Tripp Lite Keyspan High-Speed USB to Serial Adapter, PC & Mac (USA-19HS)

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Serial adapter allows a serial device to be connected to a USB computer
Plug-and-play convenience:DB9 serial port is seen as a COM port by your computer, and is available for use by any program that accesses COM ports
No need for an external power adapter:draws power directly from your computer via the USB connection
DB9 serial port supports data transfer rates up to 230 Kbps:twice the speed of a standard built-in serial port
LED shows adapter status and data activity at a glance

Size:1-Pack Product Description Looking for a way to connect your serial devices to a USB port on your PC? The Keyspan “High Speed” USB Serial Adapter is a simple, inexpensive, and reliable way to make this connection. The Adapter is ideal for use with modems, digital cameras, ISDN terminal adapters, graphics tablets, PDAs, bar code scanners, label printers and other serial devices which require an RS-232 connection.This “High Speed” USB Serial Adapter supports data rates up to 230 Kbps twice the speed of a standard PC serial port. It is 100% USB compliant and features simple “Plug and Play” installation (no IRQs). Ideal for laptops (it weighs just 2 oz.), the Adapter draws its power from the USB connection so no power adapter is required

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Product Reviews

The best USB serial port adapter for use with control system hardware

(Please see my update at the end of this review before considering the purchase of this adapter)I’ve been using the Keyspan USA-19HS for years. The first one was purchased after reading recommendations from several control system experts, and I haven’t been disappointed. Rockwell Automation sells their own version of a USB serial port adapter (PN 9300-USBS), but it’s about $130. Don’t bother. The Keyspan is inexpensive and has proven to be 100% compatible with everything I’ve needed to connect to via a serial cable.I’ve used it with laptops and desktops running Windows 98SE, Windows XP and Windows 7. I’ve used it on SLC 5/xx series processors, ControlLogix 5000 processors, Siemens/TI 505 series processors, Keyence laser measurement equipment, modems, serial printers, barcode scanners, Reliance and Rockwell/Allen-Bradley drives, and just about everything else. Never a problem. It works with straight serial cables, null modem cables, and every type of serial adapter I’ve thrown at it. The Keyspan USA-19HS is the cheapest piece of control system communication hardware that I own, and it’s probably the most-used. It has never let me down.Since I first started using the Keyspan adapter, I’ve bought over a dozen more for service techs, co-workers and even a couple of bosses. The Keyspan is extremely configurable, fast, reliable, durable and easy to use. The Keyspan adapter comes with a driver CD and a USB cable and takes just a few minutes to set up. I keep one in my laptop bag at all times.UPDATE 4/5/12: it appears that Tripp-Lite has made a few changes since they took over the Keyspan line. Among the changes was a decision to use a cheaper USB socket. From the outside, it looks almost the same. The only notable difference is a lack of molded numbers (1, 2, 3 and 4) on the end of the plastic tab in the middle of the port. Unfortunately, the cheaper USB socket doesn’t retain the cable connector as well as the older ones did. The weaker spring conductors allow the cable to be pulled most of the way out of the socket, resulting in a lost connection and possibly a BSOD (blue screen of death).I took a couple of the older Keyspan adapters (no Tripp-Lite logo on the housing) and a couple of the newer Keyspan adapters (with the Tripp-Lite logo on the housing), opened the housings and compared them. The differences I saw between old and new were minor: notably a different PCB manufacturer’s logo and a couple of chips that had changed brands. And the USB type B port. The old has a partial back shell (you can see the white plastic on the back of the port), while the new has a full back shell (can’t see the plastic in back).The few cents that Tripp-Lite saved by using a cheaper socket isn’t worth it. Whereas the old Keyspans would easily support the weight of the adapter + a 10 ft. coiled-up serial cable, the new Keyspans cannot. The new ones can’t support the weight and allow the USB cable to pull partway out of the port. I tested 3 of the new Keyspan adapters and they all performed the same: almost no load-bearing capability at all.Since the adapters still work fine except for the USB port, I simply desoldered the cheap-o port from each of the new adapters and replaced it with an FCI port (FCI PN 61729-1011BLF – 54 cents each). No more problems. Most users probably won’t be able replace the port, so a quick (if not awkward and/or ugly) fix is to either glue the USB cable into the port or use tape or a heavy rubber band to retain the cable.Tripp-Lite, shame on you for ruining a perfectly good adapter to save a few pennies. I have reduced the adapter’s 5 star rating to 2 stars based on the poor quality of the new USB port. Like the old Baskin-Robbins saying goes, “There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that man’s lawful prey.“UPDATE 10/11/12: A coworker bought a half dozen new Keyspan USA-19HS adapters today, so I wasted no time in testing them out to see if the USB port problem was fixed. I tested all 6 of the adapters and was happy to see that none suffered from loose USB ports. The ports don’t have any numbers (1, 2, 3 and 4) molded on the end of the plastic tab in the middle of the port, so I’m guessing they’re not anything special, but they seem to hold onto the USB cable quite well. I only hope Tripp-Lite has learned a lesson about trusting others to adhere to high quality standards based on faith alone. I have updated the adapter’s rating from 2 stars to 4 stars based on seeing and testing this batch of adapters.

Works Flawlessly!

I have a vinyl cutter that was designed to work with Win98 via a serial port. After many years of use the hard drive went down in my old laptop. I updated the software in order to get a later version of Windows to see the USB security key that unlocked the vinyl software. I had to adapt the serial port on the Vinyl cutter to a USB port because my new Laptop does not support a serial port. After reading many reviews on various adapters I decided to go with the Keyspan - Tripp Lite USA-19HS. I installed the software then attached the adapter to the computer USB port as per instructions. Windows found and installed the software. Next I used the Keyspan Serial Assistant (located under the Start menu after installation) to identify the com port to which it was assigned (com 4 in my case). I then started my program set the com port to match Keyspan Adapter and it works perfectly. My vinyl cutter is approximately 15 years old and I can’t imagine the Keyspan adapter not working flawlessly with newer technology as well.

Worth the extra cost compared to cheaper units

I have used several different cheaper adapters that use the common Prolific chip and drivers. All of them have had spotty results, compatibility issues with various versions of Windows and MacOS. However the Keyspan USA-19HS has always worked perfectly for me, requiring no driver installation on Windows XP, 7, 8 and 8.1. Even though this unit is a little more expensive that the others, I highly recommend it.One of the cheaper adapters I purchased would only work with drivers that were designed for Windows Vista, and even though I was able to make it work by installing that driver on my Win 7 box, as soon as I unplugged it and plugged it in again, the Vista driver was automatically over-written by the Win 7 driver, and the adapter stopped working.One serial device I own (a security alarm controller) came with the recommendation to use this Keyspan adapter for USB connections, and I have found that this is completely true. No other adapter works with that device.An additional benefit of the Keyspan device is that the USB cable unplugs from the adapter itself - using a standard USB cable that can be obtained in many different lengths. This can be a big help in managing cabling between the adapter and the computer.

So far, So good!

This worked to communicate with an old Haas VF0 cnc milling machine. Replaced an old computer that had a native serial port. I used it with Windows 10 on a new desktop and on an older thinkpad. I didn’t install the drivers from the supplied disk. I just plugged it in and windows automatically installed the drivers. I checked the device manager to confirm which port it was plugged into, opened the DNC software, set the proper com port, and that was it. Worked just like the old serial port. Now, I have not used it to drip feed a large program yet, as the ones I’ve been sending have all fit into the machines memory, but so far transferring programs from pc to machine has been flawless. I’ll store the old computer with the native serial port until I confirm the drip feeding works 100%.

Excellent converter with great software & driver support u

Extremely reliable serial to USB converters that works across a wide range of computers and devices ranging from printers to laboratory TTL interfaces. We’ve been using these for years on on Windows systems running Windows XP through Windows 10 without a hitch. The included utilities help make solving any connection difficulties quick and easy. We’ve tried a wide variety of converters over the years but always end up using the Keyspan.