Serial to USB Connector

[mdoerty]

I have an Intellicart. I also will soon have no lap top with a working serial connection as everything has gone to USB.

 

Does anyone know of a Serial to USB Connector that works with an Intellicart?

 

Fortunately, I own a CC3, but I love being able to load single ROMs to beta test new carts on real hardware (without having to tear apart the CC3).

 

Mike from Morgantown

Edited August 28, 2012 by mdoerty

[intvnut]

I've personally used the FTDI USB-to-serial cables with some luck. I use one with my CC3, actually, and they should work with an Intellicart as well. I'll see if I find pictures of the setup to post later tonight. They're a little on the spendy side, but make for a really nice solution if you want to replace the cable that's currently on your Intellicart.

 

What I bought was a cable that has all the USB to serial logic right in the connector, and then terminates in a few open wires. For the CC3, I soldered this up to a 3/32" headset connector. On the Intellicart, you'd instead be soldering directly to the board if you went that route. Here's a link to one on Mouser. The USB connector is translucent and has bright red/green LEDs that flicker while downloading. You might find better prices shopping around. Just make sure you get one that has RS232 voltage levels.

 

If you don't want to solder on your precious Intellicart, I understand. You could instead get a stereo 3/32" headset connector and make a USB-to-serial cable for your CC3 and run your CC3 in "dev" mode. Link goes to Mouser again; this is the connector I used. To make it look nice and to protect the work, I put heat shrink tubing around the solder joint.

 

If soldering isn't your thing, no worries. Just about any USB to serial converter that terminates in a DB9 ought to work. Neither the Intellicart nor the CC3 is particularly picky about baud rates as long as you can set the line to 8-N-1.

[mdoerty]

I've personally used the FTDI USB-to-serial cables with some luck. I use one with my CC3, actually, and they should work with an Intellicart as well. I'll see if I find pictures of the setup to post later tonight. They're a little on the spendy side, but make for a really nice solution if you want to replace the cable that's currently on your Intellicart.

 

What I bought was a cable that has all the USB to serial logic right in the connector, and then terminates in a few open wires. For the CC3, I soldered this up to a 3/32" headset connector. On the Intellicart, you'd instead be soldering directly to the board if you went that route. Here's a link to one on Mouser. The USB connector is translucent and has bright red/green LEDs that flicker while downloading. You might find better prices shopping around. Just make sure you get one that has RS232 voltage levels.

 

If you don't want to solder on your precious Intellicart, I understand. You could instead get a stereo 3/32" headset connector and make a USB-to-serial cable for your CC3 and run your CC3 in "dev" mode. Link goes to Mouser again; this is the connector I used. To make it look nice and to protect the work, I put heat shrink tubing around the solder joint.

 

If soldering isn't your thing, no worries. Just about any USB to serial converter that terminates in a DB9 ought to work. Neither the Intellicart nor the CC3 is particularly picky about baud rates as long as you can set the line to 8-N-1.

 

For the cable replacement on the Intellicart, would it work if I just spliced in the new cable with the USB end into the old one?

 

Meanwhile, as for the output, has anyone done an Intellicart loader that gets a USB port to imitate a serial port or would I just set the parameters in the Intellicart program after the USB has sought a plug-and-play solution?

[intvnut]

For the cable replacement on the Intellicart, would it work if I just spliced in the new cable with the USB end into the old one?

 

I suppose you could cut the old connector off and splice the wires, but that seems... gross. And if you don't solder it, mechanically unsound.

 

Meanwhile, as for the output, has anyone done an Intellicart loader that gets a USB port to imitate a serial port or would I just set the parameters in the Intellicart program after the USB has sought a plug-and-play solution?

 

USB can't speak RS-232 natively, period, hence all these adaptor chips and such. The FTDI chips have a virtual COM port driver that makes its serial port look like a typical RS-232 COM port to other software, though. They provide drivers for Windows, Linux and MacOS X. So, you'd just install those, and use the Intellicart loader as usual.

[Binth]

I fired up my Intellicart a few days back and I have a USB to serial cable that worked on my PC a few years back (the last time I tried it). I have an old laptop without serial ports as well (not to mention it is much easier to have a laptop near the TV and the Intellivision) and for the life of me I cannot get it to work any longer. I know the communication between cart and laptop is there (it shows loading on screen) but everything is showing up CRC errors. I tried all the baud rates and no joy. My roms source is the Intellivision Live and Rocks CD's. Do I need to convert them first? It has been a loooong time since I fired this thing up and the memory is hazy on what I had to do to get it to work several years ago.

 

Any help appreciated !

 

Binth

[mdoerty]

http://www.trendnet.com/products/proddetail.asp?prod=150_TU-S9&cat=49

 

This works!!!!!!!!

 

About $21 shipped last week from NewEgg.

 

And it automatically configures with Windows 7.

 

Mike from Morgantown