As a ham or just an amateur electronist, sometimes you might need to test your COM/RS232 serial port.
A nice utility freeware is Hercules.
It cames as a small executable file, without the need for installation so you can use like in "portable mode".
You can test not only Rx Data and Tx Data but also CTS and RTS which is very usefull when you want to verify a digital modes interface between your computer (PC) and your transceiver (RTX).
It has a lot of usefull features than can help you also with other stuff like TCP/IP.
Here are the features as per their homepage and a link to download is provided there:
Features:
- Complete support for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10
- All basic TCP and UDP utilities in one file, no installation required (just one .EXE file)
- Implemented Serial Port Terminal is working with the Virtual Serial Ports (COM12 for example). You can check and control all serial port lines (CTS, RTS, DTR, DSR, RI, CD)
- Simple TCP client (like the Hyperterminal) with the TEA support, view format, file transfers, macros..
- Easy to use TCP Server with the TEA support, view format, file transfers, macros..
- Hercules contains simple UDP/IP "Terminal" with view formats, echo, file transfers, macros..
- Support the NVT (Network Virtual Terminal) in the Test mode tab, as like as NVT debuging features..
- Using Telnet extended with NVT allows serial port configuration (RFC2217), device identification, confirmation of data sequence, etc.
- It's FREEWARE you can use and share this software free
I am not affiliated in any way with the authors of the software, just a happy customer!
