SeaLevel ULTRA COMM+8.PCIe User manual

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7803e Manual | SL925011/2022
COMM+8.PCIe
User Manual | 7803e and 7803ecS

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7803e Manual | SL925011/2022
Contents
CONTENTS...........................................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................... 3
BEFORE YOU GET STARTED ...............................................................................................................................4
CARD SETUP ........................................................................................................................................................ 7
SOFTWARE INSTALLATION ................................................................................................................................8
HARDWARE INSTALLATION .............................................................................................................................11
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION ...............................................................................................................................13
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS..........................................................................................................................15
APPENDIX A – TROUBLESHOOTING................................................................................................................16
APPENDIX B – HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS.....................................................................................................21
APPENDIX C – ELECTRICAL INTERFACE ........................................................................................................22
APPENDIX D – ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATIONS ..................................................................................23
APPENDIX E – MECHANICAL DRAWING .........................................................................................................24
APPENDIX F – COMPLIANCE NOTICES...........................................................................................................26
WARRANTY ........................................................................................................................................................27

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Introduction
The Sealevel COMM+8.PCIe is a PCI Express 2.0 Gen 1 compliant interface adapter with eight RS-232
asynchronous serial ports supporting data rates up to 230,400 bps, for industrial automation and control
applications.
All modem control signals are implemented for maximum compatibility with a wide range of serial
peripherals. The Sealevel SeaCOM for Windows software driver and utilities make installation and operation
easy in Windows 7/8.1/10.
The product is RoHS compliant and meets the requirements of RoHS (2011/65/EU) directive.
Features
•Eight RS-232 serial ports
•High-speed UART with 256-byte TX and RX FIFOs
•Asynchronous data rates up to 230,400 bps
•Includes 36” cable that terminates to eight DB25M connectors (Part Number CA202)

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Before You Get Started
What’s Included
The COMM+8.PCIe is shipped with the following items. If any of these items are missing or damaged,
please contact Sealevel for replacement.
•COMM+8.PCIe Adapter
o7803ec – PCIe Board with Low Profile PC Bracket
o7803ecS – PCIe Board with Standard Height PC Bracket
•CA202 – Micro 68-pin to (8) DB25M Cable, 36in Length
Advisory Conventions
Warning
The highest level of importance used to stress a condition where damage could result to the
product, or the user could suffer serious injury.
Important
The middle level of importance used to highlight information that might not seem obvious or a
situation that could cause the product to fail.
Note
The lowest level of importance used to provide background information, additional tips, or other
non-critical facts that will not affect the use of the product.

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Optional Items
Depending upon your application, you are likely to find one or more of the following items useful with the
7803ec. All items can be purchased from our website (www.sealevel.com) by calling our sales team at
[phone].
DB25 Serial Extension Cable (Part Number CA104)
The CA104 is a standard DB25F to DB25M serial extension
cable. Extend a DB25 cable or locate a piece of hardware where
it is needed with this six foot (72 inch) cable. The connectors
are pinned one-to-one, so the cable is compatible with any
device or cable with DB25 connectors. The cable is fully
shielded against interference and the connectors are molded to
provide strain relief. Dual metal thumbscrews secure the cable
connections and prevent accidental disconnection.
DB25F to DB9M Adapter – RS-232 Converter (Part Number CA140)
Converts an RS-232 DB25 Male connector to an RS-232 DB9
Male connector.
DB25F to RJ45 Modular Adapter (Part Number RJ25S8)
DB25 Female to RJ45 Modular Adapter. Excellent choice for
using available infrastructure wiring. Item ships unassembled
and can be easily configured without tools.

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Terminal Blocks
Terminal Block (Part Number TB04-KT)
The TB04-KT terminal block can be used to break out serial and
digital DB25 connectors to 25 screw terminals. The TB04-KT
makes it easy to field wire networks with different pin out
configurations. Compatible with any cable with a DB-25 male
connector.
The TB04-KT ships with a terminal block, a 6 inch piece of
slotted Snap Track, and two DIN-rail mounting clips.
Terminal Block Kit (Part Number KT104)
The KT104 terminal block kit bundles a DB25 breakout board, a
6 inch piece of slotted Snap Track, two DIN-rail mounting clips,
and a DB25 serial extension cable.
Developed to simplify field wiring requirements, the Terminal
Block KT104’s onboard DB25F can be connected directly to
boards that include DB25M cables.

