Hi,

I've been through the DT80 manual and it looks to me that apart from the DB9 side connector for PC/modem comms, there is only one other serial port available.

If this is correct is there any way additional serial ports can be configured or are there any plans to expand the DT80? Do any of the other DT products support more than the DT80's number of serial ports?

What other options exist to cater for those situations where more than 2 serial ports are needed e.g. modem for remote access, serial data out to a device and serial input from sensor/s?

I also assume that the USB port on the DT80 is a slave only and can only be used for connection to a PC (master) and because of this it could not be used for connection to a USB modem thereby freeing the DB9 serial connection for other duties?

Thanks, Bill

Good afternoon Bill,

Host Port is RS232 only, while serial sensor port can do RS422 and RS485 both of which are multi drop. RS422/ RS485 can talk to more than one device on a network.

Digital terminals 4 to 8 can also do SDI-12. If you choose your sensors correctly then you can have a large number of instruments.

USB port (left side) is slave only and USB master (front side) is for memory sticks only.

Cheers,
Roger

Hi Roger,

Thanks for the info. By host port I assume you mean the DB9 on the side of the DT80?

Regarding the serial sensor port, the suite of sensors we employ are all RS232 so RS422/485 multi drop is no use to me unfortunately. Are there any other products in the DT family that have more serial port capabilities?

I'm quite concerned with only one serial port available that system integrity will be severely compromised in the event the port dies (lightning, etc,.) and no spare is available. Our current loggers have spares and this has saved the day on more than one occasion...

How resilient to surges, etc, are both the RS232 ports (DB9 and sensor) and is there anything I can do to protect them more?

Cheers,
Bill

Good afternoon Bill,

1. Yes the host port is the one on the side.
2. No, we don't have a product with more than one serial sensor port.
3. There is no isolation on either the Serial sensor or host port. itis exactly the same as a port on a computer. Anyway with lightning I would have thought the serial port would be the least of your problems.

Cheers,
Roger

You could use a serial port switch controlled by digital I/O or perhaps RS232 control characters. There is a Port Scanner on the Datataker FAQ 3rd Party page: http://www.thermofisher.com.au/show.aspx?page=/ContentAUS/Manufacturing-Processing/Industrial-Loggers/DataTaker/DataTaker-FAQ/3rd-Party-Products/3rd-Party-Products.html

Hi Roger,

Slightly different topic but in the same vein: I am trying to use the host DB9 and the serial sensor port to connect to two identical devices (digital levels). I set all the parameters (baud rate, stop bit, etc) identically for both 1SERIAL and 2SERIAL.

The device connected to the host port works fine (communicates w/ the DT85), while the device connected to the serial sensor port does not (either nothing or the device itself indicates a comm error). If I swap the two levels, the one now connected to the host DB9 works fine (IOW it's the connection not the device itself).

I'm pretty sure I have the pins wired correctly but just for fun have tried almost all possible permutations (only pins 2,3,4 & 5, RX, TX, DTR and Ground are used by the device).

Any tips would be appreciated

Regards,
Jon Sinnreich, Loadtest

Hi Jon,

Did you forget to declare 1 serial as RS232?
2SERIAL works fine as this port dedicated only for RS 232, while 1SERIAL can be use for RS 232, RS 485 and RS 422.

Best regards,
Rudy Gunawan

Hi Rudy,

It's always the details, isn't it? Setting PS=RS232,baud,etc. did the trick. Thanks for the tip.

Jon

Hi Guys,

A hint for you all, PS and PH commands have been depreciated having been replaced with profile settings to fully configure the serial ports.

Cheers,
Roger