can i use a usb port instead of serial?

[tuf045]

hi there i'm new to this and have purchased a 4x8 gantry kit and had it shipped to Australia. I have run in to some small problems one being my computer has a parallel port but no serial port so i'm wondering if i can use a usb to db9 adaptor?
thanks Wes.

[Pandinus]

Short answer yes a USB serial port should work.
Slightly longer answer... there is a lot of manufactures and drivers out there, you may find that some USB-Serial adapters will work with your product and some wont... It all depends on how closely they follow the specifications (and which ones) for serial ports.
Where I used to work they had one specific brand/model they bought as they knew it worked with the hardware... sorry but I don't recall the brand ... Parallel port USB adapters don't play well with CNC machines because of timing issues, but the serial lines are usually used for sending/receiving DATA and not individual timed BIT control.
And USB is a Universal Serial Bus ... still serial data, but more overhead for multiple device addressing and higher speed capabilities.

[Torchhead]

Very good answer. It should work in theory because the only serial data is the screen data feedback (Torch volts and power supply parameters) and the transfer of data to/from the DTHC for setup or changing parameters (from the screen or from the CUT PROFILE). Running parameters are stored in the DTHC non-volatile RAM memory for high speed access while cutting. I say "in theory" because we have not actually done it with the BladeRunner and DTHC package.

TOm caudle
www.CandCNC.com
It's unusual to find a PC with a parallel port and no serial unless it's an add-in parallel port. You can get inexpensive PCI serial port cards.