Zektor Clarity HD® 8X8 HDMI Matrix - Manual (Page 13)

ClarityHD8x8 Serial Protocol, Version 1.1, 6/7/13 13
RS-232 / TCP/IP Port Hardware
RS-232 / TCP/IP Port Hardware
TCP/IP Overview
The Serial and TCP/IP port share the same protocol.
The TCP/IP connection is a very simple socket, sometimes referred to as Raw TCP/IP socket, similar
to Telnet, but without the Telnet protocol overhead. Most telnet clients will allow you to telnet into the
ClarityHD8x8 without error.
We use the open source package PuTTY to do our testing. It has a convenient “Raw” mode that works
great with the ClarityHD8x8, and is available in Windows and Linux (with a Mac O/S version in the
works). (We are not associated with PuTTY in anyway, but do find it a useful tool when communicat-
ing over TCP/IP and Serial port connections)
Website: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty
The default IP address is 192.168.1.200 and the port is 50005. The serial command “^IPA
xxx,xxx,xxx,xxx$” (See: “‘IPA’ Set / View TCP/IP Address” on page 27) can be used to change the
IP address, the port number is fixed at 50005.
Once a connection is made it will remain open until closed by the client, or after 10 minutes of retries
at attempting to talk to the client.
After connecting to the TCP/IP port, all commands are identical to those of the Serial port. All strings
coming from the ClarityHD8x8 will be sent to both the TCP/IP and Serial port.
The ClarityHD8x8 will accept commands from both the Serial and TCP/IP simultaneously, each com-
mand will be buffered until the ending ‘$’ is read, at which time the commands will be executed in the
order received. All responses will be sent to both the Serial port and TCP/IP connections.
TCP/IP settings used by the ClarityHD8x8
Default IP Address: 192.168.1.200
Port Number: 50005
Duplex: Full
Speed: 10/100 Mbps
RS-232 Pinout and Baudrate Settings
The RS-232 port on the ClarityHD8x8 is the same format, and pinout, as a PC modem, and uses the
same type of cable as a standard serial modem would, which is a standard straight through cable. Do
not use a cable that is marked as a “Null Modem” cable.
The ClarityHD8x8 can also be used with USB to RS-232 conversion cables, these are all typically
straight through cables. (Be sure to install any drivers that come with the USB to RS-232 cable you are
using.)
The RS-232 port is a female type DE-9 connector (sometimes mistakenly referred to as a DB-9 con-
nector) with the following pinout: