15 pin to 9 pin serial cable
The reason I ask is that in an effort to get some hardware that required a serial connection for use up and running at a remote site, the local support person went our and found one of these things. Obviously plugging the VGA port into a serial port is not going to work but they must have seen too many movies where folks just plugs things in and all is well. In this case, the hardware was made... non-functional. RS-232: an NEC 6PGplus CRT front projector has a RS-232 serial port that uses a female HD-15 connector. The casual observer usually thinks this is a VGA input, but it's not; video has to be input by RGBHV on five BNC inputs. A D-sub contains two or more parallel rows of pins or sockets usually surrounded by a D-shaped metal shield that provides mechanical support, ensures correct orientation, and may screen against electromagnetic interference. D-sub connectors have gender: parts with pin contacts are called male connectors or plugs, while those with socket contacts are called female connectors or sockets. The socket's shield fits tightly inside the plug's shield. Panel mounted connectors usually have #4-40 UNC (as designated with the Unified Thread Standard) jackscrews that accept screws on the cable end connector cover that are used for locking the connectors together and offering mechanical strain relief, and can be tightened with a 3/16\" (or 5mm) hex socket. Occasionally the nuts may be found on a cable end connector if it is expected to connect to another cable end (see the male DE-9 pictured). When screened cables are used, the shields are connected to the overall screens of the cables. This creates an electrically continuous screen covering the whole cable and connector system. Later D-sub connectors added extra pins to the original shell sizes, and their names follow the same pattern. For example, the DE-15, usually found in VGA cables, has 15 pins in three rows, all surrounded by an E size