Computing Reviews
Today's Issue Hot Topics Search Browse Recommended My Account Log In
Review Help
Search
Complete guide to RS232 and parallel connections: a step-by-step approach to connecting computers, printers, terminals, and modems
Seyer M., Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1988. Type: Book (9789780137835157)
Date Reviewed: Jul 1 1989

Anyone except a mature interconnection designer or a “so-what” skeptic is likely to feel uneasy about linking new and existing devices to form a desired configuration. Although vendors are always ready to provide every detail about the compatibility modes and port standards of the newcomer, the multitude of connection options cause an overwhelming discomfort. These options make life harder because of the gap between what is possible and what is easily available.

Martin Seyer’s two books serve best as an instructive compass needle on the practical interfacing path. His previous book, RS-232C made easy [1], gives a thorough explanation of the leads in the RS-232C interface and focuses on the interaction between DTE and DCE.

This comprehensive text contines that volume and covers just about every currently possible connection that uses serial or parallel interfaces. It focuses on the following areas:

  • connecting printers with RS-232 interfaces (e.g., an HP Laserjet to an IBM PC/XT, a C.itoh 8510 printer to a Prime computer, or a single printer to multiple computers using an ABC switch);

  • connecting printers with parallel interfaces (e.g., a parallel printer to a multiuser micro);

  • connecting modems (e.g., a Hayes Smartmodem 2400 to an IBM PC/AT or to a Wyse WY-85 terminal);

  • connecting terminals (e.g., a DEC VT100 to a UNIX system, or a terminal to a protocol converter);

  • connecting computers (e.g., a PC to a UNIX system, or an AT&T 3B2 to another 3B2); and

  • special tools for connections (e.g., SCS RS-232 Cable Designer, Break-out Box, and AT&T modular-to-DB25 adapters).

The tutorial modules, one for each kind of connection, suggest a methodical discipline for connecting any two devices. Each module offers the user a “profile” that can be used to analyze a port on a device and details a stepwise connection procedure that involves determining compatibility and signs of success, discovering the types of connectors and the genders of the ports, establishing which leads each device provides and which leads it requires, designing and building the cable and testing it for continuity, cabling the two systems together, and measuring success. I recommend that vendors adopt the proposed port profile format as a unified data structure to document their devices for end users.

Over half the volume consists of the appendices, including a review of over 300 device port profiles, which are far more important in such a handbook than the term “appendix” indicates. These profiles are a very useful device that will extend the potential audience of this book to include both beginners and experienced professionals.

Reviewer:  A. Yakovlev Review #: CR113078
1) Seyer, M. D.RS-232 made easy: connecting computers, printers, terminals, and modems. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984. See <CR> Rev. 8507-0569.
Bookmark and Share
 
Interconnections (Subsystems) (B.4.3 )
 
Would you recommend this review?
yes
no
Other reviews under "Interconnections (Subsystems)": Date
RS-232 made easy: connecting computers, printers, terminals, and modems
Seyer M., Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1984. Type: Book (9789780137834723)
Jul 1 1985
Build your own computer accessories and save a bundle
Hargrave B., Dunning T., Windcrest/McGraw-Hill, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 1992. Type: Book (9780830638666)
Jun 1 1993
Transmission lines in computer engineering
Rosenstark S., McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, NY, 1994. Type: Book (9780070539532)
May 1 1995
more...

E-Mail This Printer-Friendly
Send Your Comments
Contact Us
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.   Copyright 1999-2024 ThinkLoud®
Terms of Use
| Privacy Policy