Help with an RS-232 to Ethernet converter!

[looney2ns]

I have a Weather Station that use's an RS232 port to connect to serial port on my computer.

I wanted to convert the RS232 on the station to Ethernet and purchased this: RS232 / RS485 to Ethernet Modules | USR IOT
Buddy recommended this particular converter because he had used it for other serial conversions without issue's in the past.

I have it setup as a TCP server. Can communicate with it fine for setup, either via ethernet or serial.

My weather station can be communicated with by Hyperterm, this works via Serial no problems.

I can ping the TCP server fine.

But when i hook it up to my Weather station, and Ethernet, I can't get a response from the Weather station like I should.

Here is the pinout on the Weather station.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qWZ2d7qegEZqVjDdl6ORLeVMFc1zrN0aJQ/view?usp=sharing

Anyone have any clues as to why the weather station will work perfectly with a computer Serial port and not this converter?

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Ericpwp]

Your pinout looks different from the RS-232 9 pin pinout on my phone's app.

If your converter is expecting this, that my be your problem. I don't know much about serial connections.

 

[robbman]

Well, hyper term is for rs232 communications only. What are you using to communicate with it via tcp?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Your pinout looks different from the RS-232 9 pin pinout on my phone's app.

If your converter is expecting this, that my be your problem. I don't know much about serial connections.

Transmit pins and receive pins should be inverted on each side. (the cable typically takes care of this)

have you tried Putty? (its free)
have you tried putting another device on the other end to see if you can communicate with it?

You can build a loopback to test if it works. plug in the loopback, make sure local echo is off on your terminal app and connect. Once connected start typing. anything. the characters you type should appear on the screen. if they do, unplug the loopback and type again. The characters should no longer appear on your terminal screen. if you see that behavior you know you have proper connectivity over the wire.

If you were closer I'd GIVE you a loopback. I have a ton of them.

 

[JettaKnight]

Off hand, the station shows a full set of RS-232 signals (incl. flow control). Is that required?

As to the "converter" you bought, everything I need to know is in the very first sentence:

USR-TCP232-T24 series is used to TCP network packet or UDP packet with the micro-controller/
RS232/RS485/RS422 interface data transparent transmission equipment.

Another gem:

RS232 bound rate can set up from 300 to 256000;

 

[JettaKnight]

Transmit pins and receive pins should be inverted on each side. (the cable typically takes care of this)

Not for RS-232.

Pin 1 always connects to pin 1, pin 2 to pin 2, etc.

RS-232 is meant to connect from a Terminal (DTE) to a Device (DCE). As such, the "transmit" (DTE to DCE) and "receive" (DEC to DTE) go one way, always.


Now if you try to connect a DTE to a DTE, then yes to need to swap 2 and 3 of a 9 pin d-sub.

 

[JettaKnight]

BTW, RS-232C was an elaborate Communist plot to undermine the American computer industry. Only sheer American determination has allowed us to push through.


You young whippersnapper engineers with your USB don't know how good you've got it.

 

[looney2ns]

My hypterterm has a TCP/IP Winsock connect option. I assumed Hyper was working, because I can open two instances of it, use one instance to connect via TCP/IP, the 2nd instance to connect via serial port. Characters typed in one instance of Hyper appear in the other instance and vice versa.

I hadn't tried putty, but I will.

It is sufficient to only tie pins and 2 & 3 together to test loopback?

 

[looney2ns]

Well it is from China, just like everything else these days. :-)
Others have used this device with success.
Not that it could be the device is the problem.

Off hand, the station shows a full set of RS-232 signals (incl. flow control). Is that required?

As to the "converter" you bought, everything I need to know is in the very first sentence:



Another gem:

 

[looney2ns]

Transmit pins and receive pins should be inverted on each side. (the cable typically takes care of this)

have you tried Putty? (its free)
have you tried putting another device on the other end to see if you can communicate with it?

