Campbell NL100, Instruction Manual

NL100/105 Network Link Interface 

3.2.3  MD485 Connection from NL100/105 to Datalogger 

Campbell Scientific's RS485 communication device, the MD485, can be 
attached to an NL100/105 to provide a communication link to one or more 
dataloggers. The MD485 has three communication ports: RS485 (two 
terminals but the same physical port), CS I/O, and RS232. It can be configured 
for communication on any two of its three ports at one time. The most typical 
use of the MD485 is to set up a network of dataloggers linked together in an 
RS485 network. However, you can also attach a datalogger or other 
compatible peripheral to the CS I/O port or the RS-232 port of the MD485.  

The MD485 can be configured to communicate in a transparent (point to point) 
mode, as an MD9 emulator, or as a peripheral in a PakBus network. For 
transparent or PakBus communication, the MD485 is attached to the 
NL100/105's RS485 port using a 3-wire shielded cable (i.e., a 2 twisted pair 
shielded cable). For MD9 emulation, at least two MD485s are required. One 
MD485 is attached to the NL100/105's RS232 port using an SC12 cable. This 
MD485 acts as a base MD9 device, since the NL100/105 is, in itself, not 
capable of MD9 communication. A second MD485 is attached to each of the 
dataloggers. 

An appendix in the MD485 manual provides complete information on setting 
up the NL100/105 and the MD485s for each of the above configurations, along 
with information on the settings used in LoggerNet. 

3.2.4  RF Connection from NL100/105 to Datalogger 

Interfacing the NL100/105 to an RF Base station enables wireless 
communication to remote datalogger stations over a TCP/IP network.  The 
preferred configuration uses the NL100/105's RS-232 port (DTE) for 
connection to the RF Base as follows: 

For connecting to the RS-232 port (DCE) of the RF4xx series or RF450 Spread 
Spectrum radios, a standard RS-232 serial cable (CSI# 10873 or equivalent) is 
used.

For connecting to the RS-232 port (DTE) on an RF500M RF Modem, a null-
modem RS-232 serial cable (CSI# 13657 or equivalent) must be used.  If 
connecting to the CSI/O port on the RF500M, an SC532A 9-Pin Peripheral to 
RS-232 interface adapter and standard serial cables are required. 

When connecting to an RF310B Base Station or its predecessors 
(or directly to an  RF310M RF Modem via an SC532A), the RTS 
line in the standard RS-232 serial cable (pin seven on a 9-pin 
connector or pin four on a 25-pin connector) must be disabled.  
This is done to prevent driving the SDE signal (pin 6) on the RF 
Modem's CSI/O port high and inhibiting the ME communication 
cycle.

NOTE

If circumstances should require the utilization of the NL100/105's CS I/O port 
for connection to an RF base, please contact a Campbell Scientific 
Applications Engineer for information about how this might be achieved. 

The configuration of the Setup window in LoggerNet will vary depending on 
the equipment and configuration settings employed.  Please consult the 
relevant manual(s) for configuration specifics.  Figure 5 depicts the LoggerNet 

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