User's Manual for

  ANC-6085

  RS232/RS485/422 Interface Adapters

The photo above is linked to the specific datasheet for
our RS232 to RS485/422 adapter.

Copyright (c) 2002-2003 by Antona Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Antona Corporation of Los Angeles, California.

Warranty

Antona Corporation products are warranted to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the date of original shipment to customer.

This warranty is limited to the replacement or repair of parts not subjected to misuse, neglect, unauthorized repair, alteration (except card options), accident, or failure due to the effects of static electricity discharge.

In no event shall Antona Corporation be liable to the purchaser for loss of use, profit, or consequential damages, or damages of any kind, including, but not limited to, accidental loss or damage to other equipment, arising out of use of Antona Corporation equipment, whether or not said equipment was used properly. The designer is responsible for the determining the suitability and use of the product.

This warranty is in lieu of any other warranty, expressed, implied, or statutory, including, without limitation, any implied warranty or merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No amendment of this warranty may be effected except in writing by an officer of the Antona Corporation.

All repair services shall be performed at the Antona Corporation plant in Los Angeles, Ca. THE PURCHASER MUST OBTAIN A RETURN AUTHORIZATION FROM THE ANTONA CORPORATION PRIOR TO RETURNING ANY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT. Shipment to the Antona Corporation will be at the expense of the purchaser, return shipment will be at the expense of the Antona Corporation for all warranty repairs.

Features
Overview
Mechanical Specifications
Electrical Specifications
Adapter Installation
Serial Port Powering
External Powering
Adapter Jumper Options
Figure 1 - ANC-6085 jumper locations
Transmit Control Enable - JP1
Auto Transmit Source - JP2
Photo 1 - Auto Transmit Operation
figure 2 - RTS low to Tx enable
Receive Enable - JP3
Cable Termination - JP4
Tx - Rx Pin Reverse Jumpers - JP5/JP6
figure 3 - Tx/Rc Pin Reverse Jumpers
DCD Drive - JP7
ANC-6085 External connections
DB9 to DB25 pin to pin chart - for use of adapter on a DB25 type com port
RS-485/422 connections to the ANC-6085
DB9 RS-485/422 Signals for Master (Multimedia Controller)
DB9 RS-485/422 Signals for Server (Receive from Master)
RS-485 Two and Four Wire Interfacing
2-wire
figure 4 - typical 2-wire RS-485 interface
Photo 2 - 2-wire interface example
4-Wire
Appendix A - Troubleshooting Guide
Loopback Test
CABLING (most common problem)
Pin Signal Definition (4-wire interface)
RS-485 Multidrop Cabling(2-wire interface)
Data Direction Jumpers
Signal Control Jumpers
Cable Termination
Powering
Program Operation
RS422/485 Equipment
Plugged in Backwards
Now What?
Appendix B -Circuit Board Schematic

Features

• Auto-transmit (AutoXmit) enable is available at baud rates up to 64 KBPS.
• Transmit data at distances up to 4000 feet (1219.2 m)
• Baud rates to 1 Mbaud
• Powered from serial port for most installations
• 4 wire full duplex or 2 wire half duplex operation
• Operate in multidrop / multipoint applications (RS-485)
• Jumperable terminate (120 ohms) on input
• Selectable data loopback feature or data echo suppression (in 2-wire applications)
• Choice of fixed, auto or RTS high controlled transmit
• Latest surface mount technology (SMT) for low power and small size
• Plug compatible with DB-9 Pc RS-232C serial ports
• Pin connections on converted RS-485/422 signal side mate directly to many professional multimedia units (SMPTE interface for Sony, BTS, Grass Valley, Ampex, etc.)

Mechanical Specifications

Adapter case size: 2.2" X 1.2"
Connectors: Female DB9 to Pc
Female DB9 to RS-485/422 equipment

Electrical Specifications

Power requirements = 6 ma for short cable, non-terminated applications
100 ma for long and/or terminated cable applications

RS-485/422 output drive= short proof output, non-terminated operation to 150 feet,
terminated operation with external power supply to 4000 feet.

