How to send signals from E-Prime through the serial port (COM1, etc)

[Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti]

Hi all (first post here)!

I've discovered how to send signals through the serial port (not the 
parallel port). It comes in handy, as certain devices - such as the 
Neuronic EEG amplifier - use serial port as well as parallel port. What 
you need to do is the following:

- In "Experiment Object Properties", under "Devices", add and leave 
checked both "Serial" and "Port" devices.
- In "PortDevice Properties" window, change the address to &H03F8 (which 
is the hardware address of the COM1 port)
- Use "WritePort &H03F8, 1" (or another number after the colon) to send 
signals through the COM1 port).

I wonder if one could do the same with USB ports. Anyway, if you google 
for "Serial Port Monitor", "Sermon.exe" or "Parmon" you'll find several 
nifty applications that will help you to check the status of serial and 
parallel ports. Another easy way to check the ports output is to use 
DEBUG.EXE, an old app from the MS-DOS days. After executing the command, 
you can use this syntax:

- o <PORT> <CODE>

For example, with "o 3F8 1" you will send the "1" command from the COM1 
port. And just to spice up this mail a little, let me recommend you a 
nice document about E-Prime tips and tricks, downloadable here:

http://pissaro.soc.huji.ac.il/~leon/Lab/EPrimeTools/Eprime%20Tips%20and%20Tricks.doc

Cheers!

   Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti
   University of Valencia
   http://www.uv.es/fafebe/