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Card Setup
Address and IRQ Selection
The 7803ec is automatically assigned memory addresses and IRQs by your motherboard BIOS or by a “Plug-
n-Play” Operating System. Adding or removing other hardware or moving the adapter to another slot may
change the assignment of memory addresses and IRQs.
Clock Modes and Baud Rates
The 7803ec derives a 125MHz clock from the PCI express link for the Baud Rate Generator (BRG) which is
divided by a clock prescaler (1 or 4) and a 16-bit clock divisor to obtain a sampling clock of 16X, 8X, or 4X
the serial data rate. The BRG offers a wide range of possible baud rates. Under Windows and Linux, the
best choice of divisor is made automatically by the driver. The bit rate error is within the +/– 2%
recommended tolerance for proper serial communication.
On-board LED indicator
Power LED (D1) is lit when card is powered

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Software Installation
Windows Installation
Do not connect the hardware until the software has been fully installed.
Only users running Windows 7 or newer should utilize these instructions for accessing and
installing the appropriate driver via Sealevel’s website. If you are utilizing an operating system
prior to Windows 7, please contact Sealevel by calling 864.843.4343 or emailing
[email protected] to receive access to the proper driver download and installation
instructions.
The current versions of Sealevel software packages can be obtained from the Sealevel website
(see following instructions). If you already have the Sealevel software, proceed to the Windows
or Linux installation section. Begin by locating, selecting, and installing the correct software:
•Sealevel SeaCOM software for Windows and Linux operating systems is available
at these links:
o Software for Windows
o Software for Linux
•Choose the link for the desired software package (SeaCOM) and click on the
‘Download File’ link to download the current driver.
1. The setup files will automatically detect the operating environment and install the proper
components. Follow the information presented on the screens that follow.
2. A screen may appear with text similar to: “The publisher cannot be determined due to the
problems below: Authenticode signature not found.” Please click the ‘Yes’ button and
proceed with the installation. This declaration simply means that the operating system is
not aware of the driver being loaded. It will not cause any harm to your system.
3. During setup, the user may specify installation directories and other preferred
configurations. This program also adds entries to the system registry that are necessary
for specifying the operating parameters for each driver. An uninstall option is also included
to remove all registry/INI file entries from the system.
4. The software is now installed, and you can proceed with the hardware installation.
Do not connect the hardware until the software has been successfully installed.
To install Sealevel software, you must log in as an administrator or have administrator privileges
in Windows.

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5. The following dialog box may appear, as shown below. Click the ‘OK’ button to continue.
All Sealevel Systems software drivers have been fully tested by Sealevel. Clicking ‘OK’ will not
harm your system.
6. The following dialog box may appear, as shown below. Click the ‘OK’ button to continue.
This is a notification that if you are upgrading from a previous driver version, you should remove
the associated Device Manager hardware entries and reinstall the adapter after the installing the
SeaCOM software.
7. The setup file will automatically detect the operating environment and install the proper
components. Next follow the information presented on the screens that follow. Once the
installation is complete, close the disk installation window.
8. Refer to the Hardware Installation section to connect and install your adapter.

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Upgrading to the Current SeaCOM Driver
1. Download the current driver using the Instructions from the Software Installation section
above. Please take note of the destination directory it will save to.
2. Uninstall the currently loaded driver SeaCOM driver found in the Control Panel. Prior to
Windows Vista SeaCOM will be populated in ‘Add/Remove Programs’ list. In Vista and newer
OSs it will be found in the ‘Programs and Features’ list.
3. Navigate to the Device Manager and remove the Sealevel adapter by right clicking on the line
item choosing ‘Uninstall’. Depending on your product, it can be found under either ‘Multiport
Serial adapters’ or ‘Universal Serial Bus controllers’.
4. Single port ISA cards and PCMCIA cards will need to be uninstalled under ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’.
5. In the Device Manager under ‘Action’, choose ‘Scan for Hardware changes’. This will prompt
the installation of the adapter and associate it with the newly installed SeaCOM driver.
Linux Support
The 7803ec is supported natively in Linux kernels 2.6.28 and later.
Do not connect the hardware until the software has been successfully installed. To install Sealevel
software, you must log in as an administrator or have administrator privileges in Windows.
To install Sealevel software, you must log in as an administrator or have administrator privileges
in Windows.
For additional software support, please call Sealevel Systems’ Technical Support, [phone]. Our
technical support is free and available from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. For
email support contact: [e-mail].

