Break Off a Piece of USB-C, UART, or RS-232 with Anders Nielsen’s Common Serial Adapter

Fed up with closed off-the-shelf molded serial adapters, Anders Nielsen created a flexible serial device that may adapt to numerous wants. The open sourced Common Serial Adapter helps USB-C, UART, and RS-232. Nielsen invitations potential collaborators to increase its performance, and fairly actually, hack the modular design.

Nielsen’s Common Serial Adapter ingeniously combines three circuits right into a compact and environment friendly printed circuit board (PCB). A USB-C connector connects trendy computer systems to a CH340G USB-to-Serial built-in circuit (IC). That chip offers UART-style connections to a 2.54mm header and a MaxLinear SP3243E RS-232 transceiver. The takeaway of this design is that serial hackers can use every circuit independently, including to the device’s comfort and flexibility.

The USB-C PCB offers a USB-C connector breakout when separated from the opposite boards. The center circuit incorporates the CH340G USB-to-Serial chip, with one facet going to breadboard-friendly FTDI-style headers. Technically, you may plug the whole Common Serial Adapter in, however the third (and largest) circuit covers loads of house in case you are not utilizing it.

A MaxLinear SP3243E IC within the third circuit makes the Common Serial Adapter signal-compatible with classic computer systems. A built-in cost pump permits the transceiver IC to deal with RS-232‘s bodily layer specs, resembling detrimental polarity and slew charges, whereas operating from a single 5-volt provide. Nielsen prolonged the versatile chip with a lesson discovered from different retro pc tasks.

Interfacing with RS-232 on classic {hardware} has a number of annoying points. For instance, you can not instantly join two gadgets or Knowledge Circuit-terminating Tools (DCE). As an alternative, RS-232 requires a null modem adapter to cross a number of alerts. Nielsen’s Common Serial Adapter eliminates the necessity for a further adaptor, or dongle, to make the crossover. Nielsen discovered from CommodoreZ’s Cactus 6502 Toggle-Swap Homebrew Pc, who discovered from TechAV a intelligent trick for dealing with RS-232 alerts. A collection of headers permits customers to shortly reverse units of alerts by positioning pairs of jumpers in both a horizontal or vertical path.

At the beginning of a video introducing the challenge, Nielsen discusses the origin of the phrase “hacker,” primarily associated to {hardware} hacking. He offers examples the place “hacking” means utilizing a hacksaw to chop or modify circuit boards. To reveal the Common Serial Adapter is a hacker-friendly device, Nielsen cuts the modules aside with a hacksaw! If you happen to don’t have a hacksaw, then a collection of vias between every circuit offers a satisfying snap to interrupt the modules aside.