Reading data from instruments via RS-232 simply in Linux
As part of my research I do a fair amount of data collection in the field. Some of the instruments I use are very modern and connect to a computer via USB, interacting with custom-written client software which allows such luxuries as timed logging, triggered logging 
and local calibration. However, a number of the instruments are older and don’t have computer-based logging capability, requiring you to log data to their internal memory and then download it later.
This is often perfectly satisfactory, but timing can be an issue. For example, when taking measurements using a number of instruments it is often important to make sure that measurements are taken at the same time. For example, if spectral measurements are being taken and other instruments (for example sunshine sensors, like the sensor shown below) are being used to gather data which can then be used to atmospherically correct the spectra, then it is very important to ensure that measurements are taken at the same time. This is particularly a problem in areas of fast changing weather like the UK, where sky conditions can change very quickly.
A tool called SJinn allows you to send simple strings over a RS-232 (standard serial port) connection and then obtain data sent back by the instruments. One of the examples given by SJinn is the following:
rs232 -b600 -p7n2 -s"\n" -r16
This sends a newline character over the serial port (at 600 baud with 7 data bits and 2 stop bits) and then returns the next 16 characters send on the line. In this case, it would provide the voltage measured by a digital voltmeter. As this is simply a command-line tool, it is very easy to combine into scripts, and thus use to collect timed measurements (eg. via the use of the cron daemon). I have used similar techniques to obtain measurements from the sunshine sensor shown above – a script for which will be available on my website soon.
If you found this post useful, please consider buying me a coffee.
This post originally appeared on Robin's Blog.
Categorised as: Academic, Computing, Linux, Remote Sensing
Very interessting — i’ll have to do the same for a scale. Did you upload your script already? Thx for sharing.