Adafruit RS232 Pal - Two Channel UART to RS-232 Level Shifters - MAX3232E

SKU: ADA5987 Brand: Adafruit
If you're looking to interface with telco, retro or industrial equipment you'll probably run into RS-232 interfaces. The Adafruit RS232 Pal - Two...
$7.60 AUD, inc GST
$6.91 AUD, exc GST

In stock, ships same business day if ordered before 2PM
Delivered by Tue, 15th of Oct

Quantity Discounts:

  • 10-25 $6.64 (exc GST)
  • 25+ $6.43 (exc GST)
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2 from local stock, 1 supplier stock; your order will dispatch between Dec 1 to Dec 10. And yes, stock levels and lead times are accurate!

Shipping:

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  • $11+ Express (2+ days*, tracked)
  • FREE Pickup (Newcastle only - must order online*)

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If you're looking to interface with telco, retro or industrial equipment you'll probably run into RS-232 interfaces. The Adafruit RS232 Pal - Two Channel UART to RS-232 Level Shifters is your friend in such cases, giving you two duplex channels of level shifting and taking care of the high/negative voltage generation all in a low cost breakout board. We use the trusty MAX3232E, a classic chip that is part of the MAX232 lineage so you know it will work great for all your RS-232 needs, up to 250Kbps.

RS-232 is what Adafruit had before USB: a 9 or 25 pin D-Sub connector that would allow data plus flow control lines. Many folks may remember these interfaces were used for mice, modems, barcode scanners, tele-types and more. We still find devices sold that have RS-232 ports, although many folks use a USB to RS-232 adapter these days.

If you want to use a microcontroller or microcomputer to chat with a RS-232 then thankfully all you need is a serial port / UART (something just about any microcontroller has) and a level shifter. The level shifter is required because while most UARTs are 0-3.3V or 0-5V logic level, RS-232 requires +-6 to +-10V, yep the signal voltage goes negative! That means a specialized shifter is required, one that can generate the extra high and low voltages and also safely convert the logic levels.

Sure you could buy a raw MAX232 chip and wire up the necessary capacitors, but this board does it all for you plus it can run on 3.3V power and logic, which many older chips can't do. It also can do 2 duplex channels, so you can have both RX and TX plus two flow control pins like RTS and CTS.

This breakout comes fully assembled with a UART side for low voltage power/logic level and an RS-232 side for high voltage signals plus the doubled and negative voltage rails in case you need to reference them. They also include a bit of header so you can solder it to a breadboard in a few minutes.

Technical Details

MAX3232E Specifications:

  • ESD protection for RS-232 bus pins– ±15 kV (HBM)– ±8 kV (IEC61000-4-2, Contact discharge)– ±15 kV (IEC61000-4-2, Air-gap discharge)
  • Meets or exceeds the requirements of TIA/EIA-232-F and ITU V.28 standards
  • Operates with 3-V to 5.5-V VCC supply
  • Operates up to 250 kbit/s
  • Two drivers and two receivers
  • Low supply current: 300 µA (typical)
  • Accepts 5-V logic input with 3.3-V supply

Product Dimensions: 20.4mm x 17.8mm x 3.0mm / 0.8" x 0.7" x 0.1"

Product Weight: 1.3g / 0.0oz

This product is listed in:

Breakouts & Modules>RS232

Product Comments

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Products that weigh more than 0.5 KG may cost more than what's shown (for example, test equipment, machines, >500mL liquids, etc).

We deliver Australia-wide with these options (depends on the final destination - you can get a quote on the view cart page):

  • $3+ for Stamped Mail (typically 10+ business days, not tracked, only available on selected small items)
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  • Pickup - Free! Only available to customers who live in the Newcastle region (must order online and only pickup after we email to notify you the order is ready). Orders placed after 2PM may not be ready until the following business day.

Non-metro addresses in WA, NT, SA & TAS can take 2+ days in addition to the above information.

Some batteries (such as LiPo) can't be shipped by Air. During checkout, Express Post and International Methods will not be an option if you have that type of battery in your shopping cart.

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If you order lots of gear, the postage amount will increase based on the weight of your order.

Our physical address (here's a PDF which includes other key business details):

Unit 18, 132 Garden Grove Parade
Adamstown
NSW, 2289
Australia

Take a look at our customer service page if you have other questions such as "do we do purchase orders" (yes!) or "are prices GST inclusive" (yes they are!). We're here to help - get in touch with us to talk shop.

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