I would just like to point out that RS-232 is no longer the correct term for this standard and hasn't been for many years. Short for recommended standard-232C, RS232 was an unapproved serial interface standard whose original specification is never implemented fully and has gone through many changes. Once the standard was approved by the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) it ceased to be a recommended standard.

In 1987, the EIA released a new version of the standard and changed the name to EIA-232-D.

In 1991, the EIA teamed up with the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and issued a new version of the standard called EIA/TIA-232-E.

Just some useless trivia that manufacturers still fail to recognize. Kind of like how people always called a 9600bps modem a 9600 baud modem, when it was, in fact, only 2400 baud.

Michael