Serial Port Adapter with Bluetooth® Wireless Technology User Manual Ver 1.27 _____________________________________________________________ Copyright 2004 Stevens Water Monitoring Systems, Inc. 12067 NE Glenn Widing Drive, Suite 106 2004 Stevens Water Monitoring Systems Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Portland, Oregon 97220 USA Tel 503-445-8000 Fax 503-445-8100 www.stevenswater.com The contents of this document may be changed by Stevens Water Monitoring Systems, Inc. (”Stevens”) without prior notice and do not constitute and binding undertakings from Stevens. Stevens is not responsible under any circumstance for direct, unexpected damage or consequent damage that is caused by this document. All rights reserved. Release: 0408 Document version: 1.
_____________________________________________________________ 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 5 1.1 1.2 WHAT IS “THE SHARK” WITH BLUETOOTH® WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY? ........................ 5 SUMMARY OF FEATURES ...................................................................................................... 5 2. THE SHARK ...................................................................................
5. TROUBLESHOOTING ...................................................................................................... 32 6. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS..................................................................................... 35 7. APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................... 36 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.3.1 7.3.2 7.4 7.4.1 7.4.2 7.4.3 7.4.4 7.5 WHAT IS BLUETOOTH®?..................................................
1. Introduction Thank you for purchasing The Shark RS-232/485 Serial Adapter with Bluetooth® wireless technology. The Shark is a class 1 Bluetooth® SIG qualified radio. The class 1 radio combined with an external antenna attachment maximizes the communication range between other Bluetooth® wireless enabled devices. Line-of-sight connection is not required in order to establish communications.
Default baud rate 9600 bps – configurable from 100 to 115,200 bps RS485 hardware compatible – full duplex 9-pin male D-SUB connector, DTE Configurable in slave mode or master mode Blue LED gives instant status of connection to other Bluetooth® wireless enabled devices Switchable external power LED for conserving internal battery drain Internal battery trickle-charging from PC or Laptop COM port Low power drain; <5mA in slave mode 2004 Stevens Water Monitoring Systems Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2. The Shark 2.1 How Does The Shark Emulate a Serial Cable? Unlike other RS-232 Adapters with Bluetooth® wireless technology, The Shark is designed to emulate the behavior of a serial port that has a serial cable connection. It accomplishes this by triggering an active COM port at the other end of the wireless connection at the moment a COM port connection is established. This is how a serial cable would behave, and this is how The Shark’s serial cable emulation behaves. 2.
Figure 2: The Shark LED’s RF Connector, DIP Switches and Thumbscrews 2.3 Connectors The Shark has a male 9-pin D-SUB connector (also called Serial connector) at one end of the device, which plugs into the standard serial connector found on electronic equipment (see Figure 1). The other end of the device is an RF SMA connector used to transport the signal using the Bluetooth® wireless technology to the antenna.
IMPORTANT: DIP switch 1 should be set in the “OFF position when the unit is being shipped or in storage. If it is left “ON”, then The Shark’s internal battery will slowly drain. Switch 2: ON position – enables RS-232 mode operation. OFF position – enables RS485 mode operation. DIP switch position 2 selects between RS-232 and RS485. RS485 operation requires the use of an interface adapter in order to bring the RS485 lines out. See section 4.4.3 for a wiring diagram that shows how to construct this adapter.
2.6 External Power Jack The Shark comes with an external power jack (see Figure 1). An external power jack connector/cable is included and should be connected to a 6-15 Vdc power source. Current is regulated internally to The Shark, so simply connect the leads directly to a DC source (I.E. a battery). The black with white-striped lead connects to the positive (+) DC terminal and the solid black lead attaches to the negative (-) DC terminal. 2.
2.7.3 Using a COM port for Charging It is also possible to trickle charge The Shark’s internal battery using the serial or COM port on your PC or laptop. This works best when the unit is turned off (switch 1 in the “OFF” position) and The Shark is not in use. You must be plugged into a PC or laptop computer’s COM port using a null modem serial cable or adapter. The null modem adapter is not included with The Shark package, but is provided by Stevens as an optional item.
3. Setting up The Shark 3.1 Introduction Shark Config is the setup software for The Shark Serial Adapter with Bluetooth® wireless technology. Shark Config should be loaded and used before installing the device with your equipment to properly configure it for your application. Shark Config allows access to settings such as Baud Rate, Flow Control, Operating Role (Slave vs. Master mode), Security, PIN and Friendly Name (see section 5.5 for a definition of these terms).
3.2.2 Connecting The Shark to your PC for Shark Config 1. Insert the external power cable into The Shark’s power jack. If The Shark’s internal battery is fully charged, the external power cable is not required for configuration. 2. Attach the external power cable leads to a DC power source supplying 6 – 15 Vdc. 3. Connect a null modem cable or adapter from your PC’s COM port to your Shark. The null modem is not included with The Shark package, but is provided by Stevens as an optional item.
