What's going on: If you connect a phone handset to a 202, FSK or RS-422/485 line, the digital data signal will make audible sounds in the earpiece. This won't tell you anything about the quality of the data transmission … but it will tell you if there's a signal on the line.
If you have problems connecting devices together, it's always a good idea to double-check your pinouts. But sometimes the pinouts are unknown - either the pinout documentation is missing, or the port doesn't actually behave the way the documentation says it's supposed to.
In those cases, you can identify the pinout with just a little bit of detective work.
Testing pinouts is easier if you have a blinker box, a small electronic device that connects to a port and lights an LED for each pin that transmits a signal.
Note: even with a blinker box, it will still take some detective work to identify for certain the various transmit pins - for example, if you have two transmit pins, which one's DTR and which one's RTS? You can use trial and error to match each transmit pin with its corresponding receive pin on the other side, such as RTS to CTS.
Blinker boxes are convenient, but they're not absolutely necessary. You can also identify pinouts with more common tools.
What is a Butt Set?
A Butt Set is a tool used by linemen to test phone lines. Similar to a handset on a residential telephone, the Butt Set features an outgoing mouth piece and an incoming receiver piece for two way communication. Most Butt Sets all so feature a 12 button keypad and a few various other features.
The purpose of the Butt Set is to allow Linemen to tap onto a phone line to ensure it is working properly. To do this, the Butt Set will also have two cables, while some sort of alligator clip, to attach to the line. While it may have an odd, even silly, name, the Butt Set is a critical piece of testing equipment for linemen.
If you're working with a 202, FSK or RS-422/285 connection, you can use a butt set to identify transmit pins.
Why Would you Need to Identify Pinouts with a Butt Set?
If you are using a Butt Set to identify pinouts, you are most likely trying to connect to legacy gear.
If you're having problems connecting to a device through a serial cable, you can use a PC HyperTerminal connection to identify its pinouts.
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