RS232 output drive=short proof output, under worse case conditions, ± 5v switching
to exceed ± 3v EIA RS232 specification

Adapter Installation
Turn off the personal computer and any other remote equipment before performing the adapter installation. Never install or remove the adapter with the power applied to the Pc or any of the attached equipment. This could result in permanent damage to the adapter due to static discharge.

Normally the adapter is plugged directly into the serial port male DB-9 jack on the back of the Pc. Be sure to look at the label on the adapter to identify and insure that the proper DB9 is plugged into the Pc’s serial jack. The ANC-6085 has female DB9s at both ends. The user should screw the 2 mounting screws into the serial port’s hex nuts for permanent installations to assure good long-term connection.

The adapter may be attached to a ribbon cable type extension from the Pc to the Antona adapter. This is sometimes useful when the space is limited behind the Pc. The ribbon cable extension should not exceed 3 feet. A 12’ shielded wire cable could also be used. Remember that the signal is still RS-232C level leaving the computer and entering the adapter. Also note that if the designer is using a DB9 to DB25 adapter an A-B selector box or break-out box for testing, that all 9 pins should be connected through the adapter or test setup. The main ANC-6085 adapter power is drawn from the host system’s RTS and DTR lines, like a mouse interface.

Serial Port Powering
Three of the Pc’s serial port RS-232C level signals can be used by the Antona adapter to derive power from: RTS, DTR and TX. The user must therefore insure that the RTS and DTR signals from the Pc’s serial port are brought to a high output level 100 ms before communicating over the adapter. Usually this is performed once during the user’s program initialization. When the appropriate jumper is set, RTS is lowered and raised to receive and transmit respectively for use in 2-wire interfaces.

External Powering
An external DC power source may be feed into pin 9 on the RS-485/422 DB-9 connector to supply the additional current that the adapter may need. The table "RS-485/422 Connections to the ANC-6085" (page 9) shows the pins for using an external source of DC to power the adapter. There are also two pads on the ANC-6085 circuit board you can solder leads to for applying external power. A small hole in the plastic case would need to be added to run the power supply leads away from the adapter. Figure 1 below shows the pad as black dots. The +3v to +12v regulated DC is soldered to the pin located just to the right of JP7, and the power supply ground pin is soldered to the pad just above JP4.

Adapter Jumper Options

When shipped, the ANC-6085 is set for transmit and receive enabled always. The output pins are set for ‘master’, the terminating resister is disconnected and RTS is connected to DCD (JP7).

All references to ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ below are in respect to figure 1 above. The schematic gives another view of each jumper showing the settings on isolated block drawings of each jumper function.

To open the enclosure hood use a small flat blade screwdriver and carefully pry the plastic latches on one side of the enclosure and gently separate the sides slightly (about .020"). Place a paper clip or coin between the separated sides of the enclosure to keep it from re-latching shut while you repeat the process on the two plastic latches on the other side of the hood. The two sides of the hood should now come apart. The computer side mounting screws are loose within the enclosure so be careful of these small parts. To reassemble the enclosure hood back around the adapter electronics, place the circuit board into the enclosure half that designates signal direction with the RS-485/422 connector (the DB-9 connector that has the jackscrews) on the arrowed end pointed to by the small "RS485/422" designation. Now place the small screws back into position on the RS232, or computer side, DB-9. Double check that the hood labeled with which end is RS-232 and RS-485/422 is properly oriented before closing the sides and relatching all four plastic holds. The RS-485/422 end of the adapter is the end with the jack nuts mounted onto the female DB-9 connector.

Transmit Control Enable - JP1
For single adapter 4-wire setups where the ANC-6085 is controlling one piece of equipment, JP1 can be set in the horizontal position, as shipped, so that the transmit data RS-485/422 driver lines are always asserted. For battery powered applications, it may be desirable to turn off the transmit drivers to save current when there is no data being transmitted. When using either the transmit data control or RTS signal control to automatically control driver output, the vertical position should be set and JP2 (below) should be set for the desired transmit control condition. See Appendix B, the middle left hand of the schematic for the location of JP1.

