Black Box USB Director RS-232 User manual

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USB Director RS-232
Add one, two, four, or eight
RS-232 serial ports to your PC,
laptop, thin client, or server.

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#26231
»Add serial, USB, and parallel ports to a PC,
server, laptop, or thin client without opening
the computer‘s chassis!
»High-speed alternative to serial cards.
»All models have operating-system support for
Windows 98, SE, Me, XP, and Windows 2000.
»Single-port model also supports Windows CE.
»Lower cost per port than serial boards.
»Configurable COM port assignment.
FEATURES
The Single-Port USB Director RS-232 gives you reliability, superb
performance, and operating-system support. Simply plug the Single-
Port USB Director RS-232 into the USB port of a desktop PC, laptop,
or thin client and gain one high-speed RS-232 DB9 serial port.
Attaching personal digital assistants (PDAs), printers, bar-code
scanners, and other peripheral devices has never been easier! The
director is perfect for point-of-sale and mobile computing applications
in which space is limited and flexible I/O expansion is required.
The 2-, 4-, and 8-port USB Director RS-232s are intelligent,
stackable expansion modules designed for the enterprise user who
requires reliability in mission-critical applications. They connect to
a PC, thin client, laptop, or server via the Universal Serial Bus (USB)
port, providing instant COM-port expansion for peripheral-device
connectivity. Unmatched operating-system support and reliable
performance make the USB Director RS-232 ideal for applications
such as point-of-sale, kiosk connectivity, and mobile computing.
The 2-, 4-, and 8-port USB Directors RS-232 are compatible with
Windows®98, SE, Me, XP, and Windows 2000. The single-port
model is also compatible with Windows CE.
The USB Director RS-232s feature a Type B USB connector
that’s used to attach a cable to the USB port of a PC, USB hub, or
USB switch. In addition, the units are equipped with one, two, four,
or eight DB9 male RS-232 ports (depending on the model). Port
pinning is like that of a PC‘s serial ports.
I nstalling the hardware is straightforward. To make connections,
simply plug one end of the included USB cable into your PC’s USB port
(or into a USB hub or switch, if necessary), and plug the cable’s other end
into the USB Director RS-232. Then plug your RS-232 device(s), or their
attached cables, into the USB Director RS-232’s serial connector(s).
OVERVIEW
Driver installation is just as easy. CD-ROM-based wizards take
you step-by-step through the process of setting them up in your
Windows system. In fact, once you install the drivers, Windows
will detect your USB Director RS-232‘s new COM ports and will
begin to initialize them.
After you install the hardware and software, the USB Director
RS-232 operates without requiring further intervention on your part.
On the 2-, 4-, and 8-port models, a tri-color indicator signals USB
communications between the device and host as well as serial port
activity on the device.
The USB Director RS-232 also comes with a configuration utility
program that enables you to manage various resources on the unit,
such as mapping of each physical communications port to your
Windows COM port numbers. You can reassign the physical ports
on the USB Director RS-232 to any available Windows COM port
number 1 to 255 or give your USB Director RS-232 a user-friendly
device name—a feature that’s particularly helpful if you intend to
install more than one USB Director RS-232.
To install the USB Director, you don’t need to open the chassis,
power down your computer, or reconfigure the system. It supports
baud rates of up to 230 kbps per port.
A tri-state LED shows the device status and COM port activity.
The Director is compatible with USB 1.0 and 1.1.
The USB Director offers full hardware and software flow-control
support. And it costs less per port than serial boards. Each port
features a UART with 64-byte FIFOs.
No additional IRQ or memory is required. And jack screws keep
your serial devices securely in place.
4-Port USB Director RS-232
in a point-of-sale application.
PC USB
POS System
Serial RS-232 Devices Printer
4-Port USB Director RS-232
(IC135A)

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#26231
Item Code
USB Director RS-232
Single-Port IC1000A
2-Port IC1001A
4-Port IC135A
8-Port IC1002A
If your PC doesn’t have a USB port, order…
USB Card (PCI) IC136C
You might also want to order…
Universal Serial Bus (USB) Cable USB01
What’s included
✦(1) USB Director RS-232: Single-, 2-, 4-, or 8-Port
✦(1) CD-ROM containing installation and utility drivers
✦(1) 3.2-ft. (1-m) USB cable
✦(1) Users’ manual
TECH SPECS
System Requirements — Pentium®class CPU with at least 16 MB RAM and
at least one available USB type A (downstream) port, running Windows 98,
SE, Me, CE, XP, or Windows 2000
Compliance —
EMI/RFI: CE (EN 55022, EN 55024)
Class B, FCC Part 15 Subpart B
Class B, IC Class/classe B;
Safety: UL®1950 (3rd. ed.),
CSA No. 950, IEC 950, EN 60950
Data Rate — Up to 230 kbps; Serial port(s) can be set to any data format,
flow control, or duplex setting the PC application supports
User Controls — Software drivers on included CD
Interface — Universal Serial Bus v1.1 (can be attached to a USB 2.0 host
but will operate at USB 1.1 data rates), EIA/TIA RS-232
Connectors —
All models: (1) USB Type B female (front-mounted on IC1001A,
rear-mounted on other models);
Rear-mounted DB9 male for
RS-232: IC1000A: (1);
IC1001A: (2);
IC135A: (4);
IC1002A: (8)
Indicators — IC1000A: None;
IC1001A, IC1002A, IC135A:
(1) Front-mounted tricolor LED
Temperature Tolerance — 32 to 131°F (0 to 55°C)
Humidity Tolerance — Up to 95% noncondensing
Power — USB-bus-powered, consumes less than 200 mA
at full operating speed
Size —
IC1000A: 0.8"H x 1.75"W x 3"D (2 x 4.4 x 7.6 cm);
DB9 thumbscrews protrude an additional 0.15" (0.4 cm) from the rear;
IC1001A, IC135A: 1"H x 7"W x 4"D
(2.5 x 17.8 x 10.2 cm);
IC1002A: 1.75"H x 7"W x 4.25"D
(4.4 x 17.8 x 10.8 cm)
Weight —
IC1000A: 1.6 oz. (45.4 g);
IC1001A: 12 oz. (340.2 g);
IC1002A, IC135A: 1 lb. (0.5 kg)
Universal Serial Bus (USB)
Universal Serial Bus is a royalty-free bus specification
developed by the leading manufacturers in the PC and
telephony industries to support plug-and-play peripheral
connections.
USB offers increased bandwidth and lower costs than
conventional I/O ports.
The USB bus is a daisychain consisting of USB hubs and
peripherals less than 16.4 ft. (5 m) apart. The USB daisychain
can support up to 127 devices. Instead of opening up the
CPU to insert new boards, make all connections outside the
case to the USB ports.
Because USB connections are hot-swappable, you can
attach or remove peripherals without shutting down your
computer.
Technically Speaking
IC1002A: rear view