Dear Sir,

Last week, I already bought a new DT80 with new firmware 6.22. I got small problem here. Why i can't connect DT80 via RS232 null modem cable?.

Normally, i don't have any problem with this DT80. It's, new brand of DT80 had any changes with their command.

Good afternoon Jamil,

What exactly is the error message?

There have been no recent changes to the firmware that would affect the host serial port that I know of. I would start by checking the cable is correct. There is a wiring diagram on page 220 of the current manual (UM0085-A5).

Check the serial port does exist and is working. Check the communication port settings are correct. The default is 578600,8,n,1 software flow control.

If that fails try a triple push reset to put the dataTaker back to default mode.

Cheers,
Roger

Good afternoon Roger...

I already done checking the cable, serial port and communication port settings. All looks OK. But the problem still there. The exactly error message that i get is "warning: could not detect baud rate for serial port".

This is copy of my DT80 Profile ;

[HOST_PORT]
*BPS = 9600
DATA_BITS = 8
STOP_BITS = 1
PARITY = NONE
FLOW = SOFTWARE
FUNCTION = COMMAND

{Big Chunk of profile removed as it had no baring on the problem Roger}
That's all sir, and Merry Christmas...

Cheers,
Jamil

Good morning Jamil,

Have you check the serial port setting on the computer? If you have a fixed baud rate in the computer that doesn't match the dataTaker then that will cause the error you are seeing. Make sure you have autobaud set.

Cheers,
Roger

Happy New Year!

To expand on what Jamil has done (I'm in the same office as Jamil) we are still chasing our problems with the host serial port on a DT80.

When we first did this a year ago (long since installed) the problem was related to the GSM modem not waking a sleeping DT80 on an incoming call (sleep required due minimal power for the station). We could never solve this issue and had to skirt it by using a very large solar panel and storage battery so the DT80 was always awake.

A similar situation has arisen where we cannot use a large solar panel and need to run a GSM modem with the DT80 waking from sleep on an incoming call. We decided to begin from scratch and confirm host port comms with a direct cable connection to a PC before we look at the GSM modem issue. The PC serial port is confirmed working and the crossover 9way cable is a standard, bought item buzzed through fully (as shown on p220) however this is unsuccessful also.

The setup for comms was with Profile settings per the book (p122) and HWFC with Host Port Function "Command". PC end also set up for same parameters. Using DeTransfer we see the autobaud attempting to make comms as it cycles through all of the possible baud rates - no connection. Hyperterminal was then attempted and a single return string of:
ATE0Q1&D2S0=4&C1&S0 (which is the default Function for modem, I believe) was returned to the PC after which nothing.

A return to defaults was then performed on the DT80 which gave the same results as the Hyperterminal test above. All the above tests were performed with v6.22 firmware however an older v6.16 (also v6.18) was tried with no difference.

What am I doing wrong and how to solve this dilemma please? We need to buy 2 more DT80's but management will not do so until this issue is resolved.

Kind regards,
Bill and Jamil

Happy New Year!

To expand on what Jamil has done (I'm in the same office as Jamil) we are still chasing our problems with the host serial port on a DT80.

When we first did this a year ago (long since installed) the problem was related to the GSM modem not waking a sleeping DT80 on an incoming call (sleep required due minimal power for the station). We could never solve this issue and had to skirt it by using a very large solar panel and storage battery so the DT80 was always awake.

A similar situation has arisen where we cannot use a large solar panel and need to run a GSM modem with the DT80 waking from sleep on an incoming call. We decided to begin from scratch and confirm host port comms with a direct cable connection to a PC before we look at the GSM modem issue. The PC serial port is confirmed working and the crossover 9way cable is a standard, bought item buzzed through fully (as shown on p220) however this is unsuccessful also.

The setup for comms was with Profile settings per the book (p122) and HWFC with Host Port Function "Command". PC end also set up for same parameters. Using DeTransfer we see the autobaud attempting to make comms as it cycles through all of the possible baud rates - no connection. Hyperterminal was then attempted and a single return string of:
ATE0Q1&D2S0=4&C1&S0 (which is the default Function for modem, I believe) was returned to the PC after which nothing.

A return to defaults was then performed on the DT80 which gave the same results as the Hyperterminal test above. All the above tests were performed with v6.22 firmware however an older v6.16 (also v6.18) was tried with no difference.

What am I doing wrong and how to solve this dilemma please? We need to buy 2 more DT80's but management will not do so until this issue is resolved.

Kind regards,
Bill and Jamil

Hi Folks,

Further investigation has confirmed the serial cable is the cause.

Following exactly the wiring diagram per the manual (p220) and using this instead of the "standard" crossover cable we can successfully communicate with the DT80 in all respects, GSM modem tests still to come though.

There must be something with the other wires in the standard cable which is inhibiting comms - dataTaker should add comments to the manual accordingly if this is the case.

Cheers,
Bill

Good morning Bill,

The cross over cable is used when connecting a DT80 to a Computer. Because they are both DTE they need to have the RX / TX and RTS /CTS lines crossed over. The other lines must not be connected.

To connect to a modem (DCE) to a DT80 (DTE) then all lines must be connected with no lines crossed over. This then allows the dataTaker to detect that a modem is connected.

Cheers,
Roger