KNOWLEDGE BASE
GENERAL QUESTIONS
- WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMMERCIAL-GRADE AND INDUSTRIAL-GRADE PRODUCTS?
- WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF CERTIFICATIONS?
- IS IT HARMFUL TO EITHER PLUG OR UNPLUG A CONVERTER WHILE POWERED?
- CAN CONVERTERS BE USED WITHOUT USING THE TERMINAL BLOCKS?
- WHAT IS GND AND IS IT THE SAME AS EARTH GROUND?
- WHEN DO I NEED TO USE 120 OHM TERMINATION?
- HOW MUCH CURRENT DO OUR PORT-POWERED CONVERTERS CONSUME?
- DOES THE BAUD RATE ON THE CONVERTER NEED TO BE SET IN ORDER FOR THE CONVERTER TO WORK?
- MY CONTROL SOFTWARE REQUIRES HANDSHAKE LINES TO BE TIED TOGETHER (EXAMPLE DTR TO DCR, OR RTS TO CTS). CAN I STILL USE THE CONVERTERS?
- WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM DISTANCE THE CONVERTERS CAN COMMUNICATE WITH REMOTE DEVICES?
- HOW MANY SERIAL DEVICES CAN I CONNECT WITH THE PORT-POWERED CONVERTERS?
- ARE ALL PORT-POWERED CONVERTERS COMPATIBLE WITH NEW COMPUTERS?
RS232/RS485/RS422 QUESTIONS
- HOW IS A LOOPBACK TEST PERFORMED ON AN RS232 COM PORT?
- WHAT IS AN RS232 DTE AND DCE?
- IS THERE AN EASY WAY TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN RS232 DTE AND A DCE?
- WHAT ARE DATA LINES ON AN RS232 DEVICE?
- WHAT ARE THE HANDSHAKE LINES ON AN RS232 DEVICE?
- DOES THE DATA DIRECTION NEED TO BE CONTROLLED BY THE RS232 HANDSHAKE LINES ON SerialComm CONVERTERS?
- HOW COULD THE RS232 DATA LINES COMMUNICATION DISTANCE BE EXTENDED?
- WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM DISTANCE THE CONVERTERS CAN COMMUNICATE WITH REMOTE DEVICES?
- WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO TERMINATE RS422/RS485 NETWORKS?
- WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SerialComm 3-WIRE AND 7-WIRE RS232 REPEATERS?
- WHICH TYPE OF CABLE IS RECOMMENDED FOR RS422 / RS485 CONNECTIONS?
- HOW DO RS232 PORT POWERED CONVERTERS DERIVE POWER?
- WHAT DO I DO IF MY RS232 DEVICE DOES NOT POWER THE PORT POWERED CONVERTER?
- IS RS422 4-WIRE THE SAME AS RS485 4-WIRE?
TTL QUESTIONS
USB QUESTIONS
- HOW IS A LOOPBACK TEST PERFORMED ON A SerialComm USB TO RS485/RS422 ADAPTER RUNNING IN RS485 MODE?
- HOW IS A LOOPBACK TEST PERFORMED ON A SerialComm USB TO RS485/RS422 ADAPTER RUNNING IN RS422 MODE?
- HOW IS A LOOPBACK TEST PERFORMED ON A SerialComm USB TO TTL ADAPTER?
- WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM CABLING DISTANCE BETWEEN A USB PORT AND A USB DEVICE?
- WHERE CAN I GET DRIVERS FOR THE USB ADAPTERS?
- WILL THE USB ADAPTER WORK WITH FUTURE RELEASES OF OPERATING SYSTEMS?
- HOW ARE THE USB ADAPTERS POWERED?
- WILL THE USB ADAPTER WORK ON A COMMERCIAL NON-PC EQUIPMENT?
- WILL SerialComm'S RS232 AND RS422/RS485 CONVERTERS WORK WITH THE USB ADAPTERS?
- HOW DOES THE COMPUTER WITH THE INSTALLED USB ADAPTOR RECOGNIZE THE ADAPTER?
ETHERNET QUESTIONS
- WHAT IS THE ETHERNET?
- WHAT BAUD RATES DOES ETHERNET SUPPORT?
- WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM DISTANCE FOR 10M OR 100M ETHERNET OVER COPPER WIRE CABLING?
- WHAT IS TCP/IP?
- WHAT IS THE UDP/IP PROTOCOL?
- WHAT IS THE ARP PROTOCOL?
- WHAT IS THE ICMP PROTOCOL?
- WHAT IS THE HTTP PROTOCOL?
- WHAT IS THE DHCP PROTOCOL?
- WHAT IS 'COM'?
- WHAT IS LLF?
- WHAT IS UTP AND STP?
- WHAT IS THE MDI/MDI-X?
ISOLATION & SURGE SUPPRESSION QUESTIONS
- WHAT IS ELECTRO STATIC PROTECTION CIRCUITRY? IS IT THE SAME AS OPTICAL ISOLATION?
- WHAT IS AN OPTO-ISOLATED CONVERTER. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF USING THEM?
- WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OPTO-ISOLATORS AND SURGE SUPPRESSORS?
- CAN YOU CONNECT AN RS232 TO RS485/RS422 OR RS232 TO TTL CONVERTER TO THE ISOLATOR?
FIBER OPTIC QUESTIONS
- WHAT ARE FIBER OPTICS AND HOW ARE THEY USED?
- WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTIC SYSTEMS OVER COPPER WIRE SYSTEMS?
- WHICH CONNECTOR TYPES ARE OFFERED ON SerialComm FIBER OPTIC CONVERTERS?
- WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Multi Mode (MM) AND SINGLE MODE (SM) FIBER OPTIC CABLE?
- WHICH FIBER OPTIC CABLES ARE COMPATIBLE WITH SerialComm FIBER OPTIC CONVERTERS?
- WHAT ARE THE TYPICAL DISTANCES SerialComm'S FIBER OPTIC CONVERTERS SUPPORT?
- WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RS232 FIBER OPTIC CONVERTER AND THE RS232/RS485/RS422 FIBER OPTIC CONVERTER?
- ARE THERE ANY JUMPER OR DIP SWITCH SETTINGS ON SerialComm FIBER OPTIC CONVERTERS?
- USING TWO SerialComm RS232/RS485/RS422 TO FIBER OPTIC CONVERTERS, MUST THE SAME (RS232, RS485, or RS422) COMMUNICATIONS STANDARD BE CONNECTED ON BOTH ENDS OF THE LINK?