Auto Transmit Source - JP2
The designer can automatically turn on the RS-485/422 transmit driver lines by using either the transmitted data itself (JP2 set to the vertical position) or the RTS line (as shipped, JP2 set to the horizontal position). See Appendix B, the lower left hand of the schematic for the location of JP2. As shipped the ANC-6085 is set for one character time at 9600 baud, or about 1 millisecond. When the TX RS-232C data line starts to transmit by toggling a logic ‘high’ on the serial port producing the raising edge of the ‘start’ bit, circuitry on the ANC-6085 will detect and turn on the transmit RS-485/422. The photo below shows how a RS-232 character being transmitted (top trace) triggers the transmit driver enable line (lower trace) to perform the auto transmit function. There are actually two 9600 baud characters superimposed to show how the transmit enable line always allows about 1ms from the falling edge of the last bit.

RTS may also be used to turn on/off the transmit driver lines. Normally when RTS is used, asserting the signal ‘high’ to the adapter enables transmitting. This makes sense because more current is used from the RTS line during transmit in self powered applications. If your application software requires RTS to be low on transmit, you can use a wire jumper either wire-wrapped to the top side of the circuit board or a short piece of wire soldered to the bottom side of the circuit board to select RTS enable transmit ‘low’ and set RS-485/422 drive output as pictured in figure 2 below. Note that DTR must be set high when RTS is low in order for the adapter to operate when an external power supply is not being used.

Receive Enable - JP3
This 3-pin straight vertical jumper can be set to enable receiving RS-485/422 data always (as shipped, JP3 set on the lower and middle pin), or turned off automatically whenever the transmit driver is active which is set by JP1 and JP2 above (JP3 set on the middle and upper pin. See Appendix B, the middle left hand of the schematic for the location of JP3. On a 2-wire interface if data is being transmitted and the receiver is also enabled, anything transmitted will be ‘looped-back’ into the serial port. Since the echoed signal is the actual data that was transferred to the interface cable, being able to see the transmitted data echoed back may be of use for testing, authenticating or diagnostics of data output.

Cable Termination - JP4
For site lengths greater than 150 feet, resister termination across the remote receive pair end of the cable may be necessary. The ANC-6085 has a ½W 120 ohm termination resister built in that can be placed across the receive wire pair by setting jumper 4 (JP4) located over the transmit/receive setting jumpers. As described above, an external DC power source may be feed into pin 9 on the RS-485/422 connector to supply the additional current that the adapter may need when terminating resisters are installed on the receive/transmit wire pairs. Note that some multimedia equipment have internally connected circuitry for 120 ohm resister termination. If So, then even if the separation distance is less than 150 feet, it may be necessary to provide an external source of DC. Some equipment also allows the user to disconnect the internal termination network for short cable runs. See Appendix B, the upper middle of the schematic for the location of JP4.

Tx - Rx Pin Reverse Jumpers - JP5/JP6
These two jumper sets, designated JP5 and JP6 on the ANC-6085 circuit board and schematic, allow the designer to swap the transmit and receive pairs on the RS-485/422 side of the adapter. The configuration as shipped from Antona is set for ‘master’. This configuration is for the adapter acting as a controller to multimedia type equipment with an RS-485/422 SMPTE interface. Figure 1 shows the jumper locations from the component side of the ANC-6085 circuit board. The user may move all four jumper shunts on the component side of the card from the horizontal ‘master’ (controller) configuration to the vertical ‘slave’ (remote) configuration. All four jumpers must be changed to either all horizontal or all vertical for proper adapter operation as shown in figure 3 below, and on the schematic of Appendix B.

DCD Drive - JP7
This 2-pin jumper disconnects the DCD serial port input line from the RTS signal output. When not jumpered a small amount of current is saved by not holding the DCD line high when RTS is high. RTS is one of the two main power sources for the adapter. This jumper is enabled when shipped by a short trace between the two jumper pads on the solder side of the PCB. If the designer wishes to disconnect the RTS to DCD connection, just use an Exacto knife to cut and remove the small trace between the two pads of JP7. Reconnection may be performed by soldering in a small wire through the two pad holes of JP7. See Appendix B, the upper middle of the schematic for the location of JP7.

ANC-6085 External connections

DB9 to DB25 pin to pin chart - for use of adapter on a DB25 type com port
 

Signal	Function	DB-9 Pin #	DB-25 Pin	Comment
DCD/RLSD	Data Carrier Detect	1	8
RX	RECEIVE DATA	2	3	RS-232 level input
TX	TRANSMIT DATA	3	2	RS-232 level output
DTR	Data Term Ready	4	20	+v to power adapter
GND	GROUND	5	7	signal ground
DSR	Data Set Ready	6	6	tied to DTR (pin 4)
RTS	Ready to Send	7	4	+v to power adapter
CTS	Clear to Send	8	5
RI	Ring Indicator	9	22

RS-485/422 connections to the ANC-6085
For normal or multimedia interfacing, this is the jumpering of JP5/6 as shipped. A 9-pin male to 9-pin male cable wired pin-to-pin is used to connect to the multimedia device. For other interfaces, the user hand-wires a 9-pin cable assembly from the RS-485/422 piece of equipment to the Antona adapter. The only difference between the master and server (slave) version is the jumper positions of JP5 and JP6 within the adapter. The electronics are exactly the same, only the 2 transmit and 2 receive signal lines are exchanged on the RS-485/422 side of the adapter.

DB9 RS-485/422 Signals for Master (Multimedia Controller)
 

DB9 CONN (J2)	FUNCTION	IDENTIFICATION
1	GROUND	ground for RS-485/422 and/or external power (same function as pin 5)
2	RC-	RS-485/422 minus side input
3	TX+	RS-485/422 plus side output
4		-not used-
5	GROUND	ground for RS-485/422 and/or external power (same function as pin 1)
6		-not used-
7	RC+	RS-485/422 plus side input
8	TX-	RS-485/422 minus side output
9	+V	Optional +3V to +12V DC @ 100ma

DB9 RS-485/422 Signals for Server (Receive from Master)
 

DB9 CONN (J2)	FUNCTION	IDENTIFICATION
1	GROUND	ground for RS-485/422 and/or external power (same function as pin 5)
2	TX-	RS-485/422 minus side output
3	RC+	RS-485/422 plus side input
4		-not used-
5	GROUND	ground for RS-485/422 and/or external power (same function as pin 1)
6		-not used-
7	TX+	RS-485/422 plus side output
8	RC-	RS-485/422 minus side input
9	+V	Optional +3V to +12V DC @ 100ma

RS-485 Two and Four Wire Interfacing

2-wire
One of the key features of using a controlled transmit adapter like the ANC-6085 is for applications using multidrop 2-wire interfacing with other RS-485 type equipment. Usually a two wire interface with multiple peripherals uses a ‘polled-response’ half-duplex software protocol where each device has a unique device code. Generally, this requires externally powering of the adapter, but for short cable runs to non-terminated equipment operating at medium baud rates (like 9600 or less) an external power supply may not be needed. The designer should use twisted pair wire with a impedance of 100 to 120 ohms. Plain old low-cost CAT-5 UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) wire works fine. The user must externally wire the cable with pin 3 connected to pin 7 (TX+ to RC+) and pin 8 to pin 2 (TX- to RC-) on the RS-485 connector side of the adapter. The 2 conductor cable which connects to the outside world is then wired to pin 7 (+DATA) and to pin 2 (-DATA) of the RS-485 compatible peripheral. We offer an ANC-CKIT cable kit, with all the hardware needed and 25 feet of UTP CAT-5 wire for this application.

The photo below (photo 2) shows a typical transmission and reception over an RS-485 2-wire interface using the ‘AutoXmit’ adapter feature. The top trace shows the data transmitted from the ANC-6085 with a scope probe on the TX+/RC+ combined line. The 2^nd group of noisy looking characters is the response received from a remote device about 4 ms after the last character is sent through the ANC-6085. The lower trace (#2) shows the RS-232 level signal on pin 2 of the RS-232 DB-9 going back to the Pc after being cleaned up by the adapter and converted back to a bipolar signal. The "autoxmit" feature was used to perform the control of transmitting and receiving the 9600 baud data depicted through a MODCOM protocol based polled-response type industrial controller.

4-Wire
A 4-wire RS-485 interface uses 2-wires to transmit to all connected peripheral receive data lines, and 2-wires connected from all peripheral transmit pairs back to the server’s receive wire pair. In such an arrangement, the server can be transmitting and receiving at the same time (full duplex) and no ‘polled-response’ protocol or unique device code is necessary resulting in an overall improvement in communication speed.