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Hardware Installation
Do not install the PCI Express board until the software has been successfully installed
Once you have installed the software, install the 7803ec into an available PCI Express slot and boot the
computer. The drivers that were installed during the software installation process will automatically be
used to configure the adapter.
Once the hardware installation completes, you may need to restart the computer to finalize the
installation process.
Verifying Installation
To confirm that the serial port has been successfully installed, look in Device Manager under ‘Ports (COM
&LPT)’ and in parentheses should be a COM number assigned to each port number.
Your system will assign the next available COM number, which will vary by computer (COM3
through COM10 are shown in this example).

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Uninstall Instructions
The SeaCOM software program adds entries to the system registry that are necessary for specifying the
operating parameters for your device. To completely remove the hardware and associated software, follow
the steps in the order they appear.
Start with the hardware installed in a PCI Express slot. Do not remove until instructed to do so.
Remove Hardware Using Device Manager
To access Device Manager, follow the steps below:
1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Right click on ‘This PC’ or ‘Computer’ icon.
3. Click ‘Manage’ in the fly out menu to launch the ‘Computer Management’ console window.
4. In the left pane under ‘System Tools’, click ‘Device Manager’.
5. In right pane, expand the ‘Multi-port serial adapters’ section by double clicking it.
6. Locate the COMM+8.PCIe device in the listing.
7. Right click on the entry for the ‘COMM+8.PCIe’ device and click ‘Uninstall’
8. Confirm that you want to uninstall the device by clicking the ‘OK’ button. This will remove the
hardware, COM ports and all registry entries from your computer. Keep the device connected.
9. The window will refresh and the entry for the device will no longer appear. Proceed with
removing the software via Windows Control Panel.
Remove Software Using Control Panel
1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Type ‘Control Panel’ in the address bar and press enter.
3. Click ‘Uninstall a program’ under the ‘Programs’ icon.
4. Double click the ‘SeaCOM’ entry in the list.
5. Follow the dialog options to complete the uninstall.
If you want to completely remove the hardware and software from your computer, power down your
computer, remove the device from the PCI Express slot, and then reboot your computer to complete the
uninstallation.

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Technical Description
The Sealevel Systems 7803ec provides a PCIe interface adapter with eight (8) asynchronous RS-232 serial
ports for modems, printers, and plotters, as well as industrial automation and control applications.
The 7803ec provides UARTs with 256 byte TX and RX FIFOs, programmable baud rates, data format, and
interrupt control.
Micro 68-pin Female Connector Pin Assignments
The 7803ec includes a Micro 68-pin female connector for attaching the included cable (Part Number
CA202).
Pin#
RS-232
Pin#
RS-232
Pin#
RS-232
Pin#
RS-232
1
Port 1 TD (O)
18
GND
35
Port 5 TD (O)
52
GND
2
Port 1 RI (I)
19
Port 3 TD (O)
36
Port 5 RI (I)
53
Port 7 TD (O)
3
Port 1 DCD (I)
20
Port 3 RI (I)
37
Port 5 DCD (I)
54
Port 7 RI (I)
4
Port 1 DTR (O)
21
Port 3 DCD (I)
38
Port 5 DTR (O)
55
Port 7 DCD (I)
5
Port 1 RTS (O)
22
Port 3 DTR (O)
39
Port 5 RTS (O)
56
Port 7 DTR (O)
6
Port 1 DSR (I)
23
Port 3 RTS (O)
40
Port 5 DSR (I)
57
Port 7 RTS (O)
7
Port 1 RD (I)
24
Port 3 DSR (I)
41
Port 5 RD (I)
58
Port 7 DSR (I)
8
Port 1 CTS (I)
25
Port 3 RD (I)
42
Port 5 CTS (I)
59
Port 7 RD (I)
9
Port 2 TD (O)
26
Port 3 CTS (I)
43
Port 6 TD (O)
60
Port 7 CTS (I)
10
Port 2 RI (I)
27
Port 4 TD (O)
44
Port 6 RI (I)
61
Port 8 TD (O)
11
Port 2 DCD (I)
28
Port 4 RI (I)
45
Port 6 DCD (I)
62
Port 8 RI (I)
12
Port 2 DTR (O)
29
Port 4 DCD (I)
46
Port 6 DTR (O)
63
Port 8 DCD (I)
13
Port 2 RTS (O)
30
Port 4 DTR (O)
47
Port 6 RTS (O)
64
Port 8 DTR (O)
14
Port 2 DSR (I)
31
Port 4 RTS (O)
48
Port 6 DSR (I)
65
Port 8 RTS (O)
15
Port 2 RD (I)
32
Port 4 DSR (I)
49
Port 6 RD (I)
66
Port 8 DSR (I)
16
Port 2 CTS (I)
33
Port 4 RD (I)
50
Port 6 CTS (I)
67
Port 8 RD (I)
17
GND
34
Port 4 CTS (I)
51
GND
68
Port 8 CTS (I)
(I) = Input
(O) = Output
“N/C” = Not Connected (unused)
“–” = Reserved