Figure 3: Shark Config Communications Settings Select Comm Settings from the left bar to open the Communication Settings window. 2. Select the Serial Port from the list that you used when attaching The Shark to your PC. 3. Select the Baud Rate from the list that matches The Shark' s baud rate. The Shark' s factory default is 9600 bps. If you do not remember the baud rate for your Shark, see #4. Otherwise, skip to #5. 4.
After selecting Connect, Shark Config attempts to connect to The Shark. If the connection is successful, the program automatically downloads the current settings from the The Shark and moves to “The Shark Settings” window. 3.3.2 The Shark Settings There are a number of configuration options available in The Shark Settings window. Any necessary changes are made here (see Figure 4). Figure 4: Shark Config Shark Settings Select Shark Settings from the left bar to open The Shark Settings window. 2.
4. The BD Address is not editable because it is the unique Bluetooth® wireless device address embedded in the firmware. All Bluetooth® wireless enabled products use the BD Address to establish communication links. 5. The Operating Role may be set to Master or Slave (See Section 5.5 for terminology). It may be changed only if your Shark is not currently connected via Bluetooth® wireless technology– i.e.
3.3.3 Device Discovery Device Discovery is available when The Shark has been configured as a Master device. To configure your Shark as a Master, see section 3.3.2, #5. Device Discovery is used to search and discover other Bluetooth® wireless devices. Device Discovery then allows you to connect to discovered devices, one at a time. Figure 5: Shark Config Device Discovery Select Device Discovery from the left bar to open the Device Discovery window. 2.
3.3.3.1 Device Discovery Example 3.3.3.1.1 Searching Follow the instructions below to find other Bluetooth® wireless enabled devices. Figure 6: Starting a Search Select Search to start looking for other Bluetooth® wireless devices. 2004 Stevens Water Monitoring Systems Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Figure 7: During a Search o A full search will complete in approximately 60 seconds. If the device you are looking for appears in the results pane sooner than that, you may stop the search early. Select Stop to stop the search early. 2004 Stevens Water Monitoring Systems Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Figure 8: Search Complete o After the search has finished, you may select a device to connect to it. For more information about connecting to a device, see the next section. 2004 Stevens Water Monitoring Systems Inc. All Rights Reserved.
3.3.3.1.2 Connecting Follow the instructions below to connect to another Bluetooth® wireless device. Figure 9: Starting a Connection Attempt o Select a device from the Search results pane, and click Connect to start the attempt. You can only connect to devices listed on this screen (see previous section 3.3.3.1.1 to search for a device). 2004 Stevens Water Monitoring Systems Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Figure 10: During a Connection Attempt o During the connection attempt, you may click Cancel to stop the attempt. Cancel takes 5-10 seconds to complete while the device resets itself. Figure 11: Connection Success! o Upon a successful connection, this message box pops up to confirm the Bluetooth® SIG qualified product address and friendly name of the connected device.
Figure 12: After the Connection o After successfully connecting, note that the Bluetooth® wireless connection light has turned blue to indicate an active Bluetooth® wireless connection. o You are now connected via the serial port as if you had a cabled connection. Close Shark Config and proceed to interact with the instrument just as if you were connected via a serial cable. o You may select Disconnect to close the Bluetooth® connection. This will turn the blue light off. 3.
This can come in quite handy in a situation where The Shark has already been installed with some remote equipment, or in some hard-to-reach location. Simply use the Shark Config program to establish a Bluetooth® wireless connection with your Shark over the virtual COM port used by your Bluetooth® wireless enabled device. Then begin to use the setup software as you would when connected via a RS-232 serial cable over the physical COM port.
4. Professional Installation 4.1 Introduction The Shark is intended for installation by a trained professional. Since the types of equipment The Shark can be connected to can vary widely, it is not the scope of this manual to explain installation for every specific use scenario. Therefore the instructions are generalized to try and make it easy for anyone with a serial cable replacement application to use The Shark.
The Shark is designed as a DTE. The only reason to use a null modem cable or adapter is when you are connecting to another DTE, like your laptop or PC. The Shark’s D-SUB 9-pin connector is male. The only reason to use a gender changer is when the equipment you are plugging it into is also male. If you treat these issues separately, then you will cut down on a lot of confusion about how to connect The Shark to your equipment.
TxD—2 RxD—3 DSR—4 RxD—3 DSR—4 GND—5 DTR—6 CTS—7 RTS—8 GND—5 DTR—6 CTS—7 RTS—8 RS232 Equipment—DCE RS232 Equipment—DCE TxD—2 Null Modem Connection Between DCE Equipment Figure 15: Null Modem Connection: DCE 4.4 Connecting to RS485 Equipment 4.4.1 2-Wire vs. 4-Wire RS485 The Shark is capable of RS485 communication. The Shark operates with a 4-wire RS485 system. A 4-wire RS485 system is called “Full-Duplex”, while a 2-wire RS485 system is called “Half-Duplex” 4.4.2 Full-Duplex vs.
