Wiring FP-1001 to a comm port on my computer?

[UCICL]

I am trying to wire my FP-1001 to my PC. I purchased a 9pin serial port connecter in hope that all I had to do was plug the female end into comm port one, splice the other end and connect them to RX+, RX-, TX+, TX- and GND. My only problem is how do I know which wires go where? Or do I need to purchase a RS-485 card for my PC.

[Aaron_G]

Generally speaking most computers do not automatically come with an RS-485 serial port, most have an RS-232 serial port. So the question really is, what does your computer actually have? If it is an RS-232 port, you could use a FP-1000 instead of the FP-1001 and the wiring will be nice and easy, otherwise, you will need to purchase an RS-485 card for you computer. National Instruments does make and sell RS-485 cards.

Regards,
Aaron

[LucaP.]

Hi all

That is not quite true!National Instruments is selling PCI-485 boards with two, four or eight ports.
Under this link you find a quick start guide how to connect the FP-1001 to a RS-485 port.
http://digital.ni.com/manuals.nsf/webAdvsearch/554FEB385A006C8E86256AC300647F62?OpenDocument