National Instruments ENET-232/2 Ethernet Interface

The NI ENET-232/2 is a 2-Port Ethernet Interface for RS232 manufactured by National Instruments. The ENET-232/2 is available in two variations; one is for US 121 V (Part Number: 778064-02) and the other is for N. America 240 V (Part Number: 778064-52) The ENET-232/2 is designed to provide extra RS232 ports to a PC. This device interfaces with the computer using a standard Ethernet network. The ENET-232/2 supports 100BaseTX as well as 10BaseTX networks. Asynchronous serial ports can be made available by connecting the NI ENET-232/2 with these networks.

The ENET-232/2 is a complete solution when it comes to serial communication. The NI ENET-232/2 supports point-to-point communication mode when it is interfaced in a serial configuration. The maximum communication distance in this mode is 50 ft per serial port. This Serial Interface also offers support for multidrop communication mode. In this mode, the ENET-232/2 can be interfaced with a maximum of 31 modules. The maximum communication distance in multidrop communication mode is 4000 km per serial port.

The serial ports on this Serial Interface are DTE ports. DTE refers to the computer equipment. FIFO buffers are also installed in the ENET-232/2 to interrupt latency. This special feature not only reduces susceptibility, but also increases the transmission speed. The NI ENET-232/2 is equipped with multiple LEDs. These LEDs indicate different statuses like Power, Link, Transmitting, Receiving, and the Port number in use. The compatible driver software for the ENET-232/2 is NI Serial Server Software. The NI Serial Server delivers a maximum baud rate up to 230.4 kb/sec and provides support to add COM ports to a computer. The NI Serial Server is compatible with Windows NT.