SeaLevel ULTRA COMM+I.PCI 7103 User manual

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
ULTRA COMM+I.PCI™
User Manual | 7103

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
Contents
CONTENTS...........................................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................3
BEFORE YOU GET STARTED ...............................................................................................................................4
CARD SETUP ........................................................................................................................................................6
INSTALLATION ..................................................................................................................................................10
HARDWARE INSTALLATION .............................................................................................................................11
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION ...............................................................................................................................12
SPECIFICATIONS ...............................................................................................................................................13
APPENDIX A –TROUBLESHOOTING................................................................................................................14
APPENDIX B –HOW TO GET ASSISTANCE .....................................................................................................15
APPENDIX C –ELECTRICAL INTERFACE ........................................................................................................16
APPENDIX D –GROUND LOOP PHENOMENON..............................................................................................18
APPENDIX E - ASYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATIONS....................................................................................19
APPENDIX F - SILK SCREEN..............................................................................................................................20
APPENDIX G - COMPLIANCE NOTICES............................................................................................................21
WARRANTY ........................................................................................................................................................22

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
Introduction
The Sealevel Systems ULTRA COMM+I.PCI is a single channel isolated PCI Bus serial I/O adapter for the
PC and compatibles. Utilizing the Exar 16C850 UART with its industry leading 128 byte FIFOs, it provides a
field selectable RS-232/422/485 serial port supporting data rates up to 460.8K bps (RS-422/485).
Configure as RS-232 for standard serial COM: port requirements. Choose the RS-422 mode for long
distance device connections up to 5000ft. where noise immunity and high data integrity are essential.
Select RS-485 and capture data from multiple peripherals in a RS-485 multidrop network. Up to 31 RS-485
devices can be connected to each port to automate your data collection. You can even mix the ports in any
of the interface combinations to provide maximum flexibility to your application. Optional Terminal Block
adapters are available to simplify field-wiring connections.
In both RS-232 and RS-422 modes, the card works seamlessly with the standard operating system serial
driver. In RS-485 mode, our special auto-enable feature allows the RS-485 ports to be viewed by the
operating system as a COM: port. This allows the standard COM: driver to be utilized for RS-485
communications. Our on-board hardware automatically handles the RS-485 driver enable.

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
Before You Get Started
What’s Included
The ULTRA COMM+I.PCI is shipped with the following items. If any of these items are missing or damaged,
please contact Sealevel for replacement.
•ULTRA COMM+I.PCI Serial I/O Adapter
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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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
Factory Default Settings
The ULTRA COMM+I.PCI factory default settings are as follows:
Port #
Electrical Specification
Port 1
RS-422
To install the ULTRA COMM+I.PCI using factory default settings, refer to Installation.

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
Card Setup
Electrical Interface Selection
The ULTRA COMM+I.PCI has the ability to be used as RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485. This is selectable via DIP-
switches, SW1. Please use the following examples to configure your adapter.
Figure 1 - RS-232
Figure 2 –RS-422
Figure 3 –RS-485, 4-Wire with Echo
Figure 4 - RS-485, 2-wire with Echo
Figure 5 - RS-485, 2-wire without Echo
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ON
OFF 8 9 10
1 2 3 T P P L L E
RS-232
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ON
OFF 8 9 10
1 2 3 T P P L L E
RS-422
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ON
OFF 8 9 10
1 2 3 T P P L L E
4-Wire
RS-485
W/Echo
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ON
OFF 8 9 10
1 2 3 T P P L L E
2-Wire
RS-485
W/Echo
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
ON
OFF 8 9 10
1 2 3 T P P L L E
2-Wire
RS-485
NO Echo

