Contec Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of PC peripherals, industrial computers, and network equipment has developed and released three new adapters that use the USB port on a PC to provide an additional RS-232C (or RS-422A/485) serial port.  The adapters can be connected to PCs with a USB port to provide an additional RS-232C (or RS-422A/485) serial communication (COM) port. A major feature of the adapters is that the converter and other core circuits are contained within the connector housing, giving a tidy appearance that looks like a normal USB cable.  Being a USB device, installation on the PC is quick and simple and the adapters can be used to add communication ports that can be used as standard Windows COM ports to systems such as notebook PCs that do not have expansion board slots or compact PCs with only a small number of expansion slots.  The adapters support USB 2.0 and have large, high-speed 128 byte (send) and 384 byte (receive) FIFO buffer memories. High-speed communications up to 921,600bps is supported to enable the implementation of applications with fast communication speeds that take full advantage of the performance of the PC.  The COM-1(USB)H and COM-1P(USB)H [RS-232C models] have a 9-pin D-SUB (female) connector for the serial connection, so no additional cables are required to connect equipment with a 9-pin D-SUB (male) connector. If the cable is too short, the gender-changer (male-female conversion connector) included with the adapter can be used to connect a commercially available serial cable, allowing you to flexibly chose the cable length. RS-232C 1ch  USB-Serial Adapter for USB 2.0 COM-1(USB)H -> Larger image data [ 122KB ] 800 x 593pix 350dpi

[ Features ] [Common] Conforming to the USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 standards Uses the same easy-to-use D-SUB 9 pin connectors as a PC. Maximum communication speed = 921,600bps. This converter is equipped with separate 128-byte and 384-byte buffers for transmit and receive. Driver software is supplied to allow the serial ports to be used as standard Windows COM ports. (They can be set to arbitrary COM port numbers.) A maximum of 127 terminals can be installed as configured in the range COM1 to COM256. [COM-1(USB)H] and [COM-1P(USB)H] :  RS-232C models Has a 9-pin D-SUB (female) connecter for connecting directly to modems and similar. Alternatively, the gender-changer (supplied) can be used to connect a cable with a 9-pin D-SUB connector (female). (* The adapter is shipped with the gender-changer already connected) [COM-1P(USB)H] :  Isolated RS-232C model Surge protection is provided for each RS-232C signal line. [COM-1P(USB)H] and [COM-1PD(USB)H] :  Isolated models The adapter is electrically isolated from the PC. [COM-1PD(USB)H] :  Isolated RS-422A/485 model A D-SUB 9 pin (male) connector is used to connect a cable with a D-SUB 9 pin (female) connector. The data transmission mode (full or half duplex) setting can be changed using a switch. The converter includes the 100Ω terminating resistors required for a party line (multi-drop) connection. The resistors can be inserted in each signal line by setting a switch. RS-422A/485 signal lines are all surge-protected.

[ Specifications ] Item COM-1(USB)H COM-1P(USB)H COM-1PD(USB)H Number of channels 1ch I/O specification RS-232C RS-422A/RS-485 Isolated specification - Bus isolation Dielectric strength - 300VDC Transfer method Asynchronous serial transfer (Full-duplex / half-duplex) Baud rate 300 to 921,600bps *1*2 Data length 5, 6, 7, 8 bit / 1, 1.5, 2 stop bit Parity check Even, Odd, Non-parity Loading LSI FT232BM (Each channel has 128-byte transmit and 384-byte receive FIFO buffers.) Connecting distance Within 15m Within 1200m Connector specification USB side : USB A RS-232C side : D-SUB 9-pin (male) USB side : USB A RS-422A/485 side : D-SUB 9-pin (male) Power consumption 5VDC 60mA(Max.) 5VDC 280mA(Max.) 5VDC 350mA (Max.) Operating condition 0 to 50°C, 10 to 90%RH (No condensation) USB bus specification USB Specification 1.1/2.0 standard Power supply Only bus power USB transmission speed 12Mbps (full speed mode) Cable length 1.8m External dimension(mm) 78.3(W) x 20.5(D) x 36.5(H) 91.0(W) x 20.5(D) x 36.5(H) (When connecting gender changer) 68.3(W) x 20.5(D) x 36.5(H) Weight 130g 140g (When connecting gender changer) 130g  *1  Data transmission at high speed may not be performed normally depending        on the environment including the type of status of connected material of cable and environment.  *2  These items can be set by software.

[ Support Software ] Standard COM Driver Software COM Setup Disk (Bundled) Under Windows, this software allows you to use the serial port on the adapter as a standard COM port on the PC. You can add additional adapters up to a maximum of 127 COM ports. Under Windows, the serial ports can be accessed using the standard Win32 API communication routines (CreateFile( ), WriteFile( ), ReadFile( ), and SetCommState( ), etc.) The serial ports are also compatible with the Visual Basic communication control (MSComm). * API-SIO(98/PC) is not used. < Operating environment > OS :  Windows XP, 2000

[ Contact ]
U.S.A. (North & South America Sales) CONTEC Microelectronics U.S.A. Inc. 2161 O'Toole Ave., Suite I, San Jose, CA, 95131 TEL: (1)-408-954-7700  FAX: (1)-408-954-7710 E-mail: sales@contecusa.com Web Site: www.contecusa.com PHONE (800)888-8884   Toll Free in the USA	EUROPE CONTEC Microelectronics EUROPE B.V. Binnenweg 4, 2132 CT Hoofddorp, The Netherlands TEL: (31)-23-567-3030  FAX: (31)-23-567-3035 E-mail: sales@conteceu.nl Web Site: www.contec-europe.com
CONTEC GROUPS JAPAN (Headquarters) CONTEC Co., Ltd. 3-9-31, Himesato, Nishi-Yodogawaku, Osaka, 555-0025, TEL: +81-6-477-5219  FAX: +81-6-477-1692 E-mail: intsales@osaka.contec.co.jp Web Site: www.contec.com