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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : RS-232 & Ethernet Boards Now Available

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rhamer
Senior Member

Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 174

Posted: 09:28am 01 Oct 2011

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Folks,

I now have stock of 2 new serial interface boards.

One has two RS-232 ports and the other has one RS-232 port and one Ethernet Interface.

Both can be purchased now from my web site.

Cheers

Rohan

Rohan Hamer
HAMFIELD Software & Hardware Solutions

Makers of the Maximite Expander.

http://www.hamfield.com.au

rhamer
Senior Member

Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 174

Posted: 01:42am 02 Oct 2011

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Here is some more information on these boards.

Dual RS-232 Interface

The Dual RS-232 interface board provides all the necessary interfacing to allow true RS-232 communication.

The board has support for both Com1 and Com2 as provided on the Maximite, with Com1 also having optional RTS/CTS flow control.

This board can be plugged directly into the Maximite, or via a Hamfield Modular Hub.

A second IDC connector is provided to allow downstream boards to be used in conjunction with the serial interface.

The board can be powered directly from the Maximite/Hub or from an external supply.

RS-232 / Ethernet Interface

The Dual RS-232 / Ethernet interface board provides all the necessary interfacing to allow true RS-232 communication as well as serial to Ethernet connectivity.

The board has support for both Com1 and Com2 as provided on the Maximite, with Com1 also having optional RTS/CTS flow control. Com2 is interfaced to Ethernet via a Lantronics XPort module.

The XPort is a very powerful module that in its basic form provided serial over ethernet functionality, but also includes such things as an internal Web Server. Serial over Ethernet is configured for use by this board, however any knowledgeable user can expand the functionality to take advantage of all the XPort has to offer. One such example could be presentation and control of the Maximite via a the inbuilt Web Server.

Note: This module comes configured to provide Serial over Ethernet functionality only, any additional functionality that the user may wish to use is up to the user to program/configure.

Full details on the XPort can be found here

This board can be plugged directly into the Maximite, or via a Hamfield Modular Hub.

A second IDC connector is provided to allow downstream boards to be used in conjunction with the serial interface.

The board can be powered directly from the Maximite/Hub or from an external supply.

Rohan

Rohan Hamer
HAMFIELD Software & Hardware Solutions

Makers of the Maximite Expander.

http://www.hamfield.com.au

rhamer
Senior Member

Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 174

Posted: 03:57am 08 Oct 2011

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I have had lots of enquiries asking why the Ethernet version of the board is more expensive than the dual serial board.

The reason is that Ethernet is a much more complex interface mechanism than serial, and to make the whole board much simpler to manafacture and use, I elected to use a pre-built module that contains everything I needed (and much more for the future). The catch of course is cost, these modules are relatively expensive compared to other solutions, but you do get a pretty big bang for your buck.

So given the enquiries, I have decided to offer the kit without the Ethernet module at a much reduced price (less the cost of the Ethernet module) with the ability to add the Ethernet module later if desired.

Regards

Rohan

Rohan Hamer
HAMFIELD Software & Hardware Solutions

Makers of the Maximite Expander.

http://www.hamfield.com.au

sparkey

Senior Member

Joined: 15/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 819

Posted: 04:11am 08 Oct 2011

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thanks rohan from sparkey but are the boards assemblyied or kits sets ..regards sparkey....

technicians do it with least resistance

elproducts

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: United States
Posts: 282

Posted: 12:44pm 08 Oct 2011

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Are there Maximite code samples for these boards?
I didn't see it on the website.

www.elproducts.com

rhamer
Senior Member

Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 174

Posted: 11:21pm 08 Oct 2011

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elproducts said Are there Maximite code samples for these boards?
I didn't see it on the website.

There is no specific code needed for these boards, you just use the serial commands as documented in the Maximite manual.

The Ethernet path is slightly more complex in that you need to initially setup the device for your network, but after that it is all just the same as RS-232.

The Ethernet setup is all in the documentation that comes with the kit, and you only need to do it once.

Cheers

Rohan

Rohan Hamer
HAMFIELD Software & Hardware Solutions

Makers of the Maximite Expander.

http://www.hamfield.com.au

jebz

Regular Member

Joined: 13/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 79

Posted: 01:13am 09 Oct 2011

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rhamer said
There is no specific code needed for these boards,

Rohan

These boards would be good on their own for connecting to solar inverters. With the Maximite though you could log the results as well as provide the ethernet link to a PC that didn't need to be on all day.

ajkw
Senior Member

Joined: 29/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 290

Posted: 01:15am 09 Oct 2011

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I like it (ethernet version) and I want one but don't quite know what to do with it.

I am thinking madly!! I like it that I can daisy chain the proto board thru it too.

The XPort doc's suggest you need Windows to set it up, is this strictly so or not? The only Windows I have at the moment is in Virtualbox on a Linux host and it is not exposed to the network/internet.

Is the Xport module only available to the Maximite COM2 or do the green header pins allow you to configure the hardware paths? I use pins 18,19 and 20 for my RTC, 19 is available for other use but 20 is Clock Enable and is not available in my case hence no COM2.

Cheers,
Anthony.

rhamer
Senior Member

Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 174

Posted: 01:25am 09 Oct 2011

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I'm just fiddling round with it right now, getting it to send emails in response to the maximite toggling a pin, I'll yell out when I have got it going.

The Ethernet is always on COM2 the green jumpers are to change the pin configurations if you connect it via my powered hub instead of directly to a Maximite.

The reason for this is COM1 as defined on the Maximite supports RTS/CTS so the logical thing was to make that RS-232 and COM2 ethernet as it only needs RX/TX.

Of course you can do anything you like with some creative cabling.

Cheers

Rohan

Rohan Hamer
HAMFIELD Software & Hardware Solutions

Makers of the Maximite Expander.

http://www.hamfield.com.au

elproducts

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: United States
Posts: 282

Posted: 03:15am 09 Oct 2011

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rhamer said

elproducts said Are there Maximite code samples for these boards?
I didn't see it on the website.

Although you make it sound easy, I believe it will help your boards sell if you include a few .bas examples of how to use it. I find it much easier to have working code to start from and then modify for my particular purpose.
Plus you know how to set this up better than anybody and maybe something you think is simple could be the stumbling block a beginner needs help with.

It's just a suggestion. I have yet to buy an Arduino shield that doesn't have a small code snippet to work with that I can download and understand before I purchase the board. It's what help make Arduino so popular with the beginner crowd.

www.elproducts.com

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