> A typical serial port configuration is "115200 8N1", which means 115,200 baud (or raw bits on the wire per second), with no parity, and 1 stop bit. This means that for every data byte sent, there will be 8 data bits, 1 unused parity bit, and 1 stop bit, to signal the end of the byte, sent over the wire. This means that we will need 40 bits on the wire to receive a 4 data bytes.
8N1 means there is 1 start bit, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit (10 bits total), not 8 data bits, 1 unused parity bit and 1 stop bit (also 10 bits total).
Yep, good catch! That's a whoops in my explanation. I don't work at FS any more, so I'm not sure I could PR that change, but you're definitely right :)
8N1 means there is 1 start bit, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit (10 bits total), not 8 data bits, 1 unused parity bit and 1 stop bit (also 10 bits total).