Testing a comtrol device (rs-485), Test terminal modem control signals, Using port monitor – Comtrol NS-link Windows NT User Manual
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Comtrol Tools
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Testing a Comtrol Device (RS-485)
Testing a Comtrol
Device (RS-485)
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 hardware installation documentation for the device if you need to
build a cable. If testing ports other than Ports 1 and 2, simply connect
the cable between any two ports.
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.
This test will only work if hardware handshaking is turned off.
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 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 the device driver
•
Port errors
The available statistics include:
•
Instantaneous characters per second (CPS) calculations
•
Minute, hour, and day CPS averages and peaks
•
Carrier detect (CD) signal runtime and transition count
Reports can be automatically generated on an hourly and/or daily basis, and can
cover all ports collectively or a separate report for each port. You can also set how
often the values are recalculated, fine-tuning thoroughness against system
efficiency, and automatically run external batch files to perform additional
processing and analysis.