LTNET485 DIN Rail Mounted Ethernet-to-Serial Device Server

• Interfaces to a mix of up to 31 Laurel meters and transmitters via an RS485 bus.
• Connects to Laurel meters via an RJ11 jack and 6-wire data cables.
• Connects to Laurel transmitters via discrete parallel wires.
• Supports half- or full-duplex RS485.
• Discovers and configures nodes and connected devices via a Web Server or Windows-based Node Manager software.

The LTNET485 DIN Rail Ethernet-to-Serial Device Server provides a 10/100BaseT interface to the Ethernet and serves as an Ethernet-to-RS485 converter and device server for a mix of up to 31 Laurel meters and transmitters on an RS485 bus. The Ethernet connection is via a standard RJ45 jack. The connection to the RS485 bus can be via an RJ11 jack or via discrete screw terminals. The lines of the RJ11 jack and the screw terminals are wired in parallel.

Laurel transmitters come with RS485 I/O as a standard feature and can be connected to the LTNET485 Device Server using screws terminals and 3 discrete parallel wires (half-duplex RS485) or 5 discrete parallel wires (full-duplex RS485), with no need for a hub. This includes LTA transmitters and LTM transmitters.

Priced at only $150, the LTNET485 is a very economical and easy means to interface different types of Laurel transmitters to an Ethernet LAN and to the Internet. The transmitters can be any mix of analog input types (voltage, current, AC, DC, strain gauge, load cell, thermocouple, RTD, ohms) and pulse input types (frequency, rate, totalizing, quadrature position or rate, period, elapsed time, sum, difference or ratio of two inputs).

Laurel meters to be connected to the LTNET485 Device Server need to be equipped with an RS485 option board with dual RJ11 jacks (digital interface ordering option 2). Multiple meters can then be daisy-chained using readily-available commercial 6-wire straight-through data cables (not crossover cables), with no need for a hub.

As an alternative, multiple Laurel meters can be interfaced to a single Ethernet line via an Ethernet-to-RS485 Converter Board in one of the meters. That board offers an RJ11 jack for connection to the RS485 bus as required for meters (like the LTNET485), but not screw terminal connectors as required for Laurel transmitters (unlike the LTNET485). Individual Laurel meters equipped with an Ethernet interface board can also be interfaced to a single Ethernet line.

Discovery and configuration of Ethernet nodes and their connected devices can be achieved by two alternate methods using a PC connected to the same LAN as the Nodes: 1) a Console mode which uses Windows-based Node Manager Software, and 2) a Webserver mode which uses a browser to access the public or private IP address of the node. Both methods automatically discover all Nodes on a LAN or WAN, plus any devices connected to each Server Node via an RS485 bus. They are used to configure each Node, such as setting communication parameters, naming the Node and associated devices, entering email addresses for alarm notification and data requests, selecting the Node's time zone for time-stamping of emails and streaming data, and upgrading firmware. Once configuration data has been stored in flash memory of all Nodes, the PC can be disconnected. Please see our Ethernet Manual.

Instruments from other manufacturers can be operated on the RS485 bus under control of our LTNET485 Ethernet-to-Serial Device Server if the host computer supplies commands and accepts responses suitable for these instruments.

The LTNET485 mounts on a DIN rail. Even though it looks like a Laurel transmitter, it does not include a signal conditioner board or relays