Station Bus Wiring
WireLink stations connect to the station bus at the screw
terminals. Station bus wire specification: Vantage wire (part
VDA-0113) or equivalent – 2C twisted pair, non-shielded,
16AWG, less than 30pF per foot, CL3 wire. Maximum total
station bus wire, each run = 2,000 feet, no station more than
1,000 feet from enclosure. Station Bus should be separated a
minimum of 18" from other parallel communication and/or high
voltage runs.
Main Enclosure to Secondary Enclosure Wiring
Connecting a Main Enclosure to a Secondary Enclosure
requires 16/18-gauge 4-conductor twisted, non-shielded wire.
Three of the wires are always used to connect the Main
Enclosure to the Secondary Enclosure. This is a polarized
connection with “+”, “–“ and “Gnd” screw terminals for
communication. The 4th wire is for Manual Override and is
optional. The InFusion System uses an enhanced Secondary
Enclosure Bus. Each Secondary Enclosure Bus can support two
Secondary Enclosures for a maximum of six Secondary
Enclosures (see InFusion wiring below) per Main Enclosure. In
the QLink System each Secondary Enclosure must be wired
directly to the Main Enclosure Terminal Board, do not daisy
chain, for a maximum of three Secondary Enclosures.
Maximum wiring distance from Main Enclosure to Secondary
Enclosures is 200ft including an A/B InFusion system.
Main Terminal Board Terminator
If only one Main Enclosure is used, the Controller Bus
Termination (InFusion) or Master Network Termination (QLink)
switch must be ON. This switch is located on the Enclosure
Terminal Board. If multiple Main Enclosures are used ONLY the
first and last Enclosure Terminal Boards on each bus should
have the Network Termination switch set to ON. Example: In a
five Main Enclosure system, Main Controllers 1 and 5 are not
necessarily the first and last Controllers, i.e., the “wiring” order
could be 2-1-3-5-4. In this example, Main Enclosures 2 and 4
are the first and last Controllers in the network, so only these
two would have the Network Termination switch ON, the other
three must be set to OFF.
RS-232 (Ports 1-5) for InFusion
The Main Enclosure Terminal Board has five RS-232 ports. Use
these ports to connect any device that uses RS-232
communication. Any compatible RS-232 device may be
connected to these ports, however; only one device should be
connected at a time to any RS-232 port. Vantage also
manufactures an RS-232 Station if you require additional or
remote RS-232 connections.
Vantage typically uses RX, TX and GND for communication but
does have RTS and CTS for some applications on RS-232 Ports
1 and 2. RS-232 Ports 3-5 only have TX, RX and GND. All five
ports can use software flow control. The default protocol may
be changed through Design Center software.
Communication protocol settings:
Standard baud rates 1200 – 115.2K ●7-8 Data Bits ●Even, Odd,
Forced or No Parity ●200ft. maximum wiring distance.
The default protocol for RS-232 communication is:
Baud: 19200 ●Parity: None ●Total bits: 8 ●Stop bits: 1
RS-232 (Port A) for QLink
An external RS-232 port is available via the Master Terminal
Board. Vantage recommends that this RS-232 port be used
with a Q-Modem-A, a RadioLink Enabler or an IP Enabler. If
multiple Main Controllers are used on a system, the other
RS-232 ports can be used with third party RS-232 devices. The
default communication protocol is: Baud=19200, Parity=none,
Total bits=8, Stop bits=1, and Flow Control=none. This RS-232
port can also be configured, using QLink software. Vantage
also manufactures an RS-232 Station if you require multiple or
remote RS-232 connections.
RS-485 Connections for InFusion
The Main Enclosure Terminal Board has two RS-485 ports.
These ports are shared with Secondary Enclosure ports 3 and
4. The ports may not be used for Secondary Enclosure support
and RS-485 support simultaneously. However, if Secondary
enclosure Bus ports 3 and/or 4 are free they may be used as
RS-485 communication ports. The RS-485 ports are half-
duplex, meaning that each port can transmit and receive but
not at the same time. Maximum wiring distance for RS-485
ports is 200ft.
Possible Ground Loop Issues
All RS-232/RS-484 connections between third party
equipment and RS-232/RS-485 connections on the Main
(Master) Enclosure Terminal Board, may produce a ground
loop. Most often the connected RS-232/RS-485 device is not
using the same power source or is far away from the Vantage
enclosure resulting in a possible ground loop or data noise
condition. If this condition is suspected, Vantage recommends
a third party RS-232/RS-485 Opto (optical) Isolation Module.
Opto Isolation provides a communications link and is an
important consideration if a system uses different power
sources, has noisy signals or must operate at different ground
potentials.
Auxiliary Power:
The InFusion System Main Enclosure Terminal Board has a
12VDC auxiliary power connection. The 12VDC connection is
typically used for one RF Enabler. Total power is limited to
250ma. NOTE: If an additional RF Enabler is connected to the
Main Enclosure Terminal Board, it must be powered externally.
The QLink System Master Terminal Board has 12VDC and
24VDC power connections. The 12VDC connection is normally
used with a RadioLink Enabler, an IP Enabler or a Vantage
Modem. The available current is limited to 0.250A (250mA) or
if the system is using all new modules with the MDS or MDR
model numbers the current is limited to 0.750A (750mA). The
24VDC connection should not be used with systems that have
more than 20-30 stations connected.
QLink Secondary Auxiliary Power:
QLink’s Slave Terminal Board has a 12VDC power connection.
The 12VDC connection is provided for any device meeting this
power specification. The available current is limited to 0.250A
(250mA). This power is only available when a Slave Controller
is used. Remember new MDS-Series and MDR-Series modules
and InFusion Systems do not use a Slave Controller.
Manual Override
In the unlikely event of a Main Controller Failure, the Manual
Override can be used to turn selected loads ON. If the system
is in override, individual loads can be controlled by dip-
switches located on each Module in the enclosure. Manual
Override control can be extended to other enclosures. It is
common to extend Manual Override between a Main Enclosure
and its Secondary enclosures. It is not recommended to extend
Manual Override Between Main Enclosures.
Proper High Voltage Terminations: PROPER TORQUE:
CONNECTOR TORQUE WIRE RANGE
#10 SCREW TERMINAL 18 INCH POUNDS 14-8 AWG*
#8 SCREW TERMINAL 18 INCH POUNDS 14-10 AWG*
ENCLOSURE POWER 18 INCH POUNDS 14-10 AWG*
GROUND BARS 35 INCH POUNDS 14-10 AWG*
*MUST MATCH BREAKER WIRE GAUGE
