4.1.2 Communicating with a USB Port

USB port communication requires the installation of USB driver software and the setting up of a virtual com port. If communicating via a USB port, the user will either:

1) Connect a Levelogger Optical Reader or PC Interface Cable to the USB port

2) Use a USB to RS232 Adapter

If 1) during the installation of Levelogger Software, the Virtual Com Port Driver will be installed automatically. The Levelogger Software Installation Wizard also copies a folder to the Levelogger folder containing all the Solinst USB drivers. When you plug in the Solinst USB device, check the com port designation after installing the device (see Section 4.2.1).

If 2) Solinst strongly recommends the use of either Keyspan™ or IO Gear™ USB to RS232 Serial Adapters. These adapters have a sufficiently large buffer to accommodate the size of data bundle and bit transfer rate of the Levelogger. Follow the manufacturer's USB Driver and Com port setup installations found on the CD accompanying the adapter.

If you have installed another brand-name adapter, but cannot communicate with the Levelogger, in most cases the problem is that the adapter does not have a large enough internal memory buffer. The minimum buffer size should be 96 bytes.