Specifications

Communications 3-9
becomes an important consideration. The GND wire is used both as a power
connection and the common reference for the transmission line receivers in
the modules. Voltage drops in the GND leads appear as a common-mode
voltage to the receivers. The receivers are rated for a maximum of -7V. of
common-mode voltage. For reliable operation, the common mode voltage
should be kept below -5V.
To avoid problems with voltage drops, modules may be powered locally
rather than transmitting the power from the host. Inexpensive 'calculator'
type power supplies are useful in remote locations. When local supplies are
used, be sure to provide a ground reference with a third wire to the host or
through a good earth ground. With local supplies and an earth ground, only
two wires for the data connections are necessary.
Communications Delay
All D1000 modules with RS-485 outputs are setup at the factory to provide
two units of communications delay after a command has been received (see
Chapter 5). This delay is necessary when using host computers that transmit
a carriage return as a carriage return-linefeed string. Without the delay, the
linefeed character may collide with the first transmitted character from the
module, resulting in garbled data. If the host computer transmits a carriage
return as a single character, the delay may be set to zero to improve
communications response time.