Appendix A - Troubleshooting Guide
RS232/RS422/RS485 Serial Interfaces

Here are the most common sources of interfacing problems and tests you can make to diagnose your interface:

Loopback Test
You can verify that the Antona adapter is working by doing a simple loopback test using a male DB9 connector with a wire connection from pin 3 to 7 and pin 8 to 2. You can also add external power by soldering a 9v battery clip between pin 1 (ground) and pin9 (+V). Use a simple terminal program to just test that characters sent out the serial port are echoed back through the adapter. Make sure that your terminal program is turning on RTS and/or DTR to power the Antona adapter, and that the program is set to control the com port that the adapter is connected to. Put the signal control jumpers (JP1/2/3) back to default condition if they have been moved. The adapter operation does not rely on baud rate, parity, stop bits - but the actual application program you are using with the adapter may (see PROGRAM OPERATION below).

CABLING (most common problem)
If one of the interface wires used is not connected (open) or shorted, the whole interface will appear not to be working. Try using another cable or try the loopback test described above at the end of the cable to verify operation. If you can not get the loopback test to work through the cable, it will not work in your application. Even cables purchased with molded ends can be damaged. We test all of the cables we sell before shipping them out.

Pin Signal Definition (4-wire interface)
Take a look at the manual of the RS422/485 equipment that you are trying to control. Be sure that the pin definition on the equipment tells you the signal names, not what they are suppose to connect to. This sounds simple, but unless you know which direction the pinouts are defined from, you will connect TX+ to TX+ which is incorrect. Make sure that you have the TX+ on the Antona adapter connected to the RC+ on the RS422/485 equipment and TX- connected to RC- (same for the signal coming back from the RS422/485 side - make sure that the Antona adapter's RC+ is connected to the TX+ and that the RC- is connected to the TX- on the RS422/485 side. Pin 5 on the Antona adapter's RS422 output side should be connected to the ground of the RS422/485 equipment.

Multidrop Cabling (2-wire interface)
Check to make sure you have connected the ‘plus’ signal lines to the like ‘plus’ signal lines and ditto for the ‘negative’ to the ‘negative’ signals. Try connecting just one piece of equipment to the adapter for debugging both the cabling and the software interfacing. Remember that multidropped peripherals must each be assigned a unique ‘device code’. Check with the specific equipment’s User’s Manual for setting this, along with protocol, baudrate, character length, parity and stop bits.

Data Direction Jumpers
When shipped the Antona adapter is set for a SMPTE MASTER interface. Connector pinouts are in this manual for both MASTER and SERVER (SLAVE) mode, so be sure you are looking at the correct table. You may also want to open the Antona adapter up and verify the jumpers JP5/6 are set for the mode you desire. All 4 jumpers should be installed, they each represent one of the 4 signals being transmitted and received. The Appendix B Schematic shows how and where these jumpers are located.

Signal Control Jumpers
There are three main jumpers - JP1/2/3 that control the operation of the signal switching on the ANC-6090 for transmit and receive enabling. Double check that you have set the jumpers correctly for your application. All three jumpers must be installed for the adapter to work properly and it is possible to have one mis-setting cause the adapter to appear non-operational. Check the adapter jumper settings against the Appendix B schematic (left hand side). As a baseline, restore all jumper settings to the factory defaults shown on the schematic.

Cable Termination
Reflected signal produced by cabling that is not terminated properly will cause data transmission errors. A terminated cable matched to the impedance of the cable wire produces the maximum signal transfer and dampens the ringing of a reflected signal.

If you are using the adapter to interface with one piece of equipment with a short cable run (under 150 feet) in an electrically ‘clean’ environment (like an office) then you probably do not need the cable to be terminated. If on the other hand you are using the ANC-6090 to interface with 2 or more RS-485 devices in an industrial environment with hundreds of feet of cable runs - terminating both ends of the cable at the end points would be required. The adapter has a jumper enabled 120 ohm resister (JP4) that takes care of the adapter end of the cable. The user must connect a similar resister at the far end of the cable run. An unterminated cable will not work generally with long cable runs, and baudrates above 2400 baud. Externally powering the adapter for such an application would certainly be required. The best way to determine if termination is causing your interface not to work is to just enable the ANC-6090 terminating resister and install a 120 ohm resister onto the last piece of RS-485 equipment on the cable. Check also, that you have not over-terminated the cable by having more than two resisters installed other than one at each end of the cable run. Access one end of the cable and use a multimeter set to the 200 ohm scale. You should measure about 60 ohms if there are two 120 ohm resisters in parallel across the cable. If you are using multiple Antona adapter’s, only one at each end of the cable should have JP4 enabled. Likewise, check any other piece(s) of equipment on the cable to make sure if they contain termination resisters that only one of them is enabled at the end of the cable.

