So, I went ahead to Radio Shack today, and got a new SERIAL to USB converter cable. This one stated it was compatible with VISTA and came with a regular driver disk. I got it installed and selected it's COMM port via Device Manager. I opened SG View and it showed that port. So, I thought, GREAT I'M ON MY WAY TO THIS WORKING!!!! Anyway, I got the transmit light on, but no receive light on the program. Nothing showed up on the the program. So, is this possibly an issue with the converter cable? I think I've decided to do the following now that this didn't work:

Order 2 SERIAL cables M/F. I'm going to try to run a new Cat5 line from the Upstairs office to the downstairs, without using the connectors (just one continuous line). Now, this is going to require the soldering situation to arise, so I wanted to know that I'm doing this the easy way. I plan to solder into the F side of the cables, as I could strip the cable and solder it into the piece all the way in. Is this how everyone else that soldered has done it? I've had to buy 2 controller cards for my desktop computer (one for the e-SATA drive I have, and 1 for serial). I figure this way, I may have a manually done cable, but atleast it would be serial/serial at the ends. I should have known not to try to take the shortcut way, but I really wanted to show people the SG View and what not.

Anyway, do you guys solder to the F end of the cables or do you cut the cable and try to locate the specific wires which are for the monitoring and solder in-line? Just curious, as I haven't soldered anything in probably close to 10 years.

Thank you all again for your help while I've battled with this. As I mentioned, I'm new to the world of solar, and can't believe that they didn't put USB ports in the inverters and create drivers for windows. Really, to me, this is an ideal setup! Either that, or RJ45 as that's a much faster way of sending data.

DB9 connectors, for GT reporting need only 3 wires,
pin 2 to 2 Data
pin 3 to 3 Data- [ Data Minus ]
pin 5 to 5 Gnd
I used shielded twisted pair plenum cable, and 2 solder type D connectors.


GT Series RS232 Commands :
http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/1626/docserve.asp page 6
3. Protocol
The GT inverter implements a standard RS232 protocol. It is designed to be a data communication
equipment (DCE); therefore, on the DB9, pin 2 is the transmit data pin and pin 3 is the receive pin. To
connect to a computer ( DTE ) a straight through cable is needed.
The settings for the RS232 are 9600-N-8-1.


Also, see reply here
viewtopic.php?t=392
for info about USB adapters

mike, i'm not sure what the different solder type connectors are. Do you have a close up of these? Also, since you used shielded twisted pair plenum cable (this sounds like standard Cat3/5 cable) did you just use 1 wire for each pin? Typically these lines are so thin and fragile, I'm concerned with breaking one! Anyway, I actually got the USB adapter to work, but I don't have an extra laptop to leave in the garage to do the updates. Nor do I have a shelf right now to place it on. Besides, I'd rather run the cable up to my office and plug into my new computer, which is probably more efficient than getting an older, cheap laptop to run this software. Anyway, my main concern is with the soldering at this point, as I've got the serial controller card coming for the desktop and serial-serial cable so that I can do any needed soldering. What does the cable for RS232 look like? Is it separate wire for each PIN? If so, I would imagine that I could just strip this mid-cable and solder that way. I've also thought of trying to get some thicker wire and running it through the wall, but I know that would be a lot more work right now that I want to go through.

There are many different styles of plenum cable, the one I used has 22ga stranded conductors, and a braid over the twist. Fairly sturdy. just 2 wires and the shield, which I used as ground.
(photo here)
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea ... 47904-5-ND

This is NOT catN style cable, and I just used good tape around the pins for a backshell. But using the RJ adapters, you can "create a DB9 plug" and use ordinary CAT5 cable to connect them
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea ... 46-0000-ND photo, about $5 ea. Search link:
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea ... %20adapter and figure what you need. Run RS232 serial data (+couple hundred feet seems to be fine) via the adapters & cat5 cable to your laptop, and then convert to the USB adapter, and into the laptop.

Thank you Mike. I actually did a little combo of your advise with SG's advice. Since I had Cat5 line already run to the inverter, I purchased the CRIMP connectors from Radio Shack (1.99 each) and the sleeves to make them look nice (2.79 each) and just used 3 of the wires from the Cat5 along with my Serial to USB converter. Needless to say, I probably won't need the stuff I just ordered, but by the time I'd pay to send it back, plus possible re-stocking fees, it is more worthwhile for me to just keep it for now.

I am actually still amazed that they do not just put a true RJ45 (ethernet) port for communication in these inverters. It's faster and more reliable, IMO. Plus, computers now don't even have Serial ports on them, so that would present problems for less tech savvy users. Now, I've just got to get the Cat5 line in the office, hidden and out of sight of my cats (this will become a very fun toy for them). I will have to get some new RJ45 connectors, as I used my last one today. I've got a Cat5 coupler, so I'll just make another line and coupler them together. Now, I've got my site up and running, though quite bland, but it's working for now.

Glad you have it up and running

I tell ya, I haven't battled with something that much in awhile! It is definitely relieving and exciting to be up and running! I also recommended the software and this forum to the company that did the install as a way for people to monitor their system. Now that I know how to hook into the inverter, it wasn't all that difficult to do, just a little confusing for me and time consuming.

I feel like a kid at Christmas again!!

Do you have a link to your site ?

Sure do:

http://home.comcast.net/~mripw/solar/

Nothing fancy, and just something I threw together real quick so I could share it. I do plan to spruce it up, maybe add some charts or graphs in it as well since SG View does the daily logs.

Just convert the RS232 to ethernet and then back to RS232 at the computer. I have this config for both my house and my son's house. Works great on GT or SGT View. RS232 converter to RJ45 in the inverter, cat5 all the way to the computer, RJ45 to TS232 at the computer.