Cable for HP48G/G+

[zx_spectrum]

I want to buy a cable to connect my HP48G and HP48G+ to PC.
this is the first time i attempt to do this. I know that there are special cables for this with DB9 connection, but i don't really know what else i would need and whether there are different variations to these cables on eBay.
I need a brand new one
I have seen three different listings on eBay that offer these cables.
i don't know whether these are original HP or just custom made.
by the way i am o.k that they are not USB (unless this has some implication that i better be aware of)

do you have any recommendations...
advises about what to look for ...
any mistakes others did and i shouldn't repeat ....

thank you so much and i appreciate your help

[Claudio L.]

(01-16-2019 02:21 PM)zx_spectrum Wrote:  I want to buy a cable to connect my HP48G and HP48G+ to PC.
this is the first time i attempt to do this. I know that there are special cables for this with DB9 connection, but i don't really know what else i would need and whether there are different variations to these cables on eBay.
I need a brand new one
I have seen three different listings on eBay that offer these cables.
i don't know whether these are original HP or just custom made.
by the way i am o.k that they are not USB (unless this has some implication that i better be aware of)

do you have any recommendations...
advises about what to look for ...
any mistakes others did and i shouldn't repeat ....

thank you so much and i appreciate your help

I haven't used one of those in many years (don't have my 48 anymore). The ones with a DB9 connector are simple serial cables (just wires) and unless you have an old computer with a true serial port you'll need to buy a USB to serial adapter.
The cables are typically very reliable (it's just a cable after all), but the USB adapters not so much, you'll have to try one and see if it works (perhaps somebody here already uses a USB to serial adapter that works well and can recommend you a specific brand/model, my PC is old and has a true serial port so I never used one). Some adapter chips only support certain (standard) baud rates on the serial side and while this is normally fine, if you are trying to configure some software that uses some non-standard speeds it won't work. On the other hand, if you can configure your software for something standard (like 9600 8N1) then pretty much all adapters will support it.

On the other hand, you have the cables that are purposedly built with the USB adapter included, which would eliminate all the guesswork (I imagine whoever created them must've made sure it actually works well with the calcs).
Most USB to serial converters use FTDI chips but there's several different versions with different capabilities (see the link). You should try to choose one that doesn't need special drivers and that works with all operating systems, including Linux/BSD/Unix, so that you can plug it anywhere and it will work.

[franz.b]

many recent motherboards have a serial connector on board, simply enable it from the bios and connect a real old serial cable. If you have one of these motherboards you could try this way.

[grsbanks]

(01-16-2019 10:33 PM)Claudio L. Wrote:  perhaps somebody here already uses a USB to serial adapter that works well and can recommend you a specific brand/model

* grsbanks raises hand.

FWIW I have a USB/serial adapter using an FT231X chip. It works fine with my 48GX and 48G units.

[EugeneNine]

I have a generic one that Microcenter sells.
https://www.microcenter.com/product/2022...ft---black

The only times you see issues with USB-serial is on the closed OS's like Win/mac. There are a lot of chinese clones of brand name chips so the brand name chip makers try to put counterfit detection in their drivers which often have issues. Typically you'll find one just stops working after a windows update and have to roll back to an older version of the driver. You can find these issues in places like ham radio forums where the usb-serial is used to program radios.

The only real issue you'll find on Linux os's is your non-root user doesn't have permissions by default so you can't communicate until you add your user to the dialout group. This catches a lot of people who come from os's with less secure defaults.

If your worried about the quality of the cable at the calculator side, I believe Sampson cables is still around and selling theirs. They were the non-HP goto back in the 90's, my cable is one of theirs.

[RMollov]

As others already said, all you need is a FTDI USB_to_Serial cable. Works flawlessly on Mac or Windows. I've been using them for years, never had any problems.