Overview
Sartronics.com's Serial Analyser is a serial protocol analyser that runs on a standard PC. It will monitor a RS232 serial communication channel, logging the data to the PC's hard drive. All it requires is 2 available serial ports on the PC and a specially made cable. It can also monitor RS485 or RS422 providing the PC has RS485 or RS422 serial ports. Alternatively a converter may be used to change the signal levels to that of a standard PC's RS232 port.
The data is stored in its own binary format, which can be exported to a simple text file or a PDF. It can be printed to allow viewing in an easy to see format.
As each data character is received its time and any errors are logged. If the PC's hardware supports it parity errors and framing errors will be detected and highlighted. The character times are logged with a maximum resolution of 100 hundredth of a millisecond. The timer take almost 2 days of recording before it rolls over. Note the important aspect of character timing is timing relative to other characters. Modem day computers are more than adequate to ensure good character timing. However it should be noted that USB serial ports will buffer data which will distort the timings. Very old computers may not log accurate character times at high baud rates, particularly when simultaneously running other applications, as this can cause the PC to momentarily get busy.
For more reliable character timing Sartronics.com offers a USB Serial Analyser device that does not require any serial ports. It just plugs straight into a USB port while the other end plugs into the serial line via a 9 pin female 'D' connector.
The main window logs the data. It can be displayed in hexidecimal or ASCII. When connected the window will automatically scroll tracking the incoming data. By default character errors (not available on Linux version) are highlighted in red and bookmarks in green.
The status bar shows the value of the character at the cursor in hexidecimal, as well as the modem status signals and data error.
This application program can be freely trialled. After that it will require registration.
Contents
Bookmarks and File Description