QUATECH ThinkQ QSE-100D-BA 4 Port RS-232 Serial Server (CHEAP!)
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roussell
Active Member
For the two I bought I offered $18 each and he countered at $20 each so I'm with you Beelzerob in that I think $20 is as low as he'll go on x2.
The shipping (UPS ground) was $13 total for the two of them and took about 5 days to get to AL from MD. it may be cheaper for you guys that are closer to him.Dan (electron) said:
EDIT: Also I should note that they arrived packaged very well. The units were each hermetically sealed in heavy bags and wrapped well in bubble-wrap and surrounded by Styrofoam packing peanuts. They appear new with no scratches or other deformations.
Terry
beelzerob
Senior Member
Well SURE it's overkill.... I thought that was an HA mantra...
I agree with you, but I just hate hate hate having to buy yet something else (a 5v wall wart) when I've got something that WILL work, but isn't preferred. I'm still hoping I have a 5v wall wart (or two) laying around, but if it came down to it I'd probably rig one of the many PC power supplies instead...they're just laying around.
I hate getting a great deal on ebay, and then beginning the inevitable landslide of OTHER things I have to buy to make my great deal work.
WayneW
Senior Member
I ordered these last night from All Electronics, along with some other stuff. I couldn't find a spec fox the coax plug size, so I am gambling here.
DCTX-5200 5 VDC, 2000 MA WALL TRANSFORMER $3.75
PS-523 5 VDC 2 AMP SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY $5.75
CB-190 6' CABLE W/ 2.1MM COAX PLUGS $2.50
beelzerob
Senior Member
Well nuts, only 1 5v wall wart onhand (a Dlink...those things are popular).
So I'm trying to figure out WHY I want one or more of these. I have plenty of comm port capacity at the moment, although I've been having some flaky issues with my moxa card.
But if I ever wanted to go to a lower-power PC (like a thin client) for my CQC server, then I think this would be where these devices would really be useful. But I'm already at 7 devices, so even if I bought 2 of these things, I'd be close to full up.
Now if I consider getting 3 of these....well, that's ALMOST getting close to the price of a cheap 16 port etherlite, isn't it?
So I guess I'm trying to figure out WHY I want one of these, other than them being a great deal!
(and speaking of great deals, that's probably where this thread should be, eh? I had trouble finding it again....)
So I'm trying to figure out WHY I want one or more of these. I have plenty of comm port capacity at the moment, although I've been having some flaky issues with my moxa card.
But if I ever wanted to go to a lower-power PC (like a thin client) for my CQC server, then I think this would be where these devices would really be useful. But I'm already at 7 devices, so even if I bought 2 of these things, I'd be close to full up.
Now if I consider getting 3 of these....well, that's ALMOST getting close to the price of a cheap 16 port etherlite, isn't it?
So I guess I'm trying to figure out WHY I want one of these, other than them being a great deal!
(and speaking of great deals, that's probably where this thread should be, eh? I had trouble finding it again....)
WayneW
Senior Member
I see two likely uses for mine.
- Adding serial points at some distance from my HA equipment (like where my AV equipment is)
- Putting a serial device on the Ethernet so it can be shared between applications (such as sharing my NuVo gear between the NuVo config software, HomeSeer and Elk)
Need power supply and time.
I'll move the thread to the Hot Deal forum. I personally bought a 2nd one as a backup (If one of these dies, I don't want to spend $400 to replace it). I looked at the Etherlite, and while it's a good deal if you get it from eBay, you are limited to access your serial ports using just 1 PC. One of the reasons I got the QSE-100 is so I can access my SAI PIM from multiple PC's.
beelzerob
Senior Member
Well, I've learned a long time ago that when the heavy-hitters in these forums say "This is a good deal!", to pay attention.
So I got 3. I offered 3 @ 15, and he came back with 20 again, so he's really not going lower than that for now.
I guess I don't understand how these things function different than the etherlite. Aren't both things just an IP device that has serial ports, and you install some virtual comm port software on the PC you want to communicate with it? That being the case, why would the etherlite only talk to 1 PC?
Other questions:
1) Anyone know how well the drivers for virtual comm ports install on thin clients? (HP5700)? Sometimes those are finicky about what can be installed on them.
2) How exactly does this "access from multiple PC's thing" work? Normally there's a single comm port on a PC, and nothing else can use it when it's busy. So now you have a comm port that's accessed through an IP address, so then any PC can use it at the same time? Isn't that a problem with message confliction? Can 2 PC's end up controlling the serial port at the same time? I'm not saying that's a bad thing, by the way...it may make my CQC driver writing a lot easier.
3) Do each of these devices have their own IP address, and is that changeable? Just wondering how the configuring is done (built in webpage?)
4) It'd be nice to eventually get a link to a known, proven 5v wall wart once one is found that has the correct plug size and all that.
So I got 3. I offered 3 @ 15, and he came back with 20 again, so he's really not going lower than that for now.
I guess I don't understand how these things function different than the etherlite. Aren't both things just an IP device that has serial ports, and you install some virtual comm port software on the PC you want to communicate with it? That being the case, why would the etherlite only talk to 1 PC?
Other questions:
1) Anyone know how well the drivers for virtual comm ports install on thin clients? (HP5700)? Sometimes those are finicky about what can be installed on them.
2) How exactly does this "access from multiple PC's thing" work? Normally there's a single comm port on a PC, and nothing else can use it when it's busy. So now you have a comm port that's accessed through an IP address, so then any PC can use it at the same time? Isn't that a problem with message confliction? Can 2 PC's end up controlling the serial port at the same time? I'm not saying that's a bad thing, by the way...it may make my CQC driver writing a lot easier.
3) Do each of these devices have their own IP address, and is that changeable? Just wondering how the configuring is done (built in webpage?)
4) It'd be nice to eventually get a link to a known, proven 5v wall wart once one is found that has the correct plug size and all that.
Well, there is no reason for him to drop price, since the demand is high, $20 is as low as I got as well. The etherlite tunnels all ports over a single TCP connection, so you have to pick which computer will be able to access all these ports. In this case, think of the Ethernet connection as a wired USB connection.
1) Should work fine on thin clients, if not, you can use 'generic' drivers, such as the HW VPS software I linked earlier. It's more 'portable', free and should work with most hardware.
2) Only in certain cases can you have multiple connections to the same port, so I wouldn't make too big of a deal about that as it will be limited. Check the manual for the various 'operating modes', and it will make more sense. That said, I also have a hardware serial port splitter (still need to review this thing), so it isn't unheard of.
3) There is a web interface, which you can access after you have assigned it an IP address. Since these are used models, it already comes with an IP, probably not matching your subnet, but you can change it using the setup software (it can address the hardware, even without having a good IP), without having to change your own IP address or reset the unit. The setup software also creates 4 COM ports in your device manager, and links them with this new IP, so there isn't much to do just to get up and running.
4) The D-Link works But I agree, I have a 2nd one on my way, and ordering more for other projects, so hopefully people like Wayne can confirm soon if their cheap power supply is compatible.
I also recommend you update the firmware, just make sure you stick with the major revision of your hardware. I.e., if your QSE-100 came with 4.x firmware, grab the latest copy of the 4.x generation. Don't put 5.x on it, as it is designed for different hardware.
1) Should work fine on thin clients, if not, you can use 'generic' drivers, such as the HW VPS software I linked earlier. It's more 'portable', free and should work with most hardware.
2) Only in certain cases can you have multiple connections to the same port, so I wouldn't make too big of a deal about that as it will be limited. Check the manual for the various 'operating modes', and it will make more sense. That said, I also have a hardware serial port splitter (still need to review this thing), so it isn't unheard of.
3) There is a web interface, which you can access after you have assigned it an IP address. Since these are used models, it already comes with an IP, probably not matching your subnet, but you can change it using the setup software (it can address the hardware, even without having a good IP), without having to change your own IP address or reset the unit. The setup software also creates 4 COM ports in your device manager, and links them with this new IP, so there isn't much to do just to get up and running.
4) The D-Link works
But I agree, I have a 2nd one on my way, and ordering more for other projects, so hopefully people like Wayne can confirm soon if their cheap power supply is compatible.I also recommend you update the firmware, just make sure you stick with the major revision of your hardware. I.e., if your QSE-100 came with 4.x firmware, grab the latest copy of the 4.x generation. Don't put 5.x on it, as it is designed for different hardware.
Just for fun, I tried installing the drivers on Windows 7 both 32 and 64 bit. 64 bit seems to be a bust, 32 bit works after the first attempt fails, and W7 recommended to try again with different settings which I did. This time the drivers were installed, but I am unable to talk to my PIM, so not sure yet if something is wrong with the PIM (doubt it), or if the drivers just don't work on Windows 7. If you really need to run them on W7, I would suggest to try the HW VSP software mentioned earlier in this thread.
I see two likely uses for mine.
But I haven't done either of these yet.
- Adding serial points at some distance from my HA equipment (like where my AV equipment is)
- Putting a serial device on the Ethernet so it can be shared between applications (such as sharing my NuVo gear between the NuVo config software, HomeSeer and Elk)
Wayne is right. The ability to put serial ports somewhere other than locally at your computer is the exact reason to get these.
For example, I have a situation where I want to control both a TV and a DVD player in a bedroom. I could either run a couple of serial over cat5e lines to each device, or run a single network line to the location and plug one of these units in. To be honest, the simplicity in wiring makes these units look attractive. I have a real problem getting the right wiring done on my pinouts when I try to send serial over cat5e wire. I end up with too many variables because the run looks like this: {Controllable Device} {DB9 to RJ45 converter} {Cat5e patch cord} {Cat5e wall plate adapter} {Cat5e wire from one room to another} {Cat5e patch panel in wiring closet} {Cat5e patch cord} {DB9 to RJ-45 converter} {Computer}. SO I always ruin a bunch of DB9 to Cat5e converters trying to get the correct null or regular serial connections made.
Using a device like this would allow me to use a premade null or regular serial cable and plug it directly into this device. Then this device gets plugged into the network. Makes it easy as pie
I actually got one of those extractor tools, but I guess I don't know how to use it. I've never been able to get one of my pins out using the tool. I use the same type of DB9 to serial adapter that they show on the tool's web site. I got my adapters and extractor tool from Monoprice.
