DEX (Digital Equipment Exchange) is one of the protocol used in the vending machine industry. There are other protocol standard like the MDB which is also popular in the vending industry.
The DEX to RS232 cable is often use for connecting between the vending machine peripheral devices. It is also a common cable for connecting your computer to the DEX network on your vending system.
Connectors
DEX connector uses a 3 pins 6.35mm stereo jack (or also known as 1/4″ stereo plug). This jack is the same plug that is widely used on cables in the audio industry.
The pin out of a DEX connector: The tip of the jack is receiving the serial communication data, while the middle ring contact is for the transmit. The last big patch ring is common ground reference for the data signal.
The RS232 uses a D-Sub female 9 pins connector. This side can be plugged to the RS232 port of your computer, or can be connected to a RS232-to-USB converter, so that you can get connected to the serial communication data via the USB port instead. RS232 port is kind of rare in modern computers. RS232 to USB is a very common converter that allow us to connect to RS232 devices from our computer these days.
DEX cable and accessories
You can get your DEX connector, DEX harnesses, DEX to RS232 cable and converter from online.
The following are some of the online places where you can get your DEX stuffs.