User Manual Part 1

CHAPTER 2
MODES OF OPERATION
Revised: 15 Oct 03 2-2 EST P/N AA104
3. Termination control timer. The termination control timer is enabled by the TERMC (on/off) command. When enabled, the
termination timer starts from the time the last transmit buffer has been updated in the RS-232C port. If the termination timer
expires before another character is received or transmitted, the contents of the ESTeem transmit buffer will be transmitted.
The waiting time of the timer is defined by the TERMT variable (termination time). The programming range of the TERMT
variable is 10-65,535ms. Factory default values are TERMC = OFF and TERMT = 50. It is noted that when the termination
timer is used, the SENDPAC variable is usually programmed to be a character that is non occurring in your data stream (i.e.;
SENDPAC = 255) so that premature transmission does not occur.
TRANSPARENT MODE
The TRANSPARENT Mode allows the ESTeem to pass all data characters (O-255 or 0-FF hex) using 8 data bits.
To program the ESTeem in the TRANSPARENT mode the TRANSPARent command must be enabled and switch Bit 2 to ON
(RS-232C Setup Switch). The TRANSPARent command will defeat the SENDPAC and COMMAND variables and put the
ESTeem in the transparent mode when Bit 2 is ON.
The transmission of the data packets can only be accomplished by enabling the termination control commands (TERMC and
TERMT) or the PACKLEN buffer being filled. The value of TERMT should be slightly longer than the maximum delay
encountered during RS-232C transmission. If this time is set to short, the ESTeem will truncate your data stream improperly.
When using the TRANSPARENT Mode, data flow control is by hardware handshaking only. Hardware handshaking is initiated
by enabling hardware flow control (XHF = ON).
The SETCON (Set Connect command) must be used to define the node that you want to communicate with while in the
TRANSPARENT Mode. When the TRANSPARENT Mode is enabled you can not communicate to the ESTeem in the
COMMAND Mode unless you use the Hardware Mode Control line (see explanation this chapter).
To remove the ESTeem from the TRANSPARENT Mode the user must perform the following:
1. Switch Bit 2, Off on the RS-232C Setup Switch.
2. Reset the ESTeem from the front panel switch.
3. Type TRANS OFF <Enter>.