got a good chuckle when i brought everything in to work the other night to do a test and found out I couldnt hook my laptop up to my LOR unitsI actually ordered the USB configuration so i am sure everythign will be done right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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