Configuring PuTTY for use with Alicat instruments

PuTTY is a commonly-used serial terminal program that you can use to communicate with your Alicat over RS-232 or RS-485. The instructions below explain how to configure PuTTY for optimal communications with your Alicat instrument.

Skip ahead: Configuring PuTTY to connect your Alicat to a Raspberry Pi

Configuring PuTTY

1. Download PuTTY from putty.org and run the installer.
2. Open PuTTY; it will start on the Configuration screen shown below.

3. Click on the Terminal category. The changes we make here will cause PuTTY to act like a normal serial terminal, such that pressing enter will move the cursor to the next line and both what you type and what gets returned stay on the screen.
   1. Check the box that says “Implicit LF in every CR.”
   2. Select the “Force on” radio button in the “Local echo” section.

4. Click on the Connection category and then the Serial subcategory.
   1. Set the Speed (baud) to 19200.
   2. Set the Data bits to 8.
   3. Set the Stop bits to 1
   4. Ensure that “None” is selected for both Parity and Flow control.

5. Click on the Session category.
   1. Select the “Serial” radio button in the “Connection type” section.
   2. Check that the selected COM port and baud rate (Speed) are correct.

6. Save your settings so they can be recalled again later.

Continue reading if you are using a Raspberry Pi.

Configuring PuTTY for a Raspberry Pi

1. Install PuTTY to run on your Raspberry Pi following these instructions
2. Ensure that the serial port is enabled in your Raspberry Pi configuration settings
3. Configure PuTTY using the same settings as above, but use one of the following for the serial line:
   1. If connecting through a USB port, use ‘/dev/ttyUSB0’ (most common)
   2. If connecting through a serial DB9, use ‘/dev/ttyS0’