Serial ports

The SPC controller provides 2 serial ports (RS232) that offer the following functionality:

  • X10: Serial port 1 is a dedicated interface that supports the X10 protocol. This protocol allows for use of the existing power cables of a building to transport control information to X10 devices providing the ability to trigger and monitor these devices via the SPC Controller programming interface.

  • Logging of Events: The Serial port 2 interface provides the ability to connect to a serial port on a PC or a printer. With this connection, a terminal program can be configured to receive a log of System Events or Access Events from the SPC controller.

  • System Information: Serial port 2 also provides an interface via a terminal program that allows for the execution of a set of commands to interrogate the controller for specific system information. This facility is available only as a tool for debug and information purposes and should only be used by experienced installers.

1

PC with serial port running hyperterminal

2

SPC controller

3

JP9

4

RS232

To configure the serial ports:

  • Select Communications > Communications > Serial Ports.

    The settings displayed will depend on the type of connection that the ports are used for. The settings are described in the following sections.