Build Your Own Low-cost Data Acquisition and Display Devices

Jeffrey Hirst Johnson shows how to turn any IBM PC or compatible computer into a high-performance data communications system, not by installing expensive, special-purpose boards and peripherals, but by taking advantage of the serial and parallel ports that come with the computer. This book features circuit designs and instructions for building a wide variety of portable plug-in devices that allow fast, effective data communications wherever and whenever needed, and at a fraction of the cost of installing sophisticated networking systems. Johnson includes all of the ready-to-use software routines necessary to implement the hardware, along with information on data formats and rates, cabling and connectors and troubleshooting.