Powering
Be sure that the RTS and/or DTR line on your RS232 interface are high - this is what powers the Antona adapter (like a mouse interface). Some portable computers just do not have enough power to run the adapter and/or the RS422/485 piece of equipment you are interfacing. Or it may be over a long cable run and/or terminated with a 120 ohm resister. You can try disconnecting the termination resister also - some types of equipment, like the ANC-6090, give you a jumper option (JP4) for enabling the termination resister. It might be necessary to externally power the adapter through the RS422/485 side by applying +3v to +12v DC power to pin 9 and ground to pin 5 or 1.

Program Operation
The application program you are using may need some setup performed - selecting the serial com port, baud rate, parity, number of data bits, stop bits and setting the level of the handshaking signals (RTS and DTR lines high to power the adapter). Usually, for multimedia type interfaces, the baud rate is 38.4 Kbaud, Odd parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. For many RS-485 multidrop industrial control applications, the baud rate is much slower, like 9600, no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. Here again, if the program is not setup right, the adapter will appear not to be working at all.

RS422/485 Equipment
Try to verify the operation of the target equipment independent of the Antona adapter by using another setup - a different cable connected to another RS422/485 signal generating device would be the best. Using a different computer with the Antona adapter would also be a good test.

Plugged in Backwards
The adapter is shipped with a set of jumpers preset for the most common configuration, sometimes, after a customer has opened the adapter, changed some settings to suit their application, the adapter’s plastic shell will be refitted around the adapter backwards to the label indications. This mistake is easy to do as both ends of the adapter have a female DB-9. If in doubt, note that the end with the jack-nuts is the RS-422/485 end of the adapter. We have had adapters returned as broken, which were fine, except the shell had been put on backward.

Now What?
If none of the above seems to fix the problem, but the loopback test works, the adapter is working and you may now need to connect an oscilloscope up to examine and monitor the RS422/485 signals and the RS232 signals being generated by the Antona adapter with the plastic cover removed and running with your RS422 device and program. Refer to the schematic, Appendix B in this manual. It is easy to put a scope probe onto the tops of the 4 jumpers (JP5/6) and verify that RS422/485 signals are coming and going to the adapter. Test the +power to the adapter by attaching a probe to the +lead of the 22uf capacitor near the +3v regulator. Look for excess noise on any of the lines that might be fouling up the transmissions.

If the loopback test does not work, connect a temporary external power supply up to the adapter by using a +9v battery and battery clip wired onto the loopback connector described above. Each adapter is tested prior to shipment with every combination of character transmitted and received at 38.4 Kbaud, but like everything, occasionally they can go bad. Of the hundreds we have shipped, there have been maybe 10 or so that arrived non-operational. Damaged in shipping or infant component burnout. We do warranty our adapters, so if it still does not work, call Antona and we will work out an adapter exchange.

Appendix B -Circuit Board Schematic
The following page contains the schematic for the 6085 adapter. The schematic and card artwork are copyright protected by Antona Corporation and are included only to aid the end user to configure the adapter or for competent technical service personnel to use in maintenance or repair.

Note: The schematic is included with the purchase of the product.

Related Links

• ANC-6090, RS-232/RS-422 Adapter Datasheet
• ANC-6085, RS-232/RS-485 Adapter Datasheet
• ANC-6022, RS-232/RS-422 Adapter with Video Sync Interrupt Generation
• Sony VTR Controller v3.02 for Windows
• Adobe PDF download of this manual
• Pricing for RS-232/RS-485/RS-422 Adapters

Updated 02/21/09 12:00

Copyright © 1994-2009 Antona Corporation, L.A., CA., U. S. A.