Black Box 26573, ACS335A-AS manual Technically Speaking

Technically Speaking

The ServSwitch Fiber Optic KVM Extenders‘ keyboard

and mouse interfaces are standard PS/2® type interfaces, so you can attach just about any standard PS/2 compatible keyboard and mouse to the unit. To attach a PC/AT® style keyboard with a 5-pin DIN connector to the extender, you’ll need a keyboard adapter (to order, call our FREE Tech Support).

The extenders come with zip-style cable for making VGA connections to your server; the audio/serial model comes with serial and audio CPU cables, too.

For monitoring operation, the remote module has a seven- segment display that continuously­ indicates link status. In addition, Device Ready LEDs on both local and remote units inform you of their operational status, so you can troubleshoot­ at either end.

The ServSwitch Fiber Optic KVM Extenders support all

VGA graphics cards and VGA resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 @ 75 Hz. You can use them to transfer RGB as well as VGA (RGBVH) signals and, if necessary, convert signals to transfer RGB to VGA or from VGA to RGB. All you have to do is make a simple jumper adjustment on the extenders’ motherboards.

There’s no need to worry about the video getting horribly distorted at either end of the fiber optic link. By default, the KVM extenders operate with an automatic gain control (AGC) function enabled. With AGC enabled, the gain of each color signal is fixed to give colors the same white level (0.7 Vpp), and most video problems are cleaned up automatically.

In some applications, it may be necessary to switch off the AGC so you can optimize video (to remedy a chromatic aberration, for instance). For this, you just need to flip internal jumpers and tweak the manual brightness and contrast potentiometer dials on the rear panel of each unit. You can also attenuate the optic budget to raise the optical loss to a value that corrects any unstable image. (To do this, you need fiber pigtail coupling connectors. For details, call our FREE Tech Support.)

The seven-segment display aids with troubleshooting video gain. For instance, if it shows an ”F,” you’ve adjusted the contrast on the unit too high and, with AGC no longer possible, you need to readjust the gain.

Extend serial data and stereo audio, too.

To add RS-232 serial and audio extension capabilities to your KVM-over-fiber extender application, order the ACS335A-AS version of the ServSwitch Fiber Optic KVM Extender. The circuit boards on its local and remote units support transmitting bidirectional stereo audio and full-duplex 19-kbps serial data across the interconnecting fiber cable.

The serial ports on the ACS335A-AS support extending TX, RX, RTS, CTS, DTR, and DSR serial signals (and, in some cases, RI and DCD signals, for which a wiring adapter may be required.) You can connect either one serial device requiring hardware handshaking or—using breakout cable—up to three simple 2-wire serial devices (TX/RX only). No user adjustments are required for the serial connection.

For multimedia capability, connect a set of speakers or a headset or microphone to a workstation linked to the remote unit. The extenders transmit stereo audio bidirectionally and simultaneously across the fiber cable link. The extender local unit sends audio digitally (as part of a 16-bit, 38.4-KHz signal) for near-CD sound quality at the remote end of the fiber interconnection.

The line-level interface is designed to receive output from a sound card or other line-level source and connect to a set of powered speakers at the remote console. No further setup is required unless a microphone is connected to the remote unit (in which case, you just need to ensure that your sound card is set up and wired to provide sufficient amplification).

01/29/2010

#26573

724-746-5500

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