Comtrol DM ATS-NTe - Manual (Page 33)

PC104 RocketPort Option 33
Testing an RS-485 Port
Note: If no characters appear, try putting the loopback plug on an adjacent
port. It may be that you have the ports mixed up.
3. If further testing is required, select Loopback Test from the Port menu.
If the loopback plug is in place and the port is
working correctly, the system should return the
message Passed.
If the loopback plug is not in place or the port is
not working correctly, the system will return the
message Failed.
Testing an RS-485
Port Perform the following procedure to determine if a port or ports are functioning
properly.
1. Connect a straight-through cable from Port 1 to Port 2.
Note: See Building an RS-485 Test Cable on Page 30 for the cable
information. If testing ports other than Ports 1 and 2, connect the cable
between the two ports being tested.
2. Open a session for each port.
3. Enter data into the Port 1 session, the data should appear in the Port 2
window.
4. Enter data into the Port 2 session, the data should appear in the Port 1
window.
Note: If the data appears as described in Steps 3 and 4, the hardware is
functioning properly.
Test Terminal
Modem Control
Signals The terminal window displays the modem control signals as gray
or green lights at the top of the window. The first four are inputs:
The lights are green if they are turned on, or gray if off. The text
on the light also changes from uppercase (CTS), which is on, to lowercase (cts),
which is off.
The next two lights are outputs:
Note: If you have a loopback plug connected and you click on one of the outputs,
the corresponding signal is sent to the input and the input lights should
toggle accordingly.
The right most light is the loop indicator:
If this is on, the COM port internal loopback feature is activated and any
information or code entered in the terminal window loops back through the COM
port circuitry. If this is off, the COM port internal loopback is deactivated, and any
information or code entered in the terminal window is sent out of the port.
Using Port Monitor The Port Monitor program (portmon.exe) offers a summary of all Comtrol device
statistics in one spreadsheet view. It also enables you to verify operation of all
Comtrol device ports from a single window.
The Port Monitor display follows the familiar spreadsheet model: each COM port
is a horizontal row, and each vertical column displays a variable or value for the
respective COM port. For definitions of the abbreviations used, see
Port Monitor
Variables on Page 37.
Port Monitor can also produce statistics and reports that can help you verify the
operation of the COM ports and connected peripherals. Some immediate feedback
includes:
• The state of the modem control and status signals
• Open ports
• Raw byte input and output counts obtained from NS-Link
• Port errors