wjfisherjr, if, when connected to the computer, the scoreboard receive data LED flashes when the computer sends data, and then when you then connect the scoreboard to the Arduino and send data, the same LED does not flash, then that to me suggests one of two things.
First, the wiring from Arduino to scoreboard is not correct or secondly, the software in terms of sending to the serial port is not correct.
Can you detail how you have the wiring from the Arduino to the scoreboard via the various converters you are using. Please detail this accurately.
Can you post your Arduino code here, making sure you use the code tags, the icon looks like </>
What I am asking is if the terminal program works I need to duplicate that signal on the arduino and it should work. The program I am using is Termite. I would guess it is ASCII but I am not sure.
What is Termite one might ask. It is a terminal program. What is that used for ? Well traditionally it is used to allow a human to type characters on the keyboard to be sent through to another device to be displayed, typically another computer at a different location, also with a keyboard for bi-directional exchange of keyboard characters. Termite like programs can do many other things as well. So these keyboard characters, how do they get encoded for transmission ? Traditionally ASCII has been common. There are other encoding systems as well.
Keep in mind the actual data being transferred is just a bunch of ones and zeros, which can be written on paper as ones and zeros or as hexadecimal or if the ones and zeros amount to an eight bit word, as an ASCII character, they all represent the same thing for a given data that sits between the start and stop bits in an asynchronous serial transmission.
The other thing to watch with ASCII is how the extended characters are being displayed on the system you have as opposed to how I might have. The characters up to character 127 are standard defined ASCII, with the upper 128 characters dependent on the the system, such as operating system.
So, when you print out those characters that you say make the scoreboard display meaningful information, then you need to know, not what ASCII character that is, but more what ASCII code that is, say in decimal or hexadecimal. To clarify, what position in the ASCII table that character is, for the reasons I mentioned above.
You are not sounding dumb, just that clarity and detail can be important to gain understanding.
You will get it working, I know, but we can help better if you answer all questions and provide clear detail, such as code and your hardware setup.
Paul - VK7KPA