RCX C-Link Series
Connecting the Extender Assembly
EDT, Inc.
2011 June 29
5
With a FOX framegrabber
A FOX framegrabber has fiberoptics built in, so a base-mode system with a FOX framegrabber requires only
one extender per camera (see
Figure 4
).
Figure 4. Base mode: one ex FOX framegrabber
To set up this system:
1.
Install the framegrabber according to its EDT user’s guide (see
Related Resources on page 2
).
2.
Verify the extender is configured properly (see
Configuration and LED Configuration Codes on page 7
).
3.
Turn off power to all devices.
4.
Connect the extender to the MDR26 connector on the camera (see
Figure 2
).
5.
Connect the extender to the desired transceiver on the framegrabber (channel 0 is the transceiver phys-
ically closest to the PCI bus) with fiberoptic cable.
6.
Connect the power supply to the power connector on the back of the extender.
7.
Turn on power to all devices.
8.
Verify each LED shows a steady light (see
Status and LED Status Codes on page 11
).
Medium or Full Mode
A medium- or full-mode system requires multiple extenders, as explained below.
On a medium- or full-mode Camera Link camera, there are two MDR26 connectors.
•
The
primary connector
operates the same way as the base-mode interface: each pixel clock transfers
24 bits of video data from the camera’s X channel. The primary connector also can transfer four camera
control signals, and it has a bidirectional serial interface between framegrabber and camera.
•
The
secondary connector
transfers video data for the Y and Z channels:
— Medium-mode cameras transfer 24 bits of video data for the Y channel.
— Full-mode cameras transfer an additional 24 bits for the Z channel.
Thus, the standard full-mode configuration transfers 72 bits of video data — 24 bits each for the X, Y, and
Z camera channels.
The X-channel extenders (one at the camera end and one at the framegrabber end) operate as a base-
mode extension cord, with one fiber for video data from camera to framegrabber, and the other for control
signals from framegrabber to camera. The YZ-channel extender at the camera end has two fiberoptic
transmitters, with both fibers carrying video data to the framegrabber.
Many framegrabbers require that the video data presented at the primary and secondary connectors must
be synchronized to within a fraction of a pixel clock. The section entitled
Cable assembly – Lemo resync on
page 18
describes a common pixel clock for both extenders at the framegrabber end, and other