Well - this was instructive! At home I use a PC as the system console, with
COM2 as the console port. All datacomm settings as suggested: 8 bits, no
parity, 9600 baud, Enq/Ack, etc.

Move to a new location, and a different PC, still using COM2, and all of a
sudden the port has
switched from DCE to DTE (or vice versa!). I'm on my way out to Radio Shack
to get a null modem,
and we should be in business!

Thank God for protocol analysers!

Tony "Redface" Furnivall
SDL/Software

PS Thanks to all those who replied with helpful suggestions - you were
consistently right. It was the pin swap which was the gotcha!