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DB25 Male Cable Pin Assignments
The 7803ec includes a cable (Part Number CA202) with a Micro 68-pin male connector terminating to eight
DB25 male connectors.
Pin#
RS-232
Pin#
RS-232
1
N/C
14
N/C
2
TD (O)
15
N/C
3
RD (I)
16
N/C
4
RTS (O)
17
N/C
5
CTS (I)
18
N/C
6
DSR (I)
19
N/C
7
GND
20
DTR (O)
8
DCD (I)
21
N/C
9
N/C
22
RI (I)
10
N/C
23
N/C
11
N/C
24
N/C
12
N/C
25
N/C
13
N/C
N/A
N/A
(I) = Input
(O) = Output
“N/C” = Not Connected (unused)
“N/A” = Not Applicable
Please terminate any unused control signals. The most common way to do this in RS-232 mode is
to connect RTS to CTS and RI. Also, connect DTR to DCD and DSR.

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Technical Specifications
Environmental Specifications
Specification Operating Storage
Temperature Range 0º to 70º C (32º to 158º F) -50º to 105º C (-58º to 221º F)
Humidity Range 10 to 90% R.H. Non-Condensing 10 to 90% R.H. Non-Condensing
MTBF (Telcordia SR-332 prediction method)
Mean Time Between Failure TBD hours At 25º C ambient
Manufacturing
All Sealevel Systems Printed Circuit boards are built to UL 94V0 rating and are 100% electrically tested.
These printed circuit boards are solder mask over bare copper or solder mask over tin nickel.
Power Consumption
Typical Power Draw TBD
Supply voltage +3.3 VDC +12 VDC
Rating TBD mA TBD mA

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Appendix A – Troubleshooting
Once you have confirmed that the serial adapter COM ports are listed in Device Manager, use the Sealevel
WinSSD utility to verify communications. Detailed help is included in the WinSSD utility.
If you have a loopback plug, put it on the adapter connector. If you do not have a loopback plug, you can
use female jumper wires to make the connection to verify the functionality.
RS-232 requires pins 2 (Receive) & 3 (Transmit) to be jumpered as shown in this graphic:
If you do not have a loopback plug or jumper wires handy, you can use a metal device such as a
knife, screwdriver, key, or paperclip to short pins two and three.

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To test communications, launch the WinSSD utility in the SeaCOM folder in the ‘Start’ menu.
On the ‘Port Information’ tab, select the associated COM port and click the ‘Open’ button.
This will first open the COM port. From this tab the port can also be closed (See image below). Click the
‘Settings’ button to open the COM Port Properties dialog box. This will allow the Port Settings to be altered.

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Change your parameters to 9600 bits per second, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, and no flow control, as
pictured below.
Click ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’.

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In the main WinSSD window, click on the ‘BERT’ tab (Bit Error Rate test).
Click on the ‘Start’ button.

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If the COM port is properly working, the Sync Status green light will glow, and the Transmit Frames and
Receive Frames will increase. The Tx and Rx Data Rates will show the calculated data rate.
This verifies that the adapter is working properly. You can continue testing this port with different
configurations or proceed with testing other ports, if necessary.
If these steps do not solve your problem, please call Sealevel Systems’ Technical Support, [phone].
Our technical support is free and available from 8:00 A.M.- 5:00 P.M. Eastern Time Monday through Friday.
For email support contact [e-mail].