Using RS-232
Background
The Vision-RTK 2 features two UART I/O interfaces. They use TTL level signals (3.3 V). These logic-level interfaces are not RS-232. RS-232 uses different voltage levels and signalling. In order to connect a Vision-RTK 2 UART to a RS-232 serial port a conversion of the signals is required. For this one can for example use a MAX232 series chip. Lots of breakout boards are available in the market and the circuit is also simple to build from scratch. See the links at the end of this page for more information.
Fixposition RS-232 cable
Fixposition can supply a kit to connect the Vision -RTK 2 sensor to RS-232 equipment. Contact support@fixposition.com.
Available cables
Two kits are available. They consist of:
A cable from the either the I/O connector (UART1) or the AUX connector (UART2)
Note that even though the cables have the same connectors at either end, the wiring is different. That is, the I/O cable only works for the I/O connector (UART1) and the AUX cable only works for the AUX connector.
The length of the cable is deliberately short so that the TTL levels signals do not distort or attenuate too much, which can easily happen and is more likely the longer the cable is.
A converter to match the UART TTL signal levels on one side with the RS-232 signal levels on the other side. The adapter is bi-directional and works for output from the Vision RKT 2 as well as for input to the Vision-RTK 2.
A DE-9 gender changer that can optionally be used to change the gender on the RS-232 side
A DE-9 null-modem adapter that can optionally be used to swap the RX and TX lines on the RS-232 side.
Kit 1: UART1 (I/O connector) ↔︎ RS-232 | Kit 2: UART2 (AUX connector) ↔︎ RS-232 |
---|---|
Cable for I/O connector (UART1) | Cable for AUX connector (UART2) |
Adapter UART TTL signals ↔︎ RS-232 signals | |
Null-modem adapter (swaps RX and TX signals) | |
Gender changer | |
Usage
Connect the TTL-RS232 converter to the cable. The converter’s side marked with “TTL” should connect to the DE-9 end of the cable.
Optionally, and depending on your RS-232 equipment, add the gender changer and/or the null modem adapter(s).
Connect the cable to the Vision-RTK 2
Depending on which cable you have, connect either to the I/O port respectively the AUX port.
Connect the RS-232 end of the converter (respectively the optional adapter(s) from step 2. above) to your RS-232 equipment.
Make sure that the baudrate is set to the same value (e.g. 115’200) on both the Vision-RTK 2 UART port and your RS-232 equipment. You can find this setting on the ‘Configuration > I/O’ page of the webinterface.
Communication between your RS-232 equipment and the Vision-RTK 2 should now work.