ASR 33 Emulation - help!

From: Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman_at_theestopinalgroup.com>
Date: Thu Oct 18 06:34:16 2001

> Our sawmill uses an HP-1000 for process control; it has an infrared paper
> tape reader and an ASR 33 Teletype. And they all work. But I'd like to
> replace the teletype with a PC. Does anyone know how to make a PC emulate
an
> ASR 33??

Most PCs running Windows either have installed or can have installed on
them a terminal emulator named Hyperterm which can do what you want.

However, the serial ports on PCs are RS-232C ports, while many ASR33s
had 20ma current-loop serial interfaces. You'll need to either get a
converter, or a separate 20ma current-loop serial card for the PC.

BlackBox used to have both of these, but they got acquired, IIRC, and
I can't recall the new firm's name...

For the paper tapes, once read in, you can just use Hyperterm's
file transfer... oops, NIX that, I see ASCII mode is not among
Hyperterm's file transfer options... Hmmm, you may need to use
something like PROCOMM PLUS or ProcommPlus/Win... they still
have the ASCII transfer mode. Or just run DOS and use COPY, I did
that with a PC and a friend's CNC machine a few years back, worked
quite well.

hth,
-doug q
Received on Thu Oct 18 2001 - 06:34:16 BST