Moxa Technologies TCF-142-M(-T) dimensions Overview, Dimensions and Appearance, Features

TCF-142-M(-T), TCF-142-S(-T)

RS-232/422/485 to Fiber Converter

Quick Installation Guide

Eighth Edition, July 2006

1. Overview

Introduction

The TCF-142 series (Ver. 3.1 or later) converters are equipped with a multiple interface circuit that can handle RS-232, or RS-422/485 serial interfaces, and multi-mode or single-mode fiber. The TCF-142 converters extend serial transmission distance up to 5 km (TCF-142-M, with

	RS-232
			TCF-142
			sw
		Tx	Rx
Rx	Tx	Rx	Tx	Rx	Tx
sw		sw		sw
	TCF-142		TCF-142		TCF-142

RS-422 RS-485 RS-232

4. Dimensions and Appearance

TCF-142 fiber converters are easy to set up and use. The serial terminal block of one of the converters connects to your computer, the serial terminal block of the other converter connects to your serial device, and the two converters are connected by fiber cable(s).

NOTE Electrostatic Discharge Warning!

To protect the product from damage due to electrostatic discharge, we recommend wearing a grounding device when maintaining TCF-142.

4 3 2 1

ON

22.0mm (0.87 in)

multi-mode fiber) or up to 40 km (TCF-142-S, with single-mode fiber). The TCF-142 must be configured to transmit a particular serial interface (e.g., RS-232 and RS-485 signals cannot be transmitted at the same time).

Why convert serial to Fiber?

Fiber communication not only extends the communication distance, but also provides many advantageous features.

IMMUNITY FROM ELECTRICAL INTERFERENCE: Fiber is not affected by electromagnetic interference or radio frequency interference. It provides a clean communication path and is immune to cross-talk. INSULATION: Optical fiber is an insulator; the glass fiber eliminates the need for using electric currents as the communication medium. SECURITY: Fiber cannot be tapped by conventional electric means and is very difficult to tap into optically. Furthermore, radio and satellite communication signals can be captured easily for decoding. RELIABILITY & MAINTENANCE: Fiber is immune to adverse temperature and moisture conditions, does not corrode or lose its signal, and is not affected by short circuits, power surges, or static electricity.

Reverse Power Protection

The Reverse Power Protection feature provides extra protection against accidentally connecting the power cables to the wrong terminal. The

DIP Switch Selectable Terminator

The termination resistor for many products of this type is set by a jumper located inside the product’s casing. To disable or change the resistor’s strength, the user must open the casing to reset the jumper. MOXA offers a better solution, since TCF-142’s termination resistor is set with a DIP Switch located on the outside of the converter’s casing.

No Configuration Required for Baudrate Settings

The TCF-142 works under any baudrate from 300 bps to 921.6 Kbps. The TCF-142 simply converts the signal back and forth between serial (RS-232, RS-422, or RS-485) and fiber, and since the TCF-142 does not need to interpret the signal, it does not need to know the baudrate of the transmitting device. For this reason, TCF-142 does not have any DIP switches or jumpers for setting the baudrate.

2. Features

y “Ring” or “Point to Point” transmission
y Extend RS-232/422/485 transmission distance:
	> up to 40 km with single-mode—TCF-142-S
	> up to 5 km with multi-mode—TCF-142-M
y	Compact size
y	Decrease signal interference

21.3 mm

(0.8 in)

42.3mm (1.67 in)

	O 6 mm
	(0.24 in)
	O 4 mm
100.4mm (3.95 in)	(0.16 in)
	25 mm (0.98 in)
	12.5 mm
	(0.49 in)
	O 7 mm
	(0.28 in)

67 mm (2.64 in)
78 mm (3.07 in)
22.0 mm	(0.87 in)
67 mm (2.64 in)
90.2 mm (3.55 in)

converter is designed to detect automatically which power wire is positive and which is negative, and then adjust the power supply accordingly.

Ring Mode

To allow one half-duplex serial device to communicate with multiple half-duplex devices connected to a fiber ring, you should configure the TCF-142 for “ring mode” by setting DIP switch “SW4” to the “On” position. The Tx port of a particular TCF-142 unit connects to the neighboring converter’s Rx port to form the ring. Note that when one node transmits a signal, the signal travels around the ring until it returns back to the transmitting unit, which then blocks the signal. Users should ensure that the total fiber ring length is less than 100 km when using TCF-142 series converters.

y Protect against electronic degradation and chemical corrosion
y	Supports a baudrate up to 921.6 Kbps
y	Extended operating temperature from -40 to 75°C (for -T models)

3. Package Checklist

Before installing the TCF-142, verify that the package contains the following items:

yTCF-142-S or TCF-142-M Fiber Converter

yQuick Installation Guide

y7-contact terminal block connector

y3-contact terminal block connector

Notify your sales representative if any of the above items is missing or damaged.

5. Wiring Examples

Connecting the Power Supply

Before using the TCF-142, you must first connect the DC power supply to the power supply terminal block located on the bottom side of the TCF-142. The TCF-142 uses a DC power supply.

Connecting RS-422 or 4-wire RS-485 Serial Devices

GND	GND	RS-422/485		422/485-RS	T+	Rx+
Rx+	T+				GND	GND
Rx-	T-	Rx	Tx		R-	Tx-
Tx+	R+				R+	Tx+
Tx-	R-	Tx	Rx		T-	Rx-
Serial Copper		Fiber			Copper	Serial
Device	TCF-142			TCF-142		Device

— 1 —

P/N: 1802001420600

— 2 —

— 3 —