You can build a loopback to test if it works. plug in the loopback, make sure local echo is off on your terminal app and connect. Once connected start typing. anything. the characters you type should appear on the screen. if they do, unplug the loopback and type again. The characters should no longer appear on your terminal screen. if you see that behavior you know you have proper connectivity over the wire.

If you were closer I'd GIVE you a loopback. I have a ton of them.

I dont' have anything else with a serial port to test. The loopback test with pins 2&3 tied, using hyperterm via TCP/IP is successfull.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I dont' have anything else with a serial port to test. The loopback test with pins 2&3 tied, using hyperterm via TCP/IP is successfull.

Well, we know its good up to the serial port. if the loopback test works. (text with it on and not with it off) Problem narrowed down to the device you are trying to extend.

 

[robbman]

All the 232 network bridges I have worked with were marked as dce or dte for the port type. You might have to make it a crossover to communicate if the bridge is dte. A beak out box that shows high/low and opens would tell if you have two dce or dte ports connected.

 

[Hop]

We use Digi port servers at work. Probably too expensive for a hobbiest. Medical machine data gets sent out a serial port into the Digi. We can test the connections using PuTTY.

 

[Cameramonkey]

All the 232 network bridges I have worked with were marked as dce or dte for the port type. You might have to make it a crossover to communicate if the bridge is dte. A beak out box that shows high/low and opens would tell if you have two dce or dte ports connected.

Quick fix could be to switch to a crossover cable?

 

[JettaKnight]

Quick fix could be to switch to a crossover cable?

I think so.

My hypterterm has a TCP/IP Winsock connect option. I assumed Hyper was working, because I can open two instances of it, use one instance to connect via TCP/IP, the 2nd instance to connect via serial port. Characters typed in one instance of Hyper appear in the other instance and vice versa.

So, did you connect via a straight cable and not a null modem cable? If so, then that's the problem. That would mean the bridge is a DCE, not DTE.

 

[looney2ns]

Thanks for all the ideas. When I get a chance I'll attempt all the suggestions. I just know enough about such things to be dangerous.

 

[JettaKnight]

Update?

 

[looney2ns]

Still no worky. I've tried all the above plus others.

Here are the voltage measurements of each pin on the stations RS232 port.
Meter negative lead hooked to pin 5 throughout the test.
Does this tell anyone anything?

DB9 Pin Volt measurements with meter black lead remaining on Pin 5. With nothing but the meter attached.
1: 7mv
2: 5.9mv
3: 9.53vdc
4: 9.17vdc
5: grnd
6: 2.2mv
7: Negative 60mv to 299mv, always changing.
8: Negatvie 24mv to 100mv, always changing.
9: 2mv

 

[JettaKnight]

Still no worky. I've tried all the above plus others.

Here are the voltage measurements of each pin on the stations RS232 port.
Meter negative lead hooked to pin 5 throughout the test.
Does this tell anyone anything?

DB9 Pin Volt measurements with meter black lead remaining on Pin 5. With nothing but the meter attached.
1: 7mv
2: 5.9mv
3: 9.53vdc
4: 9.17vdc
5: grnd
6: 2.2mv
7: Negative 60mv to 299mv, always changing.
8: Negatvie 24mv to 100mv, always changing.
9: 2mv

It tells me that they've got the extra control pins wired up. Which is odd for any modern day system. It also tells me that this is a DTE and wants to connect to a modem, if I'm reading this right. From your readings, only pins 3 and 4 are asserted. These are signals that are to be coming FROM a computer.

However, I could be wrong. See above. Can we see the rest on the manual for this thing?

 

[looney2ns]

The station is designed so it can either be used with a computer and software via the RS232 to log data every second, or it can be installed in a remote location and just a dialup modem attached. Then it can be called, modem would answer, then you could retrieve the data from the station.


Here is the manual: WRL-Solar Manual - Texas Weather Instruments, Inc

Thank you.