CyberResearch
®
Serial Communications
ETS 2604
CyberResearch, Inc
.
5
25 Business Park Drive
P: (203) 483-8815; F: (203) 483-9024
Branford, CT USA
www.cyberresearch.com
Using the Device with supplied Software
Accessing the serial ports through software can depend on your situation. There are two basic methods. The first
method implements a virtual serial port on your computer, so you can access the remote port just like a normal
onboard serial port. This is probably the best method for most situations, and allows for the most control. To use
virtual serial ports in Windows, see the section Tactical Software. The second method may be useful for software
developers and allows you to send/receive data through a serial port using TCP sockets. For more information, see
the section Raw Data Sockets.
Tactical Software
Tactical Software (www.tactical-sw.com) implements a serial port “redirector” called Serial/IP, which allows you to
create a virtual serial port on your Windows machine. All accesses to the virtual port are redirected to the remote
port through the IP address you set, and you can access the virtual port with any program designed to use serial
ports. For detailed instructions on using Tactical Software’s Serial/IP program, consult the help packaged with that
software. What follows is an overview of getting the software to work with the ETS 2604.
Configuration
To install a SeaLink serial port, configure a new Tactical Software virtual port and point it to the device’s IP
address. Note that the port number here refers to the TCP port and not the serial port on the device; however, the
TCP port number to use depends on which serial port you want. The base TCP port for RFC 2217, the protocol
which Tactical Software uses, is 4680. That corresponds to the first serial port on the device. Just increment the
TCP port to get to the next serial port. For example, the second serial port would be at TCP port 4681, the third at
4682, and so on. You must also select “Telnet” from the list of 3 protocols for each port to work correctly. If you
want the software to try and reconnect in case of accidental network loss, click the appropriate checkbox. Note that
the username and password field should be left blank even if you have a password set in the Web Configuration (see
the section Web Configuration::Security for more details).
You must also configure the RS mode before use if your device supports multiple electrical interfaces. Use the Web
Configuration page to do this (see the section Web Configuration). Browse to the Port Settings page and select the
appropriate RS mode for each port, and then click the Submit button at the bottom of the page. Be sure to configure
the hardware to match the desired setting (see section Electrical Interface Selection).
Usage Details
Since Tactical Software virtualizes a serial port, any program that works with serial ports is able to access a remote
port just like an onboard port. Just use the program to open the COMx number you specified when installing the
port. Software developers can use the standard serial port API. See the Microsoft help on Communications
Resources for more information.
