I am looking for a RS232 to RS485 converter because I need to control with an automate 18 same devices using only the RS232. For me, it means I will need 18 inputs one for each devices. So, converting all in RS485 will permits to have only one input of my automate.
I see the product IC232485S. If I well understand, I need to buy one for each instrument, in order to have a RS485 network instead of 18 RS232 communication.
Is that it ?
If yes, I imagine I will set an adress for each converter in order to select which equipment I will communicate. Right ?
I was able to take some time to look into the support we offer for the IC232485S and we have it listed for bidirectional use with RS232 and RS485 support. So I would certainly expect it to work fine with individual devices. We do not have support information for use with multiple devices. I am sorry about that!
However, I will note that the IC232485S includes jumpers. When I dug a bit deeper I do see that we had a note about these: “This RS-232 to RS-422/485 Converter equips independent TX&RX and RTS&CTS termination resistors for RS-422/485 connector. The user can modify jumper settings (short the pins) to avoid impedance mismatch problems when operate under Multi-drop transmission.”
This does imply that a multi-drop configuration may be possible but I do not have setup and support information for that.
If you are looking to support multiple RS232 devices our best solution with the highest number of RS232 ports will be:
Thank you for your answers. I think we will try with two converters like this and if is not working I will use your second solution. In my luck, I have 18 devices and your system has 16 inputs ^^
I think about that topic this weekend, and I was wondering how works these rs232 to usb converter. If we plug two of them on a computer, will we be able to control the rs232 devices from our C++ code through something like a SDK of the converter ?
Thank you in advance. I search for all possiblities before to launch the buy and test. Best regards.
Once connected to a USB port on a computer with drivers installed the ICUSB23216FD, or other USB to serial adapters, will show up with COM ports or serial interfaces. This might vary a bit depending on your operating system.
RS-232 communication is very standardized, and while StarTech.com does not have specific support for C++ or have an SDK, I should certainly expect that that there are libraries available for serial communications. Once you have a C++ library imported it should allow you to control the serial devices. Sadly, I am not very familiar with C++ so I do not have any recommendations.
I hope that this information will at least point you in the right direction!
Thank you for this information. I think we need to buy one converter (with 2 inputs for example) and see how it works in details. Have a good day. Best regards.