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
Card Setup, Continued
Line Termination
Typically, each end of the RS-485 bus must have line-terminating resistors (RS-422 terminates at the receive
end only). A 120-ohm resistor is across each RS-422/485 input in addition to a 1K-ohm pull-up/pull-down
combination that biases the receiver inputs. Switches SW1 and SW2 allow the user to customize this
interface to their specific requirements. Each switch position corresponds to a specific portion of the
interface. If multiple ULTRA COMM+I.PCI adapters are configured in a RS-485 network, only the boards on
each end should have jumpers T, P & P ON. Refer to the following table for each position’s operation:
Name
Function
T
Adds or removes the 120 ohm termination.
P
Adds or removes the 1K ohm pull-down resistor in the RS-422/RS-
485 receiver circuit (Receive data only).
P
Adds or removes the 1K ohm pull-up resistor in the RS-422/RS-
485 receiver circuit (Receive data only).
L
Connects the TX+ to RX+ for RS-485 two wire operation.
L
Connects the TX- to RX- for RS-485 two wire operation.
RS-485 Enable Mode
RS-485 is ideal for multi-drop or network environments. RS-485 requires a tri-state driver that will allow the
electrical presence of the driver to be removed from the line. The driver is in a tri-state or high impedance
condition when this occurs. Only one driver may be active at a time and the other driver(s) must be tri-
stated. The output modem control signal Request To Send (RTS) is typically used to control the state of
the driver. Some communication software packages refer to RS-485 as RTS enable or RTS block mode
transfer.
One of the unique features of the ULTRA COMM+I.PCI is the ability to be RS-485 compatible without the
need for special software or drivers. This ability is especially useful in Operating Systems where the lower
level I/O control is abstracted from the application program. This ability means that the user can effectively
use the ULTRA COMM+I.PCI in an RS-485 application with existing (i.e., standard RS-232) software drivers.
Switch SW2 is used to control the RS-485 mode functions for the driver circuit. The selections are ‘RTS’
enable (silk-screen ‘RT’ switch position 4), or ‘Auto’ enable (silk-screen ‘AT’ switch position 3). The ‘Auto’
enable feature automatically enables/disables the RS-485 interface. The ‘RTS’ mode uses the ‘RTS’ modem
control signal to enable the RS-485 interface and provides backward compatibility with existing software
products.

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
Card Setup, Continued
The RS-485 ‘Echo’ is the result of connecting the receiver inputs to the transmitter outputs. Every time a
character is transmitted; it is also received. This can be beneficial if the software can handle echoing (i.e.,
using received characters to throttle the transmitter) or it can confuse the system if the software does not.
Position 9 of SW1 is used to control the RS-485 enable/disable functions for the receiver circuit. To select
the ‘No Echo’ mode place switch position 9 to the ‘On’ position (see Figure 5).
Figure 6 - RS-485 Enable modes
Clock Modes
The ULTRA COMM+I.PCI employs a unique clocking option that allows the end user to select from divide
by 4 and divide by 1 clocking modes. These modes are selected at switches SW-2.
To select the Baud rates commonly associated with COM: ports (i.e., 2400, 4800, 9600, 19.2, … 115.2K Bps)
set switch position 2 to the ‘On’ position (silk-screen D4). To select the maximum data rate (460.8K bps)
set switch position 1 to the ‘On’ position (silk-screen D1).
Figure 7 - Clocking Modes
1 2 3 4
ON
OFF
D
1D 4A TR T
SW2
RS-232/422
Default 1 2 3 4
ON
OFF
D
1D 4A TR T
SW2
RS-485
Auto
Enabled
D
1D 4A TR T
1 2 3 4
ON
OFF
SW2
Divide by
1 mode
Divide by
4 mode
1 2 3 4
ON
OFF
D
1D 4A TR T
SW2

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
Baud Rates and Divisors for the 'Div1' Mode
The following table shows some common data rates and the rates you should choose to match them if
using the adapter in the ‘Div1’ mode.
For this Data Rate
Choose this Data Rate
1200 bps
300 bps
2400 bps
600 bps
4800 bps
1200 bps
9600 bps
2400 bps
19.2K bps
4800 bps
57.6 K bps
14.4K bps
115.2 K bps
28.8K bps
230.4K bps
57.6K bps
460.8K bps
115.2K bps
If your communications package allows the use of Baud rate divisors, choose the appropriate divisor from
the following table:
For this Data Rate
Choose this Divisor
1200 bps
384
2400 bps
192
4800 bps
96
9600 bps
48
19.2K bps
24
38.4K bps
12
57.6K bps
8
115.2K bps
4
230.4K bps
2
460.8K bps
1

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© Sealevel Systems, Inc. 7103 Manual | SL9161 7/2021
Installation
Software Installation
Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7™ Operating Systems
Do not install the adapter until the software has been successfully installed.
1. Begin by locating, selecting, and installing the correct software (SeaCOM Software) from the
Sealevel’s software database: Sealevel Driver Downloads & Software.Select SeaCOM software for
Windows. Select SeaCOM for Windows v3.7.5 in Downloads.
2. The setup files will automatically detect the operating environment and install the proper
components. Follow the information presented on the screens that follow.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The software is now installed, and you can proceed with the hardware installation.
Other Operating Systems
Refer to the appropriate section of the Serial Utilities Software.
LINUX INSTALLATION
Refer to the Linux Archives - Sealevel. This link contains valuable information on installing your serial
adapter in the various Linux releases. Also included is a series of files explaining proper Linux syntax and
typical Linux serial implementations.
QNX
For the most up to date information on the QNX4 and QNX6 software support, please call Sealevel Systems’
Technical Support, [phone]. Our technical support is free and available from 8:00AM-5PM Eastern
Time, Monday through Friday. For email support contact: [e-mail].