Serial Terminal Connection

[gthelding]

I am trying to connect a serial terminal to my IMSAI using the RS-232 interface. I cannot get anything, not even garbage, on the terminal.

I have tried both RS-232 1 and 2. I have the jumpers installed per the configuration instructions. In my boot.conf, I have both UARTs set to 9600 to match my terminal. I have tried mapping SIO1 to both UART0 and UART1 (not at the same time) thusly:
SIO1.portA.device=WEBTTY+,UART0
SIO1.portA.device=WEBTTY,UART1

I do not have the USB to the ESP32 hooked to my PC. It is power only.

At this point, my "terminal" is minicom and a USB RS-232 adpater. This configuration works perfectly with my Altair-duino hooked to its serial console port. When I use the same setup to try to talk to the IMSAI, I get no luck.

Am I missing a config? Do I need a null modem cable?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[gthelding]

For any future searchers, I will put the answer. Yes, you need a null modem cable. No, I was not missing a config. I was, however, missing the four capacitors for the MAX232 chip - it will not work without them! Pro tip - RTFM and do not just watch the videos when building the kit! All's well that ends well.