Paul wrote in
:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-232

"Voltage levels

RS-232 drivers and receivers must be able to withstand
indefinite short circuit to ground or to any voltage
level up to ±25 volts."

That provides a good deal of protection against mistakes.

That sounds pretty good.

On the older RS232 driver chips, the biggest danger, was
their lack of protection with respect to static discharge.
Scuffing over the carpeting, then directly touching the
pins, would be a bad idea.

BION, I actually own *and* use an anti-static wrist strap. And I
try not to get too static to begin with.

Thanks for the reply.