
MERLIN NX IP AND MST/TP VAV CONTROLLER - INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
17 EN1Z-1076GE51 R1021
COMMUNICATION
BACNET MS/TP VARIANT
Each controller uses a BACnet MS/TP communications
port. The controller’s data is presented to other controllers
over a twisted-pair MS/TP network, which uses the TIA/EIA
485 signaling standard capable of the following baud rates:
9.6, 19.2, 38.4, 57.6, and 76.8 Kilobits per second. The
MERLIN NX BACnet MS/TP controllers are master devices
on the MS/TP network. Each MERLIN NX BACnet
controller uses a high-quality TIA/EIA 485 transceiver and
exerts 1/8 unit load on the MS/TP network.
The controller features an 2-wire non-isolated RS485
interface (terminals 32, 33, and 34) suitable for BACnet
MS/TP communication. The terminal block containing it is
Grey. The cable length affects the baud rate, see Table 8,
“Baud rate vs. Maximum cable length,” on page 17 below.
NOTE: The maximum BACnet MS/TP network Bus seg-
ment length is 4,000 ft. (1200 m) using recom-
mended wiring. Repeaters must be used when
making runs longer than 4,000 ft. (1200 m). A max-
imum of three repeaters can be used between any
two devices.
Setting the MS/TP MAC Address
The MS/TP MAC address for each device must be set to a
unique value in the range of 1-127 on an MS/TP network
segment (address 0, 1, 2, & 3 should be avoided as they
are commonly used for the router, diagnostic tools, and as
spare addresses). A seven position DIP switch on the
MERLIN NX MS/TP BACnet controller is used to set the
controller's MAC address.
NOTE:
DIP setting of all-ON or all-OFF will enable the Auto
MAC mode in controller and the dip switches will not
be used for MAC addressing. See “Automatic MAC
Addressing” on page 24.
To set the MS/TP MAC address of a MERLIN NX BACnet
MSTP VAV controller:
1. Find an unused MAC address on the MS/TP network to
which the MERLIN NX MS/TP VAV controller connects.
2. Locate the DIP switch bank on the MERLIN NX MS/TP VAV
controller BACnet for addressing.
3. Powered off the MERLIN NX MS/TP BACnet Controller and
set the DIP switches for the MAC Address you want.
Add the value of DIP switches set to ON to determine the
MAC address. See Table 9, “DIP Switch Values For
MS/TP MAC Address,” on page 17 below.
For example, if only DIP switches 1, 3, 5, and 7 are enabled
the MAC address would be 85 (1 + 4 + 16 + 64 = 85).
Fig. 17. Calculating the MAC address
Setting the Device Instance Number
The Device Instance Number must be unique across the
entire BACnet system network because it is used to
uniquely identify the BACnet devices. It may be used to
conveniently identify the BACnet device from other devices
during installation. The MERLIN NX MS/TP BACnet
Controllers Device Instance Number is automatically set
when it is added to a ARENA-NX project. The Device
Instance Number can be changed by the user, which may
be necessary when integrating with a third party or when
attempting to replace an existing controller and it is desired
to maintain the existing Device Instance Number.
NOTE:
This controller is insensitive to bias voltages because
of failsafe chip-set inside and can share the BACnet
bus with other devices with or without bias voltages.
Termination Resistors
Matched terminating resistors are required at each end of a
segment bus wired across (+) and (-). Use matched
precision resistors rated ¼ W ±1% / 80 - 130Ω.
Ideally, the value of the terminating resistors should match
the rated characteristic impedance of the installed cable.
For example, if the installed MS/TP cable has a listed
characteristic impedance of 120Ω, install 120 Ω matched
precision resistors.
Table 8. Baud rate vs. Maximum cable length
Baud rate Maximum cable
length (L)
9.6, 19.2, 38.4, 57.6, and 76.8 kbps 4000 ft (1200 m)
Table 9. DIP Switch Values For MS/TP MAC Address
DIP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
VALUE 1 2 4 8 16 32 64
+ + +
+ +
+