I need help with some communication problems from my milling machine to my laptop. I have a leadwell mcv550e with mitsubishi controls trying to talk to a ibm thinkpad with xp sp3. Im using tera term pro setup for vt100 emulation on com port 1 with port configured to 4800 baud, 7 bit data, 2 bit stop, no parity and no flow control. The machine is setup for 4800 baud and dc but im not sure what dc means. I think the machine used to be setup with a paper tape reader but its not on the cabinet now. Theres a wierd blue connector on the outside of the cabinet and beside it is a db-25 connector that i hook my pc to. I try to communicate to the pc requesting input from tera term but the machine says device not ready. I am wondering what im doing wrong and if theres any other programs i should be using other than tera term. The reason for tera term is cause i use it for my old bridgeport so i know my com port is working too. I dont know much about emulation and communications so any help help would be appreciated.