IEI MiniMax 3 Installation/Programming Manual Section 2: Installation
2.13 Network the MiniMax 3
The following section describes the various ways to connect the Max 3 to a personal computer (PC), as well as connecting more than
one Max 3 together. You can connect up to 64 Max 3 doors together on a single network.
2.13.1 Connect the MiniMax 3 Backplane Directly to a PC
The Max 3 connects to a PC using RS-485 communications. However, a PC has either an RS-232 serial COM port or a USB port.
This means that in order to connect to a PC you must use either an RS-232 to RS-485 converter OR a USB to RS-485 converter. RS-
485 communications does have some significant advantages over other connection types, such as increased distance of up to 4000 feet
using the appropriate cable, the devices are wired in parallel which means if one unit goes off-line the rest are unaffected and
increased data transfer speed.
To make this connection, connect the Data A, Data B and GND terminals on TS3 (See below) to the same corresponding connections
on your converter. Then make the connection from the converter to your PC. Please refer to the instructions with your specific
converter for complete details on that device.
Document #: 6055672, Rev 1.0 D1c Page 21 of 48
Note:
The Max 3 Module must be connected to the backplane
using the wire harness described in section 2.4.
IMPORTANT:
When using the PC software to manage multiple doors you must
program a unique door number into each Door Control Module using the
following command: 43 # 0 # Door Number # ** (Door Number = 1 to 64). Refer
to section 3.3.
Figure 15: Wiring MiniMax 3 Backplane to a PC
Note:
The maximum
distance between the
backplane and the converter
is 4000 feet using 24AWG,
shielded, two twisted-pair
telephone cable with a shunt
capacitance of 16 pF/Ft.