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Opto-isolated usb to uart (serial ttl) converter
Opto-Isolated USB to UART (serial TTL) converter
1. Based on the widly accepted FTDI FT232RL (more info...)
2. Dimensions L: 46mm; W: 34mm; H:17.5mm
2. USB type B side entry connector
3. Isolated UART connector: 4 pin, 2.54mm pitch header: +5V, TxD, RxD, GND (polarity protected)
4. All standard serial data rates and up to 3M baud.
5. LEDs (2) indicating data transfers.
6. Very high speed opto-couplers Fairchild 6N137S (more info...).
7. Mounting hole at each corner (hole diameter: 4mm).
8. Optional non-isolated USB 5V supply on board.
This Isolated converter is very easy to install and is compatible with all major operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac).
For complete details on operating system compatibility and driver download visit: http:// /Drivers/VCP.htm
1. Make sure you have an active Internet connection.
2. Connect the converter to your computer (via USB).
3. Windows will automatically recognize the converter and prompt you to install the driver. Allow Windows to search for the driver online.
4. After the driver installation, Windows will prompt you to install a second driver for the Virtual COM port. Again allow Windows to search for the driver online.
5. Installation is complete and you can start using the converter. Simply lookup the COM port number associated to the converter form the Device Manager.
1. Connect the converter to your computer (via USB).
2. The kernel (2.4.20+) should already have the necessary drivers and load them.
3. Go to /dev and the converter should appear as /dev/ttyUSB# (where # is a number). Note that this may be different on specific Linux distributions.
4. You can start using the converter by reading and writing to the /dev/ttyUSB#
Usage. Why would you need this converter ?
This converter is suitable wherever you need to interconnect your computer to a microcontroller or embedded system that uses a standard serial UART. In the old days this used to be done through the RS232 COM port of the PC, however as the COM port is becoming obsolete and largely replaced by USB, there is the need to upgrade to a USB interface.
The main advantage of the COM port was that is was really easy to use, both from the microcontroller and the computer side. You only need to specify the baud (data transfer rate) and parity and communicate using simple ASCII characters. This converter brings back the simplicity of the COM port together with the power of USB.
Once connected to your computer (following the simple one-time installation procedure described above), the converter will appear as a standard COM port. You absolutely need no knowledge of USB and its mechanisms to use this converter.
This converter can be used both as part of a larger system, providing a simple and transparent computer interface or for electronic systems development purposes. Especially for development purposes, you often need to have a direct indication of whether and when data transfers occur. For this reason, this converter includes two LEDs to indicate data transfers (one for each direction). These LEDs also come in very handy when troubleshooting a faulty system that is no longer communicating to the computer to establish whether the problem is in the system or in the communication link.
An important feature in this converter is the opto-isolation. When you connect a computer to any other system, you want to ensure that whatever happens in the system, the computer (and other equipment attached to it) is fully protected. This is especially important for systems that are connected in some way to an external power supply or directly to the mains supply and in particular during testing of prototype PCBs which may not work as expected. Without isolation, the computer mainboard (and all connected peripherals) and the system with which you are interfacing become one electrical circuit. Hence a surge on the system will also appear on the computer mainboard. Any developers of electronics systems will surely tell you of a number of times when a computer was somehow damaged via the communication link during development. The isolation on this converter is provided via two high speed optocouplers allowing for all standard baud rates from 110bps to 921600bps and up to 3M baud (3,000,000bps).
This converter also make available the USB 5V supply through an optional connector. It should be noted that anything connected to this optional 5V supply will be isolated from the rest of the system but directly connected to the PC. Hence using this supply may damage you computer! This supply is in some cases useful to power a sub-circuit related with the communication interface.
Should you require large quantities of this converter please contact me for details on pricing and delivery.
Courier service also available.
