RS232Timer::RS232Timer()
{
 m_hThreadEvent = CreateEvent(NULL,FALSE,FALSE,NULL);
 m_hThreadControlEvent = CreateEvent(NULL,FALSE,FALSE,NULL);
 m_bThreadActive = false;
 m_bRunThread = false;
}

void RS232Timer::startThread()
{
 m_bRunThread = true;
 (void)ResetEvent(m_hThreadEvent);
 (void)ResetEvent(m_hThreadControlEvent);
 (void)AfxBeginThread(timeoutThread,(void*)this); //timeoutThread is another function
 if((waitForSingleObject(m_hThreadControlEvent,1500)!=WAIT_OBJECT_O)||!m_bThreadActive)
 {
  assert(FALSE);
  m_bThread = false;
 }
}