expanding serial ports

[ellisr63]

What is the best way to expand serial ports so I can control multiple devices? I have seen the pc cards that will give you up to 8 comm ports for around $250...I have also seen the usb to serial comm ports units for a little over $10 each. Any experience with either of these? Any problems?
tia,
Ron

[Promixis]

Ron, just be sure to buy a 'good' device. At $10 you might end up with trouble - some of the cheap ones just do not work well.

How many do you need? What devices?

[ellisr63]

I would like to be able to control the following items with serial:
Autopatch 4ydm (currently setup and working)
Samsung HDTV sat receiver
Hughes HDTV sat receiver
Pioneer Elite receiver
Denon AVR 3806 receiver
x10
Russound CAV-6

tia,
Ron

[Promixis]

I would like to be able to control the following items with serial:
Autopatch 4ydm (currently setup and working)
Samsung HDTV sat receiver
Hughes HDTV sat receiver
Pioneer Elite receiver
Denon AVR 3806 receiver
x10
Russound CAV-6

tia,
Ron

cool.

i would recommend a good pci card for all those devices. or a good multiport usb device

pm me if you are interested in doing this with g4

[danward79]

I have had good experiences with usb to serial converters, which are based on "Prolific" chipsets.

I have two running at the moment, both driven by G4, one for my LCD and the other for my 1-wire stuff.

[hk]

Check out this PCI 4 or 6 ports!?
http://www.hk-automation.dk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1736

[miked]

There are a couple of good multi-serial port USB products -- Keyspan and Edgeport in particular. I highly recommend checking out ebay, as you can get great deals every now and again. I got 2 16-port edgeports for under $100, when usually they are $300-400 each I believe. Keyspan's are a little cheaper, but still good. I have something like 16 serial ports -- 14-15 of which are being used! -- on my system right now.

[ellisr63]

Will they work with Microsoft MCE 2005? Are they dif to setup?

[ellisr63]

I picked up a Edgeport 8 port ...and i am getting an error whenever I plug in my Denon AVR3806.. The port fails (through the edgeport config software). I also have a hughes HTDL hooked up and the port that is hooked up to passes. I have tried taking the cable off the Hughes and using it on the denon and even switched ports...still fails. I am using a nulll modem cable with a gender bender on one end. Any ideas?
tia,
ron