I'm trying to find the best way to connect my laptop to my old Ranger 200C.
If I remember correctly, the cable used for downloading a Ranger to a PC (via ActiveSync) is a null modem cable. Would a regular USB to serial adapter (which has a male 9-pin end) plus a female/female gender changer work? Do gender changers have "null modem" wiring, or do they come is both serial and "null modem" varities, and if so, which one would I want?
Thanks.
No I have tried the gender changer adapters and they do not work. I have a usb to serial adapter and a 9 pin to 9 pin null cable and it works fine.
Matt
I you have Vista on your laptop, make sure you have the usb to serial adapter that will work with Vista. I went through two I bought of of ebay, and many, many hours of trying different drivers with no success.
I ended up buying one from Hayes, and it works flawlessly.
Do you have the adapter that plugs into the Ranger that will allow you to plug in a usb cable? I use that also, and either method works for me.
Good luck
Another option is to purchase the adapter for the Ranger 200 series that plugs into Port 2 on the Ranger. The adapter has a power connection that allows you to charge the Ranger through the port while it is also connected to the computer. It also has a USB connection that will allow you to use a USB cable and it also has an ethernet port as well.
Please don't shoot me because I am not trying to sell something on Beerleg but the USB cable and the port adapter used to be bundled for about $40. We now have the port adapters as a separate item, listed for $10 and the USB cable you may already have. It is the type of cable that is supplied with the Recon and the Ranger X series. The end that connects to the data collector or the port adapter is the square sort of boxy looking plug that has the top two corners mitered off. I think we sell those cables for about $15 but you can pick them up anywhere.
In answer to your original question, the connection though the COM1 port on that Ranger must have a null modem device in the chain to communicate with a computer. And you can purchase null modem gender changers but you must be specific about it. A standard gender changer will not work. If you already have a null modem cable, just use it. If not, you can purchase a gender changer that is null modem to complete the connection.
Good info there Jerry. I have the same Ranger connector, and always wondered what the power port was. Never realized you could also plug into the power while downloading. I have tried the eterhnet port, but never could get it to work, not that it was a big deal as the USB cable worked.
I am working on transferring into Win 7 (vista based) and this plug worked with my Ranger, OK. It is not active-sync, but some other program.
What I can not get is my HiPer connected via PCCDU. But I finally got my COM port to show up with a USB adaptor, progress I guess. I only work on it an hour here and there until I get fustrated.
I ran into that problem with Windows 7 and PC-CDU week before last, I guess it was. A customer had bought a set of used receivers from us and need to load files on them.
Topcon has a new receiver utility called TRU (Topcon Receiver Utility) and that was the program I had to use to get the files loaded on the receivers. My customer was self-declared to be non computer literate so it made it a little challenging but we got it done. PC-CDU will run in Windows 7 and Windows 7 could see the COM port his USB to serial adapter was taking but PC-CDU would not connect through the port even though the program "saw" that it was there.
Fortunately TRU worked like a champ but for whatever reason, there is no USB option in TRU. The real fun part of that project was walking the customer through the process over the phone. Must be working because I haven't had any irate phone calls.
I'm thinking this could work with a USB to serial adapter. It's basically a 2" null modem cable.
That is good information. I didn't know this existed. I assume this is what you are talking about:
Do you plug the standard Ranger charger into the power port?
TPR,
I walked over and plugged my ranger charger into the adapter in the picture, and the plug fit. I would confirm that that is the correct power supply to use with this adapter with Hayes.
I believe that the adapter would help with your download issues. I have never had any issues with downloading my 200T Ranger into Vista with a standard USB cable using this adapter.
Good luck
