I am a total greenie in the Artisan program...I am facing this issue for a few days and spent so much time trying to work out the solution for it.

So my case was like this: I got a Feima 100N 120g sample roaster and I do home roasting. I recently got a Voltcraft K201 / K300 (it showed both on the thermometer) from the market and have a "DSD TECH USB RS232 to 3.5mm Serial Cable with FTDI FT232RL Chip 6FT" from Amazon. I installed Arisan 2.6.0 and found out the program is not working. So I search on the web and found a solution to install the FTDI VCP driver afterward. Right now, I have checked the driver for FTDI should be found, in device manager, it shows it is properly installed, and with COM9, I set the Artisan in COM9 with the device of both Voltcraft K201/ K300. Tried different settings by changing the Config in Artisan from Baud Rate 1200 to 115200; Bytes size 7 to 8; Parity O/E/N and time out 0.4, 0.7, 1.0.... it turns out it still not working for me. there is an error showing "CENTER302temperature(): 0 bytes received but 7 needed"...Appreciate it if someone can share the knowledge with me, please!

I have seen people using Feima 100N with a MAX232 to connect RS232 something (sorry I am so bad at IT) for connecting to a PC for MATLAB for data logging. Does it means that my cable is not right or if there should be other reasons...
The reference is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5cdzUK_5XY

Is the problem in Artisan? Perhaps you want to see if the Voltcraft is putting out data to begin with?
I'd start working on the manual for the Voltcraft, and try read out it's temp on your computer before adding Artisan to the mix.

Is there any way I can check if the Voltcraft is inputting data to my pc? any suggestions for apps?

I am not familiar with the interface, the phidgets have their own driver that allows you to see the data, I would imagine that the manual for the Voltcraft or the interface you are using has a section on how to view the data.

From what I read you need software and a specific cable to read out temperatures on a computer, there is no reason to think you need the manufacturer cable and software, but the Voltcraft uses a specific RS 3232 protocol for various versions. Your cable looks to be corectly laid out for TX-RX -GND, so that is not likely the issue.

It seems you need to figure out how to correctly configure the software; we have some stellar Artisan support here, but don't look at me
https://artisan-scope.org/devices/meters/

It appears a matter of selecting the 'Center 300' in Artisan under devices, but you already did that.

My 2 cents is return what you have and get Phidgets unless you are going to roast without Artisan. Likely you have the wrong cable. Many of these, 100% sure on the Center devices, have a proprietary cable and won't work without it.

Hi James,

UP FRONT: This is not a direct answer to your questions/problems. It is a link Center 301 3.5mm to RS232 Cable to a Center 301 thread detailing how the Center -->USB cabling has to be set-up and where that information was found. Also how the cable was assembled.

My thought is you may also be able to find details in your meter's manual on how the data is output and in-turn check if your cable is wired for it. (or maybe make/purchase the correct cable)

Having "said" all that, Michael's suggestion on Phidgets may be the easiest way to address your problem.


HTH,
-LN

I looked up the meter manual and the 3.5mm side of the cable is setup properly, if anything is wrong it's on the other end...tinkering an RS232 connector to a cable is definitly possible as DIY with the link above.