Guys, I used to post under s_willis for years here. But haven't posted in some time. I used to program my 95Z8's with a serial cable going thru a black box, from Andrew, then updated to the USB to Serial converted cable, still thru a black box. I see now that people offer cables that have the ALDL plug on one end, and a USB plug on the other.

Has the programming and datalogging software advanced to where the black box is no longer needed?

 

Yes, the black box items have been replaced with an integrated circuit from FTDI that performs all the USB-to-serial port conversion needed. That IC resides on a small circuit board in one end of the cable, usually the USB plug end.

 

thank you. are all usb cables set up like that, or just the ones made special for aldl comm.? I've been away from this stuff for quite a while. lol

 

Only the cables that perform a USB-to-Serial conversion. The ALDL cables are one type of those. USB-only cables do not have that circuit.

 

These devices were originally designed to add back the serial port capability since the serial ports are no longer provided on newer pc's.

 

Thanks Gary, I appreciate your help!!