MAX232DR Texas Instruments RS232 Transceiver IC (SOIC-16)

A microcontroller's UART speaks in simple 0V/5V logic, but genuine RS232 serial ports expect voltage swings well outside that range, roughly plus and minus several volts, which is exactly the translation a MAX232 chip performs. This genuine Texas Instruments MAX232DR carries two drivers and two receivers in a single SOIC-16 package, letting a project talk directly to older PC serial ports, industrial controllers, or any other genuine RS232 device without a separate level-shifting adapter cable.