Making external connections Quatech USB-to-Serial Adapter User’s ManualMaking external connectionsQuatech USB-to-Serial adapters are equipped with male DB-9connectors. The following figures and tables show the serial portpinouts for RS-232 and RS-232/422/485 applications.Figure 12 - DB-9 connector pinoutRS-232 serial connectionsRS-232 devices are classified by their function as either DataTerminal Equipment (DTE) or Data Communication Equipment(DCE).Figure 13 - Use of DTEs and DCEs in a communication linkNote: A DTE device is thecommunication source. A DCEdevice provides a communicationchannel between two DTE-typedevices.Quatech USB-to-Serial adapters are DTE devices that connect toperipheral equipment through a male DB-9 connector. The followingtable lists the serial port connector definitions.Table 4 - RS-232 signals on DB-9 connectorRS-232 signal description DB-9Data Carrier Detect (DCD) 1Receive Data (RxD) 2Transmit Data (TxD) 3Data Terminal Ready (DTR) 4Signal Ground (GND) 5Data Set Ready (DSR) 6Request To Send (RTS) 7Clear To Send (CTS) 8Ring Indicator (RI) 9Page 12 Rev 1.01 (February 2007)