Precision Measurement Central (4)

The RS485 port on the MSC1210 board provides great opportunities for communication with other systems. For example, it allows a number of MSC1210 boards to be connected up into a network and talk to one another over distances of several kilometres.This fourth instalment in the series on the MSC1210-based Precision Measurement Central (kicked off in the July/August 2003 issue) is entirely devoted to the RS485 interface. This month we will cover the theory and hardware. The December 2003 issue, finally, will discuss the practical use of the RS485 interface in a small project that goes to show how up to 255 MSC1210 boards can communicate with a single PC through an RS485 link. The converter required for the job is discussed in this article instalment.