Quote Originally Posted by comwarrior View Post
the USB to serial adapter is giving me 5V on the control lines (RTS, DTR) so i'm assuming it's a cheep and nasty..
Comwarrior, What are you doing with the CTS(clear to send) line? If the RTS(request to send) and the DTR(data terminal ready) line from the usb are active it's ready to play. If you are only using 3 wire serial comm then, tie the DTR to the CTS line which will tell the USB that the pic is ready to send data. Also make sure the PC side has handshaking turned off.. As far as RX & TX polarity goes, when the serial bus is IDLE both RX and TX should be at +5 volts... You can check this with a meter...

Dave Purola,
N8NTA