Re: [NTLK] Cheaper USB->serial adaptor (was: apple talk)

From: Martin Howard (mvhoward_at_mac.com)
Date: Sat Jul 31 2004 - 00:59:44 PDT


I thought I should share my experiences with an alternative USB->serial
adaptor, not made by Keyspan. The one I have is made by BAFO, is
called a BF-810, and cost me $19.95, which was *half* the price of the
Keyspan USA-19HS adaptor sold at the same place (Fry's Electronics in
Campbell, CA). I've seen it for less than $15 online. Both are
USB->DB-9M serial adaptors, but the BAFO has a much smaller and neater
form factor. The Keyspan adaptor is claimed to support speeds up to 230
Kbps. I can't find the BF-810 spec right now, but I seem to remember
reading that it did 500 Kbps.

The driver comes on one of those 8cm mini-CDs, which is useless if you
have a TiBook or other slot-loading laptop. However, the driver on the
disk is outdated in any case (if you're running 10.3): There is a bunch
of drivers for OS X available from their web site: I downloaded the
latest and it works like a charm. The USB port shows up as
"/dev/tty.usbserial0" on my TiBook. I use it successfully with NewTen
to install packages on my MP2100, using a home-made DB-9F to mini
DIM-8M.

BAFO are at: http://www.bafo.com/bafo/productslists.asp?foproduct_id=850
Drivers: http://www.bafo.com/bafo/prodrivers.asp

Note that their product specifications doesn't list OS X, but they have
drivers for them. I can confirm that they work with OS X 10.3.4.

Standard disclaimer applies: I have no association with this company,
just a happy customer. Though you might like to have an alternative.

M.

-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Jul 31 2004 - 02:00:01 PDT