Can SIO2PC be used as an RS-232 interface?
Well, yes I mean no sort of. It does take care of the translation of voltage levels. But RS-232 includes data in, data out and a number of handshaking lines. The reason for my equivocation is that different applications will use zero or more handshaking lines. The SIO serial bus only requires one, the command line, so that’s all SIO2PC gives you. And it’s connected to the seldom used RI (Ring Indicator) line on the PC end. So it comes down to what is required by the software you plan to use on both computers. Some software is configurable–you can specify XON/XOFF and use just the data lines, etc. But in general if you want to use software that requires more than a command line to RI conversion, you need to figure out what your software needs. Then take my schematic, add more MAX-232’s if necessary and carry more lines through.
