RE: RS232 card for PC with surge protection ??

["Bricknell, Tony" <tony.bricknell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At work we used to blow up PC serial ports like they were going out of
fashion (you mean they are...?)  That was until we started using Schimar
RS232 Isolators - Farnell 648942
http://tinyurl.com/47eve
Only trouble is they're 110 pounds each!! :-(

Haven't found anything cheaper that offers the sort of protection the
Schimar unit does.

We have had success replacing the RS232 IC(s) on the motherboard(s) - that
is, of course, assuming you can actually get hold of the ICs.  How
competent
are you with a soldering iron? :-)  But for us, when you've got to strip
down your PC every couple of weeks to replace the same blown IC, it was
cheaper to buy a few Schimar units.

Sorry it's not really the answer you were after.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Hallows [mailto:markhallows@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 16 November, 2004 16:22
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] RS232 card for PC with surge protection ??





Erm bit embarrassed as I have just blown the serial port on my PC running a
little robotic test rig I was playing with.. :-(
Somehow I got a power feedback of some kind that has blown the port..
(almost a pant wetting moment as my back was to it at the time)
Is there such a thing as a PCI rs232 (serial) card with a form of buffer or
surge protection ?

Mark H.
PS. Did I mention that it can't cost a lot of money... :-))