Help wiring a Raspberry Pi and odd DB9 connection

Question

I need to send a signal from a Raspberry Pi 4 to a PC running software that listens on a COM port and I'm having some trouble understanding the necessary wiring.

Here is the documentation I have for how to communicate to the software through a DE-9 port:

I have a DB9 breakout board: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WPBXDJC?pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8&pf_rd_r=Y5WXCRKKDNTY4GC84C4R

Am I able to use the built-in pull-up resistors on the Raspberry Pi 4? What wiring do I need to send the correct signal?

It sounds like I can keep the DB9 #6 pin high (3.3V) by connecting it directly to a Raspberry Pi GPIO port that has a pullup resistor (making sure to enable it in software). When I want to trigger the device, it sounds like I can set that pin LOW for a few milliseconds. Is that correct? Or, do I need additional setup?

If necessary, I also have a relay on-hand I can use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M0E6SQM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you for any help you can provide - I'm a software guy and this electrical setup is pretty foreign to me!

Answer 1

The DB9 breakout board that you specified is also a level-shifter. Supply it with 3.3V from the RPi. Then you can connect it directly to the RPi GPIO pins, no resistor is necessary.

The hardest part is getting the signal direction correct (3.3V and RS-232). TX & RX are only meaningful when the point of view is known.

The RS-232 DB9 cable may need to be a crossover cable, or you may need a null modem adapter.

Your level-shifter only has RX/TX, no handshake. You could substitute the signals and make a custom RS-232 cable.

The custom PC software is apparently using Data-Set-Ready to trigger.

You have an RS232 level shifter, that may or may not have the handshake signals wired, I can't tell. But we can use the TX signal instead.

You will need to make a custom cable.

I can't be sure that I got the directions correct, it would help if I had full documentation for the level-shifter. Even with all the documentation, it is very easy to get confused, I often had to scope signals to get COM stuff working.

Answer 2

Since modern PCs rarely have COM ports built into them anyway, it is best to use a USB to serial converter that uses 3.3V signal levels.

I use one from FTDI. https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Terminated-Galileo-BeagleBone-Minnowboard/dp/B06ZYPLFNB/

Or search for: USB to TTL Serial 3.3V

Answer 3

I am not at all happy with how the relay is connected.

1. I have no idea how much the voltage on the DSR/DTR lines is. According to the RS232 standard they can be between +/-3 to +/-25 Volts. That is a huge range

2. Using them to switch a relay on and off is unlikely to work because:

   a. The signal is unlikely to have enough energy (current) to activate a relay.

   b. If it works for a tiny DC relay (e.g. reed relay) it may activated in both voltage directions. That is because a positive as well as a negative current will produce a magnetic field.

Here is a suggestion:

^{simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab}

VCC is an external supply, the voltage depends on your relay. You might use the 5V of the Raspberry-Pi.
D1 makes sure the FET is only activated if DSR/DTR is high.
D2 protect against negative voltage.
R1 is there to limit the current.
R2 is there to make sure the FET is off when there is no signal (It prevents the gate from floating).
D3 is the standard relay freewheel diode which is missing in your diagram at all. Without it your RS232 port may blow up.
You might have to play with the values of R1 and R2 (They might need to be larger). Also most FETs need at least 5V between the gate and drain to switch reliably so I would not like to try this with +/-3V.

Of course this has not been tried and if I made any mistakes I am sure somebody will jump to the occasion to point that out.