APPLICATION NOTE NO. 68

Using USB Ports to Communicate with Sea-Bird Instruments
Revised November 2006

Application note in pdf format

Most Sea-Bird instruments use the RS-232 protocol for transmitting setup commands to the instrument and receiving data from the instrument. However, many newer PCs and laptop computers have USB port(s) instead of RS-232 serial port(s).

USB serial adapters are available commercially. These adapters plug into the USB port, and allow one or more serial devices to be connected through the adapter. Sea-Bird tested USB serial adapters from three manufacturers on desktop computers at Sea-Bird, and verified compatibility with our instruments. These manufacturers and the tested adapters are:

• IOGEAR (www.iogear.com) --
  USB 1.1 to Serial Converter Cable (model # GUC232A).
  Note: This adapter can also be purchased from Sea-Bird, as Sea-Bird part # 20163.
• Keyspan (www.keyspan.com) --
  USB 4-Port Serial Adapter (part # USA-49WLC, replacing part # USA-49W)
• Edgeport (www.ionetworks.com) --
  Standard Serial Converter Edgeport/2 (part # 301-1000-02)

Other USB adapters from these manufacturers, and adapters from other manufacturers, may also be compatible with Sea-Bird instruments.

We have one report from a customer that he could not communicate with his instrument using a notebook computer and the Keyspan adapter listed above. He was able to successfully communicate with the instrument using an XH8290 DSE Serial USB Adapter (www.dse.co.nz).

We recommend testing any adapters, including those listed above, with the instrument and the computer you will use it with before deployment, to verify that there is no problem.

Last modified: 06 Apr 2007

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