4.4.3 RS485 Interface Adapter NC—1 R+ —2 T- —3 NC—4 GND—5 R+ NC—6 T+ —7 R- —8 TT+ RGND RS485 Terminal Block The Shark—RS485 In order to connect to 4-wire RS485 equipment, an interface connector is needed since most RS485 interfaces use a terminal block configuration. The following diagram shows how this interface connector should be wired to work with your Shark. NC—9 The Shark DB-9 Pin-Out to RS485 Full-Duplex Figure 15: RS485 Adapter 4.
Baud Rate = 9600 Baud Rate = 115.2 K Baud Rate = 115.2 K Baud Rate = 9600 This setup okay Figure 16: Baud Rate okay It is okay to have different baud rates at each end of a Bluetooth® wireless technology connection as long as the baud rate is the same between the physically connected equipment. The next diagram shows an incorrect setup. Baud Rate = 38.4 k Baud Rate = 9600 Baud Rate = 115.
This setup shows the end equipment setup to the same baud rate, which would be the case if the equipment were directly connected (with a cable). However, the above setup would not work since the wireless devices connected to them are set to different baud rates. 4.6 Flow Control As with baud rate, Flow Control (also called hardware handshaking) needs to be set the same between The Shark and the equipment it is connected to.
Table 4: Antenna Configuration Table This table assumes a line-of-site connection and is only an estimate. A line-of-site configuration is not a requirement for communications using Bluetooth® wireless technology. Different ranges would be achieved if each transceiver has a different antenna, which is more likely. See section 5.4.1 for recommendations of antenna solution accessories. 2004 Stevens Water Monitoring Systems Inc. All Rights Reserved.
5. Troubleshooting This section identifies potential problems that you may encounter while establishing communications with the Shark. 1. I cannot locate the Shark using my Bluetooth® wireless enabled computer or PDA to search for Bluetooth® wireless enabled devices. • Make sure that the Shark’s switch in the on position. • The Shark’s internal battery may be low and, therefore, you will have to connect external power to the Shark.
• • The device that The Shark is attached to may require a Null Modem connector or cable between The Shark and the device. See Section 4.3.1 DTE vs. DCE. Make sure that The Shark’s switch 2 is in the correct position to match the remote device communication protocol. Switch 2 in the “on” position is for RS-232 communications and in the “off” position is for RS485 communications. See Sections 4.3 and 4.4. 4.
• Device Discovery is unavailable over a Bluetooth® wireless link for security purposes. 2004 Stevens Water Monitoring Systems Inc. All Rights Reserved.
6. Technical Specifications This section identifies The Shark’s technical specifications ! $ " " % &' () '*$ &+, #) ./&& ( 4 )2 + && 7 ) 9( 2 ( 2 < ( " ++5 && ( 8 % 5: ; &: 4 % &: ; .5: 4 5, .5, 2 ; ' ( ' ) 8 % 1 $ 3 (( 6 ) *6 (( < (7 2 2 5&& (7 / +53 ;+/ ' = " 5 ( > ' ? ++ 44@ 4$ A ( .%C 0 % 5& "#$ " - ' ! # 7 . ( #% B' #<* &&& D- 6 5A56 & = C 606 > 1 4 +5 = 4 > 4* E F*8 && *8 &+ .%+A % G ) 0 3#F*8/&.
7. Appendix 7.1 What is Bluetooth®? Bluetooth® is the codename for a technology specification for low-cost, short-range radio links between mobile PCs, mobile phones, other portable devices and instruments. Bluetooth® is a simple two-way wireless (radio) solution that allows different devices to talk to each other without using cables or infrared. There are primarily two classes of Bluetooth®.
7.3 Certification Information 7.3.1 Compliance Bluetooth® 1.1 Safety LVD: EN60950 7.3.2 Type Approval US & Canada FCC/CFR 47, part 15, Industry Canada CE EN 300 328-2 & EN 301 489-17 7.4 Accessory Items 7.4.1 Antenna Some applications for The Shark require The Shark to be installed into a metal enclosure or an enclosure that would attenuate the RF signal. This makes transmission difficult and can reduce the range significantly.
When using this converter, keep switch 2 in the “ON” position since this is an RS-232 to 2-wire converter. 7.4.3 RS485 4-Wire to RS485 2-Wire Adapter If a RS485 4-Wire to 2-Wire conversion is needed, then we recommend the following converter: Manufacturer RE Smith Model Number RSFC44T Converter Type 4-Wire 2-Wire 7.4.4 90-Degree D-SUB 9-Pin Adapter In some application where space is a concern, it may be necessary to use a 90-degree adapter to accommodate The Shark.
CTS DCE Clear To Send - one of four line required for RS-232 communications. Device Communication Equipment – typically the instruments collecting and sending the data / information. Send the data / information to a DTE connection.
Operating Role Device is operating as a master or a slave. PC PIN Personal Computer Personal Identification Number Radio Class Power class for the Bluetooth® wireless technology transmitted power (The Shark is a Class 1 Bluetooth® SIG Qualitied Product): • Class 1: +15 to +20dBm (100meter range) • Class 2: 0 to +4dBm (10meter range) • Class 3: -6dBm (1meter range) RD (also RX) Receive data; one of four line required for RS-232 communications.
