Oxford Instruments Mercury iTC, Handbook

Page: 63 / 146

Handbook
November 2011 / 59-UMC0071 / Issue 01
Mercury iTC
Page 63
FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
Original Instructions
4.2.5.2 Oxford Instruments NanoScience ISOBUS
ISOBUS allows a single RS232 port on a computer to control a number of instruments
independently. This arrangement requires an ISOBUS cable, which carries a single
Master connector (25-way D-socket) and up to eight Slave connectors (25-way D-plug).
Each slave connector incorporates full optical isolation, so that each slave is isolated
from the master and from every other slave.
The slave connectors draw electrical power from the individual instruments, via the DCD
signal. The master connector draws electrical power from either the DTR or RTS signals
from the computer.
A special command protocol is required to use ISOBUS (see Section 7.3 ).
4.2.5.3 USB interface
The Universal Serial Bus (USB) port allows one-to-one communication with a computer.
USB 2.0 full-speed (12 MBits per second) is supported.
4.2.5.4 Ethernet interface
The ethernet interface is connected via an RJ45 connector on the rear panel. The iTC
can be configured to use a fixed ipaddress, or to use dynamic host configuration
protocol (DHCP).
4.3 Daughter boards
The iTC can accept up to 8 daughter boards. These can consist of combinations of the
following board types:

Temperature sensor
A board containing a single temperature sensor interface. A maximum of eight of
these boards can be fitted (see
Chapter 13 ).

Heater
A board containing a single heater interface. A maximum of three heater boards can
be fitted (see
Chapter 14 ).

Level meter
A board containing a single level meter, which is used to monitor the amount of gas
or liquid in the system. Only one of these boards can be fitted (see
Chapter 16 ).

Auxiliary I/O board
A board containing a number of I/O lines. Some of these lines are used to drive a
stepper motor to control gas-flow. Only one of these boards can be fitted (see
Chapter 15 ).

GPIB
A board which provides an external GPIB interface for connection to another device
(e.g. a PC). Only one of these boards can be fitted (see
Chapter 17 ).
The iTC automatically identifies every daughter board that is fitted.