User's Manual

BrailleNote Apex BT User Guide
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2.7.3 Visual Display using Windows HyperTerminal.
The visual display can be a terminal or a PC, laptop or hand-held computer running terminal
emulation software. The terminal or terminal emulation software must emulate a DEC VT100 or an
ANSI terminal.
For PC's running Windows, "HyperTerminal" is provided as part of the communications accessories
and can be used as the terminal software. To facilitate the use of HyperTerminal as the remote
Visual Display for your Notetaker, a program shortcut is provided on the CD-Rom supplied as part
of the Notetaker package.
In the following discussion when we refer to a terminal, we mean either a dedicated terminal or a
PC running terminal emulation software.
2.7.3.1 Connecting a Terminal to the Serial Port.
The following procedure might require the help of a technician if the terminal is unfamiliar to you.
The procedure involves connecting the BrailleNote BT to the terminal using a cable and setting up
the terminal to communicate at a certain speed and format. This can be done manually for some
terminals. Or if the terminal is intelligent, done by the terminal itself as it automatically detects the
serial speed and format. The necessary settings are:
bit rate: 38400 bps.
parity: none.
data bits: 8.
stop bits: 1.
1. To connect BrailleNote BT's serial port to a terminal, first plug one end of the USB serial
adapter cable into one of the BrailleNote BT's USB ports. Attach a serial cable to the other end
of the USB serial adapter.
2. Plug the other end of the cable into a matching socket on the terminal. If the terminal has a 25
pin D type connector instead, use the 9 pin to 25 pin adapter. Ensure the terminal is switched on.
3. Finally, direct the BrailleNote BT to drive the USB serial port by selecting the remote visual
display output as described below. Now, when the BrailleNote BT displays something such as a
prompt the terminal should also display the corresponding prompt. If the terminal responds
when the connected BrailleNote BT displays something but the terminal's display is not
intelligible then the speed and/or format are probably not right. Correct the settings and retry.
4. Ensure that the COM port that you are going to use for this connection is not being used by
another software application or hardware device.