SerialMon is a tool designed to help you observe, analyze and debug serial communications and can be particularly useful for working with RS232-based hardware. RS232 is a rather old, but still widely used method of connecting devices like modems, GPS receivers, microcontrollers or certain industrial machines to a computer.
Before you can get started, you need to connect the hardware to your computer. It is important to note that for this you need a physical serial port, which is not very common with new computers. Make sure you have an adapter to bridge the connection. Depending on what USB-to-serial adapter you get, you may need a driver for it as well.
Once connected, the PC should be able to recognize the serial port, which is basically showing up as a COM port in Windows. As you probably hinted, you need to select the COM port within the application to get started and you should be able to view the data, both sent and received.
The idea behind the program is to allow you to view the aforementioned data in real time, which can be useful for debugging for instance, especially if the device isn’t working properly. It can also save time when working with old equipment that lacks documentation, manual or a clear interface.
The application also acts a sniffer, meaning that it can capture data even if it’s not directly transmitted to your computer. Again, this can come in handy for troubleshooting.
As previously mentioned, RS232 is an old protocol that was popular before USB and wireless technology. If you are using an old modem or hardware that doesn’t support the newest communication protocols, then perhaps you can consider giving SerialMon a try.
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Serial port monitor Serial sniffer Port monitor Sniffer Serial port RS232 Monitor
