RS-232 link on a single 5V rail
The MAX202EESE+T is a full-duplex RS-232 transceiver that handles two driver and two receiver channels — enough for a basic serial port with hardware handshake lines. Data rate tops out at 120 Kbps, which covers legacy terminal, modem, and PLC links but won't keep up with a high-speed serial camera.
That simplifies the BOM but locks you into a 5 V-only design.
Housed in a 16-SOIC (0.154-inch body width, 3.90 mm). The 1.27 mm pitch is rework-friendly — a standard soldering iron and tweezers are enough for a field swap, no hot-air station needed. The part is surface-mount, so plan for a reflow profile if you're populating boards. Lifecycle status is Active, and the part is ROHS3 compliant.
Receiver hysteresis — why it matters on long cables
The receiver hysteresis is 500 mV. That's a healthy noise margin for RS-232 lines running a few metres inside a cabinet or across a factory floor. If your cable run is short and shielded, the hysteresis is overkill, but it won't hurt.