Ok, I have some news tonight. I have connected a 74LS04 between the computer's TX pin and the camera's RX pin. Using HyperTerminal I have successfully sent the Zoom in, Zoom out, and Stop commands to the camera! I found that the camera expects the data to be exactly 4800bps, 8-bits, 1 stop bit, Even parity, non-inverted (i.e. the line is always high, and high = 0, low = 1). I couldn't find a MAX232 chip but I thought I'd try this anyway. My biggest problem was the fact that a PC can't send non-inverted data, but it can send 4800,8,E,1. Where as my BS2 can send inverted data, but it can't send 4800,8,E,1. The 74LS04 allowed me to invert the data coming from the computer's Com port and combination worked. As far as I can tell, the BS2 can only send 7 data bits with Even Parity and 8 data bits with No parity. Am I wrong or is that limitation correct? BTW, here's what this whole project is all about. A friend gave me a SpeedDome Ultra V dome camera minus the camera block. I bought two of these Hitachi VK-S274 off ebay for only $150 each. :-) I placed one in the dome camera and that works fine. It also came in handy to help troubleshoot communicating with the second camera. I want to build my own box for the second camera and program a PIC 16F628 to control various functions of the camera using external buttons. Kinda like a camcorder. Then I can use it for time lapse protography and various other fun stuff. Now here's another question. At this point I am only familiar with the BS2, PIC 16F84 and 16F628. I program everything using PicBasicPro. Do you know if the 16F628 can send 4800,8,E,1 even though the BS2 Can't? If not perhaps someone could suggest a different PIC that I might find more useful? Thanks for the continued help. Here's some pictures of the setup in case anybody is interested. DSC09171.JPG DSC09172.JPG DSC09174.JPG DSC09175.JPG -Daniel Gliebe -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist