in reply to Re^2: Trying to read from serial port - not getting a response
in thread Trying to read from serial port - not getting a response
I found something else that might be useful regarding read() and sysread():
http://docs.activestate.com/activeperl/5.6/faq/Windows/ActivePerl-Winfaq8.html#How_do_I_read_from_and_write_to_
In Section
Seekers of Perl Wisdom