Stentura 400 SRT USB-Serial adapters

[Valentin]

Hi everybody,

today my used Stentura 400 SRT arrived, but so far I've been unable to get it to connect.
I'm using a PL2303 chipset for the serial adapter, and am trying with 9600 bauds, 8N1,
and RTS/CTS turned on (although I've tried at lower baud rates, and with RTS/CTS turned
off as well). The adapter at least works in a loopback test, so I know it's not broken, and
the Stentura seems to work as well - I've been able to clear the memory and adjust the line
spacing, so the electronics are doing /something/ :)

I have the serial converter connected directly to the Stentura - has somebody yet confirmed
if the realtime cable is really just a plain old serial cable, or if the pins are swapped around?

Cheers,
Valentin

[Fred James]

Valentin wrote:

--

Valentin
I have both cables that Stenograph says are needed to make the connection, and a CD (window7, Visa, and XP) ... purchased from a Stenograph dealer here in Canada ... see image below.

Pinning:  Both cables are built in such a way as to make it difficult/impossible to determine the pinning without either specialized equipment, or taking the cables apart.  Sorry.

According to Stenograph, both cables are required to connect to a USB port on your computer.  The Realtime cable connects to the Stentura 400 SRT, and the Serial-USB converter cable connects between the Realtime cable and the computer.

Does and of that help, or did you already know that?

If need be, and given time, I could probably build the equipment needed to address the pinout question.  It involves building "stubs" to plug into the cable ends (more detail upon request) ... either that or buying little vises to hold the cable ends, plus getting very small sensors for my ohm meter.
Regards
Fred James

[Hesky Fisher]

Hi Valentin,

The correct settings are 9600 8N1, xonxoff off, rtscts off. A regular serial to USB adapter is what you want, not a null cable.

Which OS are you using?

Double check that you've selected the right port. If you're using Linux or OSX then it's easy to choose the wrong one. It's possible that you need to install a driver as well for the adapter.

Which protocol are you using? By default the 400 should be using stentura but you should be able to get it to switch to txbolt.

That said, not all adaptors work well, especially the very cheap ones, even if they're not just dead. We've had reports of cables not working even though they claim to have chipsets that worked for others.

Hesky

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[Achim Siebert]

For my Cybra, I use a simple adapter with FTDI chipset (http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00QUZY4TW/ref=pe_386171_38075861_TE_item). You wont need the overprized Stenograph cables, just a good driver.

Since I'm on OS X, I also bought the driver from mac-usb-serial.com, since it's said to be the most reliable (and it only costs a few Euros).

[Valentin]

Thanks for the answer!

On Monday, February 15, 2016 at 3:16:27 PM UTC+1, Fred James wrote:

I have both cables that Stenograph says are needed to make the connection, and a CD (window7, Visa, and XP) ... purchased from a Stenograph dealer here in Canada ... see image below.

Getting those in Germany is proving a bit difficult, hence my question about the pinout.
Building a little adapter should be easy enough to do (for myself, I realize that not
everybody likes to solder).
 

Pinning:  Both cables are built in such a way as to make it difficult/impossible to determine the pinning without either specialized equipment, or taking the cables apart.  Sorry.

Or a friendly helper to hold a multimeter to one end of the cable while you're fiddling
with the other end :) I have a friend who has a (serial) RTC, and might have some time
to measure the pinout this weekend. :)
 

According to Stenograph, both cables are required to connect to a USB port on your computer.  The Realtime cable connects to the Stentura 400 SRT, and the Serial-USB converter cable connects between the Realtime cable and the computer.

Vendors say a lot of things, I'd rather measure before spending another 60 bucks on a
serial cable with some of its pins switched out ;)
 

If need be, and given time, I could probably build the equipment needed to address the pinout question.  It involves building "stubs" to plug into the cable ends (more detail upon request) ... either that or buying little vises to hold the cable ends, plus getting very small sensors for my ohm meter.

I hope that I'll get some results on that with my friend, if not I might have to ask you about
that... but from what I can tell, it should be easy enough to stick a paperclip, resistor, or
some other smallish piece of metal into the pins and hold an ohmmeter to that. :)

[Valentin]

On Monday, February 15, 2016 at 3:46:23 PM UTC+1, Hesky Fisher wrote:

Hi Valentin,

The correct settings are 9600 8N1, xonxoff off, rtscts off.

Thanks for confirming that for me :)
 

A regular serial to USB adapter is what you want, not a null cable.

So you've got it working without any special cable and just the adapter? Odd.
 

Which OS are you using?

I'm using Linux.
 

Double check that you've selected the right port. If you're using Linux or OSX then it's easy to choose the wrong one. It's possible that you need to install a driver as well for the adapter.

Yeah, the port is definitely correct - ttyS* can't be it, and there's only one ttyUSB :)
 

Which protocol are you using? By default the 400 should be using stentura but you should be able to get it to switch to txbolt.

I don't know - I unfortunately don't have a manual, and was assuming that it was using
the Stentura protocol. But switching Plover to TX Bolt and hitting keys doesn't produce
any results, so it's probably the Stentura protocol. Do you know how to switch?
 

That said, not all adaptors work well, especially the very cheap ones, even if they're not just dead. We've had reports of cables not working even though they claim to have chipsets that worked for others.

Yeah, I'm going to be testing different adapters in a bit - a friend has some different ones,
and I'm hoping that at least one of them will work. I have two adapters, but they're both
based on PL2303, so it might just be that. Will find out in an hour or so :)

[Valentin]

On Monday, February 15, 2016 at 3:53:03 PM UTC+1, Achim Siebert wrote:

For my Cybra, I use a simple adapter with FTDI chipset (http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00QUZY4TW/ref=pe_386171_38075861_TE_item). You wont need the overprized Stenograph cables, just a good driver.

Since I'm on OS X, I also bought the driver from mac-usb-serial.com, since it's said to be the most reliable (and it only costs a few Euros).

So no serial RTC either... well, that lets me hope that I just got a bad adapter and can replace it
with some plain old FTDI from Amazon :) Thanks!

[Achim Siebert]

PL2303 should also work - I use an adapter from ebay with a small Windows tablet at times (not available any more, title said "RS-232 Serial zu USB 2.0 PL2303 Kable Adapter Converter für Win 7 8 MAC OS", it looks exactly like this one: ebay).

[Valentin]

Odd, that looks exactly like one of the two I've tested. Maybe it's the writer after all.

[Hesky Fisher]

I once got a tendnet tus9 in Zurich and it worked fine with my writer. Maybe that's available in Germany as well. The only downside is with that I needed a serial cable as well because of either the male/female or screw/post misalignment with the machine.

--

[Achim Siebert]

I don't think so - those writers are quite indestructible. If I remember correctly, I had to install the driver that came on a mini CD for that adapter, the one installed by Windows automatically didn't work. In any case, I had to fiddle around a bit - but only software related.

[Valentin]

On Monday, February 15, 2016 at 1:35:19 PM UTC+1, Valentin wrote:

today my used Stentura 400 SRT arrived, but so far I've been unable to get it to connect.

Found the solution: Need a crossover cable (that switches RX and TX) and I need to set
the baud rate to 2400. On a scope you can see that when starting up, the writer sends
the string "ATV1S0=1&D0\r" at different baud rates (19200, 9600, 4800, 2400) a few times
and then stops. Using the last one works fine. Probably you can use it at 19200 if you
send a reply when it's got that selected, but I'm okay with 2400 - that's 240 bytes per
second, probably a lot more keys than I can press ;)

[Hesky Fisher]

Sorry, I guess I was wrong.

--

[Valentin]

On Monday, February 15, 2016 at 9:15:34 PM UTC+1, Hesky Fisher wrote:

Sorry, I guess I was wrong.

You're not alone. The manual says 9600 too. Hooray for undocumented features.

[ANDREW SPENCE]

Hello everyone,

I would like to try Plover out on a real steno machine and I wonder what the best option is. Instead of messing around with serial to USB conversion cables, I thought of doing it the other way round: first choose the Steno machine and then choose a second-hand PC WITH SERIAL PORT to go with it. The computer would only be used for Steno.

Would a Stentura 400 SRT plus a PC (Dual Core, Windows 7, 4 GB RAM, Serial Port and USB ports) do the trick or would I still end up (like others in this thread) having to do a lot of tweaking to make it work? Hit on the right combination and there is no reason why it could not be sold as a complete system (with of course no rights over or charge for the software).

I have been following the Stenosaurus project for some time but life is short and it could still be another couple of years before the product goes on sale (assuming it gets that far).

Andrew S

[Valentin]

Hi Andrew,

> I would like to try Plover out on a real steno machine and I wonder what
> the best option is. Instead of messing around with serial to USB conversion
> cables, I thought of doing it the other way round: first choose the Steno

> machine and then choose a second-hand PC *WITH SERIAL PORT* to go with it.

> The computer would only be used for Steno.

Sure, you can do that, but then you still have to set up your serial connection. It's
much more expensive, less flexible, and doesn't really offer any advantages. It
doesn't matter if the serial port is an USB adapter or part of your PC.

--Valentin

[Achim Siebert]

Actually a simple Serial to USB cable is the easiest and cheapest solution, no need for an extra PC. You just have to install the driver for the cable (usually comes with it on a mini-CD, is downloadable or even installs automatically on Windows PCs) and pick the right port in Plover (which you'd have to do on a PC with serial port as well). The problems is not the PC being used, but Plover not being able to communicate with some steno machines. If I could make it run on my Mac, you'll certainly be able to make it work on your current computer. You can pick any steno machine that still has a serial port (the latest ones only have USB) that works with the Stentura, Treal or TX Bolt protocol.

My Cybra is usually connected to my iMac, but with the same cable I can also use it on a PC or a little Windows tablet - setup was no problem on those as well. You might want to ask here if the steno machine you picked already works for somebody, just to be safe.