Hey all,
Tried to find a way to communicate with some of my old APC UPS’s over serial, but I can’t seem to find the answer.
If I plug the the APC into a simple USB to serial adapter, like this 
will my PC be able to receive commands, or are these adapters only designed to send out commands?
Thank you 
Standard serial has communication both ways, although it is posible that some devices only have one direction hooked up. Adapters should go both ways, so you should be good to go.
Is there a way to find out before buying? Will 1-way adapters simply specify tx only?
Will it have any problems with receiving commands from the APC UPS?
I would be shocked if there are any adapters did not have both ways.
It is the on the device end that they might not, such as a router or other single board computer having only a serial console output, and no way to input over serial.
I have used those before and they are two way communication. You will want to install the driver before plugging it in. You will want to set it as Com1 - 4 in device manager because some software can only work with those com ports. It will install as a prolific USB to serial device.
With it being so old, word of warning:
You should load test the UPS to see if the battery is up to the task.
Switching out those pesky old batteries for super capacitors, so no worries on that front
Thanks @TheCakeIsNaOH & @taste_